Center Baptist Church Christ is the center of all we do. Col 1:18

Monday

It was another great day in Chicago. We got up and ate breakfast in time to leave the hotel around 9:00 AM. I know that doesn’t sound very early, but if we leave earlier we get to experience the wonderful rush hour traffic of Chicago. Speaking as one of he drivers, that is not something I am waiting to experience.

After we left, we went to a place called the Garfield Park Conservatory. It is a botanical garden with more plants than I have ever seen in one place. It was built during the early part of the 1900s and was pretty impressive. After leaving the conservatory we took our picture in from of two statues. One of Lincoln and one of Robert Burns. We didn’t really know who Robert Burns was but we have a picture. We then went to the United Center. For the non-sports fans, that is where the Chicago Bulls play basketball, and more specifically where Michael Jordan played. We took our picture in front of Michael Jordan’s statue. That seems to be a theme this trip. We then went to down town Chicago and had lunch by Buckingham Fountain. That is in Grant Park, I think, which is by Lake Michigan, which I know.

We then went to the church. We needed to be there at around 1:00 PM to get ready for the afternoon. We organized into teams as we surveyed our area. The greatest challenge was what to do with the games. They are outside games, but there is no parking lot or yard, so we had to adjust them to the alley. Katie Doran was in charge of this and she did a great job. They had a great time and I was very proud of her. We did some puppet ministry, songs, crafts, Bible stories, memory verses and few things I am probably forgetting. The best part is the kids did all of the work. Debbie Whitehead put the snacks together, but your youth ran the VBS. They are a great bunch and I’m very proud. We also had two teams go into the neighborhood to hand out flyers. Pastor Jakes took Autumn and Seth while I took Austin and Robby. It was not Ash Grove, but we were well received and never felt threatened. I think a good number of the kids were a result of this activity. All in all we had 22 kids with about 6 adults watching as well. There were some who came in late or left early, so I would say around 30 total who listened to the message of salvation!

Well folks, it’s about 11:40 PM and I’m about to run out of steam. If I misspell a word, or something doesn’t make since, it’s probably the late nights, at least this week.

For all of the Moms reading this note, everyone is healthy, eating well,and getting a pretty good nights rest.

Keep us in your prayers.

Mitch and the rest of the missionaries from in Chicago.