Our newest Urban Crossover’s Team Expansion by Rondalyn Abode
G
od seems to give us the desires of our hearts. Seriously, I know that if you’re like me, you’ve heard that a million times, but I really believe that God puts certain desires within us that blossom and bloom according to His timetable! I have been praying for 12 years that a family would come to Tulsa to help with Crossover. I have envisioned a “Worship Arts” Ministry, and I was convinced that they were the ones that could bring this ministry to our community. I had no idea when I started praying this prayer that God had their family praying a similar prayer that they would go wherever God deemed to bring Him the most glory through their particular gifts and experiences! This guy helped teach my husband to love and obey God, and he and his family were faithfully teaching others to do that very thing in Frisco, Texas through art. God was preparing him and his family to come to Tulsa and to bring all that they are to help develop this community- the community where she grew up! She is a gifted Graphic Designer and Photographer, and she has longed to always be able to use her skills, abilities, and resources for God’s glory. God answered the prayers of both of our families! I’ve also been praying another prayer for 5 years, that God would bring back this couple that had an amazing impact on Crossover through dance who I believed that we had lost to Georgia. I mean, who gets a degree in Recreation Administration? Who comes from Texas to attend ORU because God had created this desire in her heart as a teenager to run a community center in an under-resourced community? Her husband is no light weight either, we have created jobs to try to bring him back as he is a Gates Scholar himself. God answered our prayer by bringing them back as we get prepared to see another answer to prayer, the Crossover Community Center, come to fruition, if the Lord says the same. This year, my faith and my resolve to pray without ceasing have been strengthened, and I’ve learned that prayer truly is the work of the ministry. I’ve been praying that God would develop the team needed for Crossover to do exactly what it needs to do in our community. We need everyone to bring their resources (their skills, talents, abilities, relationships, gifts, experiences) to drop at God’s feet and say, “God, do what you please.” I’ve seen Him do that. Our philosophy of ministry calls this, “Redistribution,” where everyone uses whatever they have in their hands for the development of the community. We have a guy coming from China to work for Crossover. He saw a job description for a Latin teacher and he just happens to be skilled at ACT prep. His wife has spent almost a decade learning about Christian Community Development work- the very type of work that we are doing, and to top it all off, she is from Tulsa! I honestly can’t say anything more than, “God does exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever hope or imagine” or as Philip often puts it, “God does the heavy lifting!” He has been building out this dream team since before the creation of the world. In every position filled and
prayer answered, God has been bringing people that He has handpicked to play their role in seeing our community transformed. These are the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do, and I pray with everything in me that we are faithful to walk in those good works. This is quite the adventure, and I literally cannot wait to see what God does! And as you can imagine, I will be praying! Will you join us by praying and financially supporting us as we continue to pursue partnerships to see this great work continue and expand? We are so grateful for the ways you have partnered with us, and we would love it if you got even more involved in this work of transformation! Please come out for a tour, so that you can see restoration for yourself. Call me at 918.856.5377 x106 or email me at rondalyn@ croosoverimpact.org.
Grateful for Grace, Rondalyn Abode Director of Development Crossoverimpact.org
Crossover Community Impact
20
