My little Missionary

Robin just got back from an 11-day missions trip to Africa. She had an incredible time reaching out to the Masai people in the African Interior of Kenya. She and six other Master's Commission students were deep in the bush working with our life-long friends Mike and Marigold Cheshier. They led somewhere around 400 people to Christ! She came home with tons of pictures and a journal full of memories but she left a big piece of her heart behind with the children of that remote land.

We weren't able to hear from her the entire time she was gone and it was pretty tough on her mother and me. We knew God would protect her and bring her home safe and sound, but it sure would have been nice to hear from her every couple of days or so!

Robin's dear friend Lahti Arsement is in Australia on a missions trip as well. A few weeks ago our families got together for dinner before the girls left for their missions trips. Lahti's dad, my good friend Spanky said, "You know - We prayed all their lives that these girls would be world changers. We can't change our minds now and ask God to keep them at home!"

Medical Ministry

We were so thrilled to introduce a great friend to Crossroads this weekend. Stephanie is involved in one of our newest ministries we have picked up in monthly support. Stephanie graduated our Master's Commission program in Atlanta in 1999. From there she went on to get her nursing degree and now feels God is calling her to use her skills as a nurse as a platform for ministry in Central Asia. She will work with a Christian medical  team, providing health care in a war-torn region of the world that is so volatile and dangerous I can't even name the country she'll be in for risk of endangering her and her team. The country is 99.9 percent Muslim. I am so proud of her and the courage she has to follow the will of God into this assignment. I am asking that all of you will keep her in your prayers!

One of the greatest experiences for me in life has been watching those who I have helped train for ministry answer the call of God on their lives. There's just nothing quite like it! Spending this past weekend with Stephanie has made me eager with anticipation to see what God will lead our current Master's Commission students we are discipling to do in the days to come!

Joli Blog

Our Women's Ministry just launched a brand new blog that I'm super excited about. The ladies of Crossroads Church and Acadiana can keep up with what's going on in our Women's Ministry, sign up for upcoming events and be encouraged by the insights of our wonderful contributers to the blog (I just read a rough draft of an article Donna is writing for an upcoming entry and I was blown away by how it challenged me - and I'm a dude!) Our ladies can even participate in an online Bible Study just for women! It's a great way for you girls to stay connected on your own schedule! I love technology and it's so good to see it being used in a way that facilitates discipleship and spiritual growth! You can click here to get to the site and become a follower of the blog. Be sure and let all your friends know about the blog so they can enjoy it as well.

All of this is the brainchild of our director of Women's Ministry, Daphne Gaspard. I've known Daphne since she was just a young girl in our student ministry here at Crossroads many years ago. (For her sake we won't talk about how many years ago!) She does such a great job with our Women's Ministry and this blog is a perfect example of her creativity and passion for ministry to ladies. She has been an avid blogger for several years and her blog was one of the things that inspired me to launch my own a couple of years ago. In addition to serving as our Women's Ministry Director, Daphne is one of our worship leaders at Crossroads, serves in our Media Department and is one of our main script writers for the productions we put on. Thanks Daphne for all you do!

I encourage all of you ladies to become a follower of the Joli Blog and allow this technology to serve God's interests in your life!

Tongue-Tied

We've been sharing a message series at Crossroads this month about the power of our words called Tongue-Tied. The concept is simple: Our lives are tied to the words we speak. Whether it's a matter of success or disfunction, you can't separate where you are in life from the things you've said! Our media team came up with a brilliant way to lead in to the message each week. Our video sermon roll in features kids in our church trying to say tongue-twisters. They were a riot! I hope you enjoy...