Ministry updates

Disaster Response: Everyone can do something

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Let’s face it. Most donors don’t want their donations to go towards administrative overhead. But it takes organization, management, and coordination to manage a disaster relief and mercy missions operation like CRI. We all know non-profits are not magically funded, utility companies don’t give us free services, airlines don’t fly us for free, and the government does not pay us for our work. We have daily expenses to operate a growing ministry like ours. Like you, we want more of every dollar that comes into our ministry to go directly to crisis situations. That’s why we formed The Trust.

The Trust is a group of dedicated partners who understand what it takes to run a world-class Christian relief and missions organization and they work together to combine the strength of their committed regular giving to maximize their impact and fuel CRI. With monthly giving they fund our administrative operations so we can put more of every dollar raised to those suffering.

I want to invite you to consider CRI as a part of your regular giving. Our Trust Partners are men, women, churches, and businesses who understand that CRI has overhead – expenses like insurance, staff salaries, vehicle maintenance, and now an 85-acre and 21-structure mission base.

When people like you commit to regular support for operations funding, it brings strength and stability to our organization, and we can stay focused on our mission to train and mobilize multitudes to reach those in crisis and disaster with the hope of Jesus Christ.

Learn more or join our circle of trust now: https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/thetrust

Register Now: Crisis Response Training is April 2 – 6 in Blue Ridge, Virginia

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Join us in Blue Ridge, VA April 2 – 6.

The news reports just keep pouring in this week. Cyclones, flooding, tornadoes, and protests. There is no doubt things are “shaking” all around. Yet, in spite of the terror and heartbreak all around us, it is not a time to retreat. This is the time for believers to rise up and answer the call of Jesus to go and bring peace, light, and hope found only in the gospel. It is a time to know God and make him known.

Don’t sit back and watch

We believe the hour we’re living in demands a response. Like the sons of Issachar who understood the times and knew what to do, the world is crying out for the hope of Christ. There is not a better time than right now to come to our base in Virginia for our Crisis Response Training Camp (formerly titled Basic Training) April 2-6. Stop putting it off, get the disaster relief training you need to effectively minister in crisis now.

Epic Training Opportunity

Come expecting to receive relevant, top-notch training from seasoned instructors. Expect to leave this training equipped with the practical tools you’ll need to serve others in a disaster, refreshed by God’s presence and having developed new lifelong relationships.

Crisis Response Training Camp will equip you to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of people in crisis and disaster, and mobilize you to bring hope, compassion, and relief by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This event will be a life-changing experience for anyone 9-99. There is a role for everyone to play in times of disaster. Completion of this event makes you an official CRI Responder (certified volunteer). You will also join the ranks of 10,000 other CRI responders who have trained to deploy with us nationally and abroad when disaster strikes.

Here’s what a recent attendee had to say about her training experience:

“This training just rocked my world. A total paradigm shift. I was not expecting all the things God did for me at this training. If God puts it on your heart to attend a training, just do it! Push through and come. The CRI staff put 150% into it. The leaders and speakers were so anointed. I am so excited about all the things God gave me to go back to our community and help in times of crisis. I just can’t say enough, it’s just so worth it!” – Kyla – Recent Trainee, Now a Certified CRI Volunteer!

New Base Symbolizes New Frontier of Disaster Relief & Mercy Missions

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Sean and Laura Malone, 3rd and 4th from the left closed on CRI’s Mission Base in Blue Ridge, VA last Friday.

Crisis Response International officially purchased an 85-acre missions base in Blue Ridge, VA in March of 2019. The base launches the ministry into a new frontier of disaster relief and mercy missions work.

“The level of training, support, and mobilization of mercy missionaries and disaster relief responders has increased exponentially with the acquisition of this property. We are so thankful to God and to our partners for making this possible,” stated Sean Malone, Founder and Director of CRI.

The base includes 21 structures sprawling across 85 acres with picturesque mountain views in western Virginia. The property includes room for training, dedicated prayer room space, student housing, and a conference center. This base builds on the ministry’s focus on training mercy missionaries and disaster relief workers to reach people with the love and hope of Jesus Christ in the midst of some of the most devastating crises in the world.

