Go Love People

Lisa Adams is on a much deserved vacation this week, and I’m here to fill in.  Hi. I’m Nicole. I work as the Web Administrator here at Crossroads. I also volunteer with our High School Ministry. This year, I had the privilege of spending the year with a group of 12th grade girls who have added so much laughter and love to my life. We went from just meeting on Tuesdays to coffee dates to them showing up on my door step because they had nothing else to do. Our small group became like family. They left for college this week, and my heart is overflowing with love and excitement for them.

One thing you should know about me right away is that I’m a relationship person. I love being with people. It’s always surprising who God puts into my life and how they’ve shaped me in ways I can’t even begin to explain. Most of the time it’s people I would have never expected, in a time that is completely inconvenient. But, I love my people. They are a melting pot of ages, genders, and walks of life. They are a hilarious bunch that keeps me laughing and keeps me honest. I am so grateful for their time and love.

Much like God, or, rather, because of Him, we are also in the pursuit business. At the heart of everyone is the need to belong. To be loved. To be valued. We spend our lives looking for the people that bring out the best in us. The people with whom we can truly be ourselves, our people.Many of us are lucky enough to have it. Our people get us.  They know us. They see us. They’ve been there with us.  They’ve held our hands. They’ve helped us fix our broken cars, and broken hearts.  They’ve celebrated and cheered us on. They are the type of people we can’t get rid of because they’ve become a part us.  And, well, you just don’t want to take the chance that old prom pictures or videos from the 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s will end up on a Throw Back Thursday.  Am I right?

The truth is, though, that life with meaningful relationships is the way that we understand better what Jesus’ love for us looks like.  Author Shauna Niequist says, “When we do the hard, intimate work of friendship, we bring a little more of the divine into daily life.”  And how true is that? If we have people who love us even after we’ve hurt them or after we’ve told them all our junk, don’t we begin to see what unconditional love looks like, just a little?  When we let people know us, we get to see more of who Jesus is and how he pursues us.

There are people who don’t know love like that. They could be sitting next to you, or down the road, across the oceans or border. They, too, desperately want to be known, and seen and loved. We have an amazing call in our lives to be the people who love them. To be the people who were found and now are finding others. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

Serving is about relationships. It’s about that first step of saying “I see you,” and moving towards “I want to know you.” Whether we’re at a food shelf or tutoring a kid or if you’re in Mexico or Africa we are looking past the brokenness, past the dust, past the language barrier, and we are seeing people. People created in God’s image, fearfully and wonderfully made, who are just waiting to be seen and to be loved. When we serve, we are linking arms saying, “We’re in this together, friend, I will not let you down.”

Is there someone in your life who needs to be seen? Have you thought about reaching out to a child to give him a place to belong through adoption? Have you thought about a mission trip? Why not start taking steps now, to make those thoughts actions?

If you’re not sure where to start, I urge you to pray into those feelings and ask God to lead you…somewhere. I pray that you have the boldness and the bravery to go where He’s leading.  We’re also offering a Strengthening Families Roundtable on Sept 15, which will offer information on adoption and foster care. Also, there is an informational meeting about a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico in October, details here.

Who knows who you will meet and what that meeting will do in both of your lives, and how God will work in all of it to bring a little more of Heaven on earth. This weekend we are bringing ourPursued series to a close with a very special story about the Andersons’ pursuit of their daughter, and how it has changed all of them. You won’t want to miss it!

As Bob Goff says, “Just go love people”…now that’s an order I can get behind.

See you this weekend!

Nicole Case
Web Administrator  

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Soaking Up the Sun

I’m getting ready to head out on vacation on Saturday and I honestly can’t wait!   I’ll be taking the next 2 weeks to relax, sit lakeside, read a book or 2, and spend extra time with my boys before school starts.   This summer is coming to an end and I want to make sure that I take some time to soak up the sun before we are watching the twinkling of the snow.

Last weekend, A Touch of Home had their annual fundraiser and they raised over $2,000!  That money will be used to ship boxes to our trips over the next year. Thank you for being hungry!!  Their next packing opportunity is on Saturday, September 13^th at 9:30am at our Woodbury campus. They would love to have you join them.

This weekend we are in part 3of our 4 part series, Pursued.  The story this weekend comes from the staff member who is usually behind the camera, but this weekend, she shares a bit about her story of adoption.  Michelle is also responsible for connecting me to the young mom who lived with us for a brief time last year and, for that, I am so grateful. Our family was able to get to know and grow to love a young woman who was pregnant and help her transition into motherhood.  One of the biggest blessings from the last year for our family!   Michelle is fantastic and I’m glad you all will get to see that!

