The Beginning: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

On Saturday the 20th, the TPC Youth Mission Team left for BWI airport at 11:00 a.m. (thank you to all who drove us, you were an AWESOME help!). After standing in line to check in for way too long, we finally made it through to our terminal and took off for Chicago!












After we arrived in Chicago, we claimed our baggage and rented our vans. On the ride to the First Church in Oak Park (just outside Chicago), we were already pretty tired. When we finally got there, we couldn't contain our excitement! The week's journey had officially begun!








That night, we had genuine Chicago deep-dish style pizza at a friendly restaurant called Geppetto’s. The food was delicious and we left with doggie-bags for Sunday’s lunch!








Next, we ventured into downtown Chicago (using the L train and the bus system) to see the fireworks at the Navy Pier. The show was an awesome way to end the night and when we finally got back to the church, we all fell asleep to prepare for the next day’s drive to Iowa. So, in short, Saturday was “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” in real life.






On Sunday morning, we stayed for our host church’s service. It was an absolutely beautiful service that was preceded by a short concert on their impressive organ. The hospitality and welcome was greatly appreciated!








Around lunchtime, we piled into our 5 rented vans and began our 5-hour drive to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The time in the car was passed with walkie talkies and a fun game called “story time” where one van would begin the story and then pass it to another van via the walkies. Creative characters were invented and laughs were had for all. During this trip, we also stopped at the “largest truck stop in the world” and were surprised by a show from The Blue Angels when they flew overhead!





We arrived at the Christ Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids around 6:00 and were greeted and showed around our home for the next 6 days. The building is very nice with a full kitchen, meeting/dining room, a gym where the women are sleeping and separate rooms where the men are housed. We all have air mattresses and sleeping bags to keep us cozy at night! That night we had a delicious dinner of sloppy joe’s and a beautiful prayer to kick it off.






These are the trailers outside of our home church. One holds our tools and the other holds our showers.
The magnificent vegetable garden outside of the church!
Our Kitchen!


We ended the night with a devotion that explained our theme of “Drop in the Bucket”. Jim showed us our bucket (filled a quarter of the way with water) and spoke to us about how this water represents our efforts in helping the people of Cedar Rapids rebuild their homes after the devastating floods last summer. From now on, we are challenged to find a rock at the end of each day that symbolizes the effort we think we put into our work that day. We will then drop it in the bucket and watch as all our efforts combine to raise the water level and symbolize the change we have made in these people’s lives through hard work, teamwork, and prayer.


Coming soon: Updates on our work so far this week!