Hearing that Jane* had attempted suicide, pastor Peppy DuTart and members from Crossroads Community Church, Summerville, rushed to the hospital for support. Jane had visited Crossroads on occasion.
“She had taken an overdose of pills,” DuTart said. “Today, she gives testimony of being in a place where she didn’t want to live anymore. When we got to the hospital, I thought she was gone. I just thought, ‘There’s no way she should be here.’?”
Miraculously, Jane survived and is now on a journey of spiritual growth at Crossroads.
“The church has since invested in Jane and her husband, and now she is assisting us,” DuTart said, acknowledging that Jane recently helped with a baptism service and is a part of the church’s prayer ministry.
It’s that kind of story that defines what DuTart calls “the personality of Crossroads.” In the story of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan comes to the aid of a wounded man along the Jericho road and takes the wounded man to an inn for recovery.
“We see ourselves as the inn along the Jericho road,” DuTart said. “We are that church for those who are down-and-out, those going through difficult times, those who are coming out of addiction, and those who don’t know the Lord. We are where the wounded can come and get well.”
DuTart was part of the Crossroads Community Church plant and has served continuously as its pastor for 19 years. Since its plant, the church has yielded to the personality that God prescribed and has developed.
“It’s important for our church to understand that God has given talents to us,” DuTart said. “He expects us to do something with those talents. Some churches have been given five talents, and perhaps we’ve only been given two talents. But God expects us to take what he has given us and do something with it. If God wants us to be that Jericho road church, reaching wounded people, it becomes a mission for us and we need to make sure we are doing a good job with it. We’re on a journey; we’ve not reached a destination.”
As the church ministers to people who are hurting, it helps people recognize that they have a faith story to tell.
“The Lord is writing these tremendous adventures in people’s lives,” DuTart said. “Our church is excited about helping people become mighty witnesses.”
Take the story of Sam*, a prison security guard, who was jumped and stabbed nine times by two men. Left for dead, Sam is overcoming the emotional trauma through a Wednesday discipleship group at Crossroads.
“He feels the stress from the attack,” DuTart said. “We’ve worked with him through post-traumatic stress, and the Lord is working through his life. He’s becoming more consistent in his church participation and is working toward being a better husband and father.”
A young girl came to the church when she was seven months pregnant. Soon after, she had a seizure in a bathtub and was found under water. Her husband performed CPR and called 911. Miraculously, the girl and the baby survived and are healthy.
“She lived through trauma,” DuTart said. “The Lord has given them a testimony to share with others. And here is something else: The church and the community rallied around this miracle like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s a great story.”
The church has matured in developing its personality, DuTart said.
“We are learning that many people come from dysfunctional backgrounds and traumatic situations,” DuTart said. “We’ve got to get down with them and get dirty with them on a one-to-one or one-to-two basis. Jesus was surrounded by disciples, followers, and the multitudes. What we want to do is create disciples who go into the multitudes and create more disciples. We believe in evangelism, but we want to see people grow in faith after they’ve been won to faith.
“We want people to rise out of the trauma and tell their stories,” he said. – SCBC
(* Real name not used.)