One last thing, I want to say THANK YOU to those of you who filled out the missions survey this past month!   Over 130 of you filled it out!   Now we begin the process of reading, analyzing, and putting the results in some sort of organized way of looking at it. For those of you who left email addresses, we plan on following up with you soon!

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 

Some next steps:

• On the evening of September 15^th we are hosting a Strengthening Families Roundtable at the Woodbury campus at 6:30pm.  It will be an evening to discuss adoption and foster care. Information will be shared regarding domestic and foreign adoption, foster care, foster-care-to-adoption, and ways that we can help families in crisis. You can register HERE.
•  The monthly GOment is a diaper drive that is benefiting Safe Families. Safe Families seeks to prevent abuse and neglect and come alongside parents in crisis by placing children in volunteer homes temporarily. Through a network of host families including singles, empty nesters, families with kids in the home, and even families with both parents working. Kids are being kept safe and being deflected from the foster care system. Meanwhile their parents are given tools and support to restore stability in their lives and ultimately are reunited with their children. We will be collecting diapers throughout the month of AUGUST to show our support to the families who are demonstrating hospitality and love by helping children and their families in crisis.  Diapers that are new and unopened will be accepted at the Woodbury and Cottage Grove campuses. Sizes 3 -5 are the most needed.
•  Serve His Kids  has set the dates for their fall trip to the orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico. The trip will run from Saturday October 11 to the 18^th. There are two informational meetings at the Washington County Library in Woodbury. Saturday August 16th from 10:00 AM to noon and Saturday September 27th from 10:00 AM to noon. The team will serve and share God’s love with the kids at the Pilar Orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico!  Kids, education, sports, crafts, work project and more ministries.  For more information contact Rick Ross –rickross400@msn.com; 651-442-8314.

Restoration

Over the past couple of years, God has been placing people in my life who have done some amazing things.  Now they wouldn’t say that they are amazing, but I don’t think that they see themselves the way that I do. They have sacrificed SO much. Their time, resources, energy, security. They have put their faith into action.  And when people see them, they see Jesus.  It’s impossible not to. Last week you met Daryl via video.  He’s smart, articulate, and thoughtful. He’s also incredibly brave. He shared his story of adoption and what it looked like to place a child up for adoption. If you missed it, you can watch it HERE.

This week, you will meet the Burrows. Robyn volunteers with the Cottage Grove campus and getting to hear her story of adopting has changed me. It changed the way I saw foster care and the way that God pursues us. If you need to see how love wins, this weekend will be the perfect time to witness how Jesus uses us to bring restoration to a fallen, broken world.

Sometimes we think of orphans as abandoned children in faraway lands.  It’s easier (not easy, but less hard) to think of orphans being so far away…it’s difficult and expensive to change their lives.  Most of us don’t have plans to travel hours in a plane to pursue a child that doesn’t even speak our language. But the truth is, we have orphans in each of our communities. Right here, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our churches there are kids who have been abandoned and given up on and are desperately looking to belong and be loved.  We don’t have orphanages and we don’t call them orphans. We have foster care and if you are abandoned you become a foster kid. That’s harder to accept because that means that God wants us, Crossroads, to be a part of the solution right here at home.   His desire is that we pursue those kids:

• Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of thefatherless, plead the case of the widow.
• Psalm 10:17-18 Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.  Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.
• James 1:27  Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
• John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Each of us has a role that God created us to fill.   My prayer is that you come away from this series know what your role is in caring for the orphans of the world; both in faraway lands and right next door.   

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 

Some next steps:

• On the evening of September 15^th we are hosting a Strengthening Families Roundtable at the Woodbury campus at 6:30pm.  It will be an evening to discuss adoption and foster care. Information will be shared regarding domestic and foreign adoption, foster care, foster-care-to-adoption, and ways that we can help families in crisis. You can register HERE.
•  The monthly GOment is a diaper drive that is benefiting Safe Families. Safe Families seeks to prevent abuse and neglect and come alongside parents in crisis by placing children in volunteer homes temporarily. Through a network of host families including singles, empty nesters, families with kids in the home, and even families with both parents working. Kids are being kept safe and being deflected from the foster care system. Meanwhile their parents are given tools and support to restore stability in their lives and ultimately are reunited with their children. We will be collecting diapers throughout the month of AUGUST to show our support to the families who are demonstrating hospitality and love by helping children and their families in crisis.  Diapers that are new and unopened will be accepted at the Woodbury and Cottage Grove campuses. Sizes 3 -5 are the most needed.
•  Serve His Kids  has set the dates for their fall trip to the orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico. The trip will run from Saturday October 11 to the 18^th. There are two informational meetings at the Washington County Library in Woodbury. Saturday August 16th from 10:00 AM to noon and Saturday September 27th from 10:00 AM to noon. The team will serve and share God’s love with the kids at the Pilar Orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico!  Kids, education, sports, crafts, work project and more ministries.  For more information contact Rick Ross –rickross400@msn.com; 651-442-8314.

