Shop On Purpose

Remember when we could serve coffee at church? 

Did you know that the coffee we served was intentionally chosen, not only for quality, but also for impact? At Stafford Crossing, we buy coffee from Hope Coffee. As a coffee supplier, they are committed to the Gospel mission of Jesus Christ. They purchase coffee around the world from impoverished farmers. They

pay a fair price for the coffee in markets where other buyers might exploit the conditions and cheat the farms. By paying a fair price, the farmers can pay the workers a fair wage. This improves the living conditions of entire communities. 

Then, Hope invests their profits in the mission. They use proceeds from US coffee sales to fund local churches as they reach their communities with the Gospel. Recently, 37 people in a village in Honduras heard the Gospel and responded by trusting and following Jesus.You can read more about it here.

Let's remember that where we spend our money matters. Together, let's shop on purpose.

      He has told you, O man, what is good; 

      and what does the LORD require of you 

                  but to do justice, and to love kindness, 

      and to walk humbly with your God? 

Micah 6:8

Community Impact

Thank you for your generosity!

A few weeks ago, we hosted a drive-through donation opportunity at Stafford Crossing. We were collecting food items to help stock the pantry at SERVE. The items collected will be distributed to families who find it difficult to keep groceries in the house. During this pandemic, many families have lost jobs or had hours decreased. The result is a limited ability to make ends meet and many food budgets have been heard hit. Your contribution will help reduce some of the stress and uncertainty in these homes.

We also collected items for the McKinney-Vento program of the Stafford County Public Schools.

This office serves the needs of families who have found themselves without a safe and clean place to live. With the impact of the pandemic, many families are facing homelessness and these supplies will help them get through a difficult season.


You contributed over 2000 pounds of much-needed supplies to your neighbors.

The Gospel Is Not Locked Down

One of our missions partners, Elam Ministries, plants churches and equips leaders in Iran. They have had amazing success distributing Bibles in the region and starting house churches. In fact, the church in Iran is now sending missionaries to plant churches in places like Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Gospel is truly exploding across the region.

One house church has taken advantage of the difficult circumstances presented by COVID-19. The figures released by the Iranian government are grossly understated, but even with those numbers, Iran is one of the hardest hit countries in the pandemic. As a result, the medical system is stretched to the breaking point and resources are scarce. A small house church (10 people) saw the opportunity to meet a need. The leader has a sewing machine and some skill. He and his church family began making masks and distributing them in the city. hundreds of masks were given away, and, get ready for this...37 PEOPLE HAVE DECIDED TO TRUST AND FOLLOW JESUS! The church has shared the hope of Jesus in the pandemic and seen nearly 400% growth.

Now, there is a need to disciple these new believers and a need for new churches. It would be impossible for a church of 47 to meet in one location. The government would detect and destroy a church like this. While new pastors are being trained, believers will be discipled through a program called Safar. This is an online 1 to 1 discipleship tool that Elam has developed and implemented. Currently over 2000 people are discipling others using this tool.

Disciples make disciples. That is the reality of Jesus command to us. If we are not making disciples, we are not being disciples. Safar is a great tool for us to use in our context as well. It is a 100 day journey (Safar literally means journey) to help disciples make disciples.

There is someone in your circle of influence who would benefit from your investment in them. Let's get started. Now is the time. Begin the journey online and continue face-to-face when it's possible.

Not the Same

I am thankful for the time in which we live. In a season of social-distancing and online-only church,

today's technology is an amazing and useful tool. We are engaging in worship services and small groups and student ministry from the confines of our homes. It's good...but it's not the same.

As a guy who travels a bit, I'm familiar with these tools. I will check in with my wife and family from thousands of miles away. It works well. It is a good measure for the times when we just can't share the same space. I have used these technologies to connect with friends, too. A text is nice. A voice call is better. A video chat takes it to the next level. There is a higher level of interaction and community when you can see a face. I am thankful for the tech that allows this higher level.

I also recognize the limitations. We are social. We desire community. We even crave contact. Technology gives us a shadow of these. There is no substitute for sharing the same space. My marriage would not exist if we could only rely on video chat. That is a stop-gap measure until we can be together in person. Similarly, my connection to church family would not exist if we could only rely on virtual gatherings. The tools that are so readily available today can carry us through a difficult time, but they can not sustain us.

