Guess Who Is Back...Back Again...

This e-mail just came in today from our youth outreach, city team leader, Dave Clark. We thought we'd share it with you....

Guys,

Yesterday was a VERY long day behind the wheel, but I made it home late evening last night. It was a great trip. The guys did extremely. We had some very interactive devotional times together and focused on the concept of faith - Hebrews 11. All the guys made it to the top of Mount Sacajawea, overcoming fears and thoughts of "this is crazy!" They had a great attitude about coming in Yellowstone and even better attitudes about doing a 6-mile hike to Fairy Falls and Victory Geyser - both very beautiful sights. One of the most stretching aspects, for some of the guys was the relational one, meeting so many new people. Justin and Jason both testified to how stretching this was, but how they really enjoyed it. All of our guys loved our host (Scot Smith - of Bridge Builders' fame), and were all sure to get his phone number and address. He was very moved by the week as well; he shared with tears in his eyes and a limp in his throat on Sunday morning. I will blog more about this trip later on and its impact on me as well.





Quick Warrior update....After we "shocked the world" with our first victory (37-35) on Tuesday, July 22nd, we entered the tournament on Saturday (July 26th) as a "dark horse favorite". In other words, nobody wanted to play the "buzzsaw", also known as the Sunshine Warriors. :-) Due to some family travel and other circumstance, we entered Saturday morning's tournament with only 6 players - 5 sophomores and 1 senior - all under 5'11". However, we overcame out limited numbers and limited size with tenacious, ball-swarming defense (oh, Dave!!!) and fast-paced, "basket-attacking" offense. We outplayed Judson Baptist the entire game. Unfortunately, though, we ended up tied at the end of regulation. In overtime, we seemed to run out of steam and Judson pulled away.

Next up...Uptown Baptist, a team we should have defeated during the regular season. I wanted this one badly, and so did the guys. We again outplayed them and outhustled them the entire games, pulling away with the 6-point victory!

Next up... South Shore United Methodist. After playing two Baptist teams earlier in the day, it was nice to go head to head with "the Methodists from South Shore". It was evident in the early minutes (this being our third game of the day) that the Warriors were running out of fumes. We admit, we played sloppily and just couldn't seem to get anything going right. We kept the game close, but they pulled away in the closing minutes. The guys felt good about their effort in the tournament...and so did their coach.

After the game we took our annual trip to Bacci's Pizza for Chicago's biggest pizza slice. We talked about competing in Breakthrough's Spring league. The Warriors will be back!

Please keep praying with me that the guys on the team, who don't know Christ, would come to know Him.

I look forward to catching up with everybody tomorrow. Right now, I'm getting caught up on some laundry, some reading, and just enjoying not being in a van.

D.C.

What Creates "Radicals"? : A Reflection Prompted by Our Break-in

We had another break on Thursday morning about 5:30 a.m.

As the governor noted publicly yesterday, over the past 2 weeks we’ve had almost 1 child per day killed in the city. On Tuesday our BB team was on a public bus and someone screamed “get out, he has a knife” and half the bus emptied. . . . Then this morning our building was burglarized again — for about the 6th or 7th time this year.

While there has been a lot of violence city wide, we are fortunate to have experienced relatively minor damage (a few broken windows, some missing TV’s and a computer, a few somewhat alarmed teens). Each week when we have missions teams teams here we wrestle with what Luke 6:30 really means.

“give to whomever begs from you, and for the one who takes away your goods, do not demand
them back. . . . .love your enemy”.

Over the past several months I have been wondering about how Christians that work in distressed urban contexts become “radicals”. When the names and words of people like Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger break out into the open they appear to be nuts to the “average” American. Crazy. Radicals. Now I am not trying to equate what we do with them but just want to make these three observations:

1. The people in their communities love them.
2. These radicals are seriously moved by the word of God.
3. They don’t look that crazy from here.


Further, I think that if the “average” American Christian heard the conversations that go on at Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference and other gatherings of Christians who work in urban contexts they would be perceived as “radical”. My own pastor, who is regularly heard on mainstream Christian radio, uses different terminology and descriptions when preaching in our church than when he is invited to preach at places like Bible colleges. Christians in the developing world are also notoriously perceived as radical in their faith by US evangelicals.

So what is it that creates these radicals? Is it the context of injustice, violence and marginalization? Perhaps. But more than that I think it is the word of God. If you give the words of Christ to people in desperate settings. . . The word radicalizes. Common sense would never suggest always giving to beggars, letting the thief get away, or staying even temporarily in harms way — let alone loving those who hate you.

These are challenging lessons requiring patient reflection, prayer, faith in God, and even a sense of humor. Please pray that we’d have all of these. Thanks for standing with me as we seek the renewal of the city through the power of the gospel preached and lived out.

Joel.

This post is also on the Executive Note.

Summer Blast Proves To Be ... A Blast!!!

Today is the last day of our Summer Blast day camp. (Next week - Sunday through Friday - the 52 Summer Blast kids will be going to Sunshine Cove in Michigan for a week of residential camp.) It has been so fun to get to these kids and their little (okay, sometimes their big) personalities. They never cease to make us smile and laugh.

