Hello Crossroads Volunteers, Family and Friends of Crossroads.
Since I last wrote, we’ve had our 24thAnniversary Fun Fair, followed by Term 3 wrap up, a Crossroads Term break and then last Friday we commenced Term 4.
The Fun Fair was a wonderful day where we Celebrated the Anniversary of Crossroads as a ministry of Newlife. We were able to honour the Legacy (last term’s theme) of Ed & Olive Smith, Alan Banks and the many hundreds of Volunteers who have contributed to the growth of Crossroads and the sharing of the Gospel in multiple ways to hundreds, if not thousands of people from all over the Gold Coast every Friday. We’ve seen God at work in the lives of people from all walks of life who have served as volunteers. Together we’ve seen God glorified through the transforming message of Jesus Christ and we’ve been empowered by the Holy Spirit to be the Church for people on the Gold Coast who have a disability and their carers for the past 24 years. Paula had put in a huge effort to make the Fun Fair spectacular with diverse types of entertainment and lots of bright colours around the Courtyard. Praise God we didn’t have a dunk tank this year and Ashleigh & I were able to join in the fun, rather than being ‘the fun’ (and we stayed dry all day!!). At the Fun Fair, we had 21 adult students from Hope College who assisted with all the stalls and helped maximise the fun factor for our participants. We’ve partnered with Hope College in providing a place of supervised training for their students who require placement hours as they train for their Certificate III in Disability. Nicola (our NU Children’s Pastor) had arranged some students from Emmanuel College to come and do face painting for the Fun Fair. They were terrific. Our Crossroaders love the Fun Fair and several of them really excelled themselves with their Karaoke singing.
On 21st Sept, Ashleigh took the reigns while I was away and she did an amazing job leading Crossroads by finishing off The Legacy Series and keeping all the ‘balls bouncing’ for the last day of Term 3. It’s great to have such a capable and gifted team of people supporting Crossroads with their time and talents. THANK YOU for the part you play or have played at Crossroads.
We’ve begun Term 4 last Friday, and our theme up until Christmas will be “Everyday Supernatural” which is the common theme that all of our Newlife Communities will be focussing on for a time. The recent visit by Mike Pilavachi was the launching pad for this ministry focus. On Friday, I began the series by preaching about ‘Living a Spirit-led life without being weird’. We introduced our new Crossword which comes from Romans 8:11 “The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same spirit living within you.” What a great passage of scripture that speaks into this theme of being Spirit filled people of God who have been called with and for a purpose. We are invited to be vessels of God’s Spirit and when we see that occurring at Crossroads, we get a real glimpse of heaven on earth in our community. I see God’s Spirit working in the lives of many of our Crossroaders each Friday and I’m extremely blessed, encouraged and humbled as a result.
I’d like to THANK two Volunteers who have come to the end of their season at Crossroads. Kim Thubron and Diane Bain are both moving away from the Gold Coast to be closer to family and other work opportunities. They have been wonderful Volunteers who have used their gifts to serve in very different capacities at Crossroads. They have been generous with their time and given their love to the people whom we serve each week. May God enrich your lives in the next phase of your journey. THANK YOU both for being available at this time.
Here’s a word of encouragement for all our Volunteers – “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms”. (1 Peter 4:10)
Grace & Peace,
Rev. Bradley Foote
Crossroads & Families Minister
[email protected] | newlifecare.nu