Chicago Mission Trip- The Logisitcs

We left River Valley Thursday morning and headed to Chicago. Once we got there we headed to the Hostel to settle in. We decided that evening to head to the Sears Tower. After the Sears Tower we headed to Giordano's for Pizza. Arloa Sutter the author of the book Invisible met us for dinner. Arloa is also the founder of Breakthrough Urban Ministries. We had a nice dinner with Arloa, it was good to be able to ask her questions. After dinner we headed back to the Hostel for the night.
Friday was a full day. We made our way to Breakthrough. Our time there started with a tour of the facilities and then we got to work cleaning the preschool room. When we broke for lunch we went down and sat with the women that were there for lunch. Some good conversations were had. After lunch we finished the Preschool room and cleaned the library as well. When we were finished we headed back to the Hostel for some debriefing. Friday night we ventured to Chinatown for dinner and shopping. After dinner we went grocery shopping for the meal we were going to make for the men at Breakthrough the next day. After taking the food back to the Hostel a late night trip to Target was a must.
Saturday we loaded up our groceries and headed back to Breakthrough. Once we were there we beta making the meal for lunch. We made Chicken and Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, and a Strawberry Shortcake style dessert. Once the meal was prepared we were able to serve the men and then sit down and eat with them. Several good conversations were had. We then headed out to discover a bit of Chicago. We went to Millennium Park to see the Bean and then some went to walk up Michigan Ave. and some went to see Buckingham Fountain. We all met back up at the Hostel to do a bit of debriefing. We all decided to head to Wicker Park for dinner and iCream. Some of the group went to a pizza place and some went to a Tapas place to eat. A trip to iCream was made after dinner then it was back to the Hostel to play cards before heading to bed.
Sunday a couple of us headed to Navy Pier to see the view before church. We attended one of Willowcreek's campus' for church. After church we had a meal together and headed home. There was some great discussion on the way home. Once we got into Dayton a stop at Cracker Barrel for dinner was a must. Then it was home to River Valley.