Category: Mission News

⁹“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

¹¹“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:9-13  NIV

Sunday, September 13th, marks the beginning of our Sunday nights again. Everyone at the mission is eager to get back in the swing of things. It is such a huge blesssing and honor to worship with families that we partner with in the community.

For those of you not familiar with our Sunday nights, here is the schedule. Our youth ministry, Rock Island, will begin at 4:00 by having a study hall time for elementary through high school. This is an opportunity for  tutoring for kids who may need help with a homework page or just procrastinated until Sunday. These kids are at risk of not turning in that important paper on Monday. Thank you to Ann, David, and Mary for being our first volunteers who’ve committed to consistently helping.

Then. at 6:00 we all come together for a family meal. Delicious meals are lovingly prepared by small groups from several churches in the metro. After our meal come the most important component of the evening, worship. Different worship teams lead us in a time of worship, prayer, teaching, and communion.

Following worship, the youth department is seeking volunteers who would like to expand the relationship they are building during the tutoring time. We envision some really strong friendships sprouting into more than just homework help. Our hope is that families or individuals would take their “favorite” kid to Braums! From there a friendship can blossom that will change a child’s life forever.

If you are returning or coming for the first time, welcome to our Sunday night family!

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker”
Psalms 95:6

This is a picture I was able to take of our friend, “Oakland”, at Cross and Crown Wednesday. I wrote a blog about him several posts back. He calls us his “kinfolk” and swears that my dad is his brother, that I am Danny Ainge and that my brother is Chauncy Billups. We love him and he loves us. He knows the streets better than most, but more importantly, He knows Christ.

Go to the people

Live among them

Learn from them

Love them

Start with what they know

Build on what they have:

But of the best leaders

When their task is done

The people will remark

“We have done it ourselves.”

(John Perkins 1995)

It’s the first of August which means for those of us at Cross and Crown the annual school store was back in session. Every August, generally about 2 weeks before school starts, Cross and Crown distributes backpacks, pencils, rulers, paper, highlighters and everything else a student might need for the school year. We, as well as the families that came to receive backpacks, were pleasantly surprised to be blessed with some unexpected items to go along with the backpacks this year. A couple days before families came to get their backpacks, we were also given of hundreds of canned drinks, potato chips, cleaning wipes, stuffed animals and crocs.

School store is one of the most enjoyable weeks of the year at Cross and Crown. We, along with many volunteers, take a break from the more traditional setup that happens throughout most weeks and focus solely on the school store.