Chicago Mission Trip 2023 - Entry 4

By Emily Shubilla

We continued our work at the community garden by organizing the shed, landscaping, and weeding. During our activity and lesson time, we learned about poverty and experienced a poverty simulation. All of these experiences were meaningful and interesting, but not what stood out most to me today. We saw poverty today, in real life, which was more powerful than any lesson we could possibly be taught.

 We are working alongside some high school students who typically eat lunch in the cafeteria each day. This week, due to miscommunication, the cafeteria staff is not available. Mr. Hill sat us down and explained that he will be sending them home at noon to hopefully eat lunch at home. Hopefully. They rely on this program for their meals. For our leaders and Mr. Hill and Mr. Cooper, the high schoolers’ teacher, this solution didn’t seem just. Christians need to turn to Jesus as a model of who God is asking us to be. Jesus breaks bread, shares meals, and drinks with his disciples. So will we. Tomorrow we will be sharing pizza and on Thursday, jerk chicken over the fire. We feel called to eat together and I think Jesus would approve.