Mr. and Mrs. Ortega tied the knot today in a beautiful wedding officiated by Paul. Many friends and family celebrated the union, including family in Mexico joining us on Skype. It was a very beautiful event for the whole community!
Author: mission staff
Mission Closed Today
Mission closed Wednesday, February 9th, due to inclement weather.
Isaiah 61:4 In Action
“They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” – Isaiah 61:4
As of January 25, 2011 Cross and Crown Mission is now the proud owner of the old Whittier Elementary School building located at 1900 NW10. It is a three story building with long hallways, big rooms and lots of space (basketball courts require a lot of space, hmmmm).
To the right you can check out some very unprofessional, blurry pictures taken by myself with my camera phone. Paul closed on the building at 3:00 Tuesday afternoon and as soon as Ron and I got word of the news we quickly rounded up the Rock Island kids that wanted to check it out.
Most of the kids were excited to browse through the building because it has a old, vacant, haunted house feel to it. I can’t blame them. It’s old. It’s rough. It has a lot….a lot of work to be done. As you can see from some of the pictures, we, along with the help of many partnering churches and individuals, have a lot of work to do.
There have been several individuals and, undoubtedly, will be more who will ask, suggest and question whether or not this building is worth the time, energy and investment to restore. And, I can’t blame them. That’s the same thing I, along with countless others, thought when the original, founding group laid eyes on the building that is now Cross and Crown.
Something I have learned during my time at Cross and Crown/Rock Island is that God has a special interest in restoring and transforming. In the Old Testament God restores people (Saul/Paul), nations (Israel) and even buildings (the Temple).
I happen to believe that God is still in the business of restoration. I’ve seen individuals restored from addictions and in relationships with others. I’ve seen homes and buildings restored and transformed through Christ-followers, his hands and feet, from this very neighborhood.
I would love for this building to be restored and completed in the next couple months. I would love for 400 people to come at the snap of a finger with cars full of money, shovels, paint, brooms and other tools to knock this project out asap. I also know that God’s faithfulness and timing never fails. His word is good. And, because I know this, I know that I, that we, might have to wait.
“LORD, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.” – Psalm 38:15
“Since ancient times no one has heard,no ear has perceived,no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” – Isaiah 64:4
But, until then, we will be doing the best we can to recruit professionals, located supplies and find bodies that want to get dirty. If interested or curious as to how you can help in any way you can contact us in one of the following ways…..
Phone – (405) 232-7696
or…
Email – crossandcrownmission@gmail.com
or…
leave a comment and/or contact information in the comment section of this blog.
Luke
Super Sunday Night Canceled Due To Weather
Due to road conditions surrounding the mission and the potential for more snow in the forecast, all activities for Sunday night, February 6th have been canceled. Please use this opportunity to throw your own neighborhood party and enjoy the Super Bowl with family and friends. Stay warm!
Closed 2/2/11
All activities will be closed Wednesday due to inclement weather. Please pray for our homeless friends and families without reliable heat that are dealing with this weather.
Panera Family Night
Join us at Panera Bread on 15th and Bryant in Spring Creek Shopping Center in Edmond, Oklahoma on February 10, 2011 between 5:00 and 8:00pm. Ten percent of these proceeds will go to the mission. Be sure and let the cashier know that you are supporting Cross And Crown.
Long Time No C
C”, as in, Cory.
We haven’t seen this kid, now young man, in close to 3 or 4 years. Last time we saw him was when he and his family still lived across the street and a few doors down from Cross and Crown.
A lot has changed since the last time we saw Cory, both physically and maturity wise.
He has matured from the pesky, undersized, skate boarding, problem child we once knew to a nice looking, mild mannered, respectful, still skate boarding, young man.
Cory now lives in Missouri with the rest of his family but made it back to OKC for a couple weeks to spend some time with his long distance best friend who still lives in the neighborhood.
Cory initially planned to spend a couple weeks in the city over Christmas break but after a significant miscommunication between he and some of his extended family has been stranded here in the city.
Because Cory had some extra time on his hands while in the neighborhood we were privileged to visit with him several times. We talked about future goals, school (and how missing 2 weeks of school or more could definitely affect those goals), family and decision making.
There are two major realizations/confirmations I walked away with during our extended time with Cory.
First, I am genuinely optimistic for Cory. Even though Cory has a lot stacked against him and has some tough circumstances; he seems to be rising above those circumstances and staying, for the most part, on a straight path.
