73 Workers, 25 Nations
2020 has been an extraordinary year with the global pandemic but God has been faithful to every one of us. At Crossway we have 73 workers – both international and across Australia – who are serving God, and at Christmas time we bring an offering to bless the work and strengthen the hands of these workers.
In the video below we hear from John who is based in Mareeba in Far North Queensland. John has an extraordinary story of impact across the generations, from his personal family experiences to his ongoing work opening opportunities for new generations to receive the good news of Jesus.
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Our target this year is $300,000 which is not tax deductible. We use the Christmas offering to strengthen our mission in our city, nation, and the nations. Every year we set apart 20% for another missional purpose, and this year, we’re setting it apart for satellites and campuses that we believe God is calling us to plant in the wake of COVID-19.
So come on Crossway, let’s be generous, because God has been faithful and kind and generous to us. Let’s strengthen the international and national work as we bring the good news and make disciples in the harvest.
Dale Stephenson
Senior Pastor
Each of our workers have their own stories to tell as they plant seeds in different neighbourhoods and nations
"We are called to help, love them and care for them"
Jenny
One Monday a miracle happened. We decided not to go out as we had no translator, so we sat on our patio and began to pray for each of our new friends. Just as we finished praying for “Uncle” – a very sick man in his sixties who has been in and out of hospital recently – we looked up and there he was! He had found someone to push him in his wheelchair down the street, across the road and into our base. We rushed over and began trying to talk to him in our very limited Thai. I ran to ask one of our Thai staff, Yim, to translate.
Eventually Uncle wanted to lie down, so we wheeled him home (his helper at left earlier). When we arrived his wife came out and was astonished as she hadn’t even known he was gone. As it turned out, it was his birthday. We sang happy birthday and prayed for Uncle. Then Yim felt to share the gospel with the new helper who had brought Uncle to us. As Jaen heard the gospel for the first time, he responded eagerly, giving his life to the Lord. What a miraculous day! Later we took a birthday cake to Uncle and sang happy birthday again.
God showed me that day that He measures things differently. God cares for the elderly who are at home all day, often alone for hours at a time, sometimes with no food – we are called to help, love them and care for them.
"We are grateful to God for using bread to nourish people in need and most importantly, to open people's hearts to the spiritual bread that endures for generations to come."
Gabi
At the beginning of the COVID crisis, our contact in the camp asked if we could help because they didn’t have enough food to eat. Children were starving and the whole camp was in bad condition because of the virus. I started to talk with Karcsi, who is one of the leaders there and oversees a couple of hundred young people. He suggested the best way to help would be a bread project – we could feed hundreds of people and save a bakery. So we undertook two projects, one funded by locals and the other by Praxeis, who collected a love offering during Easter.
The first project fed 40 families for six weeks, and the second fed 55 families for seven weeks. As people received the bread every day, they were so happy and thankful to God. People all over the camp started talking about this miracle of what God had done, bringing food out of nowhere! In addition, the baker and his bakery were saved!
Karcsi and his team were able to talk with so many people about God’s love and care. During the months of the projects, my relationship with Karcsi grew a lot. We had visited this camp twice before, but mostly working alongside him through another young man. Now we have a trusting relationship and are planning to do some discipleship training with his youth. We are grateful to God for using bread to nourish people in need and most importantly, to open people’s hearts to the spiritual bread that endures for generations to come.
"Six people asked the Lord for forgiveness and proclaimed a desire to follow Him that day."
Scott + Sarah
The head monk from our local temple oversaw the religious portion of our next-door neighbours’ funeral. During this time, we built an initial connection, which prompted us to visit him and ask if we could ‘bless him in Jesus’ name’. So, we prayed for him. A few days later, when on a prayer walk, someone mentioned that the monk had spoken about our visit, and how we were ‘good people’. Since then, we have visited more, each time blessing him in Jesus’ name, and most recently, we gave him a Bible. We will return in coming days to ask if he would like someone to read it with him. Please pray with us that this man would see that Jesus alone is the way to true peace.
We’re thanking God for our two-doors-down neighbours. We were able to have really great conversations with them and have had a number of opportunities to pray for the family. One day we were feeling a particular burden that we needed to go and share the Good News in its fullness. It was time. So, we organised to go around in the evening. We shared the Gospel in detail, and then asked them to pray after me if they wanted to follow Jesus. Six people asked the Lord for forgiveness and proclaimed a desire to follow Him that day. Praise God!
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Crossway Baptist Church ABN 26 318 801 524