Our vision for International Ministries is to connect the Grace Crossing family to opportunities to be involved in ministries throughout the world. Our goals include:
- Evaluating international ministry projects and the congregation’s involvement both financially and spiritually.
- Informing and motivating the congregation about international ministry outreach and their part in it.
- Connecting to work being done by other people or groups within the congregation.
- Involving members of the congregation in ministry and service projects around the world; encouraging them to “go, see, serve, and learn”
HONDURAS AND HAITI
HONDURAS AND HAITI
Mission Lazarus in Honduras and Haiti is a ministry that provides dignity and purpose to a very poor community. It has a holistic focus on individual, family, community and economic development that gives a hopeful physical and spiritual vision of life through the love of God and his son Jesus.
Mission Lazarus has been operating in southern Honduras since 2004 from a working ranch near San Marcos de Colon, and provides food, education, health services, academic and vocational schools and a home for vulnerable children. ML focuses heavily on planting self-sustaining churches throughout the region and creating job opportunities through enterprise development through various artisan goods and agricultural initiatives including a thriving coffee plantation in the mountains.
In 2012 Mission Lazarus expanded its reach to Haiti. There are now schools in Haiti as well as Honduras that offer academic and vocational programs side by side, improving the future of children by being able to get an education and learn a trade while receiving a stipend. This would be financially out of reach for most.
Grace Crossing has a long history with Mission Lazarus and Southern Honduras dating back to 1999. Since then, numerous adult and teenage groups have visited during the summer for work details and to worship side by side with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Dave Gibbs has organized yearly mission trips for our congregation as well as other frequent visits. Companions are always welcome to travel with Dave.
The mission needs in Honduras are very dynamic. In 2020, the Mission Lazarus staff stepped up to help during the Covid 19 outbreak where no one else would, accepting the risks of infection giving medical, physical and spiritual assistance. They stepped up once again with the recent devastating floods in northern Honduras, sending a team with medical supplies and other needed basic supplies along with their expertise and spiritual support.
Haiti
Haiti
Planting Hope in Haiti has a mission to bring hope to the people of Haiti. Due to limited resources, many people live in extreme poverty with little to no food or education. Opportunities for change are limited, but we have a different vision.
We want to plant hope. Hope in the form of food. Hope in the form of jobs. Hope in the form of medical care. Most importantly hope in the form of the love of Jesus Christ shared through us. We are establishing a plantain farm which will provide employment for members of the community of Dumas, Haiti.
In addition, we are building a clinic, which will be staffed by a Haitian nurse to address healthcare needs in the community. Finally, the clinic land will also be home to a well and a community center to further benefit the community. The plantains grown will be sold at local markets and the profits will be invested back into the workings of the farm, the clinic, and the community. As God blesses us, we will use those blessings to bless others!
Nicaragua and Honduras
Nicaragua and Honduras
Grace Crossing has supported this mission in various ways through the years. Although our support has changed during this time, we have participated in the Smile for a Child program since its inception in 2001. Every August/September, we ask our members to prepare shoeboxes filled with simple gifts. We gather them and send them to Mision Para Cristo to distribute.
Since 1997, Misión Para Cristo’s main objective has been to share the message of our Lord Jesus Christ with the people of Nicaragua and Honduras. To accomplish this task, the mission works with churches, other organizations, and local groups to serve the people of Nicaragua and Honduras. The areas of service the mission participates regularly – but are not limited to – are health care, feeding the hungry, providing shelter, caring for children, and education in the Jinotega and Matagalpa Regions of Nicaragua and in Catacamas, Honduras.
The mission’s motto is “Keeping the Main Thing, the Main Thing”. To do this we incorporate evangelism into every service we provide. The only condition the mission insists on before it starts a work in a community is that they allow us to share the good news of Jesus Christ. When we coordinate with government and community officials we insure they understand we are not a humanitarian organization but a spiritual organization that does humanitarian work.”
El Salvador
El Salvador
Project RED is a nonprofit organization based in El Salvador. Their Mission: “Project RED is a community. We bridge gaps for children and bringing hope to families through Reintegration, Education & Development. Project RED serves children who have suffered abuse, neglect, abandonment and other vulnerable and traumatic situations. We provide them with the tools they need to live in a safe and loving environment, and we start with focusing on strengthening families.” Some members of our congregation got involved with this organization a few years ago when Kara (Wilson) Garcia, the sister of one of our former members, came to talk to one of our life groups. Members have individually sponsored families in the past.
Hungary
HUNGARIAN BIBLE CAMPS
Hungary
Beginning in the late 1990s, children’s Bible camps have been held in Hungary. Tim Westbrook (son of former member Wally Westbrook) was a missionary in Szolnok, Hungary. He asked for help starting a children’s’ camp to attract young families to the church in Szolnok.
The Bible camp involves church members and also former campers who now work as counselors. Children do crafts, have singing classes or drama class, and outdoor games as well as Bible class and group assemblies. Families attend the closing ceremony on Friday to see their children recite memory verses, sing songs and take part in Bible skits.
The camps are an outreach to the community in Szolnok, but the Christians who go to help receive as much blessing as the Hungarian families.
North Africa
North Africa
In Partnership with Mission Resource Network (MRN), Grace Crossing’s newest international initiative is focused on the Mediterranean Rim (MedRim).
God is pursuing the Muslim world in an extraordinary movement during our time! In the first 1300 years of Islam, there was just one documented movement of Muslim people to Christ (a movement represents at least one hundred churches planted or one thousand people baptized). In the last fifteen years alone, there have been sixty-nine such movements!
The extreme upheaval in the Muslim world – wars, conflicts and instability – has created one of the largest refugee crises in recent history. Muslim refugees are flooding into European cities around the Mediterranean. People from difficult-to-access countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan are suddenly accessible.
This movement of God is not only among refugees. People in places like North Africa and the Middle East are having dreams and visions of Jesus and are looking for answers. Disciples are being made in regions where faith in Christ has barely existed for a thousand years. Jesus has determined that it is time for the Gospel to return to the lands from which our movement was born. We simply want to follow God’s lead with a focus on North Africa.
Our participation in the MedRim Initiative includes financial, prayer and advisory support in our partnership with MRN and several other churches.