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Church Planting in Kyangwali, Uganda

Two years ago, I had the privilege of worshiping with about 150 brothers and sisters in a refugee camp in western Uganda. We met under a tree. It was hot and dry. About 30 people came forward at the end of the service to either commit their lives to Jesus or to commit to the disciple-making mission in the camp.

Last year, Stafford Crossing provided the resources needed to build a church building on that

location. It's beautiful, because the tree that used to be the church is now used for children's classes and the worship gathering happens under a new roof. They have already taken down one wall of the church building to expand and meet the needs of nearly eight hundred people every Sunday morning.

One of the elders was telling me this story and he mentioned the need to expand the building again. I suggested the idea of planting a new church instead. He got a big smile and told me he didn't think the western church thought that way. He then pointed in the direction of two locations they were already praying over for new churches.

Sunday, February 16, 2020 was the inaugural worship service for two new churches in the Kyangwali Refugee Camp. People who have traveled from the Congo, under great hardship and danger are praising Jesus in these two new church plants. One meets under a tree. The other has fashioned a roof out of the tarps that the UN provided when they arrived in the camp.

Healthy disciples make disciples.
Healthy churches plant churches.
This stuff never gets old.

The Importance of Gathering

We just returned from the annual Elam Founders Weekend. This is an amazing time of catching up with our partners who are making disciples and planting churches in the Iran region. The stories from the front lines are always amazing and often convicting. I want to share one of these stories that I found very convicting. I'm not going to tell you why I was convicted, I'm just going to share the facts and let you process. (Some details are altered for security reasons.)

Hossein was raised in a strictly Moslem home. His family lived in a city that is known in Iran to be a very religious place. It is a center of Moslem teaching in Iran.
While on vacation in a neighboring country, Hossein was approached on the street by an evangelist from an Elam church. He heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time in his life and he was given a New Testament in his language. He took this information and this book hime with him where he began reading it. In a few days, he recognized Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Within a short time, his wife and two children also trusted and began to follow Jesus.
In their town, they found an Elam house church. Hossein asked the pastor if his family could attend. The pastor asked him to wait until it was safe to attend. You see, the church was under tight surveillance by the police. If this family began to attend now, the police would have all they need to invade the church and arrest the pastor. Hossein agreed to wait. The police did invade and the pastor was arrested. A few months passed and there was no opportunity to connect to the local body.
Hossein remembered the people who first shared with him in the neighboring country. He knew the church was alive and active in this place. He spoke with his wife and kids and they decided to take action. They packed a few suitcases and moved. He publicly declared their commitment to Christ and sought refuge in this nearby country. In doing so, they would never be welcome back in Iran. They left jobs and home and family and friends to live as refugees in a foreign land.
Now Hossein works a job that is well below his qualifications and experience. His family lives in an

apartment that is a fraction of the house they left. They are foreigners and a minority people in this land. The locals look down on them and mistreat them. They can't vote. They can't own land. They can only work select, low-level jobs. The kids can only attend a specific school and that school teaches only in the local language which the kids can't yet understand.
They are connected to the local body of believers. They hit the streets several times a week and share the Gospel and distribute New Testaments. They are in ongoing discipleship relationships at church where they learn from a disciple-maker and then teach a new believer. They gather to worship the Living God several times a week.
They share their story with such contagious joy.

...not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  Hebrews 10:25

Seeds of Hope in Kyangwali

Almost two years ago, we were made aware of great need in a refugee camp in Uganda. The camp is

called Kyangwali and it is located on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Due to a civil war and tribal unrest, coupled with the second largest ebola outbreak on record, Congolese have been pouring across the border in an effort to stay alive.

There are currently approximately 90,000 people who call Kyangwali home.

Last year we drilled two wells in the camp. At the time, there was no good, clean water source. The wells were received and celebrated by the locals and by the Ugandan government. This year, when we arrived, we noticed a new school was being built by Save the Children. This organization seeks to help children by providing healthcare and education. Generally, they won't build a school unless there is a healthy water source for the kids. When they saw the new well, they immediately began construction.

A few kilometers away, a church building stands. We helped the local congregation acquire the materials needed for this building and they built it. Since then, they have knocked down a wall and expanded the worship center. Eight hundred people attend on a Sunday. They have a team in training to plant a second church in the camp.

