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Friday, April 24, 2009
This is the older Crossroads Blog which often gets posted as a link...the more recent one for announcements can be found at CBChighschool.blogspot.com.
Brent 3:12 PM
Juarez Update Letter
Dear Parents, Students and Ministry Leaders,
As you all know, the student ministry’s trip to Juarez to build homes for needy families has been a consistent event on our calendar for over a decade. The trip serves the purpose of exposing our students to world missions as well as providing our teens with a fantastic “bonding” opportunity. For many, it’s the introduction to the importance of loving our neighbors and using our blessings to serve others…a staple of our ministry emphasis over their four years of high school.
Like many of you, I’ve been reading media reports of escalating violence in Juarez in early 2009. Amor Ministries, the organization we’ve partnered with in recent years, reassigned their high school missions in Juarez to other parts of Mexico during Spring Break. This action caused us to reexamine our involvement for this year.
We assembled a group of ministry leaders at CBC, both paid staff and volunteers, and began to gather information from Amor staff, media reports, internet research and insights from people we know who work in and around Juarez. After looking at all the available information possible we began to think and pray through our decision.
After nearly six weeks of prayer and thoughtful deliberation, we believe that taking this trip to Juarez is NOT what God wants for our church or student ministry at this time. We realize the gravity of this decision, both as it affects not only our student ministry but also IMPACT 2009 and the corresponding vision CBC has for world missions. Please trust that this decision was not made lightly.
Also, we’d like for you to know that we’ve been diligent in seeking alternative ministries to take part in since early March. Thus far we’ve not been able to find a suitable ministry opportunity for our students that fits our philosophy of ministry, but we’ll continue to seek God’s will in this area and hope to find something soon. We’ll let you know as soon as possible if and when an opportunity is found. We do have a couple of strong leads, so please keep praying for what (if anything) God has for our ministry this summer.
As the Pastor of Student Ministries, I’d like to say thanks to all of you for your prayers during this time as well as for your support, encouragement, information updates, and leads on other options for trips. So many of you have been on this trip, know how deeply this ministry is needed by families in Juarez, and what a great experience it is for our students…and you know how hard it’s been as we’ve weighed the pros and cons of our decision. Again, thank you for you support and understanding.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to direct them to me at your earliest convenience.
In His Service and Yours,
Brent McKinney
Pastor of Student Ministries
Crossroads Bible Church
Double Oak, TX 75077
(972) 355-3343
Brent 3:10 PM
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