The month of August brings lots of exciting things for me. For my family , it means that we rent a cabin at the end of each August and UNPLUG for a week.  It’s my favorite thing and I just love everything about it.  For work, it means most of our fall plans are getting locked in and we can begin working on the details of events and launches. I love getting ready for the return to church and school!  This weekend, the teaching team kicks off one of the most anticipated sermon series of the year for me, Pursued.  You will hear stories about people from Crossroads who have been impacted by adoption and God’s pursuit of them. They are simply incredible.  God’s love for us is beyond anything that we can understand.  But somehow adoption gives us a glimpse.

While preparing for this series, we all wanted to make sure that there were plenty of options for each of you to participate in some missions that were serving in the area of adoption/foster care/orphan care/crisis. (That’s really a mouthful!)

• On the evening of September 15^th we are hosting a Strengthening Families Roundtable at the Woodbury campus at 6:30pm.  We are hosting an evening to discuss adoption and foster care. Information will be shared regarding domestic and foreign adoption, foster care, foster-care-to-adoption, and ways that we can help families in crisis.  There will be a Q&A time for any questions you might have. Crossroads families who have experience in these areas will also be on hand for you to speak with them. You can register HERE.
• The monthly GOment is a diaper drive that is benefiting Safe Families.   Safe Families seeks to prevent abuse and neglect and come alongside parents in crisis by placing children in volunteer homes temporarily. Through a network of host families including singles, empty nesters, families with kids in the home, and even families with both parents working, kids are being kept safe and being deflected from the foster care system. Meanwhile their parents are given tools and support to restore stability in their lives and ultimately are reunited with their children. We will be collecting diapers throughout the month of AUGUST to show our support to the families who are demonstrating hospitality and love by helping children and their families in crisis.  Diapers that are new and unopened will be accepted at the Woodbury and Cottage Grove campuses.  Sizes 3 -5 are the most needed.
• Serve His Kids  has set the dates for their fall trip to the orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico. The trip corresponds with the MEA school break and will run from Saturday October 11 to the 18^th.  There are two informational / team meetings at the Washington County Library in Woodbury.   Saturday August 16th from 10:00 AM to noon and Saturday September 27th from 10:00 AM to noon. The team will serve and share God’s love with the kids at the Pilar Orphanage in Reynosa, Mexico!  Kids, education, sports, crafts, work project and more ministries.  For more information contact Rick Ross – rickross400@msn.com; 651-442-8314.

Hopefully you made it this far because that was a ton of details!   Before I sign off, I want to leave you a couple of the Bible verses that have been on my heart and mind in preparation for this sermon series.

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Psalm 82:3

He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses. Proverbs 28:27

Learn to do good: Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17

I am so excited to hear about how God pursues us and see how we will respond to the pursuit of others!

Happy August,

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 

Disqualifier

One year ago today, I was in Africa for the first time.  I say first, because it won’t be the last!  It was my first international mission trip and the first time I led a mission trip.  I find it exciting to just get everything out of the way all at once.  I’m brave like that.

Actually, brave was the last thing I was.  I was terrified to be away from my family and my life in Cottage Grove.  I was sure I was going to do something as the leader that would tick everyone off. I thought I would offend the people of Uganda by doing something stupid.  Fear, insecurity and generally thinking too much about myself almost had me talked out of going on this life changing trip. Thankfully, God is bigger than my junk and He continued to show me that I was supposed to go.

I hear from people all the time that they feel like they are supposed to do something, but they don’t know what. That they want to go on a trip, but they don’t feel qualified. They want to serve and volunteer, but just don’t have the time. Or know where to start.

Maybe that’s you.  And if it is, I want to encourage you.  I want to tell you that for every question, concern, or hurdle placed in front of you, God still wants you.  In fact, he wants nothing more than for you to love Him and others.

And if you are still feeling unqualified or unsure, let me tell you about some Bible passages that came alive to me in a new way while I was in Africa. I want to remind you of a man named Moses. I know you remember him floating down the Nile in a basket, telling Pharaoh about the plagues, and the small thing of parting the Red Sea. But I want you to remember that time that he heard God’s voice coming from a burning bush.

