A Bit About SonShine Society

Almost unnoticed in the flood of Christian ministries today is a small company of men and women quietly involved in the Nursing Homes and Care Centers of our land as ambassadors for our Lord Jesus Christ and witnesses of His love and saving grace. It is projected that unless God intervenes over 50 million of the people now living in the U.S. will spend their last days in a care facility of some kind. Faced with these staggering numbers, the Christian church is becoming increasingly aware of both the opportunity and obligation of Nursing Home/Care Center Ministry. If we are to dream of an outreach to the “four corners of the earth” we must not and cannot neglect our very own at our very door in their hour of greatest need.

Once serving as a hub and a voice for many of the Christians now involved in this ministry was The SonShine Society of Lynnwood, Washington. The purpose of the society was to alert the Christian church to the needs and opportunities for Christian service in these facilities and to assist with motivation, training helps and materials.

Since its inception in 1973 thru 2020, the society had made a significant contribution to the lives of untold thousands of Residents. All materials offered by the society and were found on this website were prepared both in structure and content for the Nursing Home Resident.

Serving as the “tie-that-binds” the loose-knit Society together was the “Bits of SonShine” newsletter, an attractive labor-of-love publication, published quarterly each year, specifically for those with an interest in and a burden for Christian Nursing Home Ministry. It contained items and stories to inform and inspire and a “mailbox” page featuring anecdotes, ideas, poems, etc, from readers and fellow-workers. Subscriptions to “Bits” were free.

The SonShine Society was a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It was governed (under God) by a board of directors and a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. Board members and officers served without pay. The only paid help in the Society was secretarial and printshop; all other work was volunteer.

Many men and women—past, present and undoubtedly in the future­–have, do and will minister in Nursing Homes/Care Centers, and do it effectively without being under the “SonShine” banner. But, the Society had given direction, voice, continuity and effectiveness in this “harvest field.”

Is Nursing Home Ministry effective… fruitful… life-changing? The answer from thousands would be an emphatic, “YES!” Most Nursing Home/Care Center Residents have had to reduce life’s material possessions to what fits into three dresser drawers. Sometimes this happens in just a matter of days. They now know what “temporal” means and are ready to listen to things “eternal.”

There is a harvest field in the Nursing Homes/Care Centers of our land, and … it is WHITE! (As understood in Scripture. See John 4:35)