When we entered the camp the first time, the need was overwhelming. We drilled a couple wells, installed some latrines, helped provide a building of mud and sticks for church. All of it seemed like a drop in the ocean. How could we really make a difference when the need is so huge?

We are now seeing that God only asked us to be obedient. The need is way bigger than us but He is way bigger than the need. Your acts of obedience, as a church family, are simply seeds of hope. He is turning those seeds into a great harvest.

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. John 4:35

The Situation (and Solution) in Iran

We serve alongside an amazing ministry partner in the Iran region. Elam Ministries is seeing God do incredible things in this region. When there is political and military unrest, we are all reminded that God is absolutely sovereign over all of it.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. -Romans 13:1

I love the perspective that David shares in their recent letter.


Two days ago, at our annual staff retreat, we woke up to the news that Iran had targeted two US military bases in Iraq. Tensions around the globe were high. That morning our team prayed, along with many others.

Our team includes people from many nations, including Iranians and Americans. There was a

remarkable love and unity as we all prayed together. In this image you can see the glorious moment when the Iranians and Americans passionately prayed for and blessed each other. It was a beautiful picture of the unity the Gospel brings.

As we interceded, a recurring prayer resounded around the room: 'Thy Kingdom come, thy will be

done, on earth as it is in heaven.'

We don’t know what the future holds, but we are praying more fervently than ever that God’s Kingdom would come in Iran, that fearful hearts would find hope in Christ, and that the church would be strengthened and unified.

Elam was founded with the conviction that whatever happens politically, Jesus reigns from His heavenly throne. Our name, 'Elam', is taken from Jeremiah 49:38 where God says, “I will set my throne in Elam.” (Elam was a key province in the Persian empire). Our name is a statement of faith that the Lord will keep his promise and have his way in Iran.

That is why whatever the geopolitical circumstances, our mission remains the same: to strengthen and expand the church in the Iran region and beyond.

As we go forward into 2020, we are keenly aware of the need to have faithful intercessors like you praying with us, 'Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'

Grace and peace,

David Yeghnazar
Executive Director

Beauty For Ashes

I am so thankful for our local ministry partners.
One of these partners is Beauty for Ashes, here in Fredericksburg. Cindy and her team are doing an amazing job.

"Beauty for Ashes is a 12-18 month residential program for women who struggle with addiction.  Beauty for Ashes allows women to reside with their children to get the treatment and care they need to be become fully alive and whole in Jesus Christ."

Our Stafford Crossing family was able to serve our partners during the Christmas season. Many of
you joined forces and helped get the leaves off the property and into the woods. your generosity as part pf the family also allowed us to provide ingredients for both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. The ladies all pitch in and make a special dish from their own family traditions. We were also able to provide the items to help stuff some stockings for the moms.

Below are some "Thank You" notes from the moms.

We have opportunities during the year to serve as well. If you are interested in finding out more, comment below and we will find ways to plug in.

Beauty for Ashes Christmas

Personal thanks from our Moms…

Thank you so much for everything you did to bless us for Christmas!! I am very happy to be here at Beauty for Ashes, to be able to be a good example for my children, and to be celebrating 3 years of sober holidays…thanks to Beauty for Ashes. Watching my sweet son open his gifts and to be able to play with I is one of the best presents I’ve ever experienced. This Christmas was unlike any other. I am in awe of God’s love and so grateful to be his daughter. And I’m so grateful for the love that was poured out on us by you.

I want to thank you for blessing my 11-month-old son and me with a very special Christmas. It was a very beautiful and exciting thing to be able to gather together and have my son rip open paper to find presents. New and enjoyable things are definitely found here at Beauty for Ashes and you have helped that to come true.

I just want to say how grateful and thankful I am for how special and magical Christmas has been for me and my son. We’ve never been spoiled like this before and it’s amazing to see how God is not only meeting our needs here but also our wants. It’s more than we deserve, and we don’t take this lightly. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

I am very thankful for the time and resources you have put in to make a wonderful Christmas experience for me and my daughter. I really appreciate seeing how much people can care without even knowing us. It’s a miracle that my daughter and I are together for the holiday. You are a wonderful blessing from God, making it the best. Thank you and God bless all of you!

Thank you for the wonderful Christmas gifts for my little boy and me. The fact that you don’t even personally know either of us is overwhelming and I am thankful for you and your kindness…as well as your loving heart. Merry Christmas from our little family to yours!

