Members of Tri-County Alliance Church (TCA) in Clearwater have returned home from a week-long mission trip to the Rogers Park community in Chicago, where, among other things, they worked with the Envision Chicago ministry, ran a soccer vacation Bible school and participated in prayer walks.
It was the first time most of the 13 members of the group, who ranged in ages from 11 to 70, had gone on a mission trip.
Last Sunday some of the participants stood in front of TCA’s congregation to recap their trip and share the memories that meant the most to them.
The theme for the week was Hebrews 12:1b-2a; ‘Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.’
Sean Zieglmeier explained how the verse led the group in their mission, with members acting out a scene each evening that exemplified perseverance. Every evening group members also shared ‘God moments,’ high and low points of the day.
Linda Towne told the congregation how she ended up participating in the mission trip.
“I had myself stuck in a box for years and decided it was time to step out,” she said. “I have grandchildren who have gone on mission trips and I wanted to try it for myself.”
Another member spoke about how she had hardly been able to walk for over a year because of the pain and discomfort she faced, but the Lord had given her the strength and courage she needed to keep up with the group during the entire trip.
“I’m a movie guy,” said Dean Boden. “This experience for me has been like a movie playing in my mind. Very powerful, especially the experience we had that ended with the washing of each other’s feet.”
Julie Boden spoke about some of the children that were starved for attention, including one little boy who kept saying, ‘God doesn’t care,’ and ‘I hate God’ the first couple of days.
“It was eye-opening,” she said. “It really stirred me that they’re each placed there to be ministered to. I told him God does love him, and when he brought back a piece of paper he’d accidently taken home the night before I told him, ‘God is smiling on you.’ I finally saw a glimmer of a smile.”
Autumn Zieglmeier, one of the youth who participated in the mission trip, spoke about their morning prayer walks.
“It was a challenge to go up to people and pray for them,” she said. “Our first person was an old man with a walker. He was so happy someone prayed for him and paid attention to him.”
“One of topics for the week was homelessness,” said Tara Zieglmeier. “We went on our prayer walks each morning barefoot to represent the homeless and feel just a bit what they were going through.”
“During our prayer walks we sometimes felt the need to stop and pray,” added Sean Zieglmeier. “By one bar I felt the need, so I prayed the people would come out of it and not have the need to drown their sorrows in alcohol.”
During the week the group also painted the kitchen area of Envision Chicago, set up a free clothing spot on the sidewalk outside the building using donated items, and were able to bring some of the homeless into a grocery store to shop for food.
In the evenings they ran soccer VBS for children in the community, where along with soccer drills, they performed skits and held small group discussions.
During their free day at the end of the week the group took the opportunity to explore Chicago, taking in ‘The Bean’ and the zoo; some members also visited the marina. The group used public transportation, which was a new experience for everyone.
With this year’s success TCA is already planning future mission trips, one in the Twin Cities in 2020 and an international mission trip in 2021.
