Testimonials
SUPPLEMENTING PASTORAL CARE
"I serve a congregation of over 2,200 baptized members and the needs of our church family are many. Cross Connections has given me the support necessary to be able to handle the pastoral care of our members in way that is professionally responsible and, at the same time, faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I make regular referrals to Cross Connection for a variety of emotional needs. Having this referral option allows us to provide spiritual care for our people in a way that addresses urgent needs and then follows-up with appropriate, ongoing care. I typically spend between 15-20 hours of an already full month counseling our members, and there is simply no way that I could give each of these people the support and expertise many of them receive through Cross Connections.
Another huge benefit for Emmanuel is the premarital counseling offered by Cross Connections. Whether through a relationship with a professional counselor, or through the lay-counseling made available through the Covenant Partners program, our couples receive a comprehensive course of premarital counseling that would be impossible for me to offer. We perform between 20-25 weddings each year, and even with modest premarital counseling, I invest 4-5 hours in each couple to prepare them for their marriage. Cross Connections gives each couple approximately 9 hours of premarital counseling, touching on topics that I simply don’t have the time or training to explore.
Cross Connections has also served our congregation by providing ongoing educational opportunities through classes and groups targeting specific emotional and spiritual needs within our congregation. This has served to strengthen our adult Christian education program in ways that would be impossible for our current staff.
The stated mission of our congregation is to be, “A Caring Family Sharing God’s Love and Forgiveness.” In many ways, the support we receive from Cross Connections helps us accomplish this mission and further the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We certainly see Cross Connections as a partner in ministry. Cross Connections has been an invaluable asset to the Word and Sacrament ministry of our congregation and I can’t imagine life as a pastor without it."
Rev. Thomas A. Eggold, Emmauel Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne
HELPING TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE CHURCH
"We use Cross Connections to help us with our counseling needs. We have a growing church family and strong Biblical and professional counseling, is a greatly needed. Cross Connections helps us meet that need."
Steve Schlatter - Care Pastor, County Line Church of God, Auburn
RELIEVING GREAT BURDENS
"As a small church with a staff of one pastor, having Cross Connections as a trusted, Biblical counseling option relieves a great burden when additional counseling resources are needed. I am thankful for the partnership, professionalism, and Christ-honoring service that Cross Connections provides to our congregation."
Lance Stiver – Alliance Community Church, Fort Wayne
SKILLS PROVIDED TO OVERCOME
"I want to thank you and your staff for the service you provide for this community. I was in real need of help and was so grateful that our church, Sonrise Methodist, had a therapy connection for me. Knowing that Christian counseling was accessible and affordable made all the difference for me. It was handled easily and quickly by my church and Cross Connections. The intake procedure was easy, and I felt that Gary Younghans really listened to me. I so appreciate being connected to my counselor, Jule Godsey.
My therapy sessions with Jule have been a gift to me and my family. Her ability to listen and give feedback has had a great impact on me. When you are warmly accepted and loved it makes change easier. She has given me the skills I needed to learn to be happy, and more importantly the skills I needed to learn to recognize those moments when I am sliding into old, destructive thinking patterns. My husband has noticed that I am happier and that is very good! Jule has made an impact in my life and I am so thankful for her!
Once again, thank you for providing this professional service at a reasonable cost and please know how grateful I am for you."
I FOUND MY JOY
"I feel very blessed that I was given the opportunity to receive counseling from Cross Connections. I am a Christian and I love God with my whole heart, but I needed help. Life's struggles left me in a very dark place. I had lost my joy for life. I truly believe God told my pastor I was in a dark place and my pastor referred me to Cross Connections at a reduced fee. I have been working with Jule for just a few short weeks and her Christian based counseling has helped me find my joy again. Cross Connections is truly a Christian based organization. I feel strongly that God sent these angels (counselors) to spread their wings and wrap their love for God and God's children in their arms. I can not thank God and Cross Connections enough for having such an organization as this. I can not explain how good it feels to have found my joy again."
THANKFUL FOR CROSS CONNECTIONS & MY COUNSELOR
"I just want to thank you and the church for allowing me to go to Cross Connections. Going there has really helped me put my life in order. With me being the oldest girl in my family, I feel I now have a big sister to talk to. Jule Godsey and I talk about faith a lot and how without Him, (God), we are nothing and cannot do anything right. Everytime I visit with her, I am refreshed and can handle what comes my way next. We are like a good marriage, we enhance each other. I have even been reading her articles in The Fort Wayne Lutheran. They are very enlightening and educational. Jule is a God-send.
OUR MARRIAGE WAS SAVED
"My husband I were heading for divorce for many reasons, including many years of pent-up issues. During our sessions we started first with what we were feeling and then learned the biblical facts of agape love and what God expected of us and our holy union of marriage. We learned that love is not just about feelings. We learned about each of our responsibilities in our marriage. We found a new way to communicate.
"There were a lot of barriers put up by both of us. By focusing on the right things and what God expected of us, those barriers melted away and found a new love. A stronger love. A love with God in the center of it!
"I can't imagine what my life would be like had we not used the services of Cross Connections. Through the grace of God and his powerful molding, our marriage was saved...our family was saved!'"
ON THE EDGE OF SUICIDE
"I was really in despair. Total despair. I'd been humiliated. I'd been rejected. I believe I would have been a suicide victim if not for Cross Connections. It saved my life. It just saved my life.
"I learned that I'm not in control and I don't have to be in control. That I can trust the Lord to handle it and I think I needed to learn that, even in a deeper way. We all say we trust the Lord but when push comes to shove sometimes we think that he's busy and we'll take care of it. And it doesn't work like that. He's blessed me all the way through this mess in huge ways. Not just details but in big, big ways. Saying, 'I love you, I hear you, I see you and you can let me have it.'"
GOING THROUGH A DIVORCE
"I really feel like God put me in my counselor's care. As things evolved my husband finally did tell me that he wanted out of the marriage so this was a very traumatic time for me because I just never thought I would ever be divorced. My counselor was there for me and I don't know what I would have done without her. She helped me so much to work through all that and I can say today I am a much healthier person emotionally than I was when I first met up with her. I really have appreciated her and her insight and how she's helped me to think about things."
GIVEN UP ON GOD
"I wasn't believing in God, I had just kind of given up on my entire faith and had an emotional breakdown. I also wasn't eating or sleeping. So I went to the head pastor of my church and said, 'Oh my gosh, I'm freaking out here. What do I do?' and he referred me to Cross Connections. I had an assessment and then was paired up with a covenant partner and started meeting with her and slowly regained my faith in God and in Scripture. I think I met with her on and off for around seven months, sometimes even on a weekly basis – not at first, but eventually I was meeting with her almost every week. It was a really good experience for me because it did renew my faith in Christ. I found this renewed zeal and thirst for God's Word and that's what impressed me most.
"Honestly I was at a very deep, dark point in my life where I had given up on God. I wasn't believing any of it. But I went – obviously it was my faith that was leading me there – and so eventually it was something that I felt obligated to do, and then it became something that I knew I had to do to feel better mentally and then it was something that I really looked forward to because I knew each time I would meet with my covenant partner I would discover something new about myself and something refreshing about God's Word."
A LIVING TESTIMONY
"There is someone that I know personally that I referred to Cross Connections. What I said to this person was, 'Have you seen a change in me? Have you seen a growth pattern in me? Have you seen me become a different person in the last year or so?' And I used that as my own testimony as to whether or not this is something that would help them as well."