FORT MYERS – When it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission, Crossroads Baptist Church in Fort Myers has discovered that less is more.
“The Great Commission [Matthew 28:18-20] is in our conversations, teaching, small groups...Everywhere we go, the gospel goes; and everywhere we go, we are on mission. We are striving to be a church that spends less on ourselves and gives more to missions,” said David Gold, senior pastor of Crossroads and on the leadership for the Florida State Chapter of the Conservative Baptist Network.
He explained that 17% of the church’s annual budget is earmarked for missions, in addition to the church’s emphasis on special offerings such as the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
Along with committing to increase its missions giving by one percentage point annually and “giving more and more toward kingdom ministries,” with the ultimate goal of the church giving 30% or more to missions, Crossroads also is committed to praying vigorously for its community, other local churches, and its national and international church partners.
“We pray for missions, our city, other local churches, and our partners consistently in our services,” Gold said.
Generous giving and vigorous prayer ultimately lead to the church being directly involved with missions and working with full-time missionaries, which further fuels the church’s outward focus. When church members return from mission trips, Gold said, “We celebrate what God has done before our people.”
Engaging in missions and keeping evangelistic fervor before the people takes intentionality and constant celebration, Gold said. “By sharing their experiences, creating videos, developing partnerships, we have learned that whatever gets celebrated, gets repeated.”
Everywhere we go, the gospel goes; and everywhere we go, we are on mission. We are striving to be a church that spends less on ourselves and gives more to missions.
Local Community
Crossroads Baptist Church’s missions commitment is lived out with various outreach and layperson-led ministries throughout its local community.
“We encourage our people to live out personal ministry. We want to equip the saints and encourage them to catch the power and vision of the gospel,” said Michael Caro, youth pastor at Crossroads.
Equipping the saints to do the work of ministry has evolved into a food pantry distribution that feeds more than 275 families a month, a juvenile prison ministry, One More Child volunteer team, an active and thriving Good News Club and more.
The southwest Florida church also has adopted five public schools in Lee County to offer support and encouragement, partners with Iglesia Real Fort Myers Church, and ministers through Ride Nature—a ministry that seeks to serve extreme sports enthusiasts, one of the largest unreached people groups in the world.
“We seek to be a church that if we ceased to exist, we would be deeply missed by our community,” said Gold.
National
The reach of the Florida Baptist church moves far beyond its ZIP code. Desiring to champion the partnership between the Florida Baptist Convention and the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio, Crossroads recently partnered with Lakeview Baptist Church in Vermilion, Ohio. Taking a team of adults and students, Crossroads was able to encourage and join the church in how it is already serving its community.
The team of students led a children’s sports camp that taught the fundamentals of basketball, soccer and cheerleading. The students also had opportunities to share the gospel.
“We’re committed to equipping our people to do ministry, even our students,” said Caro. “We want to train our students and model before them how to be on mission.”
International
By cultivating church-to-church relationships throughout the Sunshine State—specifically with pastor Martin Vargas of Iglesia Real Miami—Crossroads went on a vision tour to Cuba in January and returned home with a love for the area of Las Martinas, Provincia de Pinar del Rio, Cuba.
In July, a Crossroads team of seven traveled to the region to begin developing relationships with the locals, participate in a food ministry for the elderly, facilitate construction projects, serve at a night of worship event, and more.
The recent trip provided a foundational understanding of the type of two-tiered ministry that Crossroads can be part of—traditional mission trips and theological training for local church pastors in Las Martinas.
Along with its newly established ministry relationship in Cuba, the church is heavily involved in other international ministries, which include being involved with Mission of Hope in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, supporting an International Mission Board missionary serving in Malaysia, establishing a partnership in the predominantly Muslim nation of Kosovo, sending mission teams to Guatemala, and planting healthy local churches in the Caribbean.
With a laser mission focus, the heartbeat of Crossroads is always before the people—”less of themselves and more for the kingdom,” Gold said.
This article was originally published on August 27, 2024 for the Florida Baptist Convention.
Written by Jessica Pigg.
Comments