Calvary Assembly of God
Bringing Faith, Hope and Love to Life

From: Crossroads International [mailto:info@crossroadsinternational.org]
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 4:39 PM
Subject: Crossroads International September '08

Hello,

Crossroads, Mumbai - A New Frontier: After a year of planning and praying which included many months spent laying the ground work and infrastructure for what would become Crossroads, Mumbai we have begun to see the fruits of our labors.

June '08 ushered in an exciting explosion of ministry activity as Crossroads, Mumbai played host to the gospel music band 24x7, a professional Christian band from India.

Crossroads, Mumbai also organized and conducted a Youth and Worship Leaders Workshop in June in which 76 Youth Leaders from around Mumbai attended and learned about achieving excellence in ministry and music.

Later Crossroads ran an outreach at a local shopping mall using a local Christian band through which the message of God's love was shared. Over 400 young people responded to the message - some for ministry right then and others wanting to discuss Christ and His claims more in depth. Further follow up is now being conducted with many of these young people.

July was another exciting month of ministry as Crossroads, Mumbai working in conjunction with YWAM and area churches hosted a mission's team of young people from the Hillsborough Baptist Church in New Zealand. Their ministry efforts focused on the thousands of slum dwellers of Mumbai who seek shelter from the heat and rains of Mumbai in makeshift lean-to's and abandoned sewage pipes.

Mostly families struggling to etch out an existence in the face of choking poverty, these slum dwellers daily face a devastatingly harsh environment and a physically demoralizing life. Visiting slum dwellers in their "homes" and conducting Children's Ministries these young people effectively communicated the love of Christ to those whose surroundings and life existence offers little hope.

The effects of this outreach were felt not only on the streets of Mumbai where the slum dwellers live but in the lives of these Christian young people too. Many of these young people told of how their faith had been stirred and challenged.

Perhaps the most amazing thing which happened during this outreach was the open air preaching that took place in an area of Mumbai called Airoli. Normally in such a heavily dominated Hindu area openly preaching the gospel is severely clamped down on and violence routinely the by-product. However, no violence or repercussions came as the grace of God covered all who participated. Nearly 100 people stood and listened to the gospel presented and 7 accepted Christ as Lord and Savior.

Crossroads, Mumbai - What's Next? The Mumbai Transformational Network: The Mumbai Transformational Network is a city wide collaborative effort by Christian businessmen, missions organizations, pastors, and local churches along with Christians from all walks of life working to foster unity within the Body of Christ with an outward and coordinated evangelistic thrust into the various streams of Mumbai society - Children, Youth, the Media, the Market Place, the Business Sector, and Government.

The goal of the Mumbai Transformational Network is to bring change to personal lives through the gospel of Christ as well as bringing change to the spiritual landscape of Mumbai each resulting in a transformation within Indian society.

Crossroads, Mumbai's Director, Olem Jamir, has been asked to sit on the Youth Sector steering committee of this Network focused on planning a 2 day Youth Event to be held October 28-29, 2008. This 2 day event is expecting 1,000 young people from all over Mumbai to attend and will expose and challenge Christian young people to answer the call of the Great Commission in Mumbai and around the world.

For Christ,
Kent Kelley
Founder & President
Crossroads International

"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" Jeremiah 32:27