Lemonade for Cancer Research by Cecilia

We went online and researched many non-profit organizations. The more we researched, the more difficult it was to narrow down the organization we wanted to donate to. When we went to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation website it touched our hearts. We immediately knew that it was the organization we wanted to help. We decided to donate $200.00 of our own money and hold a lemonade stand. We got our family involved with the lemonade stand and raised $300. We feel very blessed to be part of a church that gives back to the community. This was a little out of our comfort zone, but it was well worth it!

For the women of Lynn House by Todd & KT

God entrusted us with $20.00 to start. We decided to give it to the Lynn House, an all women’s free 30-day detox on the north edge of Costa Mesa. Two men 15 years ago dug deep into their own pockets to start this house and provide women coming from the street a place to go and start their road to recovery. One of them was my sponsor in recovery. He died last year quite suddenly. Before he died, he asked me to help take these women to meetings on Sunday and Monday nights. In doing so, we drove right passed The Crossing and I was able to tell them about our incredible church and the way God had been working miracles not only in my life, but in and through others as well. As I watched each of these women take 30 days clean and sober, they started coming to Lifelines on Fridays and then on the weekends as well. All of the women who came accepted Jesus and have been Baptized!!! They still are regular attenders and some have found places to be of service. As other women complete their 30 days, they too become a part of The Crossing. I know that this is completely God working!!! I was able to ask the women who have been through the first 30 days for donations to provide funds for another woman to stay 30 days more. So far, 160 dollars has been raised. This will be an on-going project. I know God will provide more money than ever could be imagined. The second 30 days costs 160 dollars per week for the women to stay. And means the difference between life and death for them. The director of the house literally broke down in tears when receiving this money and said there was someone already praying for a Miracle living there. I said this was a gift from Jesus. And God walked through the door and answered that prayer. Just exactly at the right time…His time!!!! I can’t wait to see what other Miracles God will work in the Lynn House, but I know they will be BEYOND BELIEF!!!!!!!

Delivered

God has truly delivered Stephanie from a life on the streets. She described in horrible detail the realities of the drug life where she lived day to day from looking for the next hit of Meth, to getting beaten in the street by the local drug dealers. She went from being a regular mom to losing everything. In the middle of being nearly strangled to death by her drug dealer, she heard God's voice telling her that he would deliver her from the bad dream she had been living in for years. Stephanie is now sober and helping other women addicts get off the street. Stephanie said she was sooooo thankful to The Crossing, and that those who helped with this car donation will reap a reward in heaven. Delivering the car to Stephanie was a joy.

Stephen Fussle
Student Ministries Pastor
The Crossing

Reward for the Faithful

It is always awesome to see someone who constantly gives themselves away in service to others receive God's reward. Jenna works at Micah C.D.C. which is a non-profit organization which provides learning centers for the underprivileged. Jenna is a coordinator for one of the learning centers. Unfortunately, because of her lack of transportation, it has been difficult to transport supplies, leaving her to walk or take the bus. But God had other plans for Jenna, plans to bless her for all the work she is doing for our community, and it brings me joy to see God's faithfulness to Jenna. She wanted to let everyone know how thankful she is to everyone who contributed. Jenna said she had been praying for a car for a long time and this just proves that God is faithful to answer our prayers.

Stephen Fussle
Student Ministries Pastor
The Crossing Church

Estancia - Community Partners

Estancia High School: Community Partners by Phil D'Agostino

On Sunday, September 21, Estancia High School partnered with The Crossing Church in Costa Mesa for a day of community service and celebration, as over 1,000 volunteers descended on the campus to beautify, enhance and spruce up the school's facilities and surrounding areas. While Measures A and F, passed by voters for major school improvements, significantly upgraded school facilities, The Crossing's volunteer efforts were part of a larger developing relationship between Estancia and community organizations that have the manpower and resources to help the school in unique ways.

In addition to the volunteer day, The Crossing has provided tutors to help struggling students with their school work, and many other projects are in the works that enhance the quality of our service to Estancia students.

