What's the Basis?

Here at Sunshine we are passionate about the poor. Throughout the years, our staff has worked with city, rural, and suburban churches as well as collegiate populations across the country. In our interactions we have often found Christians, albeit admittedly, feeling unsure about how to talk with and serve the poor, sometimes even the economically marginalized in their own neighborhood. Lacking clarity as to the practical outflowing of a Christ-centered perspective on the poor, we have seen well-meaning individuals struggle in their response to the poor or even decide not to respond out of fear.

Seeing the need for a proper, Biblical understanding and a renewed discussion about the poor in our midst, Sunshine has restarted its effort to create an intentional learning experience for college students across the nation regarding issues such as poverty, race, and institution injustice. Our former outreach, Compassion by Command, was the seedbed for today's Bridge Builder program. We believe the program's new name better expresses the founding premise of this week-long urban experience -- that as believers in Jesus Christ, we are to find ways to bridge gaps in economic, social, and educational divdes.

The goal of Bridge Builders is for participants to have an experience for themselves whereby they see the Gospel bridge racial, economic, and geographic divisions with their own eyes. To this end, a week with Bridge Builders includes teaching derived from Campus Crusade's "Here's Life Inner City" training and Breakthrough Ministries' B.U.I.L.D. curriculm. Through workshop-style training, Bible study, media presentations, service, ministry site visits, and prayer, participants are encouraged to listen as God expresses His heart for the poor.

Listening, learning, and serving are the disciplines fostered in our training.

Listen: As God expresses His heart for the poor through Scripture

Participants will spend substantial time listening to the stories of people, some of which are in Scripture, others told through media, and still others encountered sitting on the side of the road or on an old park bench. Most of them are the urban poor!

Learn: How to Biblically respond to the poor

Bridge Builders offers an opportunity to intentionally, proactively, refreshingly, and interactively learn about how God thinks of the poor. Together as a group we reflect on how those in privilege can learn from the poor and about what part of the body of Christ the poor supply.

Serve: Experience first-hand the blessing of effectively reaching out

Having listened and learned, participants perform service through a variety of projects with a handful of different ministries across the city - ministries that are also reaching out to urban populations.

We want to embolden YOU to join with those in the city to promote change in your community as well as strengthen your individual relationship with the Lord!