To all who helped make Christmas so special,

     Thank you! This year’s Christmas was more special than I could truly provide words for. For my daughter and me it was the first “real” Christmas without distraction. We could actually focus on just the joy of the season. Already we felt so blessed just to be accepted here at Beauty for Ashes and into the program, but to have received gifts as well…wow! The staff here at BFA have gone above and beyond to turn this into a true Christmas miracle for my daughter and me, showing how very special the holidays are here at the home. This Christmas has given me hope I didn’t know could be found, strength I was unaware I had, and above all shown true love and compassion I was unaware existed in the world today. Thank you to you all and I hope the Christmas was as special for you as it was for my daughter and me. God bless you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My son and I want to express to you a heart of gratitude. Thank you for making our Christmas so special and such a memorable one for us! We truly love you! Merry Christmas and many blessings for 2020!  

Iran Region

Currently, there are two of us traveling in a country near Iran. We need to be a little vague to ensure the security of the local ministries we are working with.

We arrived last week and hit the ground running. We have had the honor of visiting and encouraging churches in five cities and we have one more to go. It has been an amazing journey. It is so encouraging to see these churches impacting their

communities and advancing the Kingdom under great duress. They are made up of families from Iran who are living here as refugees with VERY limited rights. Life is hard and they are largely unwelcome. In spite of this, they persevere. In one town, there are 30 known Iranians and 18 of them attend the local church. They are more than halfway to the goal!

While it is encouraging to see the excitement in the churches, it is heart-breaking to hear some of the stories. These families have sacrificed all to follow Jesus. They have suffered greatly in Iran and the suffering continues, in many ways, in this country.

It is a strange feeling when you lay in bed at night processing such hope and joy mixed with such sadness for what these families are enduring.

Pray that we can finish strong. See you soon.

Local Missions Grants

At Stafford Crossing, we recognize that there are great needs here in our own community. We are

passionate about meeting those needs in an effort to make the love of Jesus evident to a watching world.

The best way for us to discover the need and then to meet the need is through our church family. You see the needs that others may not. You are close to people in need in your neighborhood. You are the front line of local missions.

When we encounter a need and an opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus, we are called to engage. Here is how we do that.

• Identify the need.
• Enlist your family, friends, and small group.
• Gather resources.
• Meet the need.

When it is time to gather resources, Stafford Crossing wants to help. We have made available "Missions Grants" to help cover the cost. Simply fill out this online application and we will be in touch. 

Let's all be on mission together, around the world and across the street.

A Good Day at Upper Room

Thanks for your prayers for our team in Kingston! Yesterday we had a great time of worship with Upper Room Community Church. After church we shared an enjoyable time of fellowship over a meal with about a dozen leaders from this dear church that took us to nearly 4:00 p.m. A quick change of clothes brought us to the last session of the "Life's Healing Choices" training. We met for 8 hours on Saturday and then 2 hours Sunday evening. There were 8 churches and 29 people present. The way God moved Sunday night was so humbling. Our team believes several of these churches will follow through with the 8-week Bible study. Pray that God will give them great clarity on their next steps.

Today we are headed to Ocho Rios to visit with Anthony and Barbara Richards (leaders of Teen Challenge Jamaica) and visit the men's farm and women's center. After that we will head to visit some of the beauty of this country at Blue Hole. Tomorrow is our travel day back home. Please continue to pray for us.

Jamaica Medical Clinic

Thanks for your continued prayers for our team in Kingston, Jamaica. Tonight we celebrated the conclusion of our medical clinic with a jerk chicken cookout prepared by Teen Challenge Jamaica. We have been so encouraged by the growth in the leadership team at Upper Room Community Church. The nationals planned and led the clinic. Nearly 300 people received some kind of medical care. The fruit of many years of labor by Stafford Crossing is so evident. We cannot wait to see what God continues to do in this church! 

Please pray as we spend all day Saturday doing Life's Healing Choices training with several churches in the area. It will be a full and exciting day.

Upper Room Mission Trip

Some the first photos taken by the mission team in Kingston.

