I had the time of my life at CORE. Being in a place surrounded by brothers and sisters who love the Lord just as much as I do is an insane encouragement and so energizing. I loved it so much I could not stop thinking of how I wished I could have that atmosphere at school. I came back really eager to go through with The Beyond Effect challenge and took a lot of time in prayer for God to show me where and how I could use my burdens and passions to build God’s kingdom.

Almost 5 years ago, I battled with depression, an eating disorder and just loving myself in general. I was only able to overcome the pit I was in when I stopped trying and started trusting. God was faithful and taught me so much through that journey. I feel unbreakable, when before a certain comment could have crushed my world. God’s truth is what I choose over the world’s false beliefs. Through my struggles of self image, confidence, and importance, I developed a huge passion for empowering girls and spreading the amazing hope and satisfaction that you can only find in Christ.

I wanted to start a Bible study to create that strengthening atmosphere I loved so much at CORE. So I thought about how hard it is to try and be a Proverbs 31 girl without help and accountability, and that is when iYADA started coming together.

I came up with the name iYADA, by simply adding an “i” to the Hebrew word yada, which means: to know, to be known, or to know intimately. The word yada is used over 900 times in the Old Testament to describe the kind of love and relationship that God desires to have with us. That is our main focus, to always be working toward a deeper relationship with Christ. Here at Carson- Newman, there isn’t really a place to get plugged into that only involves girls who strive to keep Christ in the middle of everything, outside of a sorority. Therefore, I did not want to limit iYADA to just girls within my friend group. After talking with some people over Student Affairs, I got them to fall in love with the idea as much as I had. iYADA is now an official Carson-Newman organization where girls can meet other sisters in Christ and grow together while walking with Him. Living in today’s world it can be a struggle to stay away from the world’s desires and distractions. However, by having a group of sisters and being involved it may be a little easier to do so. Our group’s verse explains our desire:

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” –Proverbs 31:25-26

Inside of iYADA we grow and build relationships with each other, outside of iYADA we seek to make disciples and spread our greatest hope and boast, Jesus Christ. We have Bible studies, participate in service projects, and of course do what girls do best…socialize.  Jesus chose 12 friends to help Him do what God called Him to do, while He walked this earth. We are supposed to treasure our friends in Christ and I hope that iYADA becomes the perfect place for girls to find them.

D6 is a leadership program, named after Deuteronomy 6 which says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  We are called DAILY to Love God, Love people, and Be a servant.  This is something that Crossings is all about.  It is known as the “triangle.”  We love God by abiding in Him.  We love people by being humble.  And we become a servant to both God and people.  The triangle is not limited to camp, but it extends in to our everyday life as well.  While serving with Crossings during the past few summers, I have personally witnessed the triangle in action and have seen the impact it can have on a person’s life.  It is a daily reminder of how we as Christians are called to live.

The triangle may be a recognizable trademark with Crossings Camps, but even more important is the Gospel.  Crossings is ALL ABOUT the Gospel.  Just before the summer of 2010, the staff at Crossings sat down, talked about the Gospel, and broke it down into six points.  The six points are as follows:

God is holy.  We are sinful and separated from God.

Jesus lived a perfect life.

Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead.

Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Salvation is a free girt by grace.

We are called to trust Jesus as Lord of our lives.

The Gospel is what we speak of day in and day out at camp.  So to say the Gospel is important may be an understatement, but we know that the Gospel is alive and is changing lives!

Knowing the significance of the Gospel, we have to recognize as Christians that we must be watchful for barriers that may cause conflict when sharing.  Breaking down those barriers is vital.  Whether it is painting a chain-link fence, picking up dead fish, cleaning 48 toilets and showers in under a three hour span of time, spreading mulch, running the dish room, or serving outside in 40 something degree weather drenched, in all we do, the goal is ultimately to provide an environment where the Gospel can positively change lives and give students and adults an eternal hope.  We are ALL ABOUT that at Crossings.  In case you were wondering, yes, I have done each task listed above.  At the time, I was not as fond of the task, but looking back, I believe that God was able to use even those not so fun tasks to better provide a place where the Gospel could be shared and we could witness hundreds of students cross over from DEATH to LIFE.

