Just Lisa

I was at my therapy appointment (honestly, we all need a therapist) and I was talking about my future career options.   Basically, my uncertainty that I wanted to be just a fill in the blank.  And then my brilliant and amazing therapist (for real) told me to say it differently.   Not as an adverb, but as an adjective.  If you don’t know the difference (it took me a minute, too) here is the difference:

just |jəst|

adverb:  barely; by a little: I got here just after nine | inflation fell to just over 4 percent | I only just caught the train.

adjective: based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair: a just and democratic society | fighting for a just cause.

And in that simple (or incredibly wordy and weepy) exchange, I was no longer just anything and I was absolutely Just Lisa.  The air felt lighter and the pressure to have my career define my faith or my worth shifted away from what I do and focussed on who I am.

While I was on staff at a church, I had the amazing opportunity to work with people who are doing crazy great things in the world.  In a crazy turn of events, I was asked to write a blog for them about one the things I’m passionate about, justice and human trafficking.

I can choose to be just Lisa, unsure, small, and barely able Lisa. Or I can choose to be Just Lisa, capable, smart and brave enough Lisa to share this post and my thoughts on things. A change in perspective (and semantics) can do amazing things.  What words do you use to define yourself? Do they minimize your abilities, or do they empower you to have an impact where you are?

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Vision

Every year 840,000 or more people die of water related illnesses. 840,000. Broken down, that is 2,300 people every day dying of water related illnesses. Every minute a child under the age of 5 dies because they lack clean drinking water. Every MINUTE!

That’s right, the water we use to fill our pools in the summer, leave running while we brush our teeth, and water our plants with, over 750 million people lack access to that same water. These people are suffering and many are dying from completely preventable diseases.

If you could do something to prevent even one more death due to lack of clean drinking water, would you? If there was something practical you could do from your house in Minnesota that would make a profound impact on people’s live in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the worlds POOREST nation, would you?

Well the truth is your CAN help. You CAN save lives. You can be a part of making that 840,000 deaths annually, lower and lower until the number is eventually  ZERO.

How can you help? Well, a few years ago Crossroads partnered with World Vision, a faith based organization committed to bring clean water and resources to the countries that need it most, to begin a water project in Swaziland. We raised money to help with the water project as well as had the opportunity to sponsor children from the region.

As of last year, 2014, the water project in Swaziland has been completed! Praise God! Now, Crossroads is going along with World Vision to the Congo to bring water and resources to the poorest country in the world!

Last year, many of you began sponsoring children from the Congo. If you haven’t taken the opportunity to sponsor a child, maybe now’s the time! Learn more about that, here.  Child sponsorship invites a person like you or me to support and help look after the well-being of a child in need from another country — until that child and community become self-sufficient. It’s an incredible opportunity to love people half way around the world.

If sponsorship isn’t for you right now, there are more ways to help. Each year, World Vision does a 1/2 marathon in summer (August) and a Full Marathon (October) to raise money to give people clean drinking water for life. FOR LIFE.  Are you a runner? Why not run with a cause this year. Crossroads is beginning to assemble teams for the Half and Full Marathons THIS MONTH! Team captains, training schedules, encouragement, oh my! Details to come soon!

Not a runner, but know some people crazy enough to run 13 or 26 miles? Why not support them as the they run! Every $50 they raise gives one person clean drinking water for life!

Crossroads just sent a team of people to the Congo on a vision trip to see first had the work that World Vision is doing! They just came back and the stories, pictures and videos are amazing! We are so excited to share these with you in the coming days and weeks.

We have set our sights on God and we know that His vision is to have a world where clean drinking water is accessible to EVERYONE, and that Everyone know HIM deeply! We are so thankful for the vision that World Vision is casting and so excited to be part of the AMAZING things God is doing through them all over the world.

        

We’ll see you this weekend!

Lisa Adams
Director of  Missions  

Just One

There are times when I look at what’s going on in our world, from wars, to Ebola, to human trafficking, to poverty, and I get overwhelmed. Everything seems so big. My heart wants to do something, anything! But knowing where to even begin is daunting. How could, I, a single, white American 20-something, ever do anything to make a difference in this world? Who am I to make a difference?

The reality is that I won’t be able to stop violence against the poor, I won’t end poverty to an entire country of people. But, I can help. Even if it’s just one person.

