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Welcome to The Gray’s Prayer Request Page
July 10, 2010
The attached two letters announce a new direction our lives are about to take, as well as explain the important details. So please read on. The first one is 2010-Special Edition.pdf and the second one is BYarbrough Cover Letter for MTW Transition.pdf
Dear Friend,
Once again, I need to apologize for another long silence from the Grays.
Many of you know that our oldest son, Grant, recently underwent two major surgeries to begin the process of lengthening his right arm. After considerable initial pain, I’m happy to report that Grant is now doing quite well. Next week he will get the struts in his external fixator replaced with longer ones. So he’s already gained around an inch in arm length!
This week Grant completed first grade, and Aidan finished pre-school last week. Chase continues to develop at his own unique pace. He is such a happy little boy, smiling at everyone he meets. But Chase has many concerns we need to address. He is still far behind in his growth, and he has not progressed much in his eating abilities. Wendy spends on average two to three hours a day just feeding Chase! Crawling and communicating are two other areas where our youngest son still languishes. The time we spent dealing with Grant’s recent surgeries and ongoing daily therapy, has left little time for Chase’s intensive daily therapy program. This has been a heartache for us. However, we are hoping this summer we will be able to devote more time to Chase.
With MTW’s permission, this year I taught a 7th grade “World Geography, Cultures and Missions” class at a local Classical Christian school, where Grant attends. There were 15 students in my class, and we met each school day for the first period. I would drop Grant off, teach my class, and then get on with my work day. Teaching the class was a lot of work. But it was very rewarding. I was encouraged by seeing a number of the students get excited about God’s world, as well as His work in the world. Not only did the students learn many things about our amazing planet, their teacher’s knowledge significantly increased too!
But as the subject line states, Wendy and I have some BIG NEWS to share with you. The attached two letters announce a new direction our lives are about to take, as well as explain the important details. So please read on. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know. However, do note my new cell phone number and e-mail address. May the Lord grant His choicest blessings of faith, love, joy, peace and hope in Jesus to you this summer and always!
Warmly in His Love,
Rick
Rick A. Gray
Campus Minister for International Students
Reformed University Fellowship – International
University of Delaware
228 Rhett Drive
Newark, DE 19702
Home/Office: 302-365-5075
Mobile: 302-367-4994
E-mail: rickgray57@gmail.com
Phone: 01905 612830 ● E-mail: D.Cross@talktalk.net ● 15 Key Avenue, Worcester WR4 0LT, United Kingdom
CROSS Purposes A Report from
David & Barbara Cross
serving with
Dear Purpose-filled Partners August 2010
A Short Story
As background to this story I should tell you that When Barbara and I went to Australia in 1970 we had never visited there.
We had never even left the USA before that—not even to Canada! That kind of missionary hardly exists anymore.
Several years ago I was asked to lead a prayer group of about 7 or 8 men at one of the Retreats MTW does for its missionaries.
To introduce the men to each other I asked each one to tell what led them to their field of service. As they went around the
circle the opening words became almost monotonous, “I went on a short term trip to…” I was the only one who did not use those
words. It made me aware of how important short-term missions is to the process of recruiting new people.
One Year and Eight Weeks
Joshua Jacobs finished high school three years ago. He decided that he would give one
year to mission work before he entered university. He chose a mission group that had a
program in England. They sent him to work in one of the worst areas of Manchester, England’s
3rd largest city. His living and working conditions were terrible. Friends of ours,
who belong to Joshua’s church, asked us to invite him to Worcester for a weekend break.
We did and showed him a side of England he had not yet seen. As we heard his story we
were impressed. by a serious minded young man. We stayed in touch and Joshua chose to
apply to MTW for the 8-week Summer Intern program. We arranged for him to work at
Immanuel Church, Cardiff with Dr Peter Naylor. At this point Joshua believes God is
leading him to prepare himself for ministry in the UK.
Exploring Options for the Future
In our last Cross Purposes we wrote, “Tom and
Melody Hartman, will be coming to Cardiff (Bethel Church) at the end of June for an
eight-week summer ministry. This time slot fits into Melody’s summer break as a
school teacher. Tom is an ordained Lutheran minister who is in process with the PCA.
He is also a musician.” When we visited them the weekend after they arrived in Cardiff,
we found that they were well on their way to a busy and useful summer. Tom had
learned enough about the city that he was telling me how to find the restaurant we were
looking for in center city. Tom was leading an Adult class in the Sunday School hour
(adults don’t usually have Sunday School in Britain.) Tom has been leading a mid-week
time for learning new hymns—remember the Welsh SING, loudly and well! They have
also to worked with a Holiday Bible Club.
Eleven Month Adventure
Megan Hodge is a member of Peace Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Cary, North
Carolina. while at university she attended another PCA church and in that time realized
“how counter cultural following Christ is and how it brings together many diverse people.”