During the past month, I have served in many interesting ways, but God is daily teaching me more about himself and the importance of each task as I focus on providing an environment free of distraction where God is going to change thousands of lives throughout the next year and beyond.

This blog was written by Grace Collins, who is a participant in the Crossings D6 program for the 2011-2012 year. For more information on the D6 program, click here.

Each night before worship Jay gathers all the students in the lobby and prays. He prays specifically for their hearts and minds to be open to what God is trying to tell them. The students have responded really well and have been engaged every night during service.

POI’s (afternoon activities) have been a blast. Our weather has been hot and sunny. The students are informed by Rob Boss each morning on what the forecast is.

The Beyond effect is Crossing’s call the take your passion (something you love) and your Burden (something that breaks your heart) and combine them to make a difference in your community and around the world, Students have been giving generously to this during shack time and the youth ministers have been talking about how pumped the students are for the large group Beyond Effect offering tonight during worship. Many students have committed to going beyond and our taking this call seriously. They are realizing this is not a onetime deal, but a life style.

Tonight is the camp wide annual Slurge Fest. Student and staff have a chance to let loose and get covered from head to toe in our giant mud pit. We are excited to end this last full day with a tug of war between churches.

Senior Night is also happening tonight. It is a tradition for all the students who have graduated to have time to hang out with the staff and talk about questions or concerns they may have for their future.

Camp has been amazing this week and we are so excited to see how many students cross over from death to life this summer.

~Cedarmore Staff

There have been updates to Shoemake Chapel

We put Bazooka Ball at Jonathan Creek.

And get excited the Dinning Hall at Cedarmore gets closer and closer every day!

We also posted about some of the other events we have been doing the past couple of months, like…

Talking to Student Pastors at conferences about why they should come to Crossings this summer with their students

and, interviewing potential summer staff.

While this is just a taste of all that is going on, and with only a couple of months until day one of camp there is tons of stuff we are working on right now. We wanted to pause and give you 5 ways you join the preparation and get ready to come to Crossing this summer.

1. Read the word!

It is a pretty crazy thought I know but you don’t have to wait till the summer to spend Time Alone With God. (TAWG) Year after year I am amazed at how many students finish a week at Crossings and talk about how excited they are about their relationship with Christ and the next time they spend time with him will be the week they come to camp next summer. It doesn’t have to be this way! If you need a plan or some kind of guide talk a leader in your church and they can give you resources for spending time in the word. DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU GET TO CROSSINGS TO SPEND TIME IN THE WORD START NOW!

2. Tell your friends and family about Crossings

You have friends at school who would love to come to Crossings this summer with you and they don’t even know it yet, they will know it when you tell them how excited you are.

3. Put together your Beyond Effect

If you came to Crossings last year then you know what I am talking about. If your coming this summer for the first time you can find out what The Beyond Effect is by going to http://www.thebeyondeffect.org . Either way don’t wait for someone to challenge you to Go Beyond this summer, Go Beyond now!

4. Like us on Facebook !

If you haven’t Liked Crossings on Facebook yet, what are you waiting for? We put cool stuff up all the time about what is happening at your favorite place on earth. Not to mention we love to hear form you and Facebook is the perfect place for you to tell us whats going on. Oh… make sure your Facebook friends like Crossings as well, that way they can see what your so excited about all the time.

5. Pray for the Summer Staff!

Lastly, the awesome staff you have come to know and love at Crossings are always in need of your prayers. Many of them will be wrapping up a semester just days before they show up on the property for a crazy summer. So please pray for them!

The Gospel is about a relationship. Christ ends the sacrificial laws of the Old Testament by becoming a sacrifice himself and restoring for those who trust in him the relationship broken in the garden by sin. So how does Crossings Camps fit into that? Simple. What drives everything at Crossings is RELATIONSHIP. For Crossings there is no greater blessing than being a platform for people (students and adults alike) to hear the Gospel, understand their need for a Savior to restore the brokenness that is a result of sin, and to respond the Gospel’s invitation to a RELATIONSHIP.

