All Souls Anglican Church

Today we worshiped alongside our brothers and sisters at New Community Church here in Dolton. A missionary from Kenya spoke about his work in Kenya and it really encouraged us for our work here this week. After the service we went into the community for a prayer walk. During our prayer walk we thanked God the this opportunity and prayed a blessing over the community and on our week. Once we got back to the church we spent some time getting to know one another better through sharing pieces of our testimonies. As the night drew on, we played some games and went to bed early. Please pray that God would go before us in everything this week and that all we do will be done for His glory and for building His kingdom here! Thank you!

This morning we went on a prayer walk with Pastor Melvin. He led us around and told us about the neighborhood and how we can be in prayer for the community. On our walk we were stopped by a woman named Tammy, who lives in the neighborhood. She wanted to thank us for coming to her city and praying over it. We got the chance to pray with her. It was such an amazing opportunity to be the light of Christ with our brothers and sisters here in Dolton. After our prayer walk we went to one of the abandoned houses in the neighborhood. Many in the community walked by and thanked us for the work we were doing and asked if we needed anything. Once we finished with the houses we went back to the church for lunch and rest, before playing with the kids at the church camp! Thank you for your prayers today!

In the afternoon we worked with the summer kids camp the church hosts. There were so many kids and they were a blast to hang out with. We got to play board games, card games, or basketball with them. Once all the kids headed home we started wrapping up our day as well. We are all so excited to see what God has planned for us tomorrow and to continue serving here in the Dolton area! Prayers for continued strength in the heat would be greatly appreciated!

This morning we went on another prayer walk with Pastor Melvin. He took us to a park close to the church and we had the opportunity to pray for the park and the children of the community. We prayed that it would be a safe place for them to grow and learn, and a place where the church could be a partner in their development. After our walk, we set out down the street with work tools in hand to clean up another house. This house was overgrow with weeds and bushes and we trimmed it down and made it presentable. As we were cleaning one of the neighbors came over to thank us. It is so uplifting to hear the thanks and see the impact we are able to have on the community.

Yesterday afternoon, once we had finished with the houses, we had the pleasure to work alongside a gentleman who goes around Chicago and passes out meals to the homeless. It was an incredible experience to see the calling he had on his life and the way we could come alongside him in that calling.

This morning was our last morning going out with Pastor Melvin. He took us to many different spots in Dolton, giving us a little backstory before we prayed for each site. It's such a cool experience to travel and cover a city and its people in prayer. Once we made it back to the church we loaded up the tools and headed out to another abandoned house. As we were cleaning, another neighbor came over with cold water for us and thanked us for the work we were doing to clean up the neighborhood. We have been so blessed and encouraged by the community this week. It is truly remarkable the way God works through people. Later today we will again go back to work with the little kids so prayers would be appreciated. It was a hot morning and we are feeling pretty tired.

This afternoon we joined the kids camp. The kids loved having us back and immediately dragged us in to play board games, basketball, and ninja's. While it was tiring it was so much fun to play with the kids and build a stronger relationship with a lot of them. All the kids were sad we had to go, but they were excited to hear that we were going to be back in the morning to help them with their school work and play some more. Today was another amazing day of seeing how God is working in the city of Dolton and in Chicago at large. Thank you for all the prayers!