Ministry updates

Responder Magazine Issue 2

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Issue 2 of our very own Responder Magazine is out! This issue features Sean Malone discussing the current shaking happening and the opportunity for responders to go forth in the power of God. Plus, updates on our recent deployment to Nebraska and a moving testimony from our deployment to Alabama.

Here’s a short excerpt from our co-founder and director Sean Malone, “As darkness and disaster continues to cause deep pain and loss, a new breed of missionaries are responding with grace and compassion to meet the pressing needs of this historic hour we are living in. As we closed on our new missions base in Blue Ridge, VA, the Alabama tornadoes ripped through the southern United States killing over 20 people and causing major damage. Thank you to those who stood with us as we sent teams of responders to Alabama to bring relief, aid, and hope. God showed up in powerful ways thanks to you sending our teams to minister the gospel.”

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Resurrection Power and Awakening

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cri-easter-weekend

I had a dream recently where the resurrection power of Jesus was moving among the hardest hearts and unreached of our nation.

Discipleship groups were spontaneously forming and I was simply blown away as I never thought these groups of people would come to the knowledge of Jesus as their Lord and savior.

It feels as if it the rumblings of awakening and revival are in the land. We’re seeing a new thrust of missions and evangelism and we live in a day where you can even begin to imagine abortion being banned.

Our prayer for you this season is that you will know and experience the power and presence of the Holy Spirit filling you and empowering you to know Christ and make him known.

May the power and witness of the resurrected Christ shine through you radiantly and touch every lost family member, neighbor, spouse, child and person you pass on the street. Do it Lord!

We’d also like to take a moment to thank all who have come and served, given and prayed for the new missions base. We anticipate equipping thousands of new trainees to take God’s love and power into the hardest and darkest corners of the earth.

P.S. Come visit us at the new base! Attend an event, join our missions school, volunteer or even join staff. I would love to show you around.

In His Power,

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Sean Malone

Annual Report

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2018 was a year of impact for all of us as we trained more, reached more, and responded to more disasters than ever before. We are so thankful to our friends, partners, and supporters who have stood with us and made this work of reaching the harvest in crisis possible. Thank you for all you have done and all the lives you have touched as a partner of CRI.

Together, we are poised to see incredible growth and impact in 2019 beyond what we’ve seen in prior years. You’re gifts today are meeting urgent needs and storing up treasure in heaven as together we reach the harvest in crisis.

8,000 people ministered to
+1,200 responders trained
+ 22,000 meals distributed
+ 40,000 volunteer hours logged
=
Your donations at work in 2018!

Thank you!

View Report. 

2018 by sean521

The Time is Now: Train for Mercy Missions

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ARC School Presents Critical Opportunity for Mercy Missions Work

God is calling forth mercy missionaries to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit, from a place of prayer and intimacy, with signs following, in the context of disaster and crisis! Now that may sound like a mouthful, but we believe the upcoming ARC (Apostolic Response to Crisis) School is absolutely going to wreck you for anything less than all the Lord has for you in the nations in this next season of your life. ARC is an 11-week school at our missions base in Blue Ridge, Virginia that will set you up for impact in the nations, connect you with like-minded students, and give you practical application as we travel the nations together as part of our curriculum. Get trained and mentored by missionaries and prepare for global impact. Register today, you’ll never be the same.

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In Season of Historic Crisis & Flooding, the Church Has the Answer

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As nations are in turmoil, the Church can’t be silent

As crisis shakes cities and nations in America and around the world, perhaps never before has the alarm been sounding for the Church to bring kingdom solutions to some of the pressing needs and problems. Could it be that God is sounding an alarm to his people to respond with the compassion and mercy of Christ in this hour?

Here’s are a few of the pressing crises affecting the world as I write this:

Mozambique cyclone kills over 750 people, displaces 200,000+ people.

Nebraska flooding causes $1.4 billion dollars, 2,000+ homeless, farms, livestock destroyed as U.S. government warns of record spring flooding to come. Meanwhile, communities are still reeling from a record-breaking 2018 hurricane season with Florence, Michael and the worst wildfires in California history in Paradise.

As the nations are in turmoil, I am afraid to say that the Church has been too silent. Churches outside of the disaster zone go on with business as usual as whole cities and even states are crying out for relief and comfort. The Church sees it as a burden rather than a mission they are to engage in and miss the opportunity to minister and reach people, going through desperate times.

We have the answers, but we’ve been silent, with no voice in the midst of disaster because we haven’t brought kingdom solutions and transformation to bear on those suffering trauma and grief.

