4th String of Chicago Updates

Sorry I keep forgetting to blog! I either have full evenings, or I forget (usual happenings). So, I have to update you all on the past week and a half.
Wow! I can't believe I've already been here for three weeks and it's already July (well, barely, but still). Well, last Monday we had our day off and we pretty much just hung out here at the church doing, well, pretty much nothing, which was a nice break from doing a bunch of stuff the previous week. That whole week there was a heat advisory, so at all of the outreaches we played water games, and had to cancel one outreach because of the heat. But Tuesday we went to Ford Heights in the 98 degree weather (and just about died of heat stroke or exhaustion, whichever sounds worse). But the kids still got the message (we think and hope), and LOVED the games. We did water balloon musical chairs, and had a water balloon relay race. Not a whole lot of kids came, but the brave ones that did had fun and ran for the shade when they could.
Wednesday we canceled our outreach because of the heat, and because the site that we go to on Wednesdays has no shade at all. We pretty much stayed in the cold basement all day. We did some cleaning so we weren't totally being lazy.
Thursday we went to Chicago Heights and it was still massively hot. But, once again, the kids loved the water games. We do the same games at each site, with the improvements that we think of from doing them previously (needless to say, Chicago Heights gets the good stuff).
Friday we went to our usual Wednesday site to make up for lost time. They (and we) still had a great time despite the heat. Priscilla, one of the other interns, leads the songs for the kids, and she added a new song and sang it in Spanish since that site is dominantly Hispanic. The people really responded to it, since it was in their native language.
Saturday we did pretty much nothing besides getting things ready for Sunday, i.e., cleaning the church, preparing a Sunday School lesson.
Sunday we went to church at New Hope and did the kid's church. We talked about how God blesses us when we do things for Him and how the devil tries to steal God's blessings from us, but we can overcome Him by using God's Word. Pastor Ross had cards with different examples of blessings, and we had someone personify the devil and try to steal the blessings the kids were working for, and they had to use the Scriptures to overcome him. It was good. Sunday night Alex, another intern, and I went to a youth group because we had nothing to do and didn't want to be stuck at the church doing nothing. So we found a nice one in Indiana (about a half hour away from the church we're staying at), and met the youth pastor. But we also met a guy with a pathological fear of straws. It was... interesting. Alex and I also battled the youth pastor in some intense air hockey games. I lost both times I played. Then we decided that we didn't want to eat anything we had at the church after getting back (at around 9), so we walked around the strip mall to find any good restaurants that were interesting. We found this really good corner place with AMAZING chicken sandwiches!! I was pretty much in heaven. And we found some really great places to shop at, so we decided to come back when they were open and go shopping.
On Monday, I got up at around 9 because I wanted to go shopping, and I was supposed to wake Alex up an hour before I wanted to leave, so I was ready at around 9:30, then woke Alex up so she could get ready too, but I failed. She fell back asleep and didn't get up until 11:30, so we decided to just go after lunch. We went and found some AMAZING deals!! I got four new outfits and accessories for $40. It was GREAT! We also saw a cross dresser at one of the stores. Normally, my first reaction would be to just die of laughter, but after seeing "him", my first reaction was my heart just broke for "him." All I could think of was what "he" must have gone through to finally push him to the limit. It really was sad. My flip flops also broke, so I had to make an emergency purchase. But we had a blast, and are pretty much going to go back.
Tuesday we went back to Ford Heights, and it was absolutely incredible!!! God really blessed us yesterday. That morning at devotions we read Jude, and then just prayed for a while. I think it really made a difference in our outreach, showing that God will bless those who seek Him. This was the week I was most worried about, because we hadn't done as much planning as we usually do, but God totally transformed my worry and made it this incredible feeling of peace and joy and... indescribable satisfaction. I can't wait to see what He's going to do tomorrow! Anyway, this weeks' theme was Leadership, and we talked about how God used Gideon as a leader to defeat the huge army of Midianites. We had one of the smallest kids come up and be Gideon, and had maybe 10 other kids come up and stand with him as his army, then we had about 20-30 kids come up and be the Midianites. It looked pretty hopeless. But God used the hopeless situation for His glory and used Gideon as a leader to defeat his enemies. It was a lot cooler this week (thank you, JESUS!!), so we did no water games. Instead we had a balloon relay race, a dance competition, and a bunch of hula hoop contests. The amazing thing was that the adults really got into the games and played them with the kids. There were some gangbangers who came to check everything out and played the games with the kids. It was great! One of them got in on the dance competition, and his friends were in the back literally on the ground laughing so hard. It was just so amazing. Afterward we found out there were 72 kids! Just kids! There were at least 25 adults. Pastor Tim said that this was their best outreach in all their 20 years of doing it. Our God is amazing!
Today we went to the Hispanic site, and while it wasn't like Ford Heights, it was still good. We got the adults to be in on the games, which really helps with keeping the kids involved. So yay! We don't have a lot of kids that come to The Hill, but we had around 20 today. They really enjoy it and are really involved, which is wonderful!
I am hoping and praying that tomorrow's outreach at Chicago Heights is better then what we expect. Not that we don't expect a lot, but that we want God to really outdo Himself in everything that happens. I think it will be amazing no matter what.