Sowing Seeds

1. Mr. and Mrs. E. first became clients of Crossroads in December 2010, when they received about 50 pounds of food from our pantry. At the time, they subsisted on a small pension and disability check, as well as food stamps. As continuing Crossroads clients, they completed our financial self-sufficiency and energy conservation classes. Through the course of the next four years, they received approximately 3,500 pounds of food, along with additional assistance in the form of vouchers for gasoline and rent, as well as miscellaneous household items (linens, toiletries, and similar). On August 5, 2015, Crossroads received the following note from Mr. and Mrs. E, addressed to our case manager: 

“We can’t thank you enough for all the help you have given us over the past 4 years – it’s been a hard 4 years of financial roller coastering… Both of our Social Security checks have begun, so we are finally where we can be on our own. Enclosed is a small ‘thank you’ donation to this food ministry – we won’t need to be in the program anymore, but we will never, never be able to thank you enough for blessing us – touching our lives – meeting our needs – and blessing others…”

Enclosed with the unexpected thank you card was a sacrificial gift in the form of a personal check for $50.

2. When a local lodge recently hosted a sale to benefit Crossroads, I stopped by to offer a word of appreciation. I was greeted at the front desk by an employee, Ms. M., who spontaneously shared her experience: “I can’t thank Crossroads enough for the difference you made for me. During the first two years after my divorce, my situation was desperate. I do not know how I would have survived that terrible time without Crossroads.” Her employment and living situation is now stable and she is no longer an active client, but her appreciation for our ministry remains fresh and vital.

3. At a July 2015 Cultural Arts Council concert at Performance Park, a young member of one of the bands who were donating their time and talent to benefit Crossroads Ministry called me aside backstage for a private conversation. “A few years ago when our child was first born,” she confided, “my husband and I suffered some major setbacks with our employment and financial situation.” Her eyes welled up with tears as she continued: “We were clients of Crossroads for about a year, and your food pantry helped us make it through until we could get back on our feet.” Though they have not been active Crossroads clients since that time, she was glad to have an opportunity to share her musical talents as a way of saying “thank you” for the impact that Crossroads Ministry had on her family’s well-being.

The results are not always so dramatic or visible, of course. Sometimes it seems that the cycle of poverty is endless and the needs are perpetuated from generation to generation. But other times, as these and many other stories attest, our wide range of ministries bears fruit:

• for long-term clients receiving a variety of assistance;

• for individuals or families who suffer temporary financial straits and count on Crossroads for short-term help;

• for persons passing through who need a little boost to get from where they’ve come to where they’re heading.

Jesus began to teach many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

–from Mark 4:2–9 (NRSV)