Program Update

Technology Center

Our technology center continues to be one of the greatest means for us to meet our neighbors and provide the service of free access to computers and Internet as well as basic and intermediate classes in Microsoft Office applications and Internet living.

Since we first moved in to our 500 E. 61st Street building in January 2007, we have seen nearly 500 people taken advantage of our Internet Cafe. Of this number, nearly 150 of those have been from the start of this year. These numbers include those individuals who have stopped by only once as well as those individuals who stopped by several times each week. Also, an increasing number are utilizing our paid services of printing, copyin and faxing. It seems our friends are spreading the word around the block and to their friends.

Classes for adults continue to be warmly received and well-attended. Morning sessions are being held in basic computer literacy and Microsoft applications. Students are currently making their way through the functions of Microsoft PowerPoint. Thursday evenings the Center offers class on Online Living. A weekend training in job readiness, which includes teaching in resume building, will be offered to area residents.

Our high-school apprenticeship program in Home and Small Office Computer Networking, in partnership with the city's After School Matters initiative, has also continued to be a success. We have offered this particular semester-long apprenticeship a several times, and each time, the student's personalities make teaching the class a unique, dynamic experience.

Youth Outreach

Our tutoring program - Club 2-5-2 - used the Chicago Public School's Spring Break last week to go on field trips to the DuSable Museum and Chinatown. The Club 2-5-2 store was also opened. The students enthusiastically spent their Sunshine Bucks, which they'd earned through hard work which resulted in improved academic achievement, as rewards for their hard work. In the process of earning Sunshine Bucks and establishing the Store students have an incentive to learn and improve upon the basics of banking.

Teens who have been apart of our Friday afternoon discipleship studies took time over Spring Break to visit colleges. They took tours of Wheaton and the University of Illinois in Chicago where they learned more about the programs, courses, and extracurriculars of the universities. In weeks past, the students also toured Moody Bible Institute and were able to sit in on a classes, attended chapel and stayed in the dorms.

Bridge Builders

We are entering our third week of Bridge Builders urban immersion trainig during college's spring break weeks.

We have hosted groups of 46 and 43 the past two weeks from several universities. This week we had an additional 10 participants join us for a total of about 35 students. It's a lifechanging experience for the student participants.

One student wrote:

"The sessions were eye-opening and very informative. The information was presented in an effective and organized way that had a huge impact on me. [Bridge Builders] completely changed my heart for the poor, the homeless, and other cultures. My idea of ministry has been altered by these sessions and my heart is burdened deeply by the issues we have discussed."

Comments such as this one encourage us and we hope they'll encourage you too.

So we have another busy week of ministry, work projects, and Bible study coming up. Please pray that God would really be at work in the heart and minds of all involved and that our time spent would be of real benefit to those we serve both from the community and from outside.