Category: Mission News

Thank you to Quail Springs Church of Christ for choosing us as their Sharefest site again this year. As our four-unit apartment nears completion, the group came to apply some good ol’ cleaning inside and out . We’re talking major cleaning, as you can see from the pictures! Thank you to all who gave up a Saturday to do what would have taken us weeks.

Thank you to all the contractors who offered their expertise, our generous donors that purchased the property, the Butterfield Foundation grants, all the countless volunteer hours, and especially Rob for heading the giant task of completion. We will be posting final walk through pictures very soon!

We had a lot of fun today handing out 400 food boxes. The most important thing handed out today was a smile, hug, and prayer. More pictures to come! A big thank you to Feed The Children.

On Tuesday, April 12th at 9:00 am we (and hopefully you) at Cross & Crown Mission will be distributing boxes of food and personal care items to 400 families. We are excited about this opportunity to team up with Feed the Children in a program called, “Americans Feeding Americans.” Click Here

We are in great need of volunteers for this event and are looking to get anywhere from 50-75 individuals to commit their time and energy.

Here is a list of a few other things that we are looking to get our hands on for this 3-4 hour event…

* t-shirts! Because this event will involve several hundred individuals we would like to be able to identify those who are helping. So, we figured either everyone that is helping should wear the same shirt or everyone helping wear no shirt. Shirts won.

* pallet jack & fork lift. Pretty self explanatory. There will be a bunch of food on pallets and so we need something to lift and move the pallets. We don’t have one. We want one. Do you have one?

*YOU! Again, we need 50-75 bodies to make this thing happen. On any given day at Cross & Crown we have somewhere between 15-20 volunteers. We need more than double this amount in order to make this thing happen.

We are, also, very excited about this event because it will take place in the parking lot of our newly acquired building at 1900 NW10th, the old Whittier school building. We are excited about this opportunity to meet and begin relationship with many new families in the neighborhood.

If you are interested in being apart of this effort in any form whether it be t-shirts, materials or your services please call 232-7696 and leave a message for Paul.

Luke

We are excited to see our sign go up at the Whittier school on NW 10th and McKinley. This school building not only increases our space, but it strengthens our influence in the neighborhood.

Please pray that God would use this opportunity to further His Kingdom.

We need 50 volunteers on Tuesday, April 12th at 9:00 am to help us distribute food to 400 families. We are partnering with Feed The Children and the Americans Feeding Americans program.

The event will be outside in the parking lot of our new Whittier school building. Please RSVP to 232-7696, leave Paul a message. This will be an event you won’t want to miss!

We also are in need of a pallet jack and forklift for the event. Please let us know how you would like to participate.

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!

Mission closed Wednesday, February 9th, due to inclement weather.

“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

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.