Brittney Teasley and other SLC students at Fellowship House
Every mission or volunteer trip that I have attended has always been a great experience and has had me leaving with something so precious to my heart. The difference with this one mission trip that it was out of the state of Wisconsin and I really did not know what to expect when we all arrived there. Before we went on the trip we had a group meeting to receive the information that we needed and as well as to talk about the place we were going to be staying. So every day before the trip I took a little time out of my day to prayer about the journey ahead like I always do before any trip. The weird thing was that this time my prayer was much more focus on what we were going to do there and who we were going to meet. God laid on my heart for this trip to just simply keep my heart and mind open to all the group and I were going to see and experience.
When we arrived at the Brother David Darst Center I was like wow this is an awesome retreat center. It looked bigger on the inside then on the out. So right away I opened everything that I had and kept it opened until the day we left. Out group of people that attended were spilt into two different groups for most of the places we went. The group that I was in went to the men’s shelter first on the first night we were in Chicago. The other group went to the women’s shelter. The men’s shelter was amazing because all of the men there were so friendly and kind toward us. I thought that the men would not want to talk to us and just keep to themselves. The great thing was that they were not they were some of the happiest people you could meet. Theses men were more interested in what we were doing in our lives and in school then talking about what they wanted from life. The interesting thing was that some of them had a profound belief in God which was the greatest thing in the world. The next morning my group went to the Fellowship Center, which was a place for low middle class Hispanic families’ children to go. I met some awesome little boys and girls there that were also interested in what I was doing in school. They reminded me of me when I was about there age and growing up.
After lunch that day when went to Sarah’s Circle which was a women’s day shelter. This place was great as well because the women were friendly as well. While we were there they were playing BINGO. It was fun to watch and see how much they were having just playing a simple game. The last activity that we did was a walk around a neighborhood. We split into smaller groups for this as well. We were asked to think about some questions such as “Where would you go if you had nowhere to go?” “How would you live when you have nothing?” these questions really brought into reality what was going on in Chicago and all around the world. As we were walking I did not see anywhere to stay out of the cold or to just stay warm. We even found out that most of the gas stations in that neighborhood would not even they you in the store just to go to the bathroom without buying something. That is a sad fact when you really think about it. When we returned to the center and had some time to reflect one the people there told us that the neighborhood we were in was the highest neighborhood with the most teen homelessness. And at that moment it really hit me that there was nowhere for all of these people to go if the shelter’s are all filled up for the night.
This trip laid so much on my heart then I ever thought was possible. I met some of the most awesome people and they gave me so much to cherish for the rest of my life. I learned to never take what I have for granted and always pray to God and thank him for what he has given me and everyone in this would. I learned there are a lot of people who die from being homeless and it was because there is not enough places for them to go. The people who are homeless are just like any one else and they became homeless just by simple things like lost of a job, low income and illnesses things that can happen to anyone of us on earth. There is one question I want to leave everyone with “Where would you go if you had nowhere to go?” and “How would you live if you had noting to live on?” This experience has changed me forever and will remain with me forever.
– Posted by Brittney Teasley
