Joanna Helton's Blog
November Newsletter / Dec 6, 09:14 AM
My Dear Friends,
Solitude is a beautiful thing (as is community), but if you have not experienced solitude in a long time, I suggest you do so… asap. J One Saturday, in the middle of November, the 3 Mission Year teams in Chicago took a solitude retreat to Sheboygan, Wisconsin! I walked the beach of Lake Michigan and talked with God out loud – praying specifically for my team, my friends back home, and reflecting on this prayer by Mother Teresa that was included in a compilation of prayers distributed by our city director. It’s just beneficial to get away every once in a while to reflect on your life, to re-direct your focus on God (because it is so easy to get off track), and to simply rest in your Father’s presence. Mark 1:35-39
Community Service A great deal of my time during the day is spent at CCIL, Chicago Christian Industrial League (www.cilworks.org). It is an organization that is diligently serving the homeless by offering transitional housing, health care, GED courses, job training, individual and group therapy, and a number of other programs designed to help Chicagoans get back on their feet. As I am blessed to work in a number of areas, I am mostly assisting with the Community Food Pantry that has now been opened for one year and is providing food for over 200 families, distributed each Wednesday morning. Talking with the families in line has become one of my absolute favorite activities during the week – and also one of the most hectic since there are those that line up 3 hours before we open….in the freezing November Chicago weather. This week, we are preparing to serve a Thanksgiving meal that will be free for the community and are expecting more than 800 to attend! Then, I take the amazing bus over to La Villita Community Church for Si Se Puede, an after-school program for some of the children in the neighborhood (www.lvccsisepuede.com). Recently, I have been working a lot with the same group of girls, which is extremely beneficial because I have the opportunity to get to know them better, and therefore, know how to help them better than I would otherwise. Some of my favorite things have been seeing Esmerelda understand that division is sometimes just backwards multiplication tables, watching Iridian share her belongings with others, and learning Spanish words from Naida, who is an amazing teacher!
Church New life has come to our church this month in many ways! Pastor Zach, who did Mission Year in the neighborhood 3 years ago, and his wife, Sarah, just had their first baby! Also, La Villita has missionaries in Mexico who recently had their first baby as well and came up for a visit. Pastor Victor talked one Sunday morning about the prophetic-ness of that new life! Our church is getting newness breathed into it and a rejuvenation to serve God and the community. I am also involved in a women’s Bible study that meets every Sunday morning, studying through 1 Timothy. It is so wonderful to get to know the women in the church on a deeper level and grow with them by studying God’s word – in Spanish and in English! Many of the women have been pouring out their hearts, their concern for family members, their struggles at work, and their love for the well being of the neighborhood.
La Villita Girls!
The girls in my house are such a blessing! J We’ve really been working on living out true community. Even though it is often difficult, we have been talking out differences, unloading garbage, sharing what is important to us, praying with one another, serving, encouraging, and striving to follow Christ’s example. Five times a week, one of us leads a devotional, including Scripture, songs, prayer, or thoughts that challenge and encourage me each time. One Saturday, we discussed the importance of being One in the Spirit – because if our house is not united in Christ, everything we are doing will fall. (This is a picture of the five of us preparing for our soccer game with the other two MY teams in Chicago).
Our Neighborhood
Little Village is pretty stinkin’ amazing as well! I have decided to take a class through a partnership that Mission Year has with Eastern University entitled “Theology of Poverty”. My first paper included the story of my neighborhood where Anna (who also had to write the paper) and I learned and reflected a great deal about our community. Just 35 years ago, Little Village was 4% Hispanic and is now 83%! Also, many of the adults are first generation Mexican immigrants, and their children are growing up in the US, having to learn English. It is a joy to witness the hospitality of the families – as there have been times where we are encouraged to eat a meal at every home we visit, resulting in the consumption of 3 dinners within a few hours.
One Saturday afternoon, Emily and I invited one of our neighbors, Stephanie, over to make cocoa rice krispie treats. I’ve never even considered making some from cocoa krispies and it was a magnificent discovery! After cooking, we played yahtzee, clue, zingo (similar to bingo) and a silly faces game. Stephanie is absolutely adorable and when I took her home, I was able to have a conversation with her dad about his family and his desire for me to speak more Spanish. I told him I was working on it.
Prayer/Support
As we are learning more and being stretched in new ways, it seems that there are more specific things to come to our Lord in prayer about and I would be honored if you would join us in doing so…
v Elizabeth lives across the street from us and comes to our house on occasion to cook with us or play Uno and then we help her 3 children with homework, reading, or play a game with them as well. Recently, she has gotten nerve damage that is affecting the movement of her face and she was unable to close her eye for a little while. She seems to be doing better now but could always use some prayer.
v Tina Montoya is a lady that Jessie and I initially met while handing out a plate of brownies to neighbors and now has become a close friend to many of the girls in our house. This past week, her brother died and it has been very hard for her and her family. It was a tragic accident but it was encouraging to know that she felt close enough to us to invite us to the funeral.
v At the school where Jessie volunteers, one of the students was shot and killed a little over a week ago. There are so many people that are affected by this tragedy including his family, the students and teachers at the school, and the community as a whole.
v The curriculum book we are now reading is called Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum, and it discusses many of the racial issues that we often ignore or are too scared to talk about. Please pray that we will know what God wants us to do concerning this topic and how racial reconciliation can take place.
Thank you so, so much to everyone that has prayed for me and my team, who has mailed letters (they encourage me so much!), and who has been beyond generous with financial support. I feel spoiled by my church at home (Polkville Baptist). They are incredible people whose love for God is so evident and whose presence in my life have helped to make me who I am. Thank you to everyone else who is faithfully striving to become more like Christ each day – it’s a beautiful thing.
I miss you and I love you,
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