Crossings sets goal to restart camps
Last month I wrote about the blessing of legacy giving that my wife and I have enjoyed in our stewardship.
You will recall that Pam and I have included Crossings in our estate plan. In the 20 years since we were part of the team that started Crossings, we have become convinced that the work God does in the lives of students and children when they come to camp is wor- thy of a legacy gift from our estate. In those 20 years, we have seen more than 163,000 campers come to Crossings, with 8,750 of those making life-changing decisions to become followers of Christ.
We are so very grateful that God has shown His favor on this ministry over the first 20 years of our camps. The truth is, as I write this column for December publication, we entered 2020 believing we would be celebrating 21 years of Crossings instead of 20. We had 18,399 campers pre-registered when we pulled the plug. With COVID hit- ting us hard, we are, for the moment, stuck on 20 years. Now we find ourselves at the most difficult place since we began in 2000.
However, instead of weeping and moaning about our current challenging circumstances, we are expecting great things from God when summer of 2021 rolls around! In order to help us dig out of the hole that COVID has dug for us, we are right now in the midst of our 20/20 Capital Campaign.
In celebration of God’s 20 years of blessing, we seek to raise $20,000 to help us restart when spring comes. And we want to raise these funds by the end of 2020, so time is of essence. $20,000 by the end of 2020. While that doesn’t sound like much, it’s a lot to our ministry as we continue to look ahead.
If you are one of our existing partners, if you are a group leader or adult participant, if you are a former staffer, if you are a friend of Crossings, if your life or someone you know has been impacted by Jesus at camp, will you help us spread the word on 20/20? We are hoping for gifts from hundreds of you! We will appreciate gifts of any size! And we are counting on you spreading the word on social media! Post about us, like us, offer a word of testimony!
We’re even praying that someone (maybe you!) will step up and offer to match all the funds we raise in our 20/20 effort.
Crossings has been incredibly blessed to be used by God to reach thousands of students and children in our first 20 years. We have every reason to believe our best years are yet to come, but first we’ve got to get through COVID.
Prayerfully consider helping us and enjoying the joy that comes to the generous giver.
2 Corinthians 9:10-11 tell us, “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
Rusty Ellison is vice president of development for Crossings. He can be reached at rellison@gocrossings.org.
Rusty Ellison