Chicago!!

First I must say, "I'm sorry". I just realized that the pictures have not been downloaded to my computer yet and I just can't do it right now. Wedding pictures - later.

OK, so Mickey and I left the wedding in the late afternoon on Saturday and arrived in Chicago at about 4:00 am. Mark had two couches cleared for us to drop into when we came in. He met us at the door of the church and we didn't waste any time finding our places. If you know me, you know that I still didn't sleep! It was all so strange and Mickey began sleeping immediately and SNORING loudly - I felt so sorry for everyone, that I felt it my duty to shake him every few minutes to keep him from getting too loud. You see, there were thirteen of us and all thirteen people were on air mattresses and couches in the same room - sleeping. That night we all bonded, pretty well. We actually had a snoring symphony going on with some talking, groaning and "whee-ing" mixed in (not to mention the unmentionable gas passing that happens to you unaware in the middle of the night!) The next morning I made it very clear that even though it was a small church, we did have other room choices and I would be making one for the next night for MYSELF. I also chose one for Mickey - far away from everyone else. Eventually, every snorer and noise maker was kicked out of the main room or left by choice.

So, a little about the church - they call themselves C3 - Chicagoland Community Church. They are a small church in the inner city of Chicago. They cater to the "Post modern" communities around them which is actually "Post Christian" as well. It is a difficult ministry. Two blocks from the church is where the homosexual community gathers - they own shops, provide entertainment, and support the transvestites and homosexual communities. There are rainbows on everything on the street. Two blocks in another direction is the "Goth" communities gathering place. You find the same thing there - they own shops, provide entertainment and support the Goth community. Surrounding the church are beautiful old restored homes and also new architecturally appropriate new homes. Most of them are "flats" and rented or sold separately from one another. This is where the "yuppies" live. The housing is expensive and much desired by these young professionals. There are some homeless, and quite a few run aways on the surrounding streets, too. So, as you can see, we were totally out of our element - challenged to completely leave our comfort zone!

We would sleep on blow up air mattresses, shower in the ONE shower available, and lock ourselves in and out of the building each time we came or went any where.

Pastor Jon Pennington had so many prayer requests when we asked him. He is a man with a huge amount on his plate! He juggles all of those communities and also has another church which shares the building - which has a totally different vision for their ministry than C3.

I really could write a play by play of all the things that happened this week, but you would almost have to be there to get the full impact. Each day, we did maintenance on the church (painted their sanctuary and bathrooms), found a park where we took our puppet shows and played with preschoolers, played Frisbee and basketball with the teenagers, and surveyed any one who would allow us to. It was a full and wonderful week and I am very tired. I am going to go to bed now, but stick around tomorrow or then next day - I want to tell you about the "Blue Man Group", which we saw! Awesome!!