“The Scriptures teach that the Great Commission will be fulfilled in the midst of great crisis,” said Malone. “Our goal is to train and send an army of missionaries to demonstrate the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven in the midst of the upheaval that is prophesied to impact the earth.”

CRI has ministered in over 50 crisis situations including most recently in the Alabama Tornado and Paradise, CA wildfires bringing hope, help, and compassion to people suffering great loss. CRI believes every believer is called to ministry and provides a model and framework to equip and send part-time and full-time responders and missionaries into the ministry that God has called people to.

“We are all about training and equipping people to bring the hope of the gospel into disaster situations. From equipping in basic medical skills, praying for the sick, sharing our faith, and chaplaincy services, our responders are ready to love people well in the midst of crisis and offer hope that is only found in Jesus,” continued Malone.

Teams of responders are on their way home from the Alabama Tornado deployment, while simultaneously, the first ARC school hosted on the new base is being conducted. Special thanks to all partners and friends for making this “promised land” possible. There are still needs that we have as a ministry to complete needed upgrades and prepare for hundreds of students to join the many training opportunities we have scheduled this year.

Join us for our upcoming training

To be a part of our new base as a partner, missionary, or responder, click here.

To join our monthly partner funding CRI operations, we invite you to join The Trust by clicking here.

Urgent Deployment: 23 Dead as Tornado Rips through the South

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10,000 people are without power. Countless are unaccounted for and 23 are dead after a tornado ripped through the southern US.

Multiple tornadoes ripped through the Southern United States leaving major damage in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia killing at least 23 people in their wake. Countless people are still not accounted for according to local news reports and it’s being called the deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak in 6 years. 10,000 people are still without power.

Teams of Crisis Response International responders are deploying with basic needs and chaplaincy services to those experiencing loss, trauma, and grief as a result of the destructive tornadoes. The Alabama Deployment doesn’t change the current Take The Land Deployment or any of the upcoming training.

Based on the urgent needs in Alabama and the surrounding areas, CRI leadership made the decision to help those affected by this crisis. The deployment for CRI comes on the heels of taking over a new 85 acre missions base and has teams of responders currently assisting in the renovations of the base as the ministry prepares for a number of upcoming spring responder and mercy missions trainings.

“In the midst of closing on our new missions base, hosting dozens of volunteers, and taking care of our own needs as a ministry, our hearts are breaking for those in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia experiencing this devastating loss,” stated Malone. “Assessing the situation in the aftermath of the tornado, with 23 dead, 10,000 without power, and countless people unaccounted for, we made the decision that we have to be there to assist,” Malone continued.

The Alabama Deployment will likely be a couple of days to a week. CRI will be providing urgent services including food service, personal belonging recovery, chaplaincy, distribution of resources to those in need. In addition to meeting practical needs, the ministry focuses on bringing the love of God into crisis and disasters around the world. Since 2007, they’ve trained nearly 10,000 responders and last year alone shared the gospel with 8,000 individuals.

“In the midst of the need and loss, we believe God wants to reveal his power, love and help people and cities rebuild their lives on the kingdom of God. We believe something good can come out of even this type of crisis, so we want to share this hope with Alabama.”

To donate food, supplies, and help responders meet those hurting with the love of God, please donate here.

If you’re interested in becoming a trained responder for future deployments, please consider an upcoming disaster relief training. 

Trained responders certified by CRI can apply to deploy here. 

 

The Send

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One of our favorite images that emerged from “The Send” event this past Saturday was of Loren and Darlene Cunningham – Founders of YWAM.

59,000 gathered in Camping World Stadium for the purpose of a fresh wave of evangelism and missions in the earth.

One of our favorite images that emerged from “The Send” event this past Saturday was of Loren and Darlene Cunningham – Founders of YWAM.

In 1960 Loren received a call from God to raise up a new type of missionary. In a vision, Loren saw waves of young people getting trained and going to every nation on earth with the gospel. Loren and Darlene started Youth with a Mission.

