One of Bridge Builders' interns, Sarah Murphy, sent this email out to our staff this morning. I thought I'd share it with you...

"This weeks' group is actually two different groups that we've merged into one. We have 13 student participants and four leaders from St Paul, Minnesota and then 13 student participants and two leaders from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Please keep us lifted in prayer, specifically that we can properly exemplify God's heart for all people and that we, as Christians, would please God by following his example in Ps. 113; that is, to look at the poor, and to love the poor, and to lift them up until we meet Him in the kingdom of heaven. Pray for open hearts turned towards God's will and open minds to take on new knowledge.

Sarah Murphy"

Also, our City Team Leader, Dave Clark, has recently written some posts on his own blog that I encourage you to read. In "The Warrior 7" he speaks about Team Sunshine's involvement in the Miracle Basketball League with a personal touch as coach. "Divine Appointments" is a response to God's answer to prayer in one of our partnership with the Chicago Peace Campaign and their Friday Night Lights outreach.

Bridge Builders in High Gear

With Spring Break upon us and summer quickly rounding the corner, our Bridge Builders program is in high gear. Last week alone we had 80 college students join us from 5 different universities. Executive Director, Joel Hamernick, blogged about this week. Click HERE to view his blog. (P.S. The link to his blog can be always be found on the right column of this blog linked as "Executive Note")

Some excellent pictures came out of the week as well. Check them out through the Flickr slideshow below!!!

Public Murals Speak to God's Grace in Woodlawn

March is Spring Break month! And, the start of a heightened Bridge Builders season at Sunshine. As you may well know, Bridge Builders is our short-term missions program designed to immerse college and adult participants from around the country in the urban context. The program engages participants in a multi-faceted agenda that address matters which affect the urban poor, examining the many passages in Scripture which speak to these matters. While the program emphasizes listening and learning about cross-cultural engagement in our country, participants also engage in service.

Each year we work hard to engage our Bridge Builders partners in effective community ministry. This can be challenging as effective work is genuinely beneficial to both the community as well as team members. This year our teams are working on an inspiring and extremely creative project: public murals!!! These murals are being designed by a local artist and will be actually painted and installed by our Bridge Builders participants. The installations will occur on our building, in a public location outside in our community, and in one of our partnering elementary schools.

Murals in the community can be a powerful way to reflect the image of God in contextualized manner. We expect the murals will be well received in the community, extending the long-term relationships between Sunshine and community residents while also portraying with clarity God’s grace and love. Stay tuned to see what transpires from these beautiful projects.

Willow Creek: Thousand Questions Video

For the last several years the Willow Creek Association (spawned through Willow Creek Community Church) has hosted the Leadership Summit. The annual conference has grown each year and is now hosted in 80+ satellite locations and attracting people for around the globe. The premise of the conference is that whether at church, school, business or home, so many of us are leading everyday. Leadership takes perseverance, dedication and a commitment to stretch your mind, expand your heart and use your God-given gifts to impact your world in real and powerful ways. And, it's important for diverse leadership to come together to be encouraged, to share best practices, and to be sharpened. The resources that come out of the Association have been beneficial to thousands of people, their teams, theirs congregations. Sunshine is no exception to that; we have benefited from the print, media, and conference resources.

The artistic genius that has flowed out of the Willow team and been expressed at these conferences has so often impressive and inspiring. One particular video came out of last year's Leadership Summit that particularly caught our attention and it's safe to say, the attention of many others.

You can see for yourself here on YouTube.



The questions that are asked in this video are honest, transparent ones that pull from the gut. They are humble us. We show this video to our Bridge Builders teams. The video is a important place to start for to dismiss the fatigue, the doubt, even the cynicism in our hearts when it comes to our individual role in missions is shortsighted and, in end, unproductive.

What are your thoughts after watching the video? Did it resonate with you?

The next Leadership Summit is scheduled for August6-7, 2009. You can register here.