What a great joy it was for me and my family to attend, serve and give thanks this weekend at Crossroads of the Rockies 12th Annual Thanksgiving Celebration Community Dinner. We also had a combined Sunday service with all three ethnic congregations that meet, serve and worship together under one roof. Think of that, it's possible!

So where are you serving and giving thanks this season? 

About 300 showed up for the Thanksgiving Dinner, more than ever before. It was a great outreach to the community to share some food, fellowship and the love and compassion of Christ to our neighbors. I was amazed to watch the servers from several suburban churches keep going through the serving line to fill up plates overflowing with all the traditional Thanksgiving turkey and trimmings. I don't know where all the food came from but like the miracle of the "Feeding of the 5,000", the stuff and the stuffing just kept coming out of the kitchen.

We all came back on Sunday for a combined worship and Thanksgiving service, and yes another "miracle meal". If you'd like to see short videos of these two celebrations check out my website at http://gallery.me.com/dhcowles/100646

We moved from Indianapolis to Denver in 1996 to restart this urban compassionate ministry. Crossroads and the many friends we have made across the years has been a highlight of our lives. Even though I left Crossroads to become Compassion International's USA Ministry Director in 2000, Crossroads remains close to home, close to our hearts and I still serve as voluntary Chairman of the Board.

This past summer the Lord opened the door in a very unusual way for Crossroads to move less than a mile away to a much larger church with a full kitchen, gym, 300 seat sanctuary and plenty of unused space to expand our programs. Three congregations (English, Spanish, Vietnamese) and Crossroads share the facility as equal partners in a covenant relationship. It's an amazing model of kingdom collaboration and community transformation. No one pays rent! We gather once a month to share the expenses, as each group is able to contribute. It's a covenant. Everyone pulls together for the common good, kind of like "on earth as it is in heaven". Imagine that! Each group has gifts and contributions they bring to the table. 

This summer YouthPartnersNET is also bringing something to the table. Through our new summer urban missions project called CityConnexx, we're going to bring teams of volunteers to help fix up, paint, and renovate this old inner-city church and neighborhood. Why don’t you join us, “Come & See” firsthand the great things that God is doing.

So let me ask you again, "Where are you giving thanks and serving?" If you can't answer that off the top of your head, let us give you a few suggestions, over 200 in fact. That's how many ministry partners we currently have around the country. So go to  http://www.youthpartnersnet.org/Partners and find one in your neck of the woods and hoods.

At the end or our service together we sang “Give Thanks” in all three languages, at the same time. It was very cool. The line I like best in that song is; “And now let the rich say I am poor, let the poor say I am rich, because of what the Lord has done for us, Give Thanks”

Thanks for your giving and serving!