Walking by Faith

In all the channel surfing during the holidays, one of the movies that we always seem to land on at our house is It’s a Wonderful Life. One of my favorite scenes from the movie is when George discovers his brother’s tombstone. Clarence explains, “Your brother, Harry Bailey, broke through the ice and was drowned at the age of nine.” Incredulous, George responds in anger, “That's a lie! Harry Bailey went to war! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that transport!” Then comes the epiphany for George as Clarence tells him, "Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn't there to save them because you weren't there to save Harry."

Don’t miss the implications of that dialogue for your life! The details of your everyday existence are no accident. God orchestrates your walk so that you cross paths with others at just the right time to bless them, and they in turn will be given the opportunity to bless others. Crosswalk’s work is driven by this ripple effect principle. May we never stand before God and hear that any of the facility kids weren’t there to save someone else because we weren’t there to save them!

During the holidays God bestowed Crosswalk with the blessing of providing Christmas parties and gifts for two detention facilities. The response was overwhelming as the kids expressed their gratitude over and over again. New volunteers that joined us for the events included Sherri Studdard, Beth & Jim Rast, and Marjo Anliker. Read below to see what Beth had to say about the experience. We invite you to be a part of the story in 2012. Prayers, financial support, and volunteers are always needed to help us continue to be there for these kids. Without your partnership, this work does not get done.

“Hooked” (by Beth Rast)

It isn't unusual for me to find myself in a constant state of prayer and of course it's Biblical. In his final instructions, Paul admonished the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing. Along with my loved ones, however, there are new names and faces that the Lord has put before me — faces and names that I just learned at the Clayton and DeKalb RYDCs.

Crosswalk has been a ministry Jim and I have monetarily supported for quite some time. Over the Christmas break, however, I followed the Spirit's leading and found myself amongst other volunteers giving boys from 12-17 some CHRISTmas cheer. I was instantly and emotionally hooked to this ministry and the kids as I somewhat feared I would be. These names and faces on my prayer list would have been "thugs" to me just a week ago. They are to me now amongst the countless "lost boys" fighting a much more fierce enemy than Captain Hook. They are fighting a society who has miserably failed them and they are hungry for YOU. Lord Jesus help me to be among those who are the aroma of Christ to these precious souls. May they learn how not to repeat offensives which break Your heart and threaten their very lives and souls.