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Welcome to our local missions field report for July and August of 2009! These brief, bi-monthly, Good News letters are specially designed to give you the bottom line on all the latest and greatest happenings, highlights, and Gospel glory stories we encounter as we serve the Church to keep the Cross current in Canada.

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A FESTIVAL OF “FIRSTS” IN BARRIE, ONTARIO!

2009 XTM Barrie Team (l to r): Derek Hunt, Tom Briggs, Steven Baptist, Dale Halldorson, John Gonciarz, Jeff Mardling, Chris Wood, Cory McKenna (not pictured: Randy Lutchman)

We praise God for providing us with an awesome day of Gospel outreach on Saturday August 15th in Barrie, Ontario. No less than ten witnessing warriors teamed up for our very first Xstream Team Mission (XTM) Barrie to crash a waterfront festival known as “Caribfest” in Christ’s Name!

Right: TCC Rep Jeff “SONshine” Mardling “breaks the sound barrier” by open air preaching for the very first time! (You’re a champ, Jeff!)

In addition to our own seed sowing army of seven, the Lord also allowed us to hook up with a few brothers from Barrie as well: Pastor Les and Hugh (Harvest Bible Chapel of Barrie) and Derek Hunt, who had joined us on the streets of Hamilton at an evangelism conference we lead in 2008.

Left: Randy Lutchman shares the Gospel at his very first XTM event.

Below: Tom Briggs hits his knees for a full hour to plead with a passerby about repenting and trusting in Christ.

Left: Cory “Rockstar” McKenna preaches about life, death, and the Gospel at sunset on the Barrie waterfront. BTW…that’s Randy “Lazarus” Lutchman under the sheet:)

Click here to hear an (unedited) audio clip of Cory’s open air preaching message!

Click here to view the entire XTM Barrie 2009 photo album

Are you and your church looking to become better equipped to take the Gospel “to the Xstream” in your community? Click here to contact us about onsite and offsite Gospel outreach training in your own hometown!

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FROM GLORY TO GLORY…WEEK TO WEEK!

Above is the army of witnessing warriors who teamed up with TCC to fight on the frontline on Friday, July 24th. We praise God for the faithful witness of these saints and also for the many people who heard the Gospel and received tracts in the heart of our hometown throughout this summer!

Envision this: what would our nation look like if every city and town across Canada had a similar army of sold-out soul-winners sowing and watering the seed of the Gospel each and every week? Wow!

Please continue praying that the Lord gives His true Church His burden for loving Him, each other, and the lost.

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GO TEAM Go!

Is the Lord moving you and your church to be “burdened beyond” sharing your faith with family and friends into also sharing the Gospel with those who need Christ in your community? Click here to contact us about helping you put together a Gospel Outreach team in your local church!

Also, we pray that the Lord uses the following message that Cory preached at his home church this past summer to touch your heart and mind with the power of sharing our faith together as Christ’s Body:

Faith Worth Sharing | Cory McKenna | Harvest Bible Chapel London

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UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL…with Randy Lutchman!

We’ve asked our newest TCC team member, Randy Lutchman, to share what preaching the Gospel in partnership with TCC means to him. In the picture to the left, Randy shares the Gospel with a passerby on the busy streets of Barrie.

Being out on the streets with The Cross Current on Fridays and various trips has “exposed” me in a couple of ways. First, I realized how little I really knew about how to share my faith. I could not even get started with friends, family, neighbours, co-workers, etc. but The Cross Current has provided me with training on how to get started and really step out of the boat. I used to think it was enough to be a good example and not say anything. When you look at Peter stepping out of the boat, it is easy to point the finger and say he failed because he started to sink. What’s interesting, is that there were eleven other failures in the boat who are afraid to even stand up, let alone step out. There are a lot of Christians who are failing quietly, not sharing the Good News of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I now find myself sharing the Good News with confidence at the gym, with neighbours, even with fellow Christians who say they are saved, but have no outward change in them. The Cross Current has taught me that when you step out of the boat, the winds will start to blow and doubt will enter your mind. But if you keep your eyes focussed on Jesus and look straight at Him and there is a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on when you feel like you are sinking, Jesus is only an arms’ length away and you will get the privilege of being caught in His arms.

Secondly, being out with The Cross Current has caused me to read my Bible daily with a purpose. When out on the streets, even for only two hours, I now feel totally prepared. The Cross Current gets right into the Word, providing the biblical fuel to share your faith. Prayer is another big part of being prepared. My prayer life has increased, I now have greater view of God and what He can do, nothing is impossible with Him. He is not in a box! He just wants us to be His voice and a witness for Him throughout the world.

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EQUIPPING YOUTH IN APPLIED APOLOGETICS

For the third year in a row, Cory McKenna and the TCC Gospel outreach team had a privilege of partnering with the Christian Youth Worldview and Leadership (CYWAL) Conference to provide hands-on training in evangelism and applied apologetics.

