chicago part two

090107

i miss robert and galen and can't sleep much, as usual... i am really liking the people i am here with and the time we are spending studying the Bible is awesome!

we spent the morning at the "inspriration cafe", a tiny bistro that was purposefully set up to help the homeless learn a trade and learn how to be in that atmosphere... it was started by a chicago police officer who decided to give food to the homeless... she started out by bringing food in a little red wagon and then realized the homeless need more than to just be fed, they need a way to take care of and feed themselves... this place was the most amazing place i've been to... the menu was written on a chalk board and then the people come in and sit down and order from the menu what they would like to have... i got to be a waitress for the breakfast crowd... i've never been a waitress and i fully enjoyed the experience... i also met some awesome people who are in their program... about halfway through the meal, the girl in charge had folks read something inspiring to the room... this is a secular organization doing a whole lot of wonderful things for the poor and i was blessed to be there =]

after "inspiration cafe", we went to the salvation army for the lunch crowd... this program was more reminiscent of "the Refuge" back home in florida... after the salvation army, we went to cornerstone... this program is run by the Jesus People USA... they are only open on saturdays... they have breakfast and lunch and are open until 3pm... the folks who ate lunch at salvation army came directly to cornerstone as soon as they were done at salvation army... i don't know where they put all the food that is available for them... i did hear that cornerstone serves the best food in the neighborhood... the people in the uptown neighborhood of chicago are well taken care of... they can find 3 meals a day here... it's a shame more cities are not as well equipped or willing to help the poor... chicago is really impressive in that regard...

i met a lovely tiny russian woman at cornerstone... she has a home with her son, but they are struggling to pay their rent and buy food because he is a brand new lawyer and has a ton of bills and no clients really to bill... she is 67 years old and came from st petersberg and was an engineer in russia and lived during the era when Jesus was not allowed to even be mentioned or there was persecution... she loves the Lord... she works as a figure model at the art school to help pay the rent and eats at cornerstone just once a week so she has something to eat... she says she won't ever stop helping her son to get by and that's why she still works... they have lived in the US for 17 years, 10 years in miami and 7 years in chicago... she is a beautiful, loving soul... when the time is up for the meal, i ask her if i can pray for her and she breaks down into tears and says yes... she is so afraid of losing her place to live and she can't even contemplate what she and her son will do... i prayed for her and hugged her and gave her my number and told her to call me anytime and walked her to the door and hugged her some more and then watched her walk down the street out of my life... and then i cried for her... she could be my own mother and i don't know how to love people so intensely in such a short period of time and then say goodbye... i have to trust in God, who knows all of us better than we know ourselves... He will look after her with even more love than i felt in one afternoon... i just pray to meet her again someday...