A HUMBLING GENERATIONAL LOOP OF IMPACT - 120 YEARS OF SUNSHINE

In 2025, Sunshine Gospel Ministries celebrated 120 years of ministry. Across generations, we have witnessed God’s faithfulness in transforming lives through students who participated in programs, mentors and coaches who guided them, staff who led the work, and directors who stewarded the mission.

The generational impact of Sunshine continues to humble and inspire us to keep the torch shining. A few members of the Sunshine family recently reflected on how the ministry shaped their lives.

Shared 78-year-old Dale Lock, who first became involved with the ministry from 1966 to 1969 while a student at Emmaus Bible College.

During those years, Dale regularly served in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green Homes, leading youth clubs in the apartments and organizing outings on Friday nights. Summers were spent serving at Sun‑Chi‑Win Camp. In 1969, he moved into the mission as a youth worker.
One memory has stayed with him for more than five decades.

“While waiting for a bus to a Cubs game, four teenage boys thanked me for being their mentor and for simply being myself with them,” Dale recalled. “Fifty years later, one of those boys, now a worship leader, again thanked me for mentoring him. I will never forget that.”

Another memory from Dale’s early days in Chicago was visiting a young couple, Columbus Salley and Jackie Salley, shortly after they moved into their home.

“I remember Jackie holding their two-week-old baby, Christopher, in her arms,” Dale said. “Time moves on and my body grows weak, but my love for God, allowing me to have the Sunshine experience, still shines in my heart.”

Nearly six decades later, that same baby, Christopher Salley, shared his own Sunshine story during the Sunshine 120th Anniversary Gala on December 6, 2025.

“I am Christopher Salley,” he told the audience. “I was the two-week-old Dale mentioned.”

Christopher’s parents grew up in Cabrini-Green and became connected to Sunshine when the ministry was located at 604 N. Clark Street on Chicago’s Near North Side.

Christopher brought with him to the gala a Sunshine monthly publication from August 1964, mailed decades ago to Gwendetta Albright. The publication’s tagline read: “Ministering in Chicago’s Worst Half Mile.”

The cover featured a photo of Dale Howard alongside Christopher’s father, Columbus Salley, who helped direct the Sunshine summer camp. Christopher attended Sun-Chi-Win Camp every summer growing up, where both of his parents served as volunteers and leaders.

“I saw what the Kingdom of God is supposed to look like,” Christopher said. “Sunshine showed me what’s possible when people connect around a shared faith in Christ and His calling for our lives. I will always be grateful.”

In a remarkable full-circle moment, Christopher continues to be part of the Sunshine family today as the husband of Kimberly Salley, the current Executive Director of Sunshine Gospel Ministries.

The 60-year-old publication Christopher held that night also connected the audience to another chapter of Sunshine’s story: 82-year-old Gwendetta Albright, who first attended the ministry as a child.

“When we went to camp, we traveled by train,” Gwendetta remembered with a smile. “My mother would take us downtown, and after about nine hours we arrived at camp where we went hiking, swimming, fishing, and bowling.”

One mentor left a lasting impression.

“I remember a woman named Dorothy Ferrett. We called her Dotty. She was wonderful.”
As a teenager, Gwendetta returned to camp not just as a participant but as a junior leader, eventually becoming the director of the girls in grades 6 - 8.

“I’m still in touch with some of the people from those days,” she said. “They mean so much to me.”

For people like Christopher, Sun-Chi-Win Camp was a place of deep formation - where faith, character, and calling began to take root. For Gwendetta, it became a place to grow into leadership and give back. And for many others, Sunshine has ignited a lifelong calling.
David Dillon, a faithful partner of the ministry for 25 consecutive years and a former Sunshine board member, shared how the ministry influenced his own family.

“I first learned about Sunshine in the early 1980s through a friend,” David said. “Eventually, I served on the board for seven years. Michelle and I deeply believe in organizations that are rooted in the community, serving the community, and Sunshine has been doing that for generations.”

Later, David discovered something remarkable about his own family history.
“My father told me that when he was 12 years old, an executive director from Sunshine came to speak in his hometown in Michigan. That day, he decided he wanted to become a full-time minister.”

David’s parents would later serve as missionaries to Japan for 30 years.

“I didn’t know any of this while I was serving on the Sunshine board,” David said. “But Sunshine had already played a significant role in my father’s life, and eventually in mine.”

Stories like these reflect the extraordinary way Sunshine continues to connect and transform generations.

What began in 1905 as a small mission to serve single mothers, launched by Moody Church on Chicago’s North Side, has grown into a ministry serving the whole family. Today, Sunshine Gospel Ministries continues to pursue the renewal of the city through discipleship, mercy, and justice.

For 120 years, God has been writing a story of transformation, one life, one family, and one generation at a time.