Jesus speaks about you only need faith as small as a mustard seed to move mountains (Matthew 17:20) and this trip to Chicagoland, Indiana and Ohio has been learning about people who had faith in their ability to succeed.
On Monday I flew from Terminal 5 to Chicago with British Airways, a comfortable and pleasant flight. I looked out of the window and saw the clouds, the sea, the snow covered mountains and plains of Canada before we descended into Chicago. I thought this is probably the view God has every day as he looks down on his creation. Even Chicago looked strange, there were tall buildings downtown but then everything else looked flat.
Having queued through immigration and then picked up my hire car I found the hotel for the overnight stay. It was a Hampton Inn by Hilton, whose founder was a practicing Catholic Christian and his autobiography included a chapter on prayer.
On Tuesday I had a five hour drive to Dayton, Oho. However, as I couldn’t sleep I was awake at 4am (10am UK time) so was able to Facetime Linda before having breakfast and packing the car. It was busy leaving Chicago and there were several toll roads, it cost about $5 to depart the city. Then it was the open road, cruise control, country music and relax. I covered about 184 miles before stopping for a Starbucks, just past Indianapolis (just missed President Trump as he was going there at the weekend). Just outside Dayton I stopped at a Walmart to buy some groceries and then found the Airbnb. It was a character cottage in the owners garden, it was great. There was plenty of room, WI-FI, a balcony to sit on and a coffee machine.
It was a nice day so I decided to go for a run, I checked on the map and there was a nice route, However, it was further then it looked on the map and my 3 mile run turned into 5 miles, with the last one up hill.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were born in Indiana, but later moved to Ohio. Their father was a Bishop in the United Brethren of Christ. They were determined to build an aeroplane. People though they were mad, but they tried and tried again. The first flight lasted 9.5 second and covered 272 feet (1903) by flight 46 they were covering just over 20 miles in 33 minutes and 17 seconds. This is a very small distance compared to flights today. They had faith in their ability and used Huffman Prairie Flying Field to practice on. The plane had to be catapulted into the air. On Wednesday I visited the ‘first airport’ and their shed and catapult are still there.
Interesting that Wilbur said in 1901 to his brother that man would not fly for 50 years.
The National Museum of the United States Airforce is at Drayton and great news it was free entry, bad news the coffee was terrible. It is the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world and has more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display. There was an interesting section on the Korean war and the Memphis Belle was there. You could enter the various Air force One planes, that have used by various presidents since the fifties. It was an stimulating visit and I wandered around. Interesting that Wilbur said in 1901 to his brother that man would not fly for 50 years as I saw plenty of evidence, he was wrong, but then if you have faith you can move mountains. People were sceptical about his work and there was more interest from France than America, although Orville said, ‘no flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris’, sometimes even their faith was challenged. Although the machine they invented for pleasure were soon turned into a machines to cause harm, death and distress. Some of the planes used in the 1stWorld war had massive wing spans, you wonder how they ever took off and stayed up. There was also the plane there 'Bockscar' which dropped the first atomic bomb.
Dayton has a river that runs through and several trails, so it seemed a good idea to have a run along them, although it must be breeding season as I had to avoid several huge ducks and geese who were giving me stern looks. The area around here is quite rural, once you are out of the town it is very big farms and wooden houses quite like America is portrayed in many TV programs or Little House on the Prairie.
As the Wright Brothers said ‘they were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests to investigate whatever aroused curiosity.
On Thursday I was driving to Fort Wayne, a couple of hundred miles north, but back t
They had faith and walked on the moon, the Wright Brothers thought Paris was a challenge, they hadn’t even dreamed of the moon. However, their initial seed of faith did move mountains long beyond their lifetime.
It was an interesting drive from Wapakoneta to Fort Wayne, single track roads through farm land, very few cars on the road, just set cruise control, Google Maps and relax – well apart from when going through Amish country as you need to be alert for their open top buggy’s. I was staying at an Airbnb in Fort Wayne, which was several rooms above a garage, another great find. I was here for a concert and thought I would have a run to see how far it was away and if I took my rucksack I could buy some food at the same time. This was a good idea until it rained and did it rain. I got back drenched and had to dry out my shoes and the rucksack. The food was fortunately ok.
Fort Wayne is named after General ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne who ordered it to be built in 1794, it has changed a bit since then. It does get confusing with all the different time zones, Ohio and most of Indiana are in Eastern but Chicago is in central. I have to keep checking which one I am in.
On Friday I went to Girbill which is a Swiss Amish community. It was an interesting place, the general stores looked like something from the 1800, the people travelled around in open top buggies, the ladies wearing their bonnets. The houses looked the same as anywhere else, apart from there are no wires going to them, they don’t have electricity as they seek to live a simple farming life. Their Christian way of living is more important than communicating it in word, their faith is their lifestyle.
I did some shopping in the afternoon, which consisted of looking around shops and finding tops Linda might like, I then would text her a picture, she would want to know what material they were made of, so I then used Facetime from the store to see if she liked them and answer all her questions. The advantages of Modern technology!
In the evening I walked to the Coliseum for the Country Concert staring Alan Jackson. There were a couple of warm up acts, but he sang for around seventy five minutes. He is from Georgia but moved to Nashville to ‘Chase the Neon Rainbow’ but ‘here in the real world’it took over four years to get a hit and onto the proper music scene. He had faith that he would succeed although ‘the older I get’ the more successful he has become. It was a great atmosphere, singing along to the songs and then just the walk home. The Americans aren’t great on having pavements and where they do, they forget to put any lights in.
On Saturday it was an early start for the four hour drive back to Chicago. Martin Luther King Jr lived here for a time and President Obama still does, although he hasn’t invited me for tea. It was an easy drive until I reached the outskirts of Chicago when a blizzard started and continued all day. It was cold and snowy everywhere, it made driving challenging, although due to snow ploughs the main roads are all right. It started about 10am snowing and was still going strong 12 hours later. Willow Creek Community Church does a Saturday evening service, and as it was only 2 miles from the hotel I decided to go. I was intending to have a little run there, but not possible in the snow.
It was an interesting experience. Church is probably the wrong way to describe it, it is a venue like the O2 (although slightly smaller). I had to remember where I parked the car, the auditorium was large, escalators to the higher levels, a book shop and coffee shop (no free coffee here!).
I found the prayer room (which was about as big as our church hall) and it was a peaceful place, comfortable chairs, pictures on the wall to focus on and you could leave notes on the prayer wall. I sat upstairs and the service was good, some great worship (learnt some new songs) and then an inspiring message by a guest speaker a professional Christian comedian.
No-one spoke to me or greeted me. I just sat on my own, and the place appeared pretty empty. This may be because it was a Saturday night and there is a blizzard and snow everywhere - didn’t expect that at the end of April! The service lasted just over an hour, which was surprising for a mega church.
The service finished and I left to find the car and clear it of snow. It felt like I had just been to see a show, there was no fellowship or interaction with people.
Some of that might have been down to the weather, but no notice sheet (you have to check the app!) and no coffee afterward. I am glad I went, but actually I could have watched on the app and saved myself the icy trek.
However, a great experience. Again it started as a small mustard seed and has grown into a tall tree with branches spreading all over the world. It was a challenging drive back to the hotel. I then walked to the local subway in the blizzard to get some food. I didn’t see anyone else walking– can’t imagine why.
On Sunday I went to a different church within walking distance. The sun is now out, and the snow is starting to melt. Waterfront Community Church in on an industrial estate and there is no ‘waterfront’ so an interesting name. It is like having a church in Progress Road and calling it ‘Seafront views’. However, it was friendly church, as you arrived there was coffee, donuts, savouries, sandwiches and cakes. I did have a coffee but felt uncomfortable with taking a plate full of food into the service, before it starts (others didn’t). It was laid back causal type of church, they had a children’s work called Bay Cove.
The message was good and shows how great our God is as it fitted in with the whole theme of my trip – faith. It started with the Apple commercial from 1984 – the days before Iphones, Ipads etc – when Apple was just a small mustard seed, that would grow into a tree that changed the world. Jobs said ‘ a new normal needs to begin’ and by planting mustard seeds we change the old normal to the new. The reading from Romans 1 tied in with some studying I have been doing on that chapter and Ephesians 4 in preparation for preaching. The preacher used the illustration of taking the sledgehammer to the old normal for the new to break through. While the message of the gospel doesn’t change the way, we deliver it has to change with the times, and become the new normal.
It was then back to the hotel, to pack the bags and so some reading before going to the airport in the afternoon for the evening flight home and should arrive in UK mid morning.
There are some photo's here
There are some photo's here