When I thought about writing this month’s column for our website, I immediately knew that I wanted to write about our Intergenerational mission trip to Chicago. Leading up to the trip, I wasn’t quite sure what to anticipate. As many of you know, I am a staff member here, typically behind the scenes. I usually call myself the communications gal, but my formal title is Ministry Support Assistant. I was eager to go on this trip, to capture the moments, share it on our social media, and have the opportunity to grow closer with the members of both Community and Park Hill. With that being said, I knew that I didn’t want to hear myself talk this entire time. I want this month’s column to bring in several voices, including my fellow mission trip participants.
Throughout the week of the trip, I spent time noticing. If you were to ask the other members on this trip, they probably wouldn’t describe me as too quiet or loud either. I sit in that middle, taking in all that is around me. I'll think on it for about 2-4 hours, then you’ll hear me talk for a minute too long about my observations. Here’s what I noticed…
On our second day of learning about eco-justice, we went on a bus tour in a neighborhood that resides in the southside of Chicago. This neighborhood had been filled with 50 undocumented landfills, affecting the water, soil, and the air these residents breathe. The one thing that I noticed out of everyone in our group was that we felt heavy. We felt some unexplainable emotions of seeing a reality that we knew existed, but didn’t know EXISTED. Does that make sense?
As this bus tour truly struck us in our Tuesday night worship, I wanted more input on this learning experience. Ken Hensley shares his feelings toward this by saying “After the bus tour I had feelings of hopelessness and anger for the community of people that were living in unhealthy conditions,” Hensley states. Around our worship circle, we came to the conclusion that there was a sense of anger. While we sat in these feelings, we wanted to turn it into something good. Hensley continues with “Contrasting that with feelings of hope after our work day with the Sistas as they communicated their visions to aid their community.”
It was interesting to put ourselves right into these communities. I believe I speak for others on the trip that immersing ourselves in these very real communities, it becomes more than something we scroll past on our morning news feed. While we shared the weight of the impact this community had on us, we went on a wide variety of learning opportunities later in the week. Ken goes on to share one that he wasn’t expecting when devoting a week in this city.
“I was pleasantly surprised by our tour at Loyola, learning about some of their initiatives to live green-geothermal energy, biodiesel fuel and the growing of food in sustainable ways,” Hensley explained.
I think this paints quite the picture of the diversity in our week. We saw the places that still thirst for change and justice, then seeing the progress of hope. I do recall looking around that room of us in Loyola, and I saw curiosity. As a generalization, a lot of us tend to spend time talking about what the Earth has left of itself. When in reality, what can we create to bring longevity to our planet? The biodiesel surely sparked some positive feedback amongst our group. It is evident that when I say we felt all the things, we truly did, and we felt them deeply.
“I felt a wide range of emotions throughout the week: uninformed, ignorant, naive, frustrated, and angry about the environmental injustice in Chicago. I also felt joy, laughter, and genuine happiness while connecting with the people. This includes the participants as well as the Chicagoians I met while at the sites and at the touristy areas,” Tara Wolfe shared.
While I sat in the back of the mini-van for most of the week, I was often accompanied by Tara as she drove or sat in the passenger. The bold sentence I heard from her early on in this trip was “It’s starting to feel like we need to come back here.” Hearing that sentence is what led to many conversations of us wanting to be back in this place, with the organizations we met and learned from. Wolfe goes on to state,
“If I went back to Chicago, I would like to spend the week with the Sistas in the Village: helping pull weeds, preparing the produce for the farmer's market, being a part of the farmer's market, and whatever else the Sistas would like us to do. I would like to be fully immersed in the Sistas weekly encounters and activities to gain more in depth knowledge of their Urban Garden.”
Isn’t this what a mission trip is all about? We only get so much time, and yet, we leave knowing that we aren’t done educating ourselves, committing to the justice that has yet to be made, growing in our connection with one another. Or maybe I could wrap this entire column post into one sentence.
In community, we can cultivate more love, more action, and more generosity for each other. I want to say Amen to that. So, Amen.