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ISSUE 1807
CCX
MISSIONAL MAGAZINE
The history and legacy of CCX
A Church in Weddington, NC has a 25 year
span of outreach in McDowell County.
Teresa Justice inspires us to be reacquainted
with our childhood innocence.
The Community Crossing now has
two Certified Lactation Counselors.
Coming Full Circle
By Jay Wilson, Executive Director
When Karen and I came to The Community Crossing (originally known as McDowell Mission) in December of 2000, our main focus was to:
-
Minister in the community through home repairs
-
Build relationships in the community
-
Build God’s Kingdom as a result
-
Introduce believers to what it means to be a missionary
-
Recruit those called to be full-time missionaries
-
Sustain (through these efforts) the ministry year around
Over time our focus changed. For one, we felt the home repair ministry was not developing the relationships we had hoped for. More importantly, we felt God was moving us away from short-term ministry and into community development. Years later, God blessed us with the Parents as Teachers program. This continues to be far more successful in building deep relationships and to consequently affect the Kingdom. While, it would be easy to abandon
home repairs, we believe God is revealing a new wineskin for our home repair ministry. Like
most visions, this vision is still under development. See Issue 1802, February, 2018, Dream Teams: A Vision is Born!
There are 4 churches in particular that have been active in the development of this vision. One of those is Spirit of Joy (SOJ) of Weddington, NC. SOJ was here this month. Two of their home repair work sites were families in our Parents as Teachers program. The third work site
was helping a new family in Welch who has been trying to get a plumber to come to the house since February but no one would come to help. The last site was the The Community Crossing building itself. We had 2 big projects- new doors on the gym and installing roof fans for ventilation. Like all trips they had their challenges, and like all SOJ trips, they persevered!
The mission and our families are thankful for the work and the encouragement we received
from such an awesome group of people.
This is where we have come back full circle. We will continue ministering in our community through home repair as well as through Parents as Teachers. Our main avenue will be our Alpha/Omega Teams who will sponsor vision mission trips for teams to be introduced to
the county, the mission, and to home repair ministry. We will probably never do the amount
of repairs we once did but the ones we do will be more focused and effective.
I am not ignoring the focus of 4-6. I am leaving it for another time. We sense we can tackle 1-3 fairly well but 4-6 is a much deeper issue. Watch for it in a coming issue.
Spirit of Joy
In Action
Ministry for members of Spirit of Joy Church in Weddington, NC has encompassed a 25 year commitment to outreach in McDowell County. Over the years they have served with us at The Community Crossing with a goal of raising up children to give with servant hearts. What a blessing to witness adults serving today whom we first saw as very young children being introduced to the mission field. It defines who they are. A joyful spirit is evident in all they do, and they spread that contagious spirit that comes from the Lord Jesus as they work here to minister in any way that is needed.
This year was no different as they worked to help repair homes. Projects this year included roof repair, ceiling repair, fixing holes in a bathroom floor, installing a wall to replace a curtain in the bathroom, replacing windows, repairing major plumbing leaks, and the list goes on and on. As the adults and older youth labored in the field, the children too young to work on the site were ministered to by the pastor’s wife with an intent on helping them understand what it means to serve, understand what it means to need help, the humbling aspect of accepting help and the act of loving people no matter what.
The children who stayed back learned about poverty and what it was like to budget on very little income. They each spent time shopping at Goodson’s supermarket and purchased a lunch meal to prepare for 6 people, spending only $5.00! They not only learned about how to be frugal but also how to be generous with what they are blessed with. The children chose on their own to bring money specifically for giving to others. They bought toys to give to the children of the homes we worked on and purchased diapers for the families we serve! With their own money! With a joyful heart! Oh what lessons we learn from the pure hearts of children. Of course they did not stay within the walls of The Community Crossing, they wanted to get out and serve as well. They spent time at Elkhorn Towers playing BINGO with the residents, serving cookies and showering them with handmade cards.
The Spirit of Joy team and CCX staff spent time in worship and devotion time as a group as well as individually, seeking out a deeper relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Looking to him for an example as to how to live out their life. We praise God for this big “C” Church which chooses to include us here in McDowell County, WV!
Happenings
Fireworks in Welch!
This year we had an extra special Independence Day! Welch was alive with multiple parties launching an array of phenomenal fireworks for such a small community. Even though the
parties did not coordinate the blasts, they
created a harmony of lights that brought
excitement, joy, and pride! Watching
from the top of the parking garage,
we celebrated with warm
hearts and many smiles
on young faces.
