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			The Mission Project for Mainstream & Reflections for the Summer of '98... the beginning of a new 'culture' in mega-cultural San Antonio... we call it the Cross Culture. We were and are determined to influence the youth on the Southside of our city that Jesus is the only way to true happiness and joy!  It began as an idea... a vision from our Pastor Buckner Fanning for the people of Trinity to concentrate on projects right here in our own city during the year of 1997-98.  In order to do a little more than what just our own youth could have done, we decided to include some of our friends that we have worked with in the recent past from around the US, and invite them to come to our own turf and help us.  That idea culminated in 175 students from here in San Antonio and from churches even outside of Texas to join with us in reaching the Southside of San Antonio.

Cross Culture Team minus Atoka at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday Morning - July 5, 1998

The Mission Team consisted of youth from 5 different congregations: First Baptist Church of Atoka, Oklahoma; Primera Iglesia Bautista of Alamo, Texas; First Baptist Church of Shertz, Texas; Metarie Baptist Church or Metarie, Louisiana; Village Meadows Baptist Church of Sierra Vista, Arizona; and Trinity Baptist Church of San Antonio, Texas.

(click on pictures!!)

The teams first responsibility was to rehearse and record the choral sections from the music/drama "This Love" which was presented on two evenings at Harlandale Baptist Church. The result of this recording is a CD which is being produced for the Cross Culture team, and others that are interested.

The teams met together for breakfast, dinner, rehearsal and devotional each evening.  Each seperate group had individual projects that they worked, but the strength to the work was the togetherness - the unity in a common purpose.

Together -  the group sang, worked, were a visible witness to the people of San Antonio, played hard... and LIVED!!!  We stayed in the dorms on the Our Lady of the Lake University campus, taking advantage of the pool between the dorms.  Thursday of mission week was the day we went downtown to visit the Riverwalk, the Alamo, held hands and prayed around the Tower of the Americas, and watched the IMAX movie.. Alamo, the Price of Freedom!

If it wasn't for the planning, help, commitment and most of all love of the incredible adults that helped hold it all together, it wouldn't have happened. Thank you so much Paul, Jack, Mary, Ginny, Kathy, Connie, Emma, Mark,  Jim, Duane, John, Ken, Betty, Priscilla & Rick... you're the best!!!

Coming the furthest distance to San Antonio... all the way from Sierra Vista, Arizona was the Village Meadows Baptist Church with Jerry Cullum as their director.  They provided the teachers and crafts and energy for a total Vacation Bible School program for the Sur Zarzamora Baptist Church.  They also worked at the Riverside Baptist Church in the afternoon to provide a sports camp for community youth.  We met this great group through a former member from Trinity... Tiana - she's behind the burger on the left!! But God brought us together for this time together... and we are really happy he did!! So keep in touch... we really love you guys... RIIIIGHT, RIIIIGHT!!!

From the opposite direction came the youth group from Metarie Baptist Church in New Orleans.  Their Youth Minister is Darrell Lindsey (blue shirt), who spent a lot of time on the staff at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio.  They worked a VBS at two different locations, one at South San Baptist Church, the other at a public housing complex called Cassiano Homes.  Our choir toured later back to Metarie to join them again in performing the musical at their church!  Lots of friends... don't forget to write!!

Our most exciting location to work was Emmanuel Baptist Church with their Pastor, Frank Flores who went all out to host an incredible VBS.  Working at Emmanuel were the youth from Primera Iglesia Bautista de Alamo, Texas directed by their Pastor, Alvaro Corrales and his wife, Margie.  Along with the PIB group were the Reflections, Trinity's Middle School Choir.  We have a long relationship with our PIB friends because it has been the location of the Reflections Mission Trip for the past three years... so to have them come to our town and help us was really great.  The Primera youth are great friends now of most of the Highschool as well as Middle School youth at Trinity.  We enjoyed the extra fun things and creativity that the 25 kids from Alamo, Texas brought with them.  They have much heart, and are really growing strong after this Summer experience.  We'll be going back to Alamo again, and looking forward to continuing to grow our relationship with them.

From up north we had the youth from the First Baptist Church of Atoka, Oklahoma.  Their youth minister is Steven Turrentine who grew up in Atoka and was in the youth group when Don Doss, the current Mainstream director, was the Minister of Music & Youth.  First Baptist, Atoka has been a stop along the way with a former Reflections mission trip.  A Trinity retreat team also travelled up to Oklahoma this year, to Falls Creek Assembly and led the Atoka youth in a One Heart Retreat.

	The Atoka crew led the second largest VBS of Cross Culture Week at Los Angeles Heights Baptist Church.  They also helped with an afternoon sports camp at Bellaire Baptist Church.

Still from the north... but not quite so far is the youth group from First Baptist Church of Shertz, Texas.  Their youth minister, Bryan Cottrell, is a former member of Trinity who has gone on many of the mission trips as a sponsor.  This group worked in the Kingsborough Ridge Baptist Church providing the teachers for a VBS, and working with Rick Diaz along with the youth from Harlandale Baptist to provide a Sports Camp at the Mission Apartment Complex in the afternoons.  Two Schertz students were chosen to do dramatic parts in the musical. Another important function that was accomplished this week was presenting a morning and afternoon discipleship training for Southside youth groups called 'One Heart'.  The morning session was to also teach youth leaders how to run in-home Bible Studies on their own, as well as learning how to begin and continue an individual quiet time and jounal notebooks.

It will be quite a while before the work that was accomplished on the Southside is really understood, but we can estimate that over a thousand people were somehow directly effected by either the VBS's, the Sports Camps, the musical, or through one of the other training opportunities that were presented to us.  Beyond that, it's impossible to keep track of the multitude of other indirect contacts that happened because of this week of Cross Culture.  We're not done.  It is our desire to continue building relationships with youth groups on the southside and encourage them in growth and discipleship.  There is much to do, but a big step was taken during Cross Culture Week, 1998.

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