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

Day Three

What a day!! We started off in the morning at Old St. Paul. We had about 8 kids today, and we played games, sang songs, learned a Bible story, and did crafts with them. They were all very active and excited to see us. Some of the team stayed at the church and worked with the kids, while the others went out into the neighborhood and passed out flyers for the summer program. Hopefully the word will continue to spread so more kids can share in the experience. A brief word on what exactly that experience is: Old St. Paul is sponsoring a program for kids with the goal of teaching them respect for themselves and others, basic Bible stories, and other skills that will let them know that they have other options and that they have the potential to truly be somebody and make a difference in their community. This program is run by several church members and will last throughout the summer. Back to our day, though. The whole team did an amazing job and really did make the church proud. We left Old St. Paul around 2:00 and made our way to Uptown Baptist Church where we helped them with their Soup Kitchen ministry. Our jobs included showing the guests to their seats, serving the meals, pouring lemonade, cleaning dishes, and just talking to the guests. It was an eye-opening experiene for everyone involved. For me personally, speaking to the guests and leaning some of their histories helped me embrace the scripture that speaks of God looking past outward appearances and looking at the heart. I was truly blessed by the folks that I spoke to, and I know others were as well. Once again, the whole team did a great job and made the church proud. They worked hard and did whatever was asked of them, even if it was a little bit out of their comfort zone. We also enjoyed some ice cream at a famous Chicago ice cream parlor called Margie’s. Tomorrow we will be back at Old St. Paul working with the kids. The pictures I included are of Rev. Jakes right after we gave them the communion table, and of the kids at VBS today. Hopefully more will come later in the week. A note to all concerned parties: Everyone is safe, healthy, and doing well!! I’m going to head to bed now, I’m really exhausted from all the day’s work! More to come tomorrow.