In those days if you wanted to serve on the missions field, you had to attend seminary and wait years for a mission board to approve you and even then it was uncommon for young people to travel internationally.

In 1977 they bought an old hotel in Kona, Hawaii and started the University of the Nations. As of today, Loren and Darlene and the YWAM family are the largest missionary sending entity in the world with 15,000 full-time missionaries, training nearly 25,000 short-term missionaries per-year.

In 2005, Laura and I (Sean) had the privilege of attending a Discipleship Training School that Loren and Darlene personally led. It was a very unique opportunity. We called that time, “how to pioneer a missions movement 101.” We knew we were being equipped for some sort of pioneering work.

Shortly after, the Lord moved us to New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hit. We ended up doing relief and saw a tremendous outbreak of God’s power. We saw incredible fruit in the midst of so much devastation and desperation. It ruined us to do missions and evangelism any other way.

In 2006, during a time of worship, suddenly the room disappeared and I saw a vision of a mountain. It reminded me of the “7 Mountains” (religion, family, education, business, government, media, arts and entertainment). We know as Christians we have to influence these main spheres of society if we want to see reformation.

In this vision I was seeing a mountain that was larger than the other 7 Mountains. It was the mountain of “disaster relief.” It touched every other sphere of society. Meaning when a disaster strikes it affects everyone and everything, usually all at once.

I knew that out of intimacy; we could have the right people in the right place at the right time even before disasters took place and we could take back the mountain of disaster relief and impact every sphere of society because of it.

The only problem was that there were secular institutions and organizations that occupied the high place on the mountain. They had a “form of Godliness”, but lacked God’s power. We had to take this mountain back for God!

I was stunned by the vision and stood there weeping. A man walked up to me that I had never met and whispered in my ear…”The Lord says, “if you want the mountain, then go take it.” We have not looked back since!

Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13 all speak of the hour when the “Great Commission” will be fulfilled. Meaning that the gospel will go forth into every nation. It explicitly says that it will be in a time when crisis and disaster cover the earth.

If we really believe the Great Commission will be fulfilled in our day, then this means we must train people for missions and evangelism for the unique dynamics that it will be fulfilled in. We also must refrain from the sin in our thinking that it’s someone else job to be out there fulfilling it. Jesus commissioned us all.

Most think disaster relief is the responsibility of the government. Many Christians end up volunteering with organizations that make no room for the Holy Spirit or the preaching of the gospel.

In 2007, Laura and I launched Crisis Response International. Our vision is to train and mobilize a new type of mercy missionary, the Crisis Response Missionary, mobilized in the spirit of night and day prayer releasing great demonstrations of power and rebuilding cities on the Kingdom of God.

2017 was the costliest year on record regarding disaster damage. With disaster and crisis breaking all historic levels in scale and scope, it has become a mission field unto itself but it requires unique training to be effective and safe.

Do you have a heart to take this mountain, this mission field with us?

Laura and I invite you to join us as at CRI’s new 85-acre mission base in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. This will be a training center to equip Crisis Response Missionaries as well as tens of thousands of short-term relief workers called CRI Responders to respond to crisis and reach the harvest.

There is an opportunity to join our missionary staff, volunteer at the base, attend a missions school or a spring training event (see below). If you want more information about CRI or want to start a discussion on where you might fit in. Send us an email at [email protected].

 

Warm regards,

Sean & Laura Malone – CRI Founders

 

Upcoming Events @ The CRI Mission Base

3 Ways to Respond to The Send Event

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Thousands gather at The Send to hear God’s heart for the nations

As the message of The Send went out in Orlando, Florida yesterday, we believe a new wave of missions is about to hit the earth, catapulting young and old, rich and poor, black, white, and everything in between to the ends of the earth in a great missions thrust before the coming of the Lord.

We believe The Send event served as a catalyst in moving the people of God out of the comforts of their church pews and into the harvest of the nations of the earth. As people answer the call of God in this hour to be a part of an end time army of God bringing the gospel to the four corners of the earth there are at least three ways to respond and process what the Lord is saying to you.

