The Last Update from Chicago

Today is my last day of work. And I’m kind of bummed.

Yesterday, the staff at Grace & Peace Community Center made us a Puerto Rican lunch and it tasted FANTASTIC! One of my favorite items was alcapudias. It’s made out of plantains and meat and some other stuff. It tasted so good. I’m a fan of Puerto Rican food. And also Colombian. And then I’ve had cemitas and tortas from the Mexican restaurants here. Oh man! I’ve had so many different types of food here, and each culture makes it a little bit differently.

During the lunch, the staff said how grateful they were on how we have helped for the past few weeks and how we have truly been a blessing. Emotions began welling up in me that I hadn’t even realized were there before. Even though I’ve been serving them here at Grace & Peace, I feel like I have received much more. Watching these people follow God and be a true blessing to the community has inspired me to do the same thing when I go back home. I’ve learned so much from these people and I’ll truly miss them.

I’ll try to summarize my week: We took a tour on Saturday of a church in La Villita and learned a lot about the community and the way politics and church can work together, but also have to be separate. The church we visited had a boxing ring on the floor below the sanctuary, which was awesome. We were supposedly also on the Latin King gang territory, which is supposedly one of the largest gangs in the nation. It has about over 1,000 members nationwide. My jaw dropped.

On Sunday, we brought dinner over to a Mexican family and just hung out with them. I mostly played with the kids. They kept calling me “Hannah Montana” and then laughing. But once I got the game “I Spy” going, they quickly got wrapped up in the game and kept asking me what was next. The family was really nice, and again, we had to use our broken Spanish and hand signals to communicate with some of the family members. The dad spoke English though and he would translate a lot.

As for the past week at work, I’ve been sorting through clothes in order to keep some for the shelter/apartment place we have here for women who have suffered from domestic violence and then the rest would be given away to the community. I work with Jordan, a 16 year old boy, who lives in the area and is doing community service. I ask him a lot of questions about the gangs and just life in the inner city. He says things like, “Well, I gotta dress good to keep my swag. I don’t wanna be lookin all huff and all.” FYI, huff means “lame”. I also learn a lot of new terminology from Jordan as well. Lol.

I’m going to miss my roommates, the other teams, and all the people I’ve met here. We all have grown pretty close and I’ve really enjoyed meeting them. I plan on keeping in touch with a lot of people here. Even though it’s only been 5 weeks, we all have gone through some intense emotional experiences and understanding God’s love for the inner city and justice. We’ve been studying the book of Amos and man, that book is amazing. It’s definitely grown to be one of my favorite in the Bible. While it’s been an intense study, each of us goes in and says, “Are you ready to get emotionally torn apart and have Amos ruin our lives?” Then we all laugh. I believe it’s because while Amos and just CUP in general tears up emotionally and mentally, we really see the value in all and hunger for more of it. We have a retreat this weekend where we get to spend more time with each other and say our goodbyes. Once the retreat ends, CUP is over.

I’m also excited to go back home to Arizona and see my family and friends there. I feel like a different person and I always keep asking God that the change that He has made here in me continues and that I don’t forget what I’ve learned here. I already see that happening as I have applied for an internship down in Tucson that has a lot of programs that out reach to the community. I’m praying that I get it and that God will continue to open my eyes to the world around me.

So, here’s to the trip! There’s more to tell, but I only have so much time. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. I arrive back in Arizona on Monday and will be hitting the ground running with all that I have to do once I get home. So I hope to see you soon!

Bye!