Crossings goes about being this platform in a variety of different ways, such as Large Group and Small Group Bible Studies, Scripture-driven worship services, crazy fellowships, climbing walls, tubing, mountain bikes, and Super Blobs. Even breakfast, lunch and dinner are seen as platforms for the Gospel to be shared and Relationship to happen.

No other place can this commitment to the GOSPEL RELATIONSHIP be more clearly seen than in the summer staff. Like no other Crossings views our staff as the single greatest resource to sharing the GOSPEL and building RELATIONSHIPS. Every one of the almost 90 college students we hire year to year will tell you there single focus 16 hours a day for nine weeks during the summer is to intentionally seek building RELATIONSHIPS for the purpose of share the truth of how the GOSPEL restores RELATIONSHIP between God and man.

At Crossings, the what and the why of Camp are the same: there is nothing greater for us to set our sights on than the work of the GOSPEL, restoring RELATIONSHIP between Creator and His creation.

Camp has been a perpetual play with no intermission for about three weeks now.  Here’s how the past weeks have been arranged: Students arrive on a Monday between 2-4 pm.  We work all week leading Bible studies, heading up different activities, and building relationships with students.  When the dawn breaks on Friday, the students have a brief time of worship and meeting with their Bible study leaders and then leave to go home.

As staffers, we wave goodbye to our new friends with one hand and grab damp rags and mop water with the other.  Staffers are divided up into different cleaning teams and disperse across the camp to clean in preparation for students who will arrive between 4-5 pm that same day.  We call days like these “Clopening Days.”

This has been our schedule for the past few weeks.  Sometimes I sit in staffer meetings and smile at just how much we do in one week.  I’m surrounded by brothers and sisters who work harder than most people I know.  They are faithful to love each other and the students.  It’s amazing how much the Lord has used them to change me.

We sent students home this morning, cleaned, and were granted the evening off.  Off-days are really refreshing for us as a staff.  Being intentional with students and building relationships with them is a privilege to be cherished, but getting time away from the camp grounds to enjoy each other over a meal is a special treat.

It’s a joy and a pain every time I have time off with my fellow staffers.  A joy because with every meeting we’re all growing a little closer; with every conversation, bonds tighten.  It’s a pain because there will come a time when we’ll all say goodbye.  I’ll never spend an entire summer with this exact same group of people again.  I know we’ll all realize just how close we’ve become when we all separate.  And yet, that’s the nature of gospel work.  The body of Christ comes together to accomplish her goals.  When we are together doing our work, the Holy Spirit brings us together in a spirit of unity.  Yet, we must always be willing to leave it all and follow Him where He leads.

I intend to do this.

So, I’ll invest my heart into these students, who I’ll say goodbye to after only four days.  I’ll also pour myself into these fellow staffers, who I’ll say goodbye to in just over a month.  But, bonds remain that only Christ can bring because the gospel unites the most distant and different.

We take Bible study for granted in America.  We rarely face threats to our lives if we want to get serious about knowing God and His Word.  But this is not the case for our brothers and sisters throughout most of the world.  Following Christ can literally be the difference between life and death.  They cannot hold public Bible studies to learn more about the God who has saved them, so, they meet under the cover of darkness, faces hidden under a cloak – gathered together to learn more about God through an all-night study of His Word.  We want to be more like them.

So, for the first time, Crossings is hosting an exclusive Bible study simulcast called “Secret Church” on Friday, April 22 – Saturday April 23, 2011 for Group Leaders.  Secret Church is an intense time of Bible study and prayer lead by David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL and author of Radical.

We would like to extend an exclusive invitation to Group Leaders who are registered for a Crossings 2011 youth or children’s camp to join us for Secret Church. If you desire to know God more deeply through His Word and join with His Church around the world, this event is for you! We will be learning more about the Crucifixion, Salvation, and the Glory of God.

Please call Crossings Central Office for more details at 502-491-7000.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  (Hebrews 10:23-25)

One thing that a lot of the staffers will ask each other on their days off is, “What have you learned since you’ve been here at camp?”  I usually respond that I have grown to see that I am the most sinful person that I know.  This has been a humbling experience for me because I see that I should be spending far more time fighting and killing my own sin, rather than judging my brothers and sisters without warrant.  Lately, however, I’ve learned some incredible things about the body of Christ.

