My Story : Erik Rosado
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev. 21:4) 1) Can you give us a brief bio of yourself, and your life growing up? I was born in New Jersey, Jersey City, but my parents decided to move to Miami, Fl….
My Story : Julie Irvin
Where are you originally from? I was born and raised in Colombia until the age of 18. My parents are American, and were missionaries there for over 20 years. I moved to North Carolina when I graduated from high school in order to study at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. What was it like growing up as a…
My Story : Jessica Steffan
Where are you originally from? I was born in Ft. Lauderdale and have lived in South Florida my entire life. My twin brother, older sister and I were adopted by my uncle and aunt when I was 18 months old. All three of us lived with them until we went to college. Have you ever wanted to know who your…
Live, Love, Teach
Teach for America (TFA) is an non-profit whose mission is to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting high achieving college graduates to teach for at least two years in low-income communities throughout the United States. What led you to work as a teacher specifically within low-income urban communities in Miami? Matt : I’m originally from Detroit, Michigan and came to Miami…
My Story : Kristy Wallace
Where are you originally from? This question is never a simple one for this military child. I was born in South Carolina and throughout my childhood lived in four other states and two other countries; from South Carolina to Texas to Spain to Alabama to England to Massachusetts then to Virginia where my family retired from military service. I grew…
GOD NEXT DOOR
by Sam Miranda There are times I deeply meditate about what Jesus said in terms of loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and to love my neighbor as myself. A command to love people who believe differently than me, to love people who may hurt me, to love everyone who is practically near me, sometimes becomes an overwhelmingly…
FOR THE GOSPEL, FOR THE CITY, FOR THE NATIONS.
: for the gospel If you’ve been attending Crossbridge for a while now you’ve probably heard Pastor Felipe say more than once, “the more you apply the gospel in your own life, the more you’ll be propelled into mission”. That’s simply because the gospel isn’t only an invitation to peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation, but also a charge to go out…
LOVING THE CITY
There are many ways that we as Christians can choose to relate to the communities in which we live. Conversations that we can have that display an array of attitudes we have towards our communities dominant culture. We can choose to assimilate and reflect the places in which we live while loosing our spiritual identity. We can also choose to despise and ignore the neighborhoods in which we reside by becoming so disengaged with the people in it that we emit a sense of superiority or hostility.
THE JOY OF OUTREACH
by Sam Miranda With so many in this world who live anticipating some kind of disappointment, discouragement or disaster simply because they know it’s happened so often to so many, it’s easy to think this world ins’t a place of joy. However, as believers we sing to the song of a different melody than this world because we understand God’s…
Doug Bickel: I came for the music, I stayed for the message
I have always had God in my life, since I was baptized Catholic and later as my Baptist Aunt Lillian led me to the Lord as a teenager. I never had any doubt that there is a God who put me here for His purpose and sent His Son to die for my sins. However, as a busy teacher and…
Jessica Luo: No more guilt
Jessica Luo, a University of Miami graduate student, is pursuing a doctorate in Marine Biology. She spends much of her time performing lab work and complicated data analysis for her doctoral dissertation… but if you really want to make her think, ask her where she is from. Having lived in eight different cites before she turned 18, it is understandably…
David Vittoria: “Try to lead like Jesus.”
As Christians, we are called to follow Christ wherever he may lead. For some, this means pursuing overseas missions. For others this means volunteering time and resources to local churches and charities. For David Vittoria, the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Ascendi, following Christ means striving to live out the gospel on a daily basis in the fast-paced world…
Debra Petersen: Q&A
1) How has the gospel shaped your life and have you always been of the faith? When I was 29 years old and a flight attendant, living in NY, a friend from high school invited me to her wedding in Coral Gables. I heard that she had gotten “religious” and her fiancé was also “religious” but he had given her…
The Invisible Children
There are currently over 23,000 children in South Florida with at least one of their parents in jail. 23,000 children who rarely get to communicate with one of their parents—let alone have a face-to-face conversation or share an embrace. 23,000 children who are at least 6 times more likely than other children to end up in jail themselves. 23,000 children…
My Story: Carrie Schlough
1. What led you to World Vision and how has the gospel shaped what you do for a living? I left the world of teaching to pursue a career that fit better with the way God wired me. I signed up to run the 2009 Chicago Marathon with Team World Vision one Sunday at my church. I had not run…
Knowles Story
Brian and Rebecca were kind enough to join me for a Q&A session in order to share their unique perspective and experiences with the Crossbridge community. Q. How does the gospel shape your life, your marriage, and your career? A. The gospel should shape everything that we do – it should be fully integrated into our lives. Jesus died so…
The West Grove
West Coconut Grove, with its low income and high crime rates, can be a challenging place to live—let alone to raise a family. According to a local tourist guide, once a thriving African-American community, the West Grove steadily spiraled into social and economic chaos as wealthier residents fled the area in favor of more well-to-do suburbs. Today, abandoned buildings and…