Another organization that has been working closely with Estancia for the betterment of its students is the Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa. For nearly 60 years, they have supported the schools of Costa Mesa and they have been a part of the Estancia High School family since it opened in the 1960's. In the past years, their focus has been on leadership development through co-curricular and extracurricular activities and the encouragement of academic excellence through programs such as Eagle Pride and scholarships. They work closely, every week, with the students of the Key Club and support Estancia's Australia Exchange Program. Each month, they also honor student athletes for exemplary leadership on the field and in school while maintaining high standards of scholarship.

Estancia High School will continue to develop relationships with community organizations like The Crossing and the Kiwanis of Costa Mesa because they all want the same thing: the best education of our youth.

Miracles by Kathleen

God entrusted us with $20.00 to start. We decided to give it to the Lynn House, an all womens' free 30-day detox on the north edge of Costa Mesa. Two men 15 years ago,dug deep into their own pockets to start this house and provide women coming from the street a place to go and start their road to recovery. One of them was my sponsor in recovery. He died last year quite suddenly. Before he died, he asked me to help take these women to meetings on Sunday and Monday nights. In doing so, we drove right passed The Crossing and I was able to tell them about our incredible church and the way God had been working miracles not only in my life, but in and through others as well. As I watched each of these women take 30 days clean and sober, they started coming to Lifelines on Fridays and then on the weekends as well. All of the women who came, accepted Jesus and have been Baptized!!! They still are regular attenders and some have found places to be of service. As other women complete their 30 days, they too become a part of The Crossing. I know that this is completely God working!!! I was able to ask the women who have been through the first 30 days for donations to provide funds for another woman to stay 30 days more. So far, 160 dollars has been raised. This will be an on-going project. I know God will provide more money than ever could be imagined. The second 30 days costs 160 dollars per week for the women to stay. And means the difference between life and death for them. The director of the house literally broke down in tears when receiving this money and said there was someone already praying for a Miracle living there. I said this was a gift from Jesus. And God walked through the door and answered that prayer. Just exactly at the right time…His time!!!! I can’t wait to see what other Miracles God will work in the Lynn House, but I know they will be BEYOND BELIEF!!!!!!!

Prayers of a Child by Keri

OK, I know this may not seem like much compared to the thousands I hear about being raised but you just have to know that in this process my son and I prayed daily for God to grow His money.  We prayed even when we thought no more would come in and then more would show up that day in the mail or someone would bring more to small group.  One day I was pretty sure no more would come in and when my son said he wanted to pray for more money I bit my tongue from telling him that we were finished, figuring that would be kind of wet blanket on his prayers.  That day another $40.00 showed up in our mailbox and in the next two days we received another $60.00!    So, all of a sudden it wasn't about how much but the prayers of a child and GOD'S POWER and will being done over the chatter in my brain.  I've learned such a valuable lesson in this and really want to thank my church leaders for giving us this opportunity to really see how God shows up in prayer.

Our money is going to the Interfaith Shelter in W. Costa Mesa for food primarily.  We found a grocer who'll match our money up to $250.00 in groceries (that's $500.00 in food!!!) and the rest will be given as gift cards to bless the individual families as they need. What a ride.  Wouldn't have missed it for anything :)

love,
Keri & Conner Moore
  

Make a Wish by Brandon

My name is Brandon and my wife Amanda and I have been participating in Cash for Causes. We received a $50 in our envelope and have been seeking help from our friends and family to contribute to raising more money. So far we have raised $400 dollars which we are donating to the Make-a-Wish foundation. Both my step-brother and sister had a disease which took their lives but before they past away around the age of 12 they were both apart of Make-a-Wish. This foundation gave my sister the best day of her life. All she wanted was to go to Disneyland and not only did they make that happen but they gave her and my parents 2 days at Disneyland, a nights stay at the Disneyland Hotel, $1000 spending cash, private meetings with her favorite characters and gave our family a video camera to film the whole thing. I’ve always been looking for ways to give back to this foundation that made my brother and sister so happy.

Another Need Met In Our Community

When Christine received the call that she would be given a car, tears rolled down her face in complete disbelief at God's generosity. At the same time she was not surprised by God working through this local church, because she said that you can feel a strong sense of God's presence at The Crossing. After many months of riding the bus, walking, borrowing cars, Christine stated that having a reliable form of transportation would be life changing. She wanted to let everyone who was involved with this car donation know that she is very thankful from the bottom of her heart.

