Missions Report: High School Chicago Trip
In late July, a team of eight Hillside high school students and two leaders embarked on their summer missions trip to Chicago. They spent a week staying at Jesus People—a church family of nearly 200 people living together in intentional community in Uptown Chicago. Hillside’s team partnered with Praying Pelican Missions to serve in the many non-profit ministries that Jesus People has established in the neighborhood: serving meals in the soup kitchen, cleaning apartments in the low-income elderly housing ministry, working on painting projects, and more.
Matthew Bostrom, Director of Next Gen Ministry, shared about the night they partnered with a prison ministry called The Bridge. “The Bridge puts on weekly church services for convicts who have been released…these services act as a transition, to help them find Christian community and get connected with a local church that will care for and love them.”
The team also had other opportunities to bond through beach outings, prayer walks, and daily morning Bible studies, and memorable moments of prayer and worship.
The week held some challenges, too. Student Brielle Wineberg said “Some challenges that I faced were putting others before myself and getting out of my comfort zone. I had to learn to care for the well being of others and not be concerned about myself. I’m also a quiet person, so it was difficult for me to talk to people I didn’t know and get out of my comfort zone in that way.”
Student Samantha Wallace felt challenged as she witnessed people living in poverty. “There was a lot of guilt I experienced after seeing so many people being so thankful for the little amount they have…I realized I take so much for granted.”
Matthew was proud of how the students faced those challenges. “It was cool to see the students’ hearts soften over the week, to where they saw others the way Jesus sees them,” he said, “I watched the students working hard as they served, jumping in to help even if that task was difficult or not the most pleasing.”
In spite of (and through) the challenges, the group saw God at work in some significant ways.
“I saw God work through both myself and my friends by teaching us how to be more selfless,” said Brielle. “I learned how to not put so much emphasis on myself and to focus on helping others. I also saw God’s love through conversations that my friends or I had with people that we met.”
She also saw God changing her own heart. “I learned that I can be helpful and exemplify God’s love in many ways, whether that be talking to people our helping out behind the scenes.
Samantha was deeply impacted by an experience serving the homeless one day. “We got to walk around Uptown Chicago with desserts from a previous bake sale, offer them to people on the streets, and pray with some! There were some really cool moments and stories, and I felt the Holy Spirit working on and through me.”
Both Samantha and Brielle would recommend a trip like this. “We had some really cool bonding moments as a team,” said Samantha.
Brielle said “[This trip] showed me a lot about God and taught me many lessons. It was also really fun and a great bonding experience.”
This trip was made possible through the generous donations of Hillsiders. The leaders, students, and parents are all deeply grateful to all who supported this trip through your prayers and financial contributions. It made an indelible impact not only on the people served in Chicago, but on the lives of the students who attended.
