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.

A Summer Blast Update

We’ve finished up our first week of Summer Blast. We we’re averaging right around 30 kids last week, but some have started this week, so our numbers were up a little today. If everybody shows up, we should have our 50. Overall, the program has been running very well. All of our summer staff have stepped up and taken ownership of their stations and responsibilities, and have done a great job with that.

Our theme for the summer is “One Way,” taken from John 14:6. We’ve covered that Jesus is the only way to salvation, and that we need to be bringing others to Christ by telling them about Jesus’ love for them. Over the next few weeks, we’ll cover the one way to live, one way to love, one way to serve, etc. The kids are really enjoying each station, and are excited about Bible time as well.

Please pray that they will continue to grow in their knowledge of the Gospel, especially those who are new to Sunshine. About half of the kids are new to Sunshine, so praise God for that! Pray that we will be able to build relationships with them and their families and be able to plug them in to other programs in the fall.

A Warrior Team Update

We have recruited a group of young men from the greater Woodlawn area to be a part of the Miracle League basketball league. The League is an intense, competitive six-week summer program, promoting teamwork and healthy competition among it's teens.

Dave Clark, our City Team leader, is one of the team's coaches and below he gives us an update on the season so far....

We are just over the mid-season mark for the Miracle League Season. At this point the Sunshine Warriors are 3 and 4. Other than one lop-sided victory that we had, every game this season has been close. We once again started the season with a full roster of 13 players. However, various circumstances have once again trimmed our roster to the “Faithful 8.” This has posed challenges, losing a 6’5” shot blocker and low-post threat, a 5’9” 3 point “gun-slinger”, and some additional bench support. However, our remaining 8 leave us with a scrappy and determined 6-foot and under bunch. For 5 of the guys this is their 4th summer playing with us in the League.

We have 4 regular season games remaining, followed by a post-season tournament on Friday July 17th and Saturday July 18th. I am confident that if we are playing together and playing hard, we can make a run at the championship.

It has been great to have Pastor Brad helping as an assistant coach and driving an additional van to our games. Pastor Brown has also been gracious to us in allowing us to use First Baptist’s vintage gymnasium for all of our practices.

We have had some really good devotional talks with our guys. They are asking really good questions, wrestling with the gospel, thinking on who Christ is. I am encouraged especially by 2-3 of the guys who show evidence of growth and spiritual maturity developing. Please continue to pray with me for the team – that eyes would be opened to the gospel and that fruit would continue to grow.

Dumas Mural Installation

From Brian Wongkamalasai, Bridge Builder coordinator...I am excited to announce that one of the three major mural projects that Bridge Builders' groups will be working this year is 100% complete and in its permanent location. This installation is in partnership with a local elementary school, Dumas Tech. They are located here in the Woodlawn neighborhood on 67th Street. The mural is our first step towards a productive future. Bridge Builder teams painted and then hung the mural with direction from our local muralist Dammon Reed. It depicts African Americans using advanced forms of technology. A cameo appearance of President Obama and his Blackberry is something to look for… The mural is our first step with the school is a productive, mutually-beneficial community engagement. Bridge Builder teams painted and then, hung the mural in the school with direction from our local muralist Dammon Reed.

The mural is a great fit for the recently re-opened, re-organized technology-centric school. This particular mural depicts African-Americans employing various forms of advanced technology, placed in the school to motivate and inspire students. A cameo appearance of President Obama and his Blackberry is something to look for…

WBEZ Special Report: 50/50

WBEZ - Chicago Public Radio recently put forth a special report entitled "Fifty-Fifty: the Odds of Graduating", shining a spotlight on the fact that only half of those who enroll freshman year at Chicago public high school will end up graduating. For the special report, WBEZ reporters took to the halls of Chicago's south side Robeson High, following a handful of students to get an inside glimpse at what causes students to stay the course and what obstacles challenge their completion.

Click Here to go directly to the special report.

While Robeson lies in the Englewood neighbor just south and west of Sunshine, there are astounding statistical parallels between that school and the high schools in too many Chicago neighborhoods, Woodlawn included. You can visit Interactive Illinois Report Card to view the numbers yourself. Robeson currently enrolls 1,270 students and of those 6.9% meet or exceed PSAE standards in reading, 2.8% in math, and 2.4% in science. This is compared to the approximately 50% of students statewide that respectively meet these standards in all three categories. By comparison, at Dyett High School, which many of the students a part of Sunshine's programs attend, 5.7% meet PSAE reading requirements, 2.3% meet math requirements, and finally, 1.1% meet these same science requirements.

There is MUCH that can be said about the current achievement gap and the underlying challenges for teachers, administrators, parents and students. Nonetheless, current state and performance of far too many of our Chicago high schools is alarming and sad. We encourage you to check out WBEZ's special report to learn more about the challenges that are before our schools and those who are working to augment student's schoolwork.

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!!!

Top Urban Ministry Speakers, Websites, and Blogs

Last week UrbanMinistry.org presented its list of the most popular Urban Ministry and Social Justice speakers, websites, and blogs of 2008. View the list HERE. Each of the organizations and websites featured were national in scope. The statistics cover UrbanMinistry.org downloads, podcast downloads, and YouTube views for speakers as well as content provided by CCDA, AGRM, Kingdomworks, and Compassionworks. Christian website rankings are based on Alexa ranking, which is the most popular public website ranking tool. Blog statistics were compiled using Technorati authority. Many of the people and organizations featured are ones we at Sunshine follow closest and at times engage with in active dialogue.