Each Friday we've taken them on a field trip. A few weeks ago the trip was to the Lincoln Park Zoo...


Then, last week they took at trip to the 63rd Street Beach (one the Chicago's hidden gems)...


As I write, the kids are at the water park.

- Lauren Dillon, Communications Coordinator

The Pictures Are In!

Despite the torrential downpour, our Summer Open House moved forward. As it is with any of our events, our prayer in that those who attend will walk away inspired and feel like they have a better grasp on the ministry work of Sunshine.

Pictures of the event have been posted!Check them out at Flickr. Click Here. Who knows? There may be a picture of you!

The Wounds of a Witness

As winter frosts subsided and the sun began making a greater appearance causing folks to come out of doors, Chicago experienced a spree of violence that left nearly 35 people injured or killed by violence. There is one group of people, however, that don't receive much media attention when these violent incidents are broadcast. These people are the witnesses. Estimates state that 25% of students witness a shooting and 30% a stabbing!

The latest edition of Streetlight - our snail mail newsletter - featured an article by Deborah Shelton at the Chicago Tribune. In her article, Shelton chose to highlight these witnesses who suffer "invisible wounds" because of the violence they've seen.

Click Here to read her article.

Invisible wounds are a significant reality of our work. As we grow in our awareness of its significance, we are also increasingly aware that we are living witnesses of a God powerful and eager to comfort and heal deep, unspoken grief.

Making Right Choices - Nikki's Reflection on the UYWI Conference

This was my first year at the UYWI conference (the promo video is posted below) and I have to admit I went into it with my “bucket” empty, but ready and prepared for it to be filled with the tools that would challenge me in my walk and the ministry I know God has called me to.

The workshop that most challenged was called “When Consequences Are Not Enough: Helping Kids Make Right Choices”. In this workshop the speaker, Jeffrey DeLeon, discussed the issue of how kids (both urban and suburban) don’t think about the consequences or care about the consequences of the choices they make. DeLeon suggested that this issue, which is prevalent among too many American youth, comes from four things: 1) They live in an anti-consequences culture. In society today few people allow youth to experience consequences. 2) Short term vs. long-term effect. Kids too often focus only on the immediate consequences. They aren’t thinking of how the choice they make today can affect them for the rest of their lives. 3) Lack of experience. Kids tend to trust their limited experience more than facts. They aren’t aware, intentionally or unintentionally, of what happens when a bad choice is made. 4) Overprotective parents. I know it can be easy to blame parents for a lot of things that are really are to be blamed on the kids themselves; nevertheless, instead of allowing their kids to face consequences parents too often defend their kids for the actions they have made.

How do we get kids who don’t care about consequences to become bold in Christ as opposed to being bold in sin? One way we do this at Sunshine is through small group discipleship. One group that I’m excited about is a group of 11-12 year old girls. With the help of two other women, I will be leading a Bible study this summer, focused on helping them develop a vision for the future and make right decisions based on that vision. Through teaching the Word and living out the Word's precepts alongside our youth, we hope to help them see the world as Christ sees it, and to see themselves as He sees them. Instead of worrying about what other people think of them we want them to be focused on their identity in Christ. Hopefully, through this Bible study, the girls will continue forward making wise choices, stemming from their Christian convictions.

Thinking about Legacy: City Team Leader, Dave Clark, Reflects on UYWI Conference

The theme for this year's Urban Youth Workers Institute (UYWI) conference was "Living The Legacy." Each general session focused on a different element of legacy: legacy of faith, legacy people, legacy at-risk, legacy of love, and legacy unwritten. All of the messages were incredibly inspiring! The first two general messages reminded us of the hall of faith found in Hebrews Chapter 11 and which is described in the following chapter (Heb. 12:1) as the "great cloud of witnesses." We were exhorted to grab the baton passed to us from saints who have "run the race" before us - both the saints of the Old Testament (mentioned in Heb.11) as well as modern figures like Billy Graham, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Teresa. The emphasis of both sessions was on us - Christian urban youth workers - to be the next generation of leaders running with endurance. At the same time, we were also challenged to think about who we are passing the baton on to. The sessions left me intentionally thinking about the questions, "What legacy am I writing?" and "What legacy am I passing on?"

Needless to say, I've been thinking a lot about who I am passing the baton to. Lord willing, one day it is my desire to pass the baton of faith onto my biological sons. But, in addition to any of my biological children, it is also my desire and I believe, a huge part of my calling, to pass the baton of faith onto spiritual sons.

In 2 Timothy 2:1-2 Paul writes,

"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

Within the larger context Paul refers to a legacy of faith that passes through four generations: Paul >Timothy > faithful men > others.

I have been challenged that, as a follower of Christ, it's imperative that I take on a "legacy mindset." It is not optional; it is a mandate. Remember the words of Jesus, "Go and make disciples of all nations..." I flew back from the conference recharged with energy to continue the "race" and God has continued to powerfully speak to me through Hebrews 12:2.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
- Hebrews 12:2