Other speakers on the roster included: Rachel Tulloch (Ravi Zacharias Ministries), Daryl Molyneaux (Truth Matters), Dr. David Herbert (author and speaker), Brett Ullman (Worlds Apart), and Cal Smith (Creation Ministries International).

After a five days of  intense and interactive small group learning together, TCC took the Word to the streets to lead over 30 teens in a life-changing local mission to preach the Gospel and pray for the needs of the lost on the streets of Guelph, Ontario.

Here is a testimony of one of the teens who took the training:

“CYWAL was amazing for me. I learned so much about my faith and how to defend my faith more stronger I have ever been. The speaker I liked the best was Cory McKenna. The reason why I liked Cory McKenna, was because he explained things so clearly so I could understand them, he made me feel more confident to witness my faith towards other people, he also made me think of the way I should be living and made me start reading the Bible more often…”

WITNESSING WORKSHOP

Congratulations to all those who graduated from our special summertime Witnessing Workshop on Saturday, August 8th at Compass Community Church in London!

Witnessing Workshop Grads – August 09 (l to r): John Gonciarz (TCC), Cory McKenna (TCC), Chris Wood (TCC), Rebecca Coyne, Tom Briggs (TCC), Zander Ayton, Steve Everett, Dale Hallderson, Greg Sceviour, Randy Lutchman (TCC), River Ayton, Brian Arblaster, Skylar Sayers, Elias Baribeau, Steven Baptist, Len Ayton.

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CANADA NEEDS CHRIST.

May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! (Psalm 72:8)

Though Canada was founded on Christian principles that clearly recognized the supremacy and sovereignty of God, our country has now been declared as having no official religion. While we praise God for overseas missionaries who are taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth, we all have the opportunity to be local missionaries to the world without even leaving our own backyard!

Canada needs Christ. If you have been following the ministry of TCC for any time at all, you will know that this three-word phrase has become the all-consuming cry of our hearts as we share the Gospel on the streets of Canada each week. In fact, we have recently secured www.canadaneedschrist.ca to develop a special website that will give Christ-following Canadians the opportunity to support local missionaries across our home and native land in partership with The Cross Current!

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TCC ONLINE STORE: GRAND OPENING!

After several months of hard work and technical troubleshooting, our online store is finally open!

Now all the radio programs and other relational/spiritual conversation starters you need to more effectively reach out and share the Gospel with all the loved ones and strangers in your life are just a mouse click away!

We trust this online catalogue will help equip you and your church with the field-tested evangelism training, tools, and resources you need to be Christ’s witnesses and train others to be as well.

Click here to take a little “Cross walk” through our new online store!

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TCC SEED SOWING STATS | July – August 2009

By God’s grace, The Cross Current continues to share the Gospel on the streets of Canada each week while actively equipping more and more other Christ-followers to do the same!

Here are the bottom line TCC seed sowing stats as of August 31st, 2009:

• Evangelism Training – TCC has equipped approximately 300 Christians to biblically share their faith with loved ones and strangers so far this year.

• Witnessing – Our local Gospel outreach team personally shared the Good News with over 600 lost souls and passed over 7000 Gospel tracts so far this year.

Access more information on how TCC can equip you and your church to more effectively share Christ

TCC RADIO REVIEW | July – August 2009

Special Broadcast | TCC Radio LIVE!

The Lord continues to break new ground for TCC to preach the Gospel in Canada week to week, and for us to equip His Church to more effectively do the same! For the entire month of August, we successfully broadcast TCC Radio LIVE both “in the studio and on the street” in a flexible new format. Not only was each episode of this  special “hot seat” series extended to one hour, but also featured was in-studio commentary with Cory McKenna and his pastor Norm Millar about equipping the Church to engage the culture PLUS a live, “wireless witnessing” Gospel encounter with a non-Christian…via cell phone! The shows were broadcast as part of our regular production schedule.

Click here to listen to a clip of TCC Radio LIVE

Click here to read our other blog posts related to TCC Radio LIVE

Super Series | Witnessing to World Religions

How can we all effectively share the Gospel in all our personal relationships and beyond with those of the various false religions of the world? This TCC Radio “Super Series” on Witnessing to World Religions will not only teach you how, but it will also show you how. The major world religions we will be covering include: Atheism, New Age Movement, Islam, Mormon, and Jehovah’s Witness…just to name a few!

On the horizon | Reality Radio “Extra” Specials!

Shining the Light on Devil’s Night. This coming October 30th, we will be shining the Light of the Gospel into the darkest night of the year in a Devil’s Night broadcast that promises to make the Devil Himself shake in His boots!

Keeping the Cross current at Christmastime. This coming December we will be “unwrapping” a very special Christmas series of TCC Radio LIVE that will “wrap up” with the most powerful Christmas Day reality radio episode you have ever heard!

Click here for the latest TCC Radio broadcast and podcast details.

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In closing, we will continue praying that the Lord uses these brief updates to impact your own personal life and witness for Him!

For His Glory,

The Cross Current Team