Partner Stories
Get Out of the Way!
By Rick Gates, pastor, Crossroads Church
It’s amazing to watch God work when we don’t get in His way.
The ministry at Crossroads (Alliance) in Perry, Iowa, tells the story of God’s leading and provision. Although it doesn’t look that way, the small town of Perry is as far removed from Jesus as any postmodern city. In Perry, locals still refer to Wednesday night as “church night,” and no school activity continues past 6 p.m. Yet most residents do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. As for church, it’s largely irrelevant to their daily lives. For at least two generations, the churches of this town have had little spiritual influence.
Eighteen months ago, Crossroads, a three-and-a-half-year-old church of about 100 people, received notice that it was about to lose its leased space. Simultaneously, two other community organizations received the same news. God spoke through one of the leaders of Crossroads that perhaps it was time for this church body to have a physical identity of its own in order to make its presence known to the community.
God directed Crossroads to construct a 22,500 square-foot building large enough to host several renters as well as Crossroads, whose mission is “Serving Seven Days a Week.” The community also needed an auditorium capable of seating at least 500 people because no place in town, other than a school gym, could accommodate that many residents.
The same day we signed our construction loan with the Alliance Development Fund, we invited the Power Team, a group of evangelists, to introduce our building to the people of Perry—with a punch. Power Team members share the life-changing message of the cross by incorporating the preaching of the gospel with feats of strength and martial arts skills. Their vision is to reach people of all ages, who typically would never attend a church setting, with the good news of Jesus. Since residents of Perry were not looking for a revival meeting to attend, the Power Team event was the ideal venue to draw the people of Perry to Christ.
The construction is a story in itself. It fell months behind schedule, and we received our occupancy permit the day before the Power Team arrived. The team presented a relevant message on the power of personal choices in every area of life. Team members conducted eight local school assemblies and five evening assemblies at our new building. They captured the audience’s attention with an enormously powerful communication of the gospel. In five nights, the event drew 1,750 attendees, and 345 people made decisions for Christ. For the first time in at least 40 years, large numbers of people in Perry heard the gospel spoken plainly. The stronghold of Satan in this town has been beaten back!
Jeff and Lindsay* are successful business owners who attended the Power Team event. They are a typical middle- to upper-middle class couple here in Perry. Jeff was raised in the church but left religion and faith behind because of the hypocrisy and liberalism he saw that made the church appear no different from the world. Lindsay had received no faith upbringing and saw no need in her life for what the church represented at that time.
During the evening, Jeff and Lindsay noticed a dramatic difference in the faith being demonstrated by the people of Crossroads, and this sparked curiosity in them as well. That night, Jeff rededicated his life to Christ, and Lindsay heard the gospel for the first time. Afterward, they began attending Crossroads and decided to make it their church home.
Since the Power Team event, Crossroads has seen an attendance increase of about 35 percent. We’ve also seen our church family become closer and more focused in its service and sense of mission. Our mission reminds us that the majority of our work is Monday through Saturday and lies outside the walls of our building. We have a lot of work to do. We’re asking God to give us the strength and commitment to move forward a day at a time, with our eyes on Him and on the future.
We pray for the Holy Spirit to continue His work in the hearts of those who heard the message as well as those who haven’t. People seek answers to eternal questions at different times and for various reasons. Since it is genuine revival that we seek, we included other life-giving churches in the Power Team event. We believe that when revival comes, it will not be in one church alone, but through all the life-giving churches of a community. No single church is able to accommodate the needs and ministry preferences of everyone in a community. We’re interested in the welfare of Crossroads, but we’re more interested in building the Kingdom! Our prayer is “Thy Kingdom come” in Perry and in the far reaches of the world! This is a God-sized mission that only He can accomplish as we get out of the way and allow Him to work through us!
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
Rick Gates serves as senior pastor at Crossroads (Alliance) Church in Perry, Iowa. He and his wife, Cheryl, are committed to sharing the love of Christ with the community. They have two children: Sam, 16, and Shelby, 12.
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