CrossRoads Missions Ministry Update

The month of May ended with a flurry of activity as our Louisville office hosted our annual Intern Orientation. All of our interns for our Appalachia, Help Build Hope, Mexico and New Orleans fields arrived here in Louisville on Friday (Memorial Day Weekend) for a two day orientation.  It’s a fun time of meeting new folks and preparing for a successful summer ministry.  The folks who will be serving as this year’s interns are very impressive indeed.  Phyllis and I were both very pleased with their level of maturity and heart for serving the Lord.

As this newsletter goes out, all of our interns and field leaders are now serving in their respective fields.  Join us in praying for their effectiveness in imparting the ministering of Christ through service, and praying for those opportunities that always come to share about Jesus.

The “Rock Garden” Returns

It’s that time of year when we once again plant a vegetable garden.  Our backyard is known for numerous rocks and this year has not disappointed us.  We put forth our best effort by hiring a fella to come and pull out quite a bit of rock dirt, and replace it with real dirt.  Nonetheless we have quite a few million (no kidding) rocks still left.   Because of almost continuous rain we were unable to get the garden planted until the end of May.  It’s now all in and under dirt.  Pray with us for the harvest this year as we look forward to the results of our efforts – not only for the plants that grow in our rock garden, but also and most importantly for the hearts that are touched as a result of the ministry you have partnered with us in.  Click the garden image to see a larger version so you can see all the rocks!

Tour de Cure 2009

On May 16th Jim rode in his first-ever group bicycle ride.  Below we have copied Jim’s ‘thank you’ letter to those who sponsored him in this ride for the American Diabetes Association – the Tour de Cure.  Below is a copy for your reading of his thank you letter to those who sponsored him in this ride ….

Thank you for your sponsorship of the 2009 American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure Bike Ride.  The ride took place on Saturday May 16th at Norton Commons in north Louisville.  Your sponsorship made it possible for me to be the third highest sponsored rider in Jefferson County for this event.  Y’all did great!

Phyllis and I arrived at the Commons minutes before 7:00 AM, check in time.   After doing the final check in we settled into waiting for my group’s ride, a 20 mile ride, to be called. Though we had had quite a bit of rain and thunder storms rolling through the area our planned 8:30 AM start time was delayed by only 15 minutes.

Roughly 140 people took part as riders including one of the American Diabetes Associations professional T1 Team riders.  The advance literature on the ride said that the route “covered rolling hills”.  Phyllis and I had driven the route in the car a few weeks prior to the event so we knew it wasn’t rolling hills!  A hill driven in a car is quite a different thing than a hill ride on a bike.   As I rode the course other riders began to chat back and forth asking “where are the rolling hills”.  One rider even made the comment that “this is like climbing Mt. Everest”.  There were many hills and several that seemed monumental – and one or two rolling hills, too!

Added to the hill challenge was that my bike would not gear down into “granny gears” which made it really difficult for steep hill climbing.  I climbed the last extremely steep and long hill with only 16 of my 24 gears working and literally prayed up that hill for the physical strength to accomplish it.  God answered that prayer.

The rain held off the entire time of the 20 mile course. Once I returned to the Commons and got back under the tent the heavens opened up with another huge down pour!  PTL – as this was another answered prayer.

The 20 mile course took me approximately two hours and twenty minutes to complete, with two brief water stops, and one brief apple, cheese and water stop.

I can’t recall when I have worked so physically hard in such a short period of time of late.  As I sit and write this letter it’s Saturday afternoon after the ride and my leg muscles are still aching!  I am planning tomorrow, Sunday, to be a down day – no bike riding!

You’ll notice that in the enclosed picture I am wearing a red biker’s jersey.  Those who participated in the ride who have diabetes receive this special honor becoming one of The Red Riders.  There were several folks who were amongst The Red Riders including a 13 year old young man with Type 1 diabetes who was absolutely amazing – he took on the 60 mile route.

Thank you once again for your sponsorship and help in the “war on diabetes”.  This disease is a horrible disease that works slowly over time that can result in the loss of sight, the loss of limbs, the failure of organs, heart disease and many other complications – even death.  I deeply appreciate your partnership in this ride, and for your financial gift that will help to make a difference for all who battle diabetes.

By the way … since the Tour ride Jim has also riden another two more 20 mile rides and one 30 mile ride!

Web Site Ministry

We recently finished the final parts of enabling a web site for the Shively Area Ministries.  Jefferson County (Louisville Metro) is the only county in the United States that has a community ministry in every ‘community’.  The community ministries occur when the churches of a community group together to form an entity to meet various needs of their neighborhoods which can include assistance with food, prescriptions, utility bills, counseling and others.  We now provide ministry support to several area community ministries with the “rollout” of SAM’s web site.  You can visit SAM’s web site by clicking www.shivelyareaministries.com!

We’ve also begun converting an English language site into a Chinese language site for a ministry located in China.  This should be fun and interesting as neither of us speak or read Chinese!

Thank you for making it possible for us to serve the cause of Christ in the many ways that we do – through your prayer and financial support and your encouragement.

Lord bless… Jim and Phyllis

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Jim and Phyllis are faith-based independent missionaries commissioned by Faith Bible Church, Cincinnati, OH who serve with CrossRoads Missions, 3231 Ruckreigel Parkway, Suite 111, Louisville, KY, 40229.  Our home address is: Jim and Phyllis Null, 7205 Gorham Way, Louisville, KY, 40291