When she thought about missions, MTW was her natural choice. Since then her
hallmark has been flexibility. England did not appear in her list of country choices on
her application. Since accepting an invitation to the UK the location of her ministry has
had to change location from London to Cheltenham. – She arrived in July and will be
here 11 months, mainly working to build relationships with students and young adults.
Personal Notes
Barbara and I are not sure what happened to the “quieter June” we mentioned in the
last Cross Purposes but it came and went and so has July. In August Barbara plans to
focus on her writing ministry—articles for two magazines, a contribution to an MTW training program and some biographical
sketches for our church in Cheltenham. My usual preaching, mentoring and administrative tasks remain.—We close with the
same words from the Apostle Paul as last time—a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose
me. [1 Corinthians 16:9] – Pray For Us!
With Thanks for your Prayers and Support—David L Cross
Support Donations should be sent to: Mission to the World, PO Box 116284, Atlanta,, GA 30368-6284 and marked for the
Account of David Cross, A/c # 011126 — Please Note: this address is only for donations.
Rev Dr Peter Naylor and Joshua Jacobs
Rev Todd Matocha – Tom & Melody Hartman
Rev Andrew Young shows Megan
a map of her area of Cheltenham
CROSS Purposes A Report from
David & Barbara Cross
serving with
Dear Purpose-filled Partners August 2010
A Short Story
As background to this story I should tell you that When Barbara and I went to Australia in 1970 we had never visited there.
We had never even left the USA before that—not even to Canada! That kind of missionary hardly exists anymore.
Several years ago I was asked to lead a prayer group of about 7 or 8 men at one of the Retreats MTW does for its missionaries.
To introduce the men to each other I asked each one to tell what led them to their field of service. As they went around the
circle the opening words became almost monotonous, “I went on a short term trip to…” I was the only one who did not use those
words. It made me aware of how important short-term missions is to the process of recruiting new people.
One Year and Eight Weeks
Joshua Jacobs finished high school three years ago. He decided that he would give one
year to mission work before he entered university. He chose a mission group that had a
program in England. They sent him to work in one of the worst areas of Manchester, England’s
3rd largest city. His living and working conditions were terrible. Friends of ours,
who belong to Joshua’s church, asked us to invite him to Worcester for a weekend break.
We did and showed him a side of England he had not yet seen. As we heard his story we
were impressed. by a serious minded young man. We stayed in touch and Joshua chose to
apply to MTW for the 8-week Summer Intern program. We arranged for him to work at
Immanuel Church, Cardiff with Dr Peter Naylor. At this point Joshua believes God is
leading him to prepare himself for ministry in the UK.
Exploring Options for the Future
In our last Cross Purposes we wrote, “Tom and
Melody Hartman, will be coming to Cardiff (Bethel Church) at the end of June for an
eight-week summer ministry. This time slot fits into Melody’s summer break as a
school teacher. Tom is an ordained Lutheran minister who is in process with the PCA.
He is also a musician.” When we visited them the weekend after they arrived in Cardiff,
we found that they were well on their way to a busy and useful summer. Tom had
learned enough about the city that he was telling me how to find the restaurant we were
looking for in center city. Tom was leading an Adult class in the Sunday School hour
(adults don’t usually have Sunday School in Britain.) Tom has been leading a mid-week
time for learning new hymns—remember the Welsh SING, loudly and well! They have
also to worked with a Holiday Bible Club.
Eleven Month Adventure
Megan Hodge is a member of Peace Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Cary, North
Carolina. while at university she attended another PCA church and in that time realized
“how counter cultural following Christ is and how it brings together many diverse people.”
When she thought about missions, MTW was her natural choice. Since then her
hallmark has been flexibility. England did not appear in her list of country choices on
her application. Since accepting an invitation to the UK the location of her ministry has
had to change location from London to Cheltenham. – She arrived in July and will be
here 11 months, mainly working to build relationships with students and young adults.
Personal Notes
Barbara and I are not sure what happened to the “quieter June” we mentioned in the
last Cross Purposes but it came and went and so has July. In August Barbara plans to
focus on her writing ministry—articles for two magazines, a contribution to an MTW training program and some biographical
sketches for our church in Cheltenham. My usual preaching, mentoring and administrative tasks remain.—We close with the
same words from the Apostle Paul as last time—a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose
me. [1 Corinthians 16:9] – Pray For Us!
With Thanks for your Prayers and Support—David L Cross
Support Donations should be sent to: Mission to the World, PO Box 116284, Atlanta,, GA 30368-6284 and marked for the
Account of David Cross, A/c # 011126 — Please Note: this address is only for donations.
Rev Dr Peter Naylor and Joshua Jacobs
Rev Todd Matocha – Tom & Melody Hartman
Rev Andrew Young shows Megan
a map of her area of Cheltenham