Here are some of Moses’ responses:

×           Exodus 3:11 “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh?”

×           Exodus 3:13 “Then what should I tell them?”

×           Exodus 4:1 “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me?”

×           Exodus 4:10  “O Lord, I’m not very good with words.”

×           Exodus 4:13 “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”

It’s a burning bush.   And God is actually speaking to him.  And Moses is disqualifying himself at every turn.  How often do you respond like Moses?   How often do you question how God made you and what He wants you to do?   While it might take some convincing, the most amazing things happen when you do what God asks you to do.

So let’s go be brave.  Let’s learn from Moses and get going on the mission that God has called us to!  If you have no idea where to start, let’s get coffee and talk about what sea you need to part.

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 

Encore

One of the things that I love about working at Crossroads is the way that our staff strengthen and challenge me.  I don’t know if any of you are introverts, but my guess is that some of you might be. And if you are, you know how terrifying and exhausting something like this is:

  

Getting up on stage and acting silly is super hard for this introvert!  But getting to laugh until your cheeks hurt is simply one of my favorite things.  We got to take something funny (and challenging for some of us) and turn it into something that reminded each us that we need to shoot for remarkable performances that leave people with wanting an encore.  Our work and what we do needs to be done with excellence and passion.

One of our staff did just that this past weekend.  Pastor Tina led a group of families on a mission trip to Growing Hope Farm in Wisconsin. I usually take this time to tell you about what they did or why we serve there, but this blog post, I want to share something different.   One of the men who work on the farm spent a lot of time with the families over the weekend and asked Tina this question:  “Are you all related?” Pastor Tina laughed and told him that they were not…it was a group of individual families from Crossroads that were serving together!  The group just went to church together.  He was surprised by her response and then said “ You can usually tell when you have groups of people who aren’t related and who are related.The families act like your group. Kind and helping each other.”

And I think that’s exactly what Jesus wants people to see in those of us who love and serve Him.   Not only a performance worthy of an encore, but a performance where we are known by our love.

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35

  

Over the River

Over the last couple of weeks, our Middle School and High School students have led the way in serving and volunteering during their mission trips to Minneapolis and Osceola!  Such a fantastic way to live out the Bible’s instructions to care for those who live in fear of violence and poverty. Our youth learned about the importance of food (by helping on the farm and providing produce for the Mobile Market) and the importance of relationships, fun, and education (by spending time at Urban Ventures).

Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone or our neighborhood to experience something new or something different. It’s where we can see God moving in new ways, learn how we can be used by Him and the mission he has for us. Each time I volunteer and get outside of my neighborhood (suburban Minnesota living) I’m grateful. Grateful for my home. Grateful for my family. Grateful for the opportunity to meet people who challenge my prejudices and ways of thinking.   Grateful that God’s grace is abundant and every day His mercies are new.

There are many opportunities for you to get out of your neighborhood this summer and fall!

There’s the family mission trip to the farm that starts on Friday. Pray for these families and their time serving!

Crave is going to the farm on Saturday, July 26^th.  You can join HERE.

Serve His Kids is hosting their next mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico, October 11-19^th.

Grab your Bible and your sense of adventure and join us over the river, through the woods or over the border!

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 

“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” 1 John 3:18 NLT

Freedom

I’ve always loved fireworks. The big twinkling white weeping willow ones.  They are my favorite every year.  I also love a big smoke bomb, a sparkler and a good old fire cracker.  I don’t even mind when my neighbors are shooting them starting in June! It reminds me of my grandparents and life on their farm; of family and warm summer evenings. Of wild uncles whose capacity for thrill and danger were bigger than anyone’s I’ve ever met.  Fireworks also remind me of the freedoms that I enjoy having been born in America. It’s beautiful. It’s dangerous, and it’s awe inducing.

The Fourth of July is a time of reflection and appreciation of our freedom in this country.   For me, it’s also a time where I consider what it would be like if I wasn’t born in the United States. If I was a girl, born in India, I could have been sold into a brothel and forced into prostitution.  Or a boy, born in Ghana and held in slavery and forced to work on boats.  It’s never easy to consider the “what if’s” or the “why me.” In fact, it’s so much easier to turn away from these kind of thoughts and just focus on the fireworks, food and fun.

But Jesus compels me not to. He reminds me that because he loves ALL of us, those of who can do something to change the world, should indeed, change the world.  I truly believe that there could come a day when those girls in India and those boys in Ghana get to see a firework and be reminded that they are indeed free and that Jesus loves them.

