4 minute read
Crossover Community Impact
We are a Christian organization committed to restoring our community through reconciliation, love, and justice.
by Justin Pickard
Yesterday, I had just finished a zoom meeting from home and had a few minutes before someone would pick me up to take me to the next meeting. There was a knock on the door and the stepdad of a kid, who was in the same class at Hawthorne Elementary as our son Isaiah, was standing there. He told me that he and his wife had taken the bus somewhere, returned, and found that their son was gone. They had been very careful to quarantine during COVID and their kids were in an online school, and even though it had been a long time since he had played at our house with Isaiah, he was hoping he can use us.” was here. I told him I hadn’t seen him and offered to drive around with him to look for him – but we couldn’t find him.
Dr. John Perkins, the founder of Christian Community Development, convinced us at Crossover a long time ago of the power of proximity. Bringing the change under-resourced neighborhoods need is best done when in proximity – that is why Dr. Perkins encourages people to relocate, remain, or and return to these neighborhoods. Although in this case, I felt pretty much as powerless as this kids’ stepdad, there are so many situations where I see that I have ways to help because of what God has given me. Still, it tore me up thinking of what I would try to do if my son, Isaiah disappeared. I reached out and drove around the neighborhood more with him. They had filed a police report, posted on social media- doing everything they could think of. Fearing the worst, I reached out to a friend who is an IT expert to see if he could get in his computer and find any communication that would provide a clue. By God’s grace, our worst fears were not realized when he was found by police that night asleep, unharmed in someone’s yard.
The power of proximity is that it puts us where God can use us. Although I wasn’t particularly helpful in this situation, I was able to get to know this kid’s parents better and because God has given me a wife with a gift of counseling and training to become
Pictured above: Justin and his family building community within the Hawthorne Neighborhood.
a licensed professional counselor, I suggested that their son come over and talk with her as well as play with our son. Hopefully, this is something God uses.
Another example of the power of proximity is seen on Saturday evenings when we pray for our neighborhood and street. We have been praying for a Christian teacher who heard of the dire need for teachers in Tulsa Public Schools and had started teaching at Hawthorne Elementary. He recently lost his co-teacher and has close to thirty 5th graders he is teaching all subjects by himself. Needless to say, it is a difficult situation – probably more accurately described as impossible and an injustice. Well, God has given me the privilege of being the Executive Director of Crossover, and so, when I hear something like this, I will pray as well as act. I have helped highlight this concern at Crossover Bible Church. I am also able to highlight the need right now on social media and in Crossover’s publications. I asked the counselor at Hawthorne which positions are missing, and he said that in addition to another fifth-grade teacher, they are missing a fourth-grade teacher and multiple teaching assistants. Please spread the word.
Isaiah 1:17 says “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” It struck me a long time ago (at least 11 years ago since we named one of our sons Isaiah) that God doesn’t just call us to stop doing injustice, but to actively seek justice and bring it to the most vulnerable.
Justin Pickard, who was born on his dad’s first day of Law School, was rightly named because his name means “defender of justice.” God has used him and his family mightily to seek justice on behalf of individuals in north Tulsa since 2008 when they decided to make north Tulsa their home. He has been married to his amazing wife, Leah, who loves to see people experience true healing for 20 years, and together they have four children who serve the community alongside them. Their kiddos are Rochelle better known as Ellie (18), Ian (16), Augie (13), and Isaiah (11).
Please go to www.crossoverimpact.org to learn more about Crossover Community Impact and the great community development work the team is doing!
