Biblical, historical and generational imperative of Better Together
Better Together. These words are not mere sentimentalism, but represent both a historic Baptist and a biblical appeal. We are actually Better Together. The Cooperative Program was formulated in 1925 as the key tactic by which Southern Baptists would pursue a unified and comprehensive evangelistic strategy. Indeed, the idea of working together to reach both Kentucky, the U.S. and the world for Jesus was not a Baptist idea. It is part-and-parcel of the Christian mission as instituted by King Jesus in Acts 1:8, where He gave all disciples the privilege and mandate of being His witnesses.
What does a biblical and historical lesson on the Cooperative Program have to do with the mission of Crossings? Well, everything. Crossings is committed to the unified and comprehensive effort that the Lord Jesus has assigned to every one of us. As an agency of the KBC who receives generous and essential support from your CP dollars, we have not forgotten.
Will you join us On Mission? We created Crossings On Mission (COM) because we believe that we are truly Better Together. COM will take students into the impoverished region of southeastern Kentucky and into the streets of Dayton, Ohio, in 2021. These four-day student camps will include preaching, worship, evangelism training and abundant opportunities to both proclaim and show the gospel with our mouths, hands and feet.
The latest statistics tells us that this generation of young students, known as Generation Z, is eager to make a difference in the world. On Mission’s key objective is the Great Commission. Yet, an important benefit is that it exposes students to how God is at work all around us. This camp trains students to understand both biblically and historically why we are Better Together.
This is a lesson learned by many of our churches that have attended, but most exemplified by Hardin Baptist. Nick Calhoon brought Hardin’s youth to On Mission in Chicago the summer of 2019. Nick reports that their mission trip led to a fruitful partnership with church planter Bryan Coble at Sow Community Church in Irving Park: “We regularly stay connected with Bryan, pray for the ministry and financially assist him in the efforts they are doing there.”
Hardin Baptist even sent a college intern to partner with Sow Community. Jessica Louis, the intern, reported: “I really believe getting to intern (for one month) really allowed me to learn the landscape of the city, build relationships in the community and I really felt like I was part of Sow Community. It grew my heart for the mission field, specifically for urban church planting as I was able to see the nations all in this one city.”
We need churches to bring their middle and high school students. We also need our churches to send their college students to serve with us as summer missionaries. Have them apply at gocrossings.org/work-at-camp or send us their info — we’d love to reach out!
For more information about Crossings On Mission, give us a call at 502-491-7000 or email us at info@gocrossings.org.
Randall Breland is director of student programming for Crossings Camps.
Randall Breland