Village Bible Church || Aurora | Indian Creek | Sugar Grove | IL

Tuesday, June 30

             After the incredible whirlwind of a day that Monday had been, the team grew anxious to see what the Lord would do on Tuesday. We got out of bed at 6:30 because there were plenty of preparations for the day that needed to be made. The first item needing preparation: our hearts. We each spent time alone, seeking what God wanted to say to us through His word. Philippians 2, the chosen text, urged each believer to be likeminded. This brought us to the realization that the best way for everyone to think the same thoughts and have the same priorities way for each person to emulate the same example. Jesus Christ is that perfect example that all believers have the privilege of imitating. As we met to worship, we shared our quiet-time thoughts. The action we all saw as essential was imitating Christ as closely as possible by the power of the Spirit. One of the ways that this can be illustrated is through the fact that we each wore a red Salvation Army shirt. Just as our shirts were identical, our spirit and our purpose each mirrored Christ’s.

            We drove to the school, and after making 45 lunches, we embarked again to discover what God would do at Cooper Park. We soon learned that our involvement would be: absolutely nothing. There was not a single child at the park. After Vincent spoke with the manager of the day-care-like park, we discovered that the children were on a field trip. As we drove back to the school, we began to “popcorn” pray that God would be able to give us a new experience, and a bigger more incredible revelation of how in control He is. After talking shortly at the school about how to execute our Plan B, C, D, or E, we packed into the van again and began driving along a route, stopping at different ministries along the way to see if our food and VBS gospel presentation could be used to minister to those reached by those other ministries.

            The whole time we were driving, we had a 280 pound Mayan black-belt in Tae-Kwan-Do as our guide. He pointed out the people smoking marijuana on the corner, the pimp decked out in purple and a huge hat with feathers, and the strung-out women. It wasn’t to scare us, but rather, he used that opportunity to open the eyes of the students to the desperate ways that many people in the world are living. All people have an equal need for a radical transformation through the redeeming blood of Jesus.

            God directed us to a homeless shelter on the corner of Michigan Ave. and 108^th. Roseland Christian Ministries became our place of service for the last three days of our trip. While Vincent went into the building to confirm we could serve those resting there, we set up out puppet stage with the van as the wall behind us, and the large sidewalk as our audience. Children and their mothers came out of the building to see the show that we would put on. The day was an incredibly relational time with the community. After presenting the gospel clearly through a puppet skit, we used the puppets to lead in several gospel songs and marching around with the kids. We then held hands in a huge circle with a many of the homeless people to pray. Seeing the red shirts dispersed throughout the circle was a beautiful picture of the love Christ showed through the sacrifice of His blood. After that, Vincent offered for individual prayer. A very flamboyant man immediately jumped at the opportunity, so David prayed with him. He was a born-again Christian who still struggled with selfishness and homosexual temptations. He desperately called out to God to be changed and for physical healing.

            After saying goodbye to our new friends and the children, we headed back to the school exhausted. When we arrived at the school to use all the landscaping tools, we saw that the school was locked and that we couldn’t use the tools. God had blessed us with the afternoon off. We made our way back to the house, and after settling down and downing a few snacks, the girls decided to take a nap, while the guys drove to a nearby park to use up some energy. We had a blast and even met a boy with whom we played basketball and discussed the community. While this was happening, the other half of the males had a tree climbing competition. The 50+ year old tree was strong enough to handle all the weight, so no one was injured.

            After cleaning up at the house, we rode to Vincent’s house and received a tour of how he ministers to recovering drug addicts or women coming out of prostitution by providing stable, low-cost housing with accountability and good influence. We ate some incredible soul food and experienced the community by playing with some of the neighboring children. We had wheelbarrow races and piggy-back rides. We ate mulberries and convinced other children to try them. We had a gymnastics trick competition and everyone enjoyed the community that we found. The joy that we received was a wonderful gift from God. After taking a picture with our new friends, we drove back to the house.

            The sunset radiated crimson hues across the houses in the subdivision, reminding us again of the good news we bear: Christ’s atoning blood. We took advantage of the weather by sitting in a tight circle in the backyard’s cool, summer grass. We discussed the events of the day and how we had each seen God work. We talked about how some of the people in that culture look to gangs for acceptance because there seems to be nowhere else to go. We discussed what it would look like to treat those in our own communities and church with such love that men and women would leave gangs to seek the Jesus that makes us live differently. It was an incredible way to close out such a long, thought-provoking day.