Home Again, Home Again

Well, I'm back, both on the blog and back at my home in beautiful Lebanon, Ohio. I sincerely apologize for keeping everyone out of the loop for the past 3 1/2 weeks. 'Twas a busy time on Chicago Summer Project and I was experiencing life to the fullest with all of my fellow project students. And oh, what a life that was! So many things happened after I last blogged. The "Five-Dollar Prom" was just the beginning.

But first, an update on our ministry. As project began to wind down and more and more students finished up their time working at real jobs, we began to spend more and more time on campus and around the city, sharing the gospel and engaging people in conversation about what they believed. We were able to do several outreaches, as well. Twice groups went throughout downtown handing out sandwiches to the homeless on the streets. Several students shared stories of how grateful people were for simply being blessed with a sandwich. It was awesome that our group could be a blessing to those in need.

On UIC's campus, we did a poster/prayer outreach for finals week. We created posters with different thought-provoking questions like "What burdens you?", "Who/What inspires you?", and of course "How can we pray for you?". People were able to come up and write down their thoughts and we would talk to them about what they wrote. It gave us an interesting avenue to present the gospel and it worked pretty well.

I don't have exact statistics for our outreach from the entire summer, but I heard at one point a few weeks ago that we had initiated over 150 conversations with students on campus, presented the gospel 60-some times, and presented the "Spirit-filled Life" (a message to believers on living a life filled with the Holy Spirit) over 50 times. So the students of Chicago have definitely been seeded with the Gospel.

Besides blessing our ministry in the city, God also blessed me with a great many opportunities to explore the city and experience Chicago at it's best. That experience included going to see a Cubs game at Wrigley Field when the Reds were in town. About 15 of us went, and while it was not as enjoyable to see the Reds get hammered into the ground, it was fun to go out as a group and see a classic part of the Chicago experience.

My favorite experience by far was going to see Coldplay at Lollapalooza. I, two of my roommates, and another guy from OSU trekked out at 8:00 in the morning so that we would be first in line at the gates, which didn't open until 11:00am. So we sat and waited, while the line grew behind us. When the gates did open, we raced to the stage where Coldplay was going to play at 8:30 that night and promptly took up residence in THE VERY FRONT ROW. More and more people came as the day wore on and eventually we were wedged so close that we couldn't sit down or even hope to get out. It didn't help that it was sweltering and we were woefully short on water. We also suffered through five other bands blasting out music right into our ears before Coldplay came on stage. But when they appeared, it was so worth it. They played hit after blessed hit, serenading our ears with beautiful waves of sound. And the new stuff they played was phenomenal, only increasing my enthusiasm for the new album, which comes out October 24th, btw. And when it was over and the crowds dispersed out into the city, I couldn't help but feel like I had just been in heaven.

After the concert, the only big event left was the Final Banquet. Think prom for Christian college students and you'll get a good picture of what it was like. Everyone on project got dressed up and looking all fly and flossy. Then we headed out to the banquet venue, a cozy loft-type building on the outskirts of town. We had awesome food catered by a french restaurant that I can't recall the name of; the staff project directors made a cameo with words of encouragement and advice; there was another dance party, though it was shorter than that first one; we had a project slideshow, with superlatives for everyone; and we ended with an acoustic worship set. It was a great cap to a wonderful summer, and reinforced the great community that we had built in just ten short weeks. And now we can take that back to our campuses and grow our movements all across the country.

I am so glad that I was able to go on this trip. God definitely used these ten weeks to change me, both spiritually and personally. He taught me to trust in Him through the good and the bad, that the Christian walk is not always easy and is often very difficult, and that if I trust in Him through everything, it will all work out for my good in the end. He also taught me that it is okay to be social, that girls can be my friends too, and that I need my brothers in Christ dearly. I have been blessed with a great number of new friends, especially at OSU, and through all I've learned and experienced this summer, I feel more prepared to take on a new school year and to grow in the Lord.

Thank you so much for all your support. I would not have been able to do this without your help.

Thanks, and much love,
Brad Girdwood