Called to Follow Jesus Christ

Today was our first full day in Chicago where we will be doing orientation all week. We are staying on the University of Chicago campus and our orientation is on the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. It has been great getting to know the volunteers going to all of the different countries. Reverend Al Starr (pictured on the left) from Los Angeles is with us all week. He is leading us in worship here. This morning we studied Matthew 4:1-11. Some things Rev. Starr said that stuck out were these: "You are an expression of the glorified, eternal Christ who lives within you," and "if you are going to represent what Jesus Christ has done in your life, you must be your 'authentic self' all of the time."
After morning worship, some YAGM alumni shared their experiences and it was very encouraging to hear them talk about their expectations before their trip and how they got more and different (and of course, better) things out of it than what they had anticipated.
We have small group time where we can ask questions of each other and discuss how the week is going for us and what we have to look forward to when we all get to our placements. *Below is a picture of my small group.*
This week is great to help transition us into a year abroad. After dinner, a group of us took a walk to Lake Michigan and went to what they refer to as "the beach" in Illinois. The lake was beautiful and it was good to start seeing the city of Chicago.