Chicago.

I'm finally back from a fantastic week in Chicago. Chicago is my new favorite city in America because it's so wonderful. I love the diversity, the buildings, the fact it still has a lake and it's the city, and how the suburbs are so close.
It started out with a 16 hour van drive there. I was absolutely dreading it but it wasn't actually that bad. We stayed at the YWAM base there which was a four story apartment building type thing. I loved it and realized I would love to live in one of those things. I slept in the meeting room with 5 other girls. There was another team from Masters Commission that was staying at the base too. They were actually pretty cool when they talked to us. The guys were incredibly respectful of girls which was very nice and the whole team was a good dynamic for our team.

I learned so much this week about the passion we need to have for cities. 50% of the population lives in major cities now, and by the end of the century 90% will be there! That's almost everyone! And if Christians aren't living in the cities, how will people hear about Jesus? The other amazing thing is that God really is on the move in cities and he wants to redeem what cities are known for(Drugs, violence, etc). Diversity and unity are two of God's greatest intentions for the world and that's exactly what cities could be. Brad(YWAM leader) spoke to us about his passion for the city. He was such an inspiring person because he absolutely knew without a doubt God's heart for it. One thing he told me that stuck out was that we have to jump on God's bandwagon, not expect Him to just jump on ours. Often times we have our own idea, and instead of going with what God is ALREADY doing in the city, we make up our own thing and ask Him to bless us. I also learned that it's important that we don't just look at the strongholds when we go to cities/countries. If we look at what God's orignial intention was for the place and find redemption for those things, oftentimes the strongholds will fall through anyways. God is such a redemptive God!

The first day we walked around little Vietnam. We did religious surveys and just asked people questions about what they believed or where they came from. I was paired up with my good friend Jon. We met this black man named George, who after seeing me, decided that women from texas are more beautiful then women from California. He then also said he wanted to go to texas to get a steak. George was an interesting guy. Another part was we had to ask for 50 cents to use a pay phone(We had to call Brad, the YWAM director, so he made sure we did it.) Honestly it took a blow to my pride, which was good. It puts you in such a humble state to ask people for money. And the funny part was, no white people would give. Only black people gave to us. I realized I never give people money and that I should start. At night time we did homeless ministry. I came in contact with a very angry angry black man who then proceeded to cuss me out and call me the white devil, but that's okay. It was a learning experience that I will never forget.

On day two, we rode the city buses and talked to whoever sat next to us. It was such a fun experience! It was kind of like speed dating, but speed praying instead. Almost everyone wanted me to pray for them by the time they had to get off at their stop. I came to realize that you can minister everywhere, even if it's just on the bus. On Tuesday night we did street evangelism again but this time in the Gay/alternative district. I prayed for an Iraq man and also talked to a very gay black man. Both went well, but I shortly got lost in Chicago right after. I was with Kyle and Jordan and after walking around for a good 45 minutes( and missing debriefing) we went and ate Dunkin Donuts. Which was quite enjoyable.

On day three, we went to little India! It was so amazing-I really felt at home there. All the stores smelled like India, the clothes looked like India, I even got real Chai! I was reminded of what a beautiful country India is and how much God has in store for them. I really love the people and culture. We also went to a salon(God told us too, I promise). We talked and ministered to the ladies who were there and they did our nails. This was highly enjoyable for me and I realized how awesome and the potential God has for my ministry! On wednesday night a man named Sam Shamone came and spoke to us about Islam. I can't even describe to you all he spoke, but if you ever want to read his arguements they are very good.
www.answering-islam.org

On day four, we learned and went to At Risk communities. It's really sad how many people are in or were in these places. Pretty much they are these high rise buildings that put hundreds or thousands of people inside. Most of them are on welfare and can't get jobs or anything. But the sad part is that it's almost a generational curse. Because your parents lived there, you live there, and since you can't get a job because youre "irresponisible" you end up living there, etc. It goes on and on. Gangs also run the buildings and stairwells so mass rape and murder happens. We went to three different ones and it was just really sad. But I learned that if you want to change a communitie or people, you have to LIVE there. You can't just do programs and leave, or at least that wouldn't be as successful.
On thursday night I ate chicago pizza, went to an art show, and watched Bible man. It was great.

Friday we went to a mosque and a hindu temple. It actually didnt affect me like temples usually do but I was okay with that. It was sad though because both of the people who spoke to us used to be Christians before they went to the religion. The hindu man was a hilarous black man who seemed like would have been an amazing person(if he lived outside the temple) and the women who was a muslima, seemed so hurt and depressed. They were both heavily blinded by their own religion and contridicted themselves often. It's just sad how much we can believe in deception. On friday night we did an open air worship and prayer time in the city. It's just how it sounds, but God really showed me something. We did communion and while I was kneeling on ths sidewalk just looking up at the buildings, I realized Jesus died for each and every one of those people. It was suddenly evident the MASS amounts of people that are in the world and how Jesus loves each one. I felt like God was speaking to me saying" Lead people to the way that you found me." I found Jesus at the cross, with all my sins hanging off of me. It's my job, my calling, to lead people to the cross where Jesus showed the ultimate example of love.

That was chicago, and I miss it terribly.
I'm going home this weekend, due to the death of my grandfather. I'm really sad for my family but I'm glad I'm going home. I miss them.
Also, my room smells like fish thanks to the huge shipment of Korean food sent to my roomates. Thank you Korea.