Chicago...

Hi all,
Chicago was almost a week ago, but time flies when you are having fun...Chicago was exactly what we needed at this point of the journey...the windy city has so much energy, you can't help but have a great time...We came in last Sunday night from St. Louis and met up with Laura's dear friend Vann. He took us to our downtown hotel and then on to dinner at the famous Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company on North Clark Street, infamous site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. It was worth the 45 minute wait to have the best pizza pie I have ever tasted! The next day we went out to the Navy Pier Beach and I played in the water while Renee got some beach footage and Laura caught up on phone calls.

We then met a sponsor from a youth group that was on tour from Arkansas. We chatted with her and then found a place where Laura and I both felt we were supposed to set up the camera.

We ended up interviewing four cousins from South Side Chicago, Jay, Albert, Shawn, and Tammy.

They told us about life on the South Side and where they find God in their neighborhood. They talked about their upbringing, their grandparents' influence on them regarding their beliefs about God and the Bible, and about their dreams of what they want to be when they grow up. Then as Tammy was being interviewed, the guys took turns wearing the headphones and looking through the video camera, trying on a career option that they may have never considered until that day.

After the interview with the cousins, the youth choir from Arkansas sang for us.

Then the leader introduced the kids to the homeless man, Jimmy, originally from Mississippi, that he had just led to Christ. The kids gathered around him and prayed for him, and after the prayer, many of the kids came up to him and hugged him, shook hands with him, and wished him well.
After the group walked off, Jimmy said to me, "Those kids are full of God. All these years that I have been in Chicago, I have never had a group of white people come around me and treat me the way they just did." I asked him if he knew where they were from and he said, "Yeah, the South." I told him that if a group of white people from the South were going to love on a black, homeless man, it must be from God. He just shook his head in amazement. He said he was tired of the life he was living and was ready to go back home. He has two sons and a wife named Mary.
After our exciting afternoon, we met Vann and walked down to the Weber Grill for dinner.

He then took us to his building, and we got to see Chicago from the roof, 48 floors above Downtown Chicago.

The next day we visited the Pacific Garden Mission where they record the radio production Unshackled.(separate blog) We then ventured to Grant Park and Millenium Park and ended up filming in the rain. (separate blog) We met Vann back at the Starbucks by his place and had our final meal together. We said our goodbyes and headed to Merrillville, Indiana.
Thanks Vann for your hospitality and encouraging words. Thanks Chicago for the unforgettable experience.