East Meets the West!

The GO Missions ministry and the Crossroads Jr/Sr high school ministry teamed up to host an picnic/activity afternoon for 64 students and 11 teachers from Shanghai, China this past Tuesday. This was a great opportunity for our youth students to reach out in God's love to a group of students their own age and for the Shanghai students to spend time with American kids their own age.

The Shanghai students experience a 21 day trip to the USA as a cultural exchange program through Forte International in Washington, DC. These students are selected through an application process and must provide the funds for their trip. They visited New York City and Washington DC for 3 days before coming to Mansfield for 12 days. While in Mansfield, they study English and our history at Mansfield Senior High every morning Monday - Friday. The afternoons are spent exploring our city and its sites. They visited the Carousel, the mayor's office, the fire and police stations; go to Malabar Farm for a barn dance and perform community service projects. They live with local families during their stay here, so they can get a sense of "normal" American family life. The evenings and weekends are free time, so the students can participate in family activities and attend church with the families. When they leave here on July 28th, they will visit Disneyland in LA and then back to China.

We started the afternoon with a mad-rush to feed 80 hungry teens! American & Chinese!! After the feeding-frenzy settled down, Jesse lead the group in some fun ice-breakers to allow our youth and the students to get to know each other. The room was buzzing with laughter, excitement and fun! Then outside for some fun active games.Living in a "cement jungle" of 19 million people, the Shanghai students rarely spend time outdoors and almost never in fun group activities! Their school/study schedule is incredibly demanding, leaving no time for extra-curricular functions. After everyone was tired and hot...back to the youth room for some worship time together. Jamie did a great job of leading all the students in worship and engaging the Chinese students so that soon many of them were singing and clapping along! We ended with the students mingling, playing some carpet ball and ping-pong and many emails being exchanged between the kids!

What a joy to see our youth so involved and eager to reach out to these students from around the world! It was amazing to watch even the most reserved reach out to the Chinese students to welcome them, serve them and show God's love to them through kindness and respect. It was a great opportunity to help our students understand that missions isn't always heading out to a foreign land....often those opportunities are on our doorstep if we just step out in faith, with His love, through His power!

Asia's Hope has a new orphanage

Asia's Hope has opened it's sixth orphanage in Battambang. Here is a link to their website and the blog post talking about this.

Please take some time to read this post and pray for these children and their new family.

Scott

Skype! Wow what a night!

This past Monday evening (Tuesday morning Cambodian time!), we had the awesome opportunity to spend about 1 1/2 hours skyping (is that a word???) with the children of the Battambang 3 orphanage in Battambang, Cambodia. There are 24 children in this orphanage along with the director and his family and 2 staff members. Our Crossroads church family supports this orphanage through sponsorships of the children. When I was planning this night for the sponsors, I thought it would be cool to skype with the kids. I NEVER dreamed how incredible it would be or how emotional!!

There were several of us in attendance that had been on the mission trip this past February. The moment the faces of the director and the children appeared on the screen, my heart was instantly transported back to Cambodia! The rest of the team also could barely contain their excitement over speaking with the children! There were 35 of the Crossroads family at the gathering - sponsors and GO Missions team members. Many sponsors spoke with their child face-to-face for the very first time! It was heart-melting and so emotional. Tears were a common occurrence - from sponsors and the kids! The urge to want to reach out and hug the kids was overwhelming! Even the director (Savy), his wife (Sem), his children and the other staff members couldn't wait to have a turn to skype with us!

After having a chance to speak with each individual child - sending them our love and prayers, the children performed 2 special dances for us. First the young children, then the teens danced. While not the easiest thing to see on skype, it was still so special. Music and dance are ingrained in the Cambodian culture and this was a gift from them to their sponsors. When we were visiting there in February, a day didn't go by in which dancing didn't happen!

Neither end of the skype wanted to be the last to say goodbye! We kept waving and letting them know we were praying for them and we love them.....the children kept jostling to be in front of the camera to say one last good bye or tell us they loved us. So reminiscent of our visits, when it took us over an hour to say our goodbyes, with tears flowing from everyone's eyes and our hearts tugging to stay there. But the rest of our trip called....and this time, the children needed to get to school.

John McCollum, the executive director of Asia's Hope is currently in Cambodia and blogging about his trip. In one of his blogs, he talks about the enthusiastic dancing at one of their Cambodian dance parties. After reflecting on that fun, he wrote, " Without intervention from God and from those of you who support this ministry, many of these children would be living a very different life. Some would still be working day and night at a construction site or on a farm, earning barely enough for a handful of rice. Others would have already been pimped out, forced to service 15 men each night under the threat of torture. Others would be dead.

As David said after he had been rescued by God, " You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. Oh Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." Psalm 30:11-12"


NO wonder these children want to dance!!

