Last week Matt and I went on a missions trip to Chicago with our church, Bloomington Covenant. We went through an organization called CSM - the Center for Student Missions. CSM leads urban missions trips for youth and adult groups to various large cities around the country, including Chicago, Los Angeles, NYC, DC, Philadelphia, and more. CSM was fabulous to work with, and I would recommend them to any group seeking a meaningful learning and service urban experience. During the days our group served at Casa Central, which is the largest Hispanic social service agency in the Midwest. They offer many different programs for children and families. We worked with the School Age Program, ages 5-12. We played games, did crafts and activities, played outdoors, went to a water park, and more. We really enjoyed our time at Casa -getting to know the kids and playing with them was so fun and rewarding. Then every evening we went to different sites around Chicago to serve, including a senior home, a soup kitchen, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. GCFD distributes food through qualified agencies to feed hungry people in Chicago. We also ate at a different cultural/ethnic restaurant in the city every night, it was so good. Algerian, Ethiopian, Thai, Mexican, and Lou Malnati's Chicago-style pizza. :) Even though I have eaten Ethiopean before in Minneapolis and it wasn't a totally new experience, I think that was my favorite. SO YUMMY!
We had a wonderful time in Chicago, learning more about the various needs in the city, getting to know others, and growing in our personal walk with God. The following pictures are of our group in front of the church bus before we left MN, and of us at the senior home with residents after we played a rousing (several) games of Bingo. To learn more about how you can get involved with the organizations mentioned above, please visit: www.csm.org, www.casacentral.org, and www.chicagosfoodbank.org. If you ever have the opportunity to volunteer, serve, or go on a missions trip, do so - it is a life changing experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment