Day Six: Emmaus Ministries Mission Trip

This was our long day and I mean long. We get up early for Mass. Then we have our morning prayers. Then we started cooking for lunch and dinner. The lunch was lasagna and the dinner was turkey with all the fixins. While that was going on three of us drove to Elmwood Park to pick up a donated freezer. One worked on plumbing. Others worked on various chores.

The place was packed with guys. It was loud and felt like being it your grandparents for Thanksgiving.

There were games, conversations and lots and lots of laughter. There were also some serious conversations going on. It was a long day, an exhausting day but a great day. The Kaio folks were happy to have time just to interact with the guys while we cooked and interacted with the guys. Besides card games the Kaio art interns were doing portraits of the guys.

We were tired after our long day. Still, we had our worship and reflection. Some of us then walked to the lake. We stood on a pier and looked at the skyline of downtown Chicago and we talked about the city. We then went to a neat coffee house, Dollops and enjoyed one another company. It was yet another good day.

dollop & ice paw from philcoextra on Vimeo.

Day Five: Emmaus Ministries Mission Trip

Well, we had another full day. For the second day in a row the Ministry Center was full, the guys were everywhere. The guys were enthusiastic. It was a great day.

The students are proving to be good cooks. We made Korean beef, hot, hot rice, vegetables and brownies. They are proving to be creative and flexible. More importantly, they are walking beside the men, accepting the men and seeing the men as unique individuals and not as stereotypes.

After the shift was over we all walked over to the American Indian Center. This is the oldest and largest Indiana Center in an urban setting. While it clearly could use an infusion of money it also was a power house of pride and transformation to the community.

Classes are offered to First Nation peoples to introduce young ones to the various cultures and languages. There is an effort to connect elders with the you. There are community rooms for Powwows and other ceremonies. There is a healing/medicine garden and a small museum.



Afterward we all had our communal dinner and worship and reflection. Finally, many of the members went out into the community simply for some R&R. It was another good day.

Day Four: Emmaus Ministries Mission Trip

Well, today we did our first full day of “regular work.” First it was Mass, and then we all met for prayer and worship. At 9 AM we met with Sil, the director of the Ministry Center. He introduced us to the issues and procedures related to men who hustle and live in the night community. Then we moved into high gear.



We cooked lunch, BBQ and BBQ chicken, hot (spicy) rice, and corn. Half of the team went upstairs to work in the office. Then the guys began to arrive.

It was the beginning of the month and so we only expected two or three guys. There were ten. So the guys, Emmaus staff and our team ate and prayed and talked and laughed together. It was a loud almost celebratory day.

Some of the team members participated in the art classes Emmaus offers the guys. Finally the day at Emmaus ended in prayer. It was a good first day.

Next we walked over to EZRA Multi-Service Center. This is a Jewish community Center that is funded by the Jewish Federation of Chicago. We were there for a tour of the JUF Uptown Café. This is the only kosher anti-hunger program in the city. What we got was a tour of the entire building. What a surprise.

The three story building is home to multiple services. There are job prep services, case management and language classes. The third floor is the senior citizen center for Russian Jewish immigrants. There are music classes, social rooms and Russian newspapers. What a place.

Monday, March 8th is International Women’s Day. The center is putting on a concert Thursday to celebrate this event. It will include professional musicians and opera singers from the former Soviet Union. We were invited, it is pretty exciting.

The center was created after a survey found that 15% of the homeless were Jewish, there was a need to address. The center was supposed to end homelessness in three years. That did not happen! However, this agency works with other agencies and does wonderful work. It was a good tour.

We then went back to the Ministry Center and made supper, Jan Patterson’s famous Tortellini and Spinach Soup. We had salad and bread, it was a wonderful time cooking and eating together.

The meal was followed by worship and reflection. It was clear we were all beginning to relax and enjoy one another and the guys. Finally we had some of the team members went out for coffee and others to go talk to the guys. It was another good day.

St. Mary of the Lake: Our Local Church in Chicago

Day Three: Emmaus Ministries Mission Trip

This was a day of worship and a tour of religious tourism! First we attended Mass at St. Mary of the Lake Parrish Church. This is a beautiful Catholic church that is walking distance from Emmaus. The church was restored in the 80s and looks wonderful. Nora attended; Nora is our student from Malaysia. This Muslim student supported each of us and we supported her. We really were becoming a team.

Next we went to Oasis Ministries. This is a Pan African Church that meets in Walt Disney Magnet School. The service was loud and energetic. The preachers preached, the choir sang, men danced and we all clapped. Two and one half hours later we were frantically trying to get to Chinatown for another tour.



We arrived at St. Therese Mission Church but our guide was not there. Luckily we were allowed in and I was able to give a modified tour. I pointed out that the statue of the Buddha outside in the yard was to remind them that they and their neighbors share a common heritage and that they must therefore treat them with respect. I pointed out that the statue of Mary in the yard and the painting of the Madonna in the church reflected an Asian face. I showed them the alter for the veneration of ancestors and the crucifix donated by Al Capone’s mother. Finally they looked up at the ceiling and the words painted there. In Chinese the words expressed the need to unity through Christ. I was told that there were six different groups that did not always get along and they understood that it was only through the love of Christ that they could act as one. The group then spent time walking around Chinatown.

We then drove to Polonia. We briefing went inside of the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church. It is an enormous church with beautiful artwork. There was a Mass going on so we took our peeks and quietly moved on.

Next we drove to Ukrainian Village. We first came up to Holy Trinity Orthodox Church. Louis Sullivan built the church and in fact it is the only Sullivan church still standing. It was a beautiful example of a smaller but breathtaking Russian Church. We then moved on to the Ulkranian churches.



We went past St. Volodymir Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is a huge church that clearly had been a Protestant Church in an earlier life!



Finally we arrived at St Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. It is a huge church with green onion domes. It looks like it was lifted our of Russia. Only two blocks down is St. Volodymyr and Olha Parish Cathedral. This is a huge church with a golden dome. It looks like it is from Constantinople. We all walked around with our mouths open. We took pictured and we marveled at the building.




We then headed for home. We then made spaghetti, with Italian sausage on the side, a salad and bread. It was good to cook together and to eat together. We then had worship and reflection. That was followed by a loud and silly night of card games.

Finally some of the team went back out to do a modified Immersion Night. It was along day. It was a good day. We were finally beginning to become a true team.

Day Two:Emmaus Ministries Mission Trip

We all got to sleep in a little. We began our day at the Ministry Center for breakfast. Afterward we had a brief prayer service. Next Al arrived and we began to process our Immersion Night.

The reactions were not all that different than the night before. There were some who wondered why they had agreed to join the spring mission grip. Others were excited. Most were happy to be at Emmaus but still acknowledged some apprehension.

Next we had a tour of Jesus People USA. Across the street from Emmaus is the Friendly Towers. This building is home to Jesus People USA, 500 folks living in intentional community. They share all of their income. They live in small hotel rooms. They own and run homeless shelters, art galleries and music bands. They were unconventional looking and unconventional in their lifestyle.

The tour was not very organized. The guide was really the weekend coordinator, he had other responsibilities. Still, we got to see the chapel, the dinning room and the skateboard coffee house. We learned that the building was once a hotel owned by Al Capone. Pretty interesting stuff.

Next we inventoried our supplies and went grocery shopping. It was actually fun to work as a group. It was even more fun to be a human caravan carrying all the bags home.

The evening was special, we went to Bahia Temple. This is one of only nine Bahia Temples in the world and the only one in North America. It is on the shores of Lake Michigan. It is surrounded by nine gardens. We learned a little about their faith. We learned about their respect for the equality of men and women, the the belief that science and faith should be in agreement and for the belief that we are all one family. This emphasis on unity was powerful and congruent with our own faiths.We all had private, silent prayer and meditation in the temple. Afterward we went out for pizza. Another long day but also a good day.

Spring break and Emmaus Ministries

The first day of our alternative urban spring break proved to be a long one. Seven students; Amanda, Tiffany, Laura, Mike, Scott, Amber and Nora, resident life rep Lovey and I embarked on a week of volunteering with Emmaus Ministries in Uptown Chicago.

Emmaus Ministries is an ecumenical ministry that serves homeless men who participate in prostitution. We would be working in the Ministry Center making home style meals and we would experience Immersion Night in Boystown. This would prove to be different from our previous mission trips to Eastern Kentucky working with Christian Appalachian Project. In Kentucky we were physically challenged. This trip would challenge our ability to give up our judgmental natures and to simply be compassionate.

The students were excited driving along Lake Shore Drive. We stopped at Montrose Harbor for our first of many worship serves. We were becoming a team. We ended the4 services when Lovey placed a Tau from Rome and blessed by the Holy Father over each members head. For me the service was doubly moving. My daughter had brought the Taus back from Rome so they could be used for a special occasion.

Once we arrived we unloaded our belongings. The women stayed in an apartment behind Emmaus. The guys stayed in the chapel of Emmaus. We had some brief introduction and then we all walked with Al and Andi (Al is the director of ministries and the two are Stories from the Street) to a Thai noodle shop. There we had an exotic dinner with fantastic sticky rice. To be honest, there was diversity of opinion of the food! It was however a great time for all of us to begin to get to know one another and Al and Andi.

We then returned to the Ministry Center and our training for Immersion Night began. We were told of the desperate lives the men live. Many never had close caring families; many grew up in abusive homes or multiple foster homes. Many but not all are intellectually challenged or have serious mental disorders. Whatever the contributing factors are, these are hurting men that others shun. These are the lepers of today. These are the folks that even the homeless in the homeless shelters reject. These wee the men we would be serving.

We learned about all of the safety precautions. We prayed and we prepared for the night in Boystown. Now Boystown is the GLBT neighborhood around north Halstead Street. It is the home of many clubs as well as gat friendly restaurants and businesses. Our job was not to “fix” people. Our job was to walk around the area, interact with folks when we could and simply form relationships. We were to look at ourselves and try to discover what was getting in our way, what prevented us from recognizing god in each person we met.



We then took the “L” to Belmont. We then broke up into 4 teams of two. I floated among the various teams. From 9:30 until 1:30 we walked around the area. Some of the members walked the streets observing and interacting with the people they met. Some sat in coffee shops watching and talking. Some went into clubs to observer and interact. Nobody had the same experience and nobody had the same reactions. Some were surprised at how much they were not surprised. Others commented that it was not all that different form anyone’s going out to the clubs. Some were clearly out of their comfort zone and felt almost violated. Whatever the reaction, we had all be exposed to the environment in which our men worked. We took the “L” back home and got to bed by 3 PM. It was a long and intense day. Ahhhh spring break!