Prayer Request Follow-Up: Letter from Joel

Hey everyone ~

First off, before I give you a quick follow-up regard our latest prayer request, I want to thank you for the outpouring of support and prayers we've received through our Inboxes and phone. You are an immense encouragement to us!

As a bit of follow-up...Right away Monday night we hosted a meeting of local block club leaders. It was about 15 folks strong and I really believe we crossed a new threshold that night. For about 5 years now, we have attended meetings, even hosted them in the community. But, this was the first time we spearheaded this type of community action. I was really humbled by the showing and the response.

We came up with an overall strategy to respond to what is happening in our neighborhood and I learn a lot, like the importance of getting people to leave their front porch lights on, making sure garages have house numbers on them, and making lots of phone calls for every incident to the police. As an example, when someone was shot and killed two nights before the meeting, only 2 phone calls were made to 911. Imagine that! Someone is gunned down with multiple gun shots and there are probably 200-300 people (or more) within a 1-block radius who hear it and only 2 people call!

When the city orders its resources to react, they don't just look at actual incidents, they also look at phone calls. Drug deals get no phone calls in our neighborhood. Buildings broken into get no phone calls. Often, domestic violence gets no response. So, part of our overall process, centers around creating an atmosphere in which a lot of people make phone calls (think prayer chain on the phone to 911!) and (b) they make calls about EVERYTHING and (c) they know what to report when they call.

We also ended up talking about all the vacant buildings (like 10 on just one block!) that have been foreclosed. They are routinely broken into and vandalized and used for garbage (attracting rats) and drug dealers and users. One elderly neighbor described waking up multiple times every time in fear that the drug users in the abandoned building physically attached to her building might burn down the entire block while doing drugs. Another spoke about having at least 3 kids shot and killed right in front of her house over the years. Yet, you couldn't miss the resolve, the strength, the faith in the room. After dealing with this sort of thing for 20 years or more, they were willing to believe again and try again! Wow!

I was also encouraged by the presence of several young professionals - one of whom described hitting the dirt in front of his condo when bullets fly....but, undeterred to invest in the community!

There was a very real spiritual openness, if not outright presence. I suggested we open in prayer, to which everyone immediately responded, "YES!" and proceeded to hold hands in a circle. We also closed in prayer....They were sure to ask that we do!

Perhaps the sadest thing about the evening was the obvious lack of any mention of the role of the Church. Almost everyone mentioned the struggle in their dealings with youth and their sadness about a lack of parental presence - a sore point to be sure. But, there was no explicit mention of the Church. I am praying, as are the Sunshine staff, for a way to address this. I'll admit to being a bit afraid of what incredulity might arise in me bringing it up. Too many churches are absent. We will, however, be the Church, call the Church (through local pastors), and pray for the Church's much-need role in addressing what is, in a way, the next chapter in the life of our ministry here.

Since last Monday, we've worked with one of the block club leaders to hold a prayer vigil. The vigil was held last Wednesday night, at which there was both a police and community presence. We are hosting another strategic meeting on Friday as follow-up to Monday's meeting.

Blessings to you all and again, thank you for our prayers! We'll periodically update you on how things are going on this account.

Joel Hamernick,
Executive Director