Break Free held its third annual mission trip to the Chicago area this past June. Break Free members from all over the states came together to reach the cities of Bloomington and Chicago. Geovanni (Dallas); Joseph, Josh and his family (southern California); Josh Meza and Mike Swalley (Chicago area) collaborated for one common purpose: to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Break Free worked alongside the Hub Ministry in the city of Bloomington. The Hub is a fantastic ministry that reaches out to the youth by living and serving among the people of Bloomington. For four days the BF (Break Free) team taught the local youth breakdancing in the mornings along with each member sharing their personal testimony each day. Kids from all different backgrounds came to learn about breakdancing and how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and great relationships were formed.
One specific story: a group of about 5 kids, ages 10-15 years old, came to the house Josh Sazdanoff was staying at, wanting to meet the “breakdancer.” Josh took this as a divine appointment and started to share the love of Christ with them and how they needed to repent of their sin and put their faith in Christ personally to be saved. The conversation had all sorts of questions and lasted for over an hour. Tom, the man who lived at the house Josh was staying at, joined in by sharing Christ with these local neighbors. At the end of the conversation all the kids were praying to receive Jesus Christ as Lord! Another young boy named Tyler also connected well with the dancers. He and other kids put their faith in Christ at one of the morning practices. During the evenings, Break Free went fishing for men at three different local parks and a bbq at Larry’s house (the Hub leader). The Lord worked powerfully and saved many people during these days.
We went up to the Chicago area on Thursday night and had an outreach with Teen Night on Friday night. Teen Night is a ministry that reaches out to youth in urban Aurora. Geovanni shared his powerful testimony of God’s grace in his life and that led to many conversations with teenagers afterwards. Once again, the Lord opened up hearts to respond to Christ by faith!
The last outreach was a one-on-one competition in the city of Chicago. Almost all of the BF team competed against some of Chicago’s top b-boys. B-boy Rujo (Joseph) from the BF team made it to the top 8, which was a great accomplishment. The team was able to build into existing relationships, make new ones, and share the gospel.
The Lord moved powerfully the entire week and saved many souls. Seeds were also planted and watered. Thanks to the prayers of the faithful saints on behalf of the Break Free team. The trip was overall very smooth even for the Sazdanoff family with their two young ones. All glory goes to Jesus Christ! “…Instead He (God) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” -2 Peter 3:9