Dusting

Trapped within this coffee house hiding from the rain I've stumbled upon my old blog. After a proper dusting, I've enjoyed reading through old posts and my updates from my first two years of college! I apologize for my unexpected leave of absence over the last two years! What a journey those two years have been though!

With excitement bursting forth I piled on class after class to push through my degree in Urban Studies at Moody Bible Institute. With a desire to learn more of other neighborhoods in Chicago I moved for year into Little Village a Mexican neighborhood of Chicago. Overcome by our love I proposed to Natalie in the summer of 2013 but agreed with both our parents to not have a wedding until I graduated. So in order to have a wedding sooner then later I moved back onto campus and sped up my degree finishing up a semester early to my parents surprise. We were married January 3rd 2014, 9 months ago now. We have embarked on this new journey together! Our first home is in Rogers Park which is a melting pot of ethnicity's and cultures. Falling in love with this neighborhood wasn't hard, not only is it one of the most diverse communities we've livid in but also it is very accessible. We love walking around our neighborhood through the beautiful parks alongside Lake Michigan and enjoy the variety of restaurants. 

Such a brief update with so much left unsaid. So many stories in between and maybe sometime those stories will slip into this blog. I hope to use this blog to continue to write about Chicago events. As well as updates on life, marriage and ministry here. I will post our latest update for this month its our prayer and praise letter, I may post them once a month. 

In with the New

Young Life Lincoln Park

          In response to some friends I've decided to post an update on my blog. Over the last six months I've been living in Chicago at Moody. In summary I've been taking 18 credits at school as well as ministering through Young Life, apart of big brother and sisters, as well as my relationship with Natalie.
         Last semester I was challenged a lot and learning a lot. I studied the early Christian church and its development's, studied Hermeneutics, as well as race and poverty, and the multicultural history of America. Exciting semester filled with a lot of growth both on the educational side as well as the spiritual side. One thing I've been lacking in though is community since leaving Sunshine I've really noticed my the absense of. So I've recently joined a Men's prayer group and a small group to add some fellowship with other Believers.
          Young Life has been tremendous for me and for Chicago. Amazing growth, Luke Schmitt came on staff for north side of Chicago, Which is the area I've been apart of. The 5 Area directors for Chicago have brought back an old element to Young Life in Chicago, citywide fellowship between volunteers and leaders. Over the past weekend we took some time for a Leadership retreat going through the vision of Chicago Young Life. By Re-visting our roots in the city as well as the history leading up to the different schools and the stories of whats going on! We then looked  to the future of Young Life in Chicago. The past 2 years have seen many new Young life groups, Young Life Lasalle, walter Peyton and Lasalle came back on the map with there new area Director Kimmy Taylor! Brand new this year came Young Life DePaul for college students! Young Life Lincoln Park is now up and running as well.
         The past six months I've been pouring into Young Life as a team leader in Lincoln Park. Prior to this year we've had one to two leaders volunteering at the school and dreaming big about the school. On December 2nd three Lincoln Park kids joined Lane Tech for camp. And decided they wanted to have Young Life in their school. So on wednesday, December 7th Young Life basketball outreach began. New Life Lincoln Park opened up there campus for us to use their gym every wednesday to reach the local high school. 25 students came out to play ball and so it began.  We met once more before break and  came back together on Jan 11th which we had 30 students come out. Since then the Ministry has been growing and we now have 3 leaders on the team  and 2 helpers from DePaul and Moody.

      Last six months have been exciting! This semester along with school I will be continuing to Meet new students and grow the trust in order to speak into their lives and to share the gospel. As well as develop a solid leadership team at Young Life Lincoln Park. Im also preparing to go on Student Staff with Young Life for the fall. Keep praying for the ministry and for next steps for me!

-JR