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PROCLAIM! concludes

PROCLAIM! - The Crossroads continuous reading of the Bible for 77+ hours and prayer event concluded this past Wednesday evening as we lead into our First Wednesday communion service. What an incredible way to worship our God through proclaiming His Word! While our original plan had been for the reading to take place over 74 hours (based on a previous experience where it took 72 hours) , it was obvious by mid-afternoon on Wednesday that we would not be done by 4pm. With many teams staying flexible, the decision was made to make the reading of God's Word our priority. The Praise team practiced and prepared in another room; the Communion team quietly prepared and placed the elements; the Tech team prepared and tested lighting and sound as best they could without interrupting the reading; additional readers stepped up to be sure there was no interruption and the Programming team adjusted the plan for the service, so the final words of Revelation were read with our congregation present. As our small group pastor, Deering Dyer commented, "Do you think God in his divine providence set the cadence of the reading, so it would finish in this special way?" Pastor Wendell's communion message and the observance of communion by the Crossroads family added a completeness to the whole Easter celebration and PROCLAIM event. Over these 3 days, there were 170 volunteers and 6 small groups that shared in the proclamation of God's word and prayer. It was a family event for some, as the family members would share a time of reading and prayer. What a blessing to see husbands and wives, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters spending this time of worship together! Teachable moments for these parents, as they set the example for their children!
As we started the event there were a number of empty reading slots, but as people experienced the amazing blessing and power of worshiping God through proclaiming his Word, those spots filled up quickly - even the middle of the night ones!! An added dimension to the whole experience was the live webstream of the PROCLAIM! Bible reading through the www.crossroadswired.com website. Steve Browning and the tech team got this rolling and around the world people were watching and hearing God's Word read by the Crossroads congregation. Even a young man, who vehmently denies the truth of God's Word and interfered with being able to leave the live chat function running. But as God promises, his word never comes back void. Oh, how I pray that those who participated and those that viewed the site were drawn close to the God that loves them so!

PROCLAIM!

PROCLAIM!

This is an upcoming 74 hour continuous prayer and Bible reading event happening at Crossroads this Easter season. Starting at 2pm on Easter Sunday and going to 4pm Wednesday April 7th - leading right into our First Wednesday Communion service, the congregation at Crossroads will be doing a non-stop reading of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Throughout this event, four prayer stations will be set-up to guide those attending in prayer. These stations will have specific prayer needs covering four categories: Our Church Leadership, Our Church Community, Civic Servants and Missions. This event is a combined effort of our GO Missions team and Our Crossroads Prayer team. The reading will be divided up into 20 minute segments and the sign-up for this will be at the GO Missions kiosk. Anyone wishing to participate in the prayer segment can join in at anytime throughout the event.
In October of 2006, we hosted a similar Bible-reading event, but this time we have added the element of prayer to go along with it.
Below are some of the sights and sounds from that first reading:
"A mother and daughter standing side-by-side sharing in the reading; the deep resonance of a man's voice with gentle reverence speaking his God's name through the late hours of the night; the huddling together of our young adults over their Bibles as they read, listened and supported each other; a session worker standing just outside the door, listening and gazing at the night sky, allowing God's word to wash over her and fill her heart; a father encircling his daughter in his arms as they stood and proclaimed God's truth, softly guiding her words if she stumbles and encouraging her along the way; a volunteer who after listening to His word through the reading of Jeremiah, expressed a deeper understanding of how all of God's word speaks to us in the world today and a desire to dive deeper into the truths of the Old Testament; volunteers who after reading for the first time, wanted more- staying to read in an unfilled slot or signing up again and again, often for those late night hours; a reader brought to tears by the privilege of proclaiming God's Word in our new church; whole families coming and reading in succession and closing the event with a small group, who desired to be there as the last scripture was read....joining together in tears and prayers for the awesome, powerful Word of God to permeate our building, our lives, and all who enter our doors."

This is a chance to PROCLAIM the name of our AMAZING JESUS through prayer and His Word! Don't miss out! Sign up today!

Home Again

The mission team 2010 arrived home safely on Friday morning at 7am into snowy Cleveland. Our gracious transport driver, Jon Linton, maneuvered the van to pick us up through the clogged rush hour traffic and the treacherous roads. Many thanks to Jon for his service in taking us and picking us back up. Needless to say after 30 hours of travel none of us were ready to drive! Thanks to our Crossroads family for their many prayers during our travels. It was an amazing trip. I hope you have enjoyed following along on the blog. ( picture of plane leaving Chiang Mai)














(arriving in Mansfield)
Now is the team's adjustment time. Time to get our biological clocks back on Ohio time - there is a 12 hour difference! Time to reconnect with family and friends. Time to reflect on our trip and what God has for each one of us. Time to cherish the incredible experiences and challenging moments of the trip. Time to thank our good God for the opportunity to serve in His name halfway around the world. Time to start planning for another trip!!