Uganda 2019: Miriam's View

Pearl Church and School is located in southeastern Uganda in the remote village of Nanjeho near the border of Kenya. The landscape surrounding it is lush farmland and a network of red dirt trails leading to mud hut homes. Children from infants to age 13 come to this school, some from an hour's walk away. They are taught in English, their second language, and are fed breakfast and lunch here.

It's hard to condense our experience at Pearl into one page. Incredible. A taste of heaven amongst deep

heartache and need.

The school administrator, Derek Ochim, is the oldest son of Pastor Hummer, a man who works tirelessly to bring about change in Jesus's name in his community and beyond, and now Derek, faithful to do the same in Nanjeho.

The head mistress Karen leads the school well with a firm but fun-loving hand. They welcomed us with song and dance so authentic that it speaks to your soul. And then...Karen called us muzungus up on stage to see if we could dance- there may or may not be video of this floating around, if you need a good laugh...

We then held a medical/health Q&A with the women of the church, shared scripture and were honored to be able to pray one on one with those who asked for it. How do you pray out loud for someone you just met when tears are streaming down your face from hearing a request that breaks your heart?  By knowing it also breaks the heart of Jesus, knowing the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf, and knowing that the God we serve is mighty to save. 

We ate a generous lunch in Derek's home, complete with cassava, metoke (boiled plantain), G-nuts (peanut soup) and melt in your mouth papaya and avocado picked right off the trees outside.

Afterwards some of the team went to join a local home cell (small group) meeting to give testimony and encouragement to the growing church. The rest of us stayed at the school and played soccer with the older teens, hung out with the younger kids and taught them duck-duck-goose (so.much.fun), and got some dance lessons (again, hilarious). It's a beautiful thing to see them run over to a deep well to drink clean water whenever they're thirsty. Living water flowing in hearts and onto hands.

These precious children, most of them orphans, have so little, yet they laugh and smile so easily, and the poems

and songs that come from their lips are of thanksgiving and praise to their Heavenly Father. I am humbled, blown away. 

As the day came to a close the children were prayed for and dismissed to walk home. It was time for us to go too, and unexpectedly difficult to drive away from this special place. 

Uganda 2019: Sue's View

In January of last year (2018) I was in Uganda with Lisa DeCourcey. We spent a day in Kampala with 6 women from the church getting to know them, their daily patterns and how they do church. 

We studied the Bible together and Lisa and I introduced the model of ‘Life Transformation Groups’ (LTG).

Briefly, an LTG is a group of 2-3 believers who commit to meet weekly. During the week they all read the same bible passage daily and pray for specific people to be saved. At the meetings they pray, worship, confess their failures and share their struggles. 

We also travelled to rural Busia and spent 2 days with another precious group of ladies from scattered churches doing the same model. Just hearing what these women accomplish to keep food on the table and how much time they spend daily in prayer and bible study humbled me. My quiet time seemed paltry in comparison.  I felt totally unqualified to be offering advice. I remember saying to Lisa “If this sticks it’s nothing but the Holy Spirit’s doing”.

So returning in January this year why was I bowled over that it had taken over and multiplied?? Their groups were large... like our small groups... but people were getting saved and the churches were growing and lives were being transformed. I challenged the women’s leader (Grace) to make the groups smaller... loving accountability and deep sharing is hard for large groups. 

So this trip I spent time with individual groups (cell groups) in Kampala and Busia villages. 

My best day this trip? Aunt Betty’s cell group. 

We arrived late as the sun set and sat outside with the goats and chickens. The slum area in Kampala was

sacred ground. It was a group of 10... some had to leave earlier so it was about half of the regular crowd. There was a lady from another church, a man and a woman who had given birth only yesterday. After the Bible study I heard how AS WELL AS meeting as a group, they meet as 2-3 for sharing and praying. They decided to fast and pray as a group for their community for 15 days. A marriage was restored (she delivered the baby to prove it!!). School fees were provided. A son’s failing grades at university turned into good grades and graduating well. The man in the group stopped drinking and womanizing and became a believer. The local witch doctor who owned a drinking bar and shrine turned his space into a rental room so now the community is rid of such things. Sick children healed, kids stayed in school, and a phone was acquired... which she uses to call for prayers at 2am and to rally support!Truly the Holy Spirit is moving. 

My second favorite day... praying for individual women with Casey and Miriam after the women’s health

gathering. 

My privilege... to see each team members’ obedience to GO grow their faith and love. Uganda changes you and makes it real.