Some of the best ways to do this, from our homes in Minnesota is to partner with others who are close to this type of work/mission.  I choose to pray for and financially support International Justice Mission and their work across the world.  IJM is also one of Crossroads Missions Partners. On a local level, one of my friends volunteers with Breaking Free which works with victims and survivors of sex trafficking and prostitution. You can also purchase items or host a party through organizations like Global Avenue Ministries helps support women at risk by providing sustainable income for them.  There are so many ways to get involved!

If you’re looking for a place to start or want to learn more, I’d encourage you to pick up the book“The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence” by Gary Haugen or watch the movie Nefarious: Merchant of Souls.  (These are both recommendations for adults.)

My prayer this weekend is that we all celebrate and enjoy our freedom.  And that those who are not free encounter Jesus and rescue soon.

Let’s go change the world!

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.  Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.  Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.  Romans 12:9-13

Being the Body

I’m so thankful for amazing weekends. Those kind of weekends that when you get to the end of it, you have nothing but smiles and gratefulness.

This past weekend was one of those amazing weekends. Last weekend, Jeremiah (my husband of 10 years) and I had a date day, no kids, no home projects, just the two of us spending time together. Part of our day was spent serving together.   For us, it’s one of the things that we love to do.   When Pastor Phil talks about everyone being a different part of the body, Jeremiah and I really identify.  We are so different!   But, the way that we work together, we get amazing things done!

I’m a type A, analytical sort.  I like to take a problem and solve it.  I administrate.

Jeremiah is a work horse.   He likes to do.   He helps.   He wants to chop down a tree.

When we volunteer and serve in our sweet spots, there is something special that happens.   We see each other in a way we have taken for granted.  We reconnect with each other.  We are thankful for the opportunity to serve and help others.  The other thing that happens is we have the privilege of helping move God’s kingdom. How lucky are we that we get to do that with and organization like Urban Ventures?!?  I don’t know if there is anything else that I would rather be a part of than helping bring a little bit up there, down here!

Crossroads has had an amazing June!  We’ve served all over the Twin Cities and into Wisconsin.  From free garage sales to mission trips.  We even got to catch up with our missionaries fromReynosa that have been visiting and giving us updates on the work they are doing.  The way that everyone has jumped in and served and given of their time is incredible.  I can see all the different parts of the body working so beautifully together and it’s exactly how God designed us to be.  I love being a part of this movement of Jesus-like people doing Jesus-like stuff!

And, while I have your attention, I’d like to ask you to join me in praying for a situation in Uganda that some of our team encountered last August on a trip with International Justice Mission. Please pray for Ramona,* a Ugandan widow and mother of six. Her late husband’s family stole the property she relies on to support her family, and one uncle made death threats against her children. Despite a solid legal case and Ramona’s bold testimony, a judge found the primary suspect not guilty late last year. IJM Uganda appealed that judgment, but the latest hearing was canceled when the suspect failed to show up. Please pray that the next hearing on July 4 will take place. Ask God to give the judge integrity and wisdom to declare the truth, and pray that Ramona and her children will no longer have to live in fear.

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 

What I’m reading this month: When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

What I’m watching this month: Maria Prean:  Life Get’s Better and Better

New Rhythms

It’s the first week of summer vacation in our house, which for us means…lots of boys, bickering and fun!   It’s also the time that we set some new rhythms in our house and make sure that we are making the most of the summer.  It’s the same for our staff and church.   We want to make the most of our summer and find some new rhythms. Summer is the perfect time to try something new and to plan on attending some of our summer activities!

All of our campuses are offering amazing opportunities to serve in the month of June.   Eagan is hosting it’s free garage sale, Cottage Grove is participating in the Strawberry Fest parade, and Woodbury is partnering with Urban Ventures and their Hands And Feet event.  Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate in any of these events, no matter which campus you attend!

June, July and August also offer mission trips, camps, and all kinds of opportunities to serve others!  You can participate or volunteer.  Make sure to take a look around the new website, check out the events and activities going on this summer and decide on 1 or 2 that you are going to sign up for and attend.  We’d love to have you join us as we serve our communities and those all over the world.

One other thought, if you haven’t been Diggin’ Deep, I’d encourage you to join us.  We’re spending June reading through the book of James. It’s one of my favorite books in the Bible and I love how it’s tying in to our sermon series. James really encourages me to seek out ways to serve others and put my faith into action. Not because I want Jesus to like me more, but because I want others to come to know Jesus and how He loves each of us.   If you need a new rhythm of reading the Bible, it’s the perfect time to start!

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care 
What I’m reading this month: When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

What I’m watching this month: Maria Prean:  Life Get’s Better and Better

Tags: Missions