A New Paradigm for Ministry

I believe there is an alarm sounding for the Church to multiply in the context of crisis, by working with relief organizations and missions partners to extend the reach of a local congregation to the four corners of the earth. By partnering with organizations like CRI to reach the harvest in the midst of crisis, you as an individual, church, or business are bringing real solutions to real people suffering a devastating loss. Never before have we had the opportunity to share the love of God and the compassion of Christ with as many people as we do today. We can’t relegate this ministry to the government or secular organizations that aren’t offering the gospel of Jesus and meeting the spiritual and practical needs of those facing trauma and grief. When everything is lost, we need to point people to the only One who can truly help them in their time of need. We need an army of responders to join us in this work.

As I write this, teams of our responders are headed to Nebraska to aid in the relief efforts of a disaster that resulted in $1.4 billion in damages. These responders have gone through our certified training and now have access to join first responders on the front lines when disaster strikes. Our specialized training avoids what the government calls “the second disaster” which refers to the chaos that often ensues when unplanned resources and untrained volunteers arrive on the scene.

Will you join us for upcoming training and get your church prepared? Our training is open to youth groups, churches of all sizes, shapes, and denominations, individuals and groups. Come expecting and join us at our 85-acre missions base and campus in Blue Ridge, VA. Together let’s bring the gospel to bear on those in need. It’s time.

An Apostolic Response to Crisis

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An aerial view of the damage caused by Hurricane Dorian is seen in Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island on September 4, 2019, in Great Abaco, Bahamas. A massive rescue effort is underway after Hurricane Dorian spent more than a day inching over the Bahamas, killing at least seven as entire communities were flattened, roads washed out, hospitals and airports swamped by several feet of water to published reports. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A crisis is no doubt disruptive to the society around it. During a disaster, all the things we know and rely upon, including our comforts, can be taken away in a moment.

It causes us to ask big questions like, “Why did this happen?” or “Where was God?”. During catastrophic events, we are confronted with the fact we are but small and human.

As aid pours into a region after a major catastrophe, hearts can be moved and opened by the outpouring of compassion. Man considers God.

CRI trains and mobilizes responders to get on the ground quickly to meet urgent spiritual, physical, and emotional needs with acts of love and compassion. But what about the long-term effect on that city? What about discipleship? Will an authentic Christian community be formed with new followers of Christ?

An Apostolic Response to Crisis goes beyond bringing aid and meeting short-term needs. It is a holistic response that shifts the atmosphere, heals the ground, transforms the community, and brings a revelation of God’s Kingdom to earth.

We need to carry our disaster response efforts into longer-term recovery where we help rebuild cities by making disciples and help establish authentic presenced-based communities of believers. God is calling forth a “New Breed” of missionary unto this end.

What is the Apostolic?

“Apostolos” was originally a maritime, military term, which means the first in the armada of ships with deputized ambassadors, sent with authority and power to colonize a new land.

In Matthew 10, Jesus calls to Himself His twelve disciples. He gives them power and authority over the enemy and then “sends” them out to speak this message: “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” The Bible then calls them apostles.

Why do we need an Apostolic Response?

Through the fall of man, Satan became the major influence on the ideals, opinions, goals, and views of the world. He is the prince of the power of the air, and he influences the world’s philosophies, education, and commerce. The world’s thoughts, ideas, and false religions are under his control and have sprung from his lies and deceptions.

Satan is a cruel and spiteful dictator who manipulates man’s sin to rage against God’s purposes and creation. He will do anything to maintain his strongholds around people groups, cultures, cities, and nations.

Yet, when crisis strikes, the atmosphere discharges. It seems to be temporarily cleared of the blinding forces of darkness; fortifications are shaken. An opportunity arises to gain authority in the heavens through intercession and get a plan to govern the ground below it. When the ground is taken, prison doors open.

An Apostolic Response to Crisis is a spiritual strategy to bring the influence of Heaven to the enemy-controlled territory through deputized ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.

Rather than aid, it is an apostolic “raid” founded on the desire to see Jesus reap the reward of His sufferings and gain the nations of the earth as His inheritance.

Who are the Apostolic Responders?

These “sent ones” are commissioned to bring the culture and atmosphere of Heaven to the darkest and most desperate situations. Worship is their warfare, and the Word is their sword to dismantle dark fortifications in cities to reach the harvest. They bring the light that minimizes the influence and dominion of Satan’s dark reign.

Whether it is areas affected by crisis, war, terrorism, or disaster, an Apostolic Responder is sent on “mission” and will go at “any cost” to themselves to bring a holistic, Kingdom-minded approach to the problems, both sudden and systemic.

“Sent ones” long to see the character and nature of God revealed through the power of the Holy Spirit. Moving in the compassion of Jesus, Apostolic Responders meet the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the affected in hopes to facilitate a personal encounter between crisis victims and a loving Father.

Their assignment is to see the absolute influence of the Kingdom of God come into that environment through great demonstrations of love and mercy. Cities are transformed, culture is affected, government and business are influenced, the ground is healed, and every prisoner set free.

This is an Apostolic Response – the heart of a Crisis Response Missionary.