Stephen Fussle
Student Ministries Pastor
The Crossing Church

Celebration Weekend...honoring The Celek's

What an incredible weekend Sept 27th and 28th were at The Crossing. As a church we had the opportunity to honor Tim Celek and his family for 20 years of making a difference in so many people's lives. Thank you Tim, Sue, Emily & Lauren.

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Yard Sale for the Community by Dezirae

My neighbor Natalie and I both received a $20 bill in each of our envelopes. I wasn't sure what to do with my money thinking it would be harder to make a lot of money out of a little money and I had no idea what Charity I wanted to donate to or what I was going to do with my results. First things first, I had to decide who is going to get the money. My roommate suggested S.O.S. Share Our Selves. Share Our Selves is a nonprofit organization that serves the poor, homeless, and uninsured in Orange County by providing medical, dental, food, clothing, financial aid and many other basic living essentials. I prayed about it and felt I could ask the people I work with if they would donate. No one jumped at the chance to give me their money so I had to think of another approach or idea. I decided then to have a yard sale and incorporate my neighbor so we had more stuff. Not wanting to leave my co-workers out, I asked them if they wanted to donate some things to the yard sale....no takers on that either. Everyone supposedly had "just donated their things to the goodwill." No worries. It is in Gods hands - lots of junk or a little junk, the show or sale must go on....I gotta make some cash. Saturday morning sure came early as Friday night I was preparing for the grand opening. I actually enjoy having yard sales so I didn't mind. I hadn't had any customers for a couple hours, because it gave me time to organize the sale and have it look shopper friendly. (Who wants to dig through someone Else's old cardboard box full of their junk?) When 11:00am rolled around and I had only one customer who bought two $1 items I started getting a little discouraged. I told God to send me some customers. About 4 hours later I had the "Big Sale." Someone came and almost bought me out. I told her my cause and she said she felt she needed to donate in some way because S.O.S. had helped her before. She bought $40 worth of stuff. At the end of the sale we had made $50 plus whatever spare dollars and change we had for the "cash register/donation jar". Still not satisfied with the results, my big mouth had to go back to work and tell the coworkers that the sale wasn't as lucrative as I had anticipated which must have guilted one of them since she donated $10. So, all in all, we donated $130 to Share Our Selves. This was an incredible experience. I loved it and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to give back to the community I live in. Thank you The Crossing Church for that opportunity.

With all Glory Given to God,
Dezirae

Everyone loves a Taco! by Brad

The Larkins family received $100 in our envelope. Chris leans toward me and
said (with a gulp), "oh my, how do we raise $900 or more dollars in two
weeks". "Hey, no problem. Let's put ourselves in God's hands - pray about
it - and do some good old fashion brain storming." As a family, we came up
with the idea to hold a Fiesta and Fellowship Night at Baja Fresh in Costa Mesa
Benefiting Share Our Selves to help those in need in Orange County.

Our son Jake has met with Baja Fresh to set the event up. I worked with
Karen Harrington at SOS to get the authorizing letters for the event.
Chris, Molly and Lily will be leading the marketing of the event starting
with signs at the Crossing this weekend and an email blast to friends and
family, The Crossing , BSA troop 90, and SOS.

We selected SOS because we have been involved with this organization for
years. We especially like the Adopt A Family event which provides Christmas
gifts and dinner to struggling Orange County children and their families.
We have known the founder - Jean Forbath - and her family for years. I am
a very close friend with her son and have been along on many an SOS
adventures thought the years.

Will Fiesta and Fellowship Night at Baja Fresh in Costa Mesa be a success?
Who knows? With a lot of prayer, we may exceed our goal of multiplying
The Crossing's $100 blessing to support Share Our Selves! Hey, only $6000
in Tacos... and everyone loves a taco.

If you can join us, Baja Fresh will donate 15% of all food sold between 4:30 pm and 8:30 pm to
SOS on Friday October 3 from 4:30 to 8:30 pm.
It is important that all participants tell the Baja Fresh people that they are
there to benefit SOS.
3030 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa