It's Raining Kids!

Throughout the month of July on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm Sunshine opens its doors for Summer Blast! During Summer Blast kids from the blocks the Sunshine building come in to do crafts, play games, perform skits, and also hear about the great heroes in the Bible. There have been over a hundred kids come out for Summer Blast! It is always exciting to see new faces join us as well as see who returns. So far we have had six kids accept Christ!

We had hoped Summer Blast would attract kids from our neighborhood who would take interest in our youth programs and help us to become familiar with them. In fact, some kids have already plugged into our Wednesday night Bible study called ReCharge, so they can grow further in their walk with Christ. God supplied our hope for kids with whom we can intentionally build relationships and given parents in the community an opportunity to become familiar with us. We are eager to see what God is going to do the rest of the summer!

[Contributed by Nikki Blodgett, who is interning at Sunshine this summer. She and Pete, our youth pastor, recently got married in June. Nikki is studying youth ministry at North Park University.]

Two Weeks Behind Us & 40 New Believers

Over the first two weeks of camp, we have been blessed to serve 95 campers here at The Cove. With a current capacity of only 50 per week, we praise God for challenging us with near capacity crowds. More importantly, there have been 40 first time commitments to Jesus Christ! Praise God for the opportunity to share the gospel with young people that we will be trusting our future to.

As we are in the midst of the holiday week, we are happy to be serving families from Community Church of West Bend, Wisconsin. Pray that staff will use the time wisely by ministering to these families, as well as taking some extra “down time” in the middle of our youth camp ministries. In speaking with many of them, they appreciate the slower pace of this week, but are greatly anticipating the return of the children.

Next week begins the “middle of the summer run.” Three weeks full of opportunities to share the love of Jesus Christ with children ages 7 – 12. We know your prayers are with us, as they carry us through long days. Please continue to pray for the staff and campers, so that we all may be ready for the spiritual moments that God gives us each day.

[Contributed by Charlie Reid, Cove Camp Director. Charlie and his wife, Anita, moved from New Hampshire earlier this year to take on this new role. Charlie has over 25 years in Christian camp work. He and his wife have 3 children.]

Putting it Together: Hip-Hop in the Woods

Christian hip-hop artist, CZ (Curtis Zachery), generously accepted our offer to come to Teen Week to sing and to teach. CZ lives, worships, and makes music in Nashville, TN. His ministerial work singing for and speaking to urban youth is backed by Strong Tower Bible Church in Franklin, where CZ attends when he is home. Sunshine and CZ have been in friendship for four years (and counting).

This summer's camp theme is "Who's The King?" pulls from I Timothy 1:17, which reads:

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God,

be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

CZ stopped in to our city office before leaving town and I was able to grab a few moments of his time for reflection. In a different way each day, he answered this question in a way that would carry meaning and relevance for this 13-18-year old crowd. I, for one, was interested to hear how he'd broken it down.

CZ began his week's teaching with a look at King Saul, a notably "bad" king, who lost the Lord's favor by being self-centered, self-willed, and falsely believing in his own autonomy. In a similar way, CZ related how many of the qualities of this ancient king compare to today's self-described "kings" in the American hip-hop culture, who have taken the genre away from its socially conscious roots as they have proclaimed kingship in their own eyes. To contrast, CZ later taught on the life of a "good" king - David - who, though he was a humble shepherd, ascended to kingship because the Lord saw his inward motives were pure and anointed him to reign over Israel - God's people.

CZ left our teens with a message on the traits of a godly king, imparting the ways in which the Lord bestows honor, authority, and responsibility to his children as explained in Scripture. He noted that godly authority figures are led by the Lord because they know the sound of their Father's voice and can not help be drawn to it. Godly "kings" are then (immediately) obedient to the words and direction of their heavenly master and see themselves, not in a position to be served, but to be of service to others. Finally, god-honoring leaders seek their authority and identity from the Lord, who through his life and words, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" clarified that Christ Jesus is the only one who can validate a person's life and worth.

When I asked CZ what this week of teaching meant for him, he answered that "overall, it was a good opportunity to examine this own life." He acknowledges that his teaching retains its integrity only if his own life exemplifies a non-guilt driven search for the things of the Lord. CZ relates that each challenge or charge to urban teens is also, in fact, a charge and challenge to himself to live a life "worthy of the calling", as Scripture states, marked by confession, faith, and a continual resting in the goodness of the Lord.

I encourage you to check out CZ's website.

[written by Lauren Dillon, Sunshine's Communications and Development Coordinator. Lauren came on staff in October of last year. Beside posting updates on this blog and other such communication work, she enjoys reading and exploring Chicago's underground art & music culture.]