At the end of 2023 leaders from each of our fields came together to plan for the future and share ministry stories from the fields. Scattered across the US and Mexico, it is not often that we can all come together to discuss the ministry as a whole. Each of our fields is focused on helping partner ministries on needed projects with the help of willing volunteers, but that can look very different in each field.
Coming together as a team allows us to share lessons we have learned, help each other develop new ideas and solve problems, and find ways to combine resources on future projects. New staff gets to meet members of far away fields, learn more about the ministry as a whole, and bounce new ideas off of veteran missionaries. Even staff who have been with CrossRoads since the beginning (thirty years ago) learn new things when all of the fields come together.
It is not just staff that enjoys our retreats – this year we were joined by Dean Nester, board member, worship leaders, and devotional author! Dean joined our discussions and offered insight from a church leader perspective. He also lead our worship times and gave us encouragement for the year ahead. We also took this time to talk about our theme for 2024 – Here I Am! These devotionals will be co-authored by Dean and Matt Johnson, Project Manager in our Mexico field.
With every field represented, this was a great time to give an update on ministry over the past few years. This was the first year we were able to have a staff retreat since the pandemic, and there were many updates and changes to discuss. The largest of which is the creation of the Operation Recovery field in 2021. We also spent time discussing grant writing, social
media, interns, and recruiting as a whole.
It’s not all work though! We also enjoyed our time of fellowship, being able to catch up as friends as well as coworkers, and play some board games. A HUGE thank you to our Appalachia partner Meridzo for allowing us to use their retreat center! It was a calm and welcoming location, allowing our staff to relax (something we don’t often get to do!).
