Group 1 Day 4 Ashley Klaasen

Today we started off at Jackson day camp once again and had an awesome time with the kids there. This time we had the option of going outside right away so many of us enjoyed playing outside instead of in the gym. Most of us were beautified once again with a new hair style from a kid eager to play with a caucasian's hair. Later we walked to the beach and hung out there for a couple hours. We played beach volleyball, made sand castles, and ran around on the sand. We didn't bring our swim suits but the kids from the camp had theirs so they swam and played in the water as well. After the beach they ate lunch and we talked with them before heading back to our van. Before the next activity we had about 2 hours to rest and that was very relaxing. With new energy we headed out on a scavenger hunt type thing- the goal was to learn about the diversity in Chicago. One of the challenges was to learn how to say "hello" and "thank you" in 3 different languages. In my group- Dana, Jared, Tyler, and I [Ashley]- we all took turns talking to strangers and Dana had already spoken a couple times so someone else had to do it. Tyler went into a Jewish store but ended up finding out that the workers spoke Spanish instead. We went into a store that looked African hoping to find someone who could help us learn two words from a different language and I went up to a woman (customer) who was wearing a head covering and skirt- she was very covered- and I asked her if she knew how to say those words in a different language. She started out telling me how to say them in English and Spanish and I could tell that she wasn't as comfortable with those languages and then she told me how in Arabic. It wasn't like she just said how and left- she helped me try and pronounce them correctly! She was super nice and very helpful. When everyone got back from that scavenger hunt challenge we left for dinner- another Mediterranean place. It was good and we recognized some foods as we had had them earlier in the week. We got a half hour rest before we headed out to a men's shelter. I along with a few others went to talk with a volunteer there who just loves Chicago (we've been noticing that quite a few people who live in Chicago are very proud of Chicago). He loved to talk about Chicago and teach us about all the good places to visit and we ended up talking to him the entire time. After we left Jim and Dana told us about a man who lived in the Congo with his wife and two children and he was a pretty famous singer. But then he disagreed with the government and he went from famous to wanted. The man got a visa and has made it safely to the United States for a little while but his family still remains in the Congo. Another man at the shelter had a heart attack and wasn't able to keep working so he was just waiting for his doctor to tell him that he could go back to work then he wouldn't have to be at the shelter anymore. Overall we've been having a great time with the kids from Jackson day camp and all the other activities that we've been doing have been great! Please continue to keep us in your prayers: that we will spread God's love to everyone we come in contact with and that we will be touched by other people as well.