From the Director

by Cindy Mansberger

I’ve heard people say, “I think abortion is killing your baby” and in the same breath say, “I would never have an abortion but I wouldn’t judge someone else who did.” We live in a world that believes relativism, which claims there are no absolutes. A world that says, “Your truth works for you, and mine works for me”.

 While counseling a client recently, one of our staff was sharing with her client how she could live in a way to make healthy relationship decisions by waiting to have sex. The client rolled her eyes and said, “This is 2019, that’s not the way it works anymore!” Her point of view doesn’t give any credit to the authority of Scripture or the Lordship of Jesus Christ. She sees truth as relative.

For many we serve, normal life has never been a steady paycheck or a solid home life. Girls that grow up in a low-income household don’t know much about how to save money but she knows how to move in half a day, how to live in a car or sleep on her friend’s couch, make due without electricity, give herself away sexually because, for a short time, it makes her feel “loved”. We give her referrals for help and do what we can. We pray over her and for her when she leaves. Then she misses her next appointment, we can’t reach her by phone or text. Contact with her is lost.

Months later, she’s back. This time with a new set of issues. She comes because she knows this is where she can find peace, love and acceptance…honesty and truth.

In the absence of moral absolutes and desperation, what should we do? Jesus says we should be the salt and light, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:13-16). We have the privilege of inviting the lost into the presence of Jesus.

Instead of arguing or judging them, we can look for points of agreement. We avoid “Christianese” words she would not understand like redeemed, sanctified, or holy. We can ask open questions such as, “What is it about being a Wiccan that attracts you?” We can show genuine interest in her story and learn what it is that draws her in that direction. Through listening, we earn her trust, giving us the opportunity to present the gospel.

Anne Pierson, Director of Ministry Services at Loving and Caring, Inc. said, “When we solve one need of a young woman’s life, then another need or adjustment is able to come to the front and issue by issue, a life is changed.”

What we do at Crossroads is a process, perseverance, while putting our trust in God to do the work as He saves and changes lives. As we do, she begins to see the better Way, the Truth and the Life.
Thank you for being a ministry partner with us throughout 2019. We look forward to seeing what God has planned for 2020! May your Thanksgiving and Christmas be blessed! ·