Mission Trips

Sun Ministries is rewriting the book on urban ministry. We are setting a new paradigm that will impact the way the church lives and works in the USA. We are looking for like-minded people that feel called to minister in the most devastated and hurting areas of our country.

Sun Ministries is now booking mission trips for Summer 2017. We are working in the Hyde Park neighborhood of north St. Louis, MO, ministering in a way we call “Pastoring the Community.” We are creating businesses, rehabbing housing, and taking care of the neighborhood in a variety of ways. In addition to work projects, our mission trips will also include teaching and training on ministering in the inner city. Our missionaries will provide testimonies, songs, and stories, along with teaching on being the Church and walking in faith outside of buildings and structures. We are welcoming people who know the Lord and want to use their skills to rebuild the ancient ruins and their spiritual gifts to rebuild destroyed lives, as outlined in Isaiah 61:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”

The Details

We are booking groups for the following weeks:

May 21-27

June 4-10

June 18-24

July 16-27

August 6-12

Ages 18 and up are welcome. Due to space limitations and the nature of the work we'll be doing, children are not allowed. Volunteers do not need to be part of any sort of organization. All skill sets are welcome-- we have plenty of general labor, as well as projects for mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, artists, etc.

walking and talking. giving some context for the work.

Sun Ministries will house volunteers in our Leadership Center and provide meals through our Sun Cafe. Volunteers will arrive on Sunday, and dinner will be provided. We will provide 3 meals each day of the work week. Most days will be a mix of working and teaching, with free time scheduled in. Volunteers will leave Saturday, after breakfast. You are welcome to bring additional snacks and drinks (no alcohol).

Tools and safety gear will be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own safety gear (please leave your personal tools at home; we don't want them lost or damaged). Sturdy, closed-toe shoes are recommended. Come prepared to work outside in the heat (water bottles, hats, etc).

Costs

Sun Ministries will supply lodging and all meals for the trip.

Meals: $115 per person for food (total of 17 meals, and endless supplies of coffee)

Lodging: Lodging cost varies depending on how much personal space you want on your trip. We have several rooms in our Leadership Center and other options for lodging.

2 to a room - $75 per person

3 to a room - $60 per person

4 (or more) to a room - $50 per person

Sun Ministries might be hosting multiple groups and individuals in the same week. The largest single group we can accommodate is 12. The smallest is one (but the individual will share a room).

If you are interested, please contact Jason Calahan at 314-437-3861 or jason@sunministries.org

To learn more about Sun Ministries and our work, please look over our website and blog. You can also download our podcast, The ResistanceRadio Show.

Focus

We have talked a lot about vision in our blog. It is essential to what we do. It is the “why behind the what,” as some people have said. It establishes our core values and directs all our decisions. It affects everything from how we run a business to how we interact with the homeless guy on the street.

So it's very important for vision to be clear. So what happens when you lose focus? Does the vision get blurry?

Ask any one of us, and we will likely agree that this past year has been rough. Our businesses have suffered, our health has suffered, we've had attacks on property and have lost much of our staff. In the midst of all that, we are still trying to run 6 businesses and keep the lights on in the middle of one of the most desolate areas of our city.

God started trying to get our attention about 6 months ago. He generally begins with restlessness – with a sense that something isn't quite right. Initially, we usually chalk that up to a failure to perform. Maybe there's just too much chaos with our employees, maybe we didn't plan well enough, maybe we need to manage better, maybe we forgot too much. But God kept applying pressure. Business would not turn around. Our personal interactions involved more friction. Our worship gatherings became lifeless.

As we became more aware something was wrong, we became more willing to listen to God's direction. He began to tell us that we had lost our focus. At first, it was the focus on spiritual warfare. So He turned our eyes back to the real spiritual battle that we are in every day, and the fact that we must be engaging it with great intentionality. And not just on our own, but together as a Body, as a united group of soldiers following one Lord into battle.

Through this, God was able to turn our eyes to other concerns. We had tried to escape the burden of constant physical tasks. Which is absurd, since God called us to start businesses so we could work next to those in need of hope. So He started showing us how to manage better and how to minister better in a work environment. Then He showed us that we had lost our first love – the making of disciples.

All the work of Sun Ministries began with a call to go outside the structured American church and make disciples that make disciples; to obey the Great Commission and set captives free. But this wasn't a call to add members to a church. This was a call to obey our Lord Jesus Christ, to walk in the same manner He did, to disciple people because that is God's design of reproduction. That's how He wants His church to bring transformation to others. It is a very costly form of relationship, but one that also creates life-giving environments. This seems to be God's pattern. “Give up everything so I can give you life more abundant.” We often fail to see how all the things we hold on to are small, temporal, and meaningless. The holy things of God are immense, eternal, and full of real goodness. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Jesus will find it.

So what does disciple-making have to do with running a cafe in north city? Nothing, if your goal is to run a cafe in north city. But EVERYTHING if your goal is to bring any amount of lasting transformation. And this goes for anyone, whether they are a middle class college kid raised in the church, or a fifty-year-old homeless man who hasn't had a license in 15 years. God was intentional of His design for the church, and from the very beginning, Jesus was calling disciples. He then instructed His disciples to make disciples. And we see this play out in the midst of a church that was sharing all things, mourning and rejoicing together, and utilizing spiritual gifts together in order to build up the body in love.

Man has looked for many solutions to pain and evil. Conquest, Pax Romana, genocide, large-scale behavior modification, social welfare, education, fascism, socialism, communism, democracy, legislation, amendments, and a cornucopia of non-profit organizations. Though well-intentioned, these often disregard God's design for His creation. So what does this mean for us? Providing a job does not change a person's heart. Providing a space to live does not destroy the works of satan in their lives. Picking up trash, rehabbing houses, and publishing blogs does not transform areas long bound by oppression. And if you're just focused on trying to alleviate the chaos around you, you will do little to reform the church.

Discipleship is God's creation, His people, these little image bearers, taking the gifts they've been given and using them to help others come to know the Good Shepherd. It is laying down your life for your brother. Discipleship isn't a sunday school class, or a seminar, or weekend retreat. It is a way of life that unites you with others through the Spirit, and leads people to the goal of becoming Spirit-transformed followers of Christ.

Are you making a place for this in your life? Keep in mind that you are not meant to be alone. The Body needs to make a place for the “least of these”, to build each other up so that we can be united in the mission to make disciples and teach them what Christ has taught us.

As we move forward in 2017, we will be intentional to remain focused on the vision – to bring Good News to the afflicted, to share with them the good things the Father has given us, and to teach our disciples to obey Jesus and go and make disciples of their own.

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If you'd like to know more about making disciples, you can download our free book (or order a physical copy), “The Disciple-Maker's Handbook” here.