Second, after talking with Cory about both past and present we both laughed when we verbally confirmed that Cory is the only individual that I have baptized both spiritually and toilet-ually.
It’s a long story, but, basically, back in the day Cory got a little carried away one day at Rock Island and when he got upset he ended up throwing nacho cheese all over Rock Island. Whenever I confronted him to clean it up he then responded by throwing the nacho cheese on me while cursedly refusing to clean up the rest. I then did what any good, Christ-like mentor, parental or fatherly figure would do and physically grabbed him and dumped his head and face in the toilet.
The old is gone and the new has come, right? Not exactly how it worked. But, if I remember correctly, he did clean up the nacho cheese after he dried his head off…
Anyways, Cory informed us this past Sunday that he had worked out a plan with his aunt who lives nearby to get him back home to Mizzouri.
So, until next time, Cory, we pray the best for you and anxiously await the next time you return to the neighborhood. We love you and God bless.
Luke
Special Year
It’s Sunday night, January 9th, & I am here, at our evening services at Cross & Crown. A brand new year. The word that keeps coming back to me over & over is faithfulness.
The faithfulness of the Shelton group, & so many others, for 10 years, to not only lead worship once a month, but to bring food & serve everyone from our community who comes to eat.
There are Roy & Louella…Clyde & Judy…Barbara…Jorge & Olga…Socorro…& so many more neighbors…friends from our community whom we met 10 years ago when we first opened…who call us their family, & are faithful to worship with us so regularly.
Roma, who has led our food pantry for 10 years, who will not stay away no matter what the weather may bring.
Luke, who was just a teenage summer intern when we opened 10 years ago, sits with his wife…& Ron, who along with Luke, is making a big difference in the lives of the youth in our community…changing our world!
And countless more friends, staff members, volunteers & those of you who donate regularly, who have FAITHFULLY been a part of the mission for 10 years. But, most importantly, I see the faithfulness of our God…who has blessed this place…this work…this community…this mission…for 10 years. What a special year 2011 will be!
“For the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach 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 gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Isaiah 61
Kathy
Spring Schedule
Below is a copy of our youth schedule this semester. We need volunteers who want to play games, cook in the kitchen, tutor, and talk with students. We encourage volunteers to pick one time a week and commit to a full semester. If you have any questions, please email Luke or Ron.
Monday
8:00 am MS Breakfast & Ride To School
2:45 pm MS/HS Hangout
Tuesday
8:00 am MS Breakfast/Life Skills & Ride To School *
2:45 pm HS Life Skills & Hangout *
Wednesday
8:00 am MS Breakfast & Ride To School
12:30 pm Astec Student Lunch 23rd and Penn *
3:30 pm Elementary Hangout
Thursday
8:00 am MS Breakfast & Ride To School
Sunday
3:30 pm MS/HS Hangout
6:00 pm Family Meal & Worship
* devotional times
A Month Of Mouths
As we embark on a new year, it seems appropriate to build this year’s dreams upon the foundations laid in year’s past. With the youth at Cross and Crown, Luke and I have done just that. We each thought and prayed over the holidays and have come back eager to share our ideas with each other. As we surveyed what each week looked like with youth in 2010, we have found some great things that will remain and some areas we’d like to see more growth and improvement. These factors have helped tweak our weekly schedule a bit.
The main question we ask is, “What do we see God blessing?” An area of very apparent growth is in our middle school kids, particularly students at Astec Charter School. Just by shear number and regular attendance, they have come on radar as a group ready for a more intentional life skills and spiritual development time. So for the Spring semester we are going to target these kids with an added lunch devotional time at a fast food place near campus on Wednesdays. What better way to hook a teenager than using free lunch as bait!
Here’s where you come in. If we break the financial calculator out, it doesn’t take hitting the plus sign too many times to know that we need your financial partnership. We are seeking individuals or groups that would like to adopt a Month of Mouths and become the mother bird providing food for the nest. We are starting out with a goal of $60 a week. To sponsor a Month of Mouths would then take $240 dollars. We will be running this devotional lunch January-May. We need 5 sponsors to adopt a month to make this dream reality. This is a very significant opportunity to directly impact 10 students for 5 months!
If you would like more information, or would like to know how to donate, please contact either Luke or Ron by clicking the staff page and emailing us. Over the next few days, we are going to share 3 or 4 immediate opportunities, just like this one, to become either financially or physically involved with our youth this semester. So keep checking back in.
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