You see, my time here at camp is clothed in brevity.  In about three weeks, I will pack up my bags, say goodbye to my brothers and sisters with tears, and enter back into reality.  However, I have linked up, for a season, with my brothers and sisters to accomplish a task.  We’ve joined together in fellowship for a common end: to love God, love others, and be a servant.  This is expressed and manifested in many different ways: through picking chords on a guitar, cleaning soggy food off a tray while doing dishes, or simply listening to a student tell you about his or her life.  It’s all working toward one end: to make Christ known among students.

So, every day of camp, we disperse.  We intentionally neglect spending time with each other during the days so that we may build relationships with students.  We are functional missionaries with very intentional purposes.  We eat on mission, we play on mission, we talk on mission, and we serve on mission.  And thus, the body of Christ unfurls over the camp grounds, stretching His arms to even the most seemingly unreachable.  All of us serve in very different arenas, but work toward His renown.  And so, when we pass each other on hot days, walking over hot blacktop, cloaked in a layer of blurry smog, we smile.  Whether it is conscious in our minds or not, there is something bigger than us happening here.  And so we are His hands, His feet, His eyes, His ears – His heart.

Holly (second from the left) and her family at the airport just before departure.

Kosovo:  A war ridden past, and an uncertain future.  Over the past 10-12 years Kosovo has had its fare share of political instability.  However, there are men and women who have seen more than a country at war, they have seen children orphaned, college students trying to make ends meet, and families rebuild their homes.  Though the fighting seems to have ceased over the last two years, there are a number of hurdles to overcome.

Holly, a Summer Staffer in 2010 has seen the need in Kosovo.  Less than 24 hours ago we saw her off at the Louisville airport.  She is going to be spending the next 5 months in Kosovo seeking to build relationships and share the gospel with college students there.  Kosovo is said to have the youngest population in Europe with 80% of the people claiming to practice Islam.  There is a desperate need to have college students ministering to college students!

Pray for Holly as she will be adjusting to this new culture, new people, and a new job.  We all know how much college students love to drink coffee, so she has been strategically set-up to work at a coffee shop where she will be able to build relationships and share the good news with the students she meets.  We are so grateful for Holly and her willingness to go and cannot wait to see how God directs her experiences over the next few months.

“Crossings challenged us to Go Beyond. We have taken the challenge”

Imagine this: You and I walk into McDonalds and already know exactly what we want.  Can you imagine going into a restaurant and, not only do you not know what you want, but you cannot even read the menu; not because it is in another language, but because you’ve never seen a menu and you have never been to a restaurant? This is a reality to many teens across the globe.  This is a reality to students right here in Stanton, Kentucky.

Nada Mission is a ministry in Stanton that seeks to help teenagers in Eastern Kentucky.   When we visited Nada almost two years ago, we learned all of these things and, our eyes were opened to a new world we had never seen before.  It was then that my heart took on a new burden.  Poverty-stricken and without most of the experience and opportunities we receive every day, these teens tread on.  Many of the students in Stanton are no longer enrolled in school, despite their young age.  Despite the hardships faced by these teens, they are still normal teenagers; they still like to hang out, watch TV, and just chill.

Crossings challenged us to “Go Beyond” last summer by combining our burden and our passion to serve and share the gospel with the “least of these.”  We have taken on this challenge.  Our burden is the teenagers in Stanton, and our passion is to help them “cross over from death to life”.

For our Beyond Effect in helping Nada, we hosted a 5K Run/Walk on October 30 at Coach D. Park in Eminence, Kentucky.  The money that we raised is going to help fund our youth group in taking a trip to Nada Mission.

We love to spread the Word of God and tell people about His amazing works.  We have never been able to find anything as impactful as personally sharing the gospel.  This is why we are going instead of just donating the money or collecting items for a need; we are doing something with it.  We are confident we will see the effect.

Crossings has impacted me in a way that can’t be put into words.  I have left every summer with ideas, plans, and questions of how I might use my burden and passion.  I am so grateful for the experiences I’ve had at camp, and I thank you all for them.

How are you “Going Beyond?”

We cannot wait to be “Washed” in 2011!