Christ & Crossroads in the Dominican Republic

Remember Reggie from "Lady in the Water?" This guy devoted all of his time to working out... but only his right arm. His right arm looked like "Ah-nold," but his left arm was a stick. Twenty members of the body of Christ at Crossroads are embarking on a mission trip to break ground on our first of many feeding centers in the Dominican Republic. This blog is a challenge for the rest of us. The question is "as 1/5 of our body is sent out on this great mission to grow in strength and service, what is our responsibility?" What is *our* mission? I would like to challenge you to pick one person on the Crossroad's Dominican Missions team and pray and fast for them for the entire week they are gone.


Pray...
Pray that God disturbs their hearts, changes their lives, and brings back a passion that grows like wildfire in Morgantown. Pray for Christ to be made much of in Dominican Republic. Pray against satan, demons, and temptation in their life. Pray that the way they serve will show Christ as supremely valuable. Pray for the kids they will impact and the families they will serve. Pray for Francesco and the other Pastors serving in Dominican to bring the Kingdom of God. Those are just some ideas to get you started.

Fast...

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

--God, Isaiah 58:6-7

I challenge you to take $32 out of your food budget for the week (for many of us this will not be more than giving up two dinners during the week) and sponsor a child living in the Dominican Republic through compassion.com. If you can give more; do it. I don't know what it will look like for you to fast radically. It may be 2 dinners this week, it may be seven dinners, or it may be seven days completely.

$32 will provide a child with food, water, medical treatment, education, and the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ. This is not a nebulus, disconnected act of giving. This is a relationship. You will receive pictures and notes from the child you support, and be able to send them notes of encouragement, prayers, and greetings.

Crossroads' goal is to ultimately eradicate extreme poverty in the Dominican Republic. This vision has begun with the feeding center. Let's make it personal. Let's change the Dominican with one child at a time.

God *will* take care of the poor. He *will* feed his children. His Kingdom *is* coming through His body. The question is: will *you* be a part of it? We are the Body of Christ, and Jesus should *not* look like Reggie.

p.s. I recommend reading all of Isaiah 58, it's some soul-rending stuff.

p.p.s. this is just a suggestion for a bare minimum way we can grow and serve together. Service and love are the defining characteristics of a Christian (1 John, yes, the whole book). Buy some pizzas after church Sunday and go share your dinner and your story with the homeless, volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters, take a cooler of sodas to the kids at the skatepark, offer free chauffering for crazy-drunk, frat guys on Friday night, baby-sit for a single-mom, spring clean for the elderly or tutor some kids in their homework... be creative, and pray about what God wants you to do to serve, but whatever you do, let's DO something. (James 4:17)