A few months ago, I chose to sponsor a child through World Vision. Her name is Rachele, she will be 8 this Saturday, and she lives in the Congo with her parents and two younger siblings. Through my sponsorship of just one sweet little girl, her world and her family’s world is changed.  She gets to go to school, she has clean water to drink, and she has the opportunity for a better future. She will be able to grow up with the skills needed to be successful. She has the potential to be a leader in her family and in her village. The ripple effect of raising up a strong, healthy educated girl, could change an entire village and nation of people.

I believe that change comes from investing in people. Giving people the tools and resources they need to change their current situation is the way we can eradicate hunger, poverty and disease. I think that is what Jesus meant when he told us to love each other.

That’s why I believe in the work World Vision is doing, not just in the Congo, but all over the world. They are investing in children. They are keeping families together, making them stronger and healthier. They are bringing clean water to places who desperately need it. They are changing futures by investing in what is happening today.

And all of this is happening because of regular, ordinary people who decided to say “yes” to just one child.  Just one sponsorship can change the lives for a lot of people.

This weekend, Rich Stearns, president of World Vision, US, will be here to talk about the work World Vision is doing. The work that is being done because their hearts broke for people who need help. The work that being done because they take seriously Jesus’ call to love each other. It’s going to be an incredible weekend full of stories of restoration and change.  You will also have a chance to sponsor a child in the Congo!

Mark off the weekend of November 8^th and 9^th as the Cottage Grove and Woodbury campuses will be hosting over 30 organizations that will offer you a chance to do something during our annual Missions Fair.   The catalog is being released early this year (next weekend!) so that you and your family/small group/friends can meet up and decide which organization you want meet and talk with that weekend.  Eagan will be hosting their own Missions Fair and handing out the catalog this weekend.

This movement of Jesus like people doing Jesus like stuff needs you!  Where are you going to GO?

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care

Whining

We got a dog this summer. Watson. He’s super cute and well behaved. He rarely barks and he loves us, kids, and other dogs.  BUT (you knew there had to do be one) he whines.  Of all the things that are potential issues, this would be the one my dog has.  As I’m writing this, he is whining.  When he isn’t getting what he wants, he whines. He whines because he’s sad, when people leave, or he wants to go outside.  When he is playing with his toy, he whines because he’s happy.  For. The. Love.

Watson reminds me of how God must feel when we complain and whine. We live in the wealthiest country in the world.  We live in freedom.  We have 24/7 access to the Bible.  We have a public education system where we received an education and learned to read. 80% of the world lives on less than $10.00 per day.  My life should overflow with gratitude and joy, especially considering that I spend $70 a week in gas alone and I have 3 Bibles within eyesight of where I’m sitting right now.  There should not be a whine coming out of my mouth.  And yet, if I’m being honest with you, I have found myself whining these past couple of weeks; forgetting the abundance in my life and focusing on the areas where I feel like I’m missing out and things aren’t fair.  Do you ever find yourself whining when you should really be grateful?  For. The. Love.

Thankfully, God’s patient and forgiving and he’s given us people like Richard Stearns (President, World Vision U.S.) who can help us reset our posture from whining to thankfulness. Richard reminds us that we are needed to help build God’s kingdom. Our time, money and resources are the very things that can change someone’s world. Richard will be joining us live at our Woodbury Campus Saturday, October 18th at 4:15pm, and Sunday, October 19th at both 9:15am and 11:15am. He will be speaking about our response to those who live in the margins and World Vision’s work happening in the Congo alongside Covenant Kids Congo.

Don’t forget! We are offering a Health care Directive Seminar on Saturday, October 11, 9:00-11:00 am at the Woodbury Campus. A Health Care Directive, formally known a living will, is a written document allowing you to name who would be in charge of your health care in the event you’re not able to advocate for yourself.  At this seminar, we will help address your fears, beliefs and other important values in regards to your health. Child care is now closed, but you can still register by clicking HERE to attend without your kids.

Let’s find time this week to be thankful for all that we have and pray about ways that we can help in our community and/or abroad. Join us this weekend for the final week of The Starting Point: A Journey Through Genesis. It’ll going to be a great weekend!

Lisa Adams
Director of Missions and Care