Up on the Farm

It was another sunny, warm day in Thailand. Sorry to tell you that!! :) We had an early start to drive into the Northern Thailand mountains to visit a Hill Tribe village and then the Asia’s Hope orphanage on a farm in Wiang Pa Pow. There are 5 Hill tribes in Northern Thailand with 2 or 3 sects in each tribe. The orphan situation in Thailand is different than in Cambodia but there is still a great need here. In Cambodia, poverty, land mines, farming accidents and diseases like AIDS, Hepatitis, malaria and typhoid claim many lives, leaving children abandoned. There is a cultural norm that also factors in the orphan situation, where if a Cambodian woman is widowed and she chooses to remarry, her new husband will not take in children from a previous marriage. In a culture where women can often not survive with a male head of the household, there are many women that abandon their children or leave them with elderly family who then die. In Thailand, the Asia’s Hope ministry is focused on rescuing the children of the Hill Tribes. These tribal people have lived in this country for centuries, but the Thai government chooses to not recognize them as people. They have no government ID, which then means they cannot not get health care, basic government services and often no education. The children who are orphaned in this situation are very vulnerable to the sex-slave trade and the drug lords. Because these children are basically unknown to the government system, they are stolen from their villages, often drugged and put into the child prostitution rings in the large cities of Thailand. Never to be seen or heard from again. Young boys are often forced into being drug runners,who when caught are just shot, killed then replaced with another “disposable” life. Tutu, the Thailand director, is from one of the Hill tribes and gives her testimony about the first missionary to reach her village with the good news of the Gospel. She now has such a passion for rescuing these children and reaching them with the Gospel. Changing young lives to impact her country.



The Hill Tribe village we stopped at today was one of the Lasu villages. A winding, rough unpaved road back into the mountains brought us to a small village of about 60 families. There were some thatched bamboo huts but also a few wooden homes. This village was in much better shape than the one we visited last year. We found out from our American missionary friends that that tribe has moved to an unknown location. It was a blessing to see God at work back in this remote village. We stopped at a small building just being completed that will serve as a church for this community - pictured above with Mike Flinchum, the American missionary in front of it. The pastor will be the father of a young Lasu man who serves in orphanage as a director. In the last year they have had 12 commitments to Christ and 6 baptisms. Our knowledgeable guides explained how incredible this is, as this tribe has a history of being very closed to the Gospel message. Praise God for the faithful who have continued to bring his message to these people and for his power to change lives for His Glory!



We traveled on to the farm at Wiang Pa Pow. The farm here is about 17 acres and grows fruit, corn, beans, mountain rice and other vegetables for the orphans, as well as raising chickens and pigs. Asia’s Hope uses these resources to feed the children. Wooster Grace Brethren has also opened the first orphanage here, housing them in the existing farm house on the property. Five widows also live here, weaving products and helping with the farm and the children. The pictures are of one of the widows weaving and then the finished products on Ron and Madeline. It takes 3 full days of weaving to make one shirt! We had another wonderful Thai lunch, toured the farm and then visited with the children. There is another team of 4 people here visiting from Illinois and Missouri. There had a coloring Bible activity to do with the children, then we helped the children make duct tape flowers. This craft has been a huge hit with the kids! As we were working to teach the children how, one little girl was very “independent” and a bit bossy with the other children. An “I’ll do it myself and I show you how” attitude. Debbie quietly said she had something to share with me later about this little girl. Good- byes then back in the trucks for the 1 ½ hour drive back. As we were driving back, Debbie shared with me that this beautiful little orphaned girl had been raped 3 times by different men in her village! Her controlling behavior was stemming from her attempt to have some control in her life. Asia’s Hope is getting her professional help and she is making good progress. My heart was broken and convicted for not seeing beyond her behavior! Forgive me Lord and never let me forget to pray for her!



An evening visit to Doi Saket 3 orphanage on the return trip home to sing praise songs, have a time of prayer, a reenactment of David and Goliath by Ron & Greg and duct tape flowers ended our night. The children of this orphanage took individual turns standing to pray aloud for each other and for our team, from the oldest child of about 14 years old to the young 3-4 year olds. How moving to hear God’s precious children pray, even when I couldn’t understand a word!



We will end our time here tomorrow with a morning team devotional, then off to the airport for a 1:30pm flight. Long days filled with hugs, smiles, tears, challenges, sorrow, prayer and praise will burn in our hearts and memories…..hopefully to keep these children close even after we return home…..all God’s children…..all in His Grace!

(Note: this is posting the day after I wrote it due to internet issues in Thailand. We are now in the Taipei Taiwan airport for a 6 hour layover then a 12 1/2 hour flight to LA. See you soon)