CLC Certified!
We are so happy to announce both Lesa Wilson
and Kasondra Ramsey received their certificates and are officially Certified Lactation Counselors!
If you are in the area of McDowell County and want help or support with your breastfeeding journey, or know someone else, give us a call!
Lesa and Kasondra are here to cheer you on!
Call The Community Crossing today
at (304) 436-8300
S.A.F.E Resource Fair
West Virginia Unicare and Mountainheart partnered with SAFE (Stop Abusive Family Environments) and coordinated a Resource Fair for families dealing with domestic violence. Resources are needed to help families as they heal, seek safety and begin to rebuild. Agencies set up tables to share information as well as provide door prizes of basic essentials needed when displaced from a home. They are always in need of items such as hair dryers, curling irons, etc. A wonderful presentation was given on Suicide Prevention as well as Recovery and Prevention of Substance Abuse in
McDowell . Preston Pace presented information on Recovery resources offered in McDowell County and was able to answer questions the residents of
SAFE had. Recovery In McDowell is part of
Step by Step and West Virginia Council of
Churches that began in October
of last year.
Enterprise Baptist Church
We were blessed by the servant hearts of the Enterprise Baptist Church ladies from Mississippi who helped sort and
organize items for our Baby
Pantry this month!
They joined us in our
Francis Chan “Crazy Love”
bible study to start off the week
and worked hard sorting each morning
and moved on to VBS at the New Beginnings Church in Wilcoe. The ladies switched gears without hesitation as we arrived on Wednesday to no electricity in the
building due to a blown transformer.
Tables were moved outside in the shade of
the cool morning and sorting continued without missing a beat. We are so
thankful for their help in the time
consuming task of sorting and
filling our shelves for the
families in our
Parents as Teachers program.
"A person who is Obsessed with Jesus is faithful to his savior in every aspect of his life, continually saying
"Thank You!" to God."
-F. Chan
Lil Buddy Rescue
Most children have an innate love for animals, it's natural. It is evidenced in the toys we see being sold; stuffed animals are found in every child's bedroom, plastic dinosaurs, horse figurines, and animals of every kind! Preschoolers gravitate toward the strays they see on the road as they walk by--"Mama, look it’s a doggy!”--is a scene many of us can relate to in ourselves or in our children's lives. Somehow as children grow and become adults, this begins to change for many. As the harsh reality of the world and the many injustices become commonplace, the child’s heart begins to harden, and a protective shell of apathy is formed to cope with the sheer quantity of cruelties such as animals abused, abandoned, or neglected.
However, there are those soft, childlike hearts that endure, and although the reality is harsh, the desire to help is only re-invigorated, Teressa Justice is one of those people. Her love for animals has never wavered, She explains, “I just can’t stand seeing them hurting.” She started rescuing animals in 1998 and has only increased her efforts since then, and eventually started Lil Buddy Rescue. Lil Buddy Rescue is now a non-profit organization and is rescuing roughly nine hundred animals a year! Not only has she and her husband Estill rescued dogs but also cats, pigs, goats, a donkey and even a horse or two! She also has help from her best friend Cindy Bailey and her twin sister Lisa Austin. We are so thankful for McDowell County kindess-- exemplified in Teressa!
But Jesus said,
"Let the little children come to Me,
and do not hinder them!
For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Matthew 19:14
Wish to support Teressa
and Lil Buddy Rescue?
Donate here!
For more information visit
lilbuddyrescue.com
For from Him
and
through Him
and
to Him
are all things.
To Him
be the glory forever.
Amen.
Romans 11:36
The Community Crossing not only is a faith-based ministry but a faith dependent ministry. We are very fortunate to have the Parents As Teachers grant through WV Department of Health and Human Services, however that does not cover the cost of the supportive ministry. There are many needs that families have that the grant does not cover such as diapers, wipes and even home repairs. Creating a safe environment for their family is important. Black Diamond boxing is starting its third year by hosting a boxing event next month. Black Diamond boxing’s only support comes from The Community Crossing donors. Our gym hosts various sports for members of the community. One of the greatest needs we have in our community is to reach out to those with drug and alcohol addictions, and we are developing an effective ministry to address this need. Would you prayerfully consider giving $30, $50 or $100 per month in support of these ministries?