1. Go: God has called you to play a part no matter where life has you right now. But what does that look like for you? For some, it means living on mission right where God has you today. It may be going to school and becoming the best doctor, teacher, or artist you can be. For others, it may be staying home with your children and raising them to be world changers for Christ. For others, it may be working hard in a department store, or office.  If so, it doesn’t mean God has not called you there and anointed you to make a difference in people’s lives and called you to reach your co-workers, employees, customers or vendors. He has and you need to be open to being used by the Lord. One of the ways you can apply your faith to your work is by being more conscious of God’s grace and presence with you in your office or work setting. God does not live in a temple or a building but in you. You don’t need to be in a prayer room to pray. You are the hands and feet of Christ and that means in your workplace, in your home, in your school, you carry the very presence of God. For those in the marketplace, it means working as to the Lord, not engaging in office gossip or politics, but serving those you work with.

For others, God may be calling you to get out of your comfort zone or situation to go to the nations, either part-time or full-time. It could be for a season, a summer, or during break or paid vacation time from work.  You may be a college student with the summer off and praying about what you should do with your time. You may be a recent retiree or between jobs. If that is you, there are a myriad of options vying for your time and attention and a ton of choices before you. Have you considered what God is saying to you? Not what looks best, what will bring the best ROI, or even what you desire most. Not that those things are wrong and that could be what God has for you, but have you stopped to hear the voice of the Lord? God may be calling you. You may be in the season of transition because God is realigning your life’s work and purpose. The choice is something that you’re going to have to make with a lot of prayer, but for those who are hearing God say, “Go,” CRI has amazing opportunities to join us at our upcoming schools, where you will learn firsthand from missionaries out in the field and have a chance to go and minister internationally. For example, our ARC schools are 11-week schools training you for full-time missions and then sending you to a nation in crisis to make an immediate impact on people’s lives. ARC school is designed for those looking to do full-time missions. For those who may be called to part-time or those still trying to discern the next step, our basic training gives you an amazing experience, disaster relief certification, and confidence in ministering to those in need.

2. Send: For those not called to go, you can be part of a team of people undergirding, financially strengthening, and sending missionaries. You can do this through prayer, encouragement, and financially supporting organizations and missionaries in the field. This option does not relieve you of the duty to go and live missionally wherever you are of course, but you can take an active role and a very real role by sharing material wealth with those giving spiritual gifts to those in need. You still get to live as a witness for Christ and to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you, but, God has given each person a gift and if you have been blessed financially you can partner with an organization like CRI or others and we a part of The Trust, a group of churches, businesses, and individuals who are giving on a monthly basis to make this work possible. These faithful and generous givers, allow us to make an even bigger impact on the nations when disasters break out by allocating closer to 100% of every dollar given directly to aid those in crisis including food, shelter, clothing, prayer, chaplaincy, counseling services, and more.

3. Unclear: If you’re unsure or struggling to hear what God is saying to you, wait on him and allow him to speak to your heart. Ask for clarity and then wait for the peace of God on your heart to direct you. But the truth is faith if not accompanied by action is dead. God asks us to step out in faith and follow him. Your job is to get alone and hear from him.

We’d love to help you in any way as you discern the call to go into the mission field. Since 2007 we’ve trained and equipped 10,000 crisis response missionaries. Our goal is to go into the darkest places on earth with the hope of Jesus Christ. We have volunteer, part-time, and full-time positions available and are actively accepting new students and missionaries into our organization. We’ve just secured an 84-acre missions base in Blue Ridge, VA and would love to have you join us. We suggest taking the first step of faith with us by attending a training event. At a training event, you will be equipped and prepared to confidently go into an area of missions with skills and know how to effectively minister in a variety of contexts. After completing training, you will deploy with us and be trained to fundraise to support yourself wherever the Lord calls you. CRI provides resources, training, and covering to help you fulfill the call of God. Let’s talk more.