Missions
Him We Proclaim to the World
Cross Park doesn’t exist simply for our own good—God has called us to show and tell Jesus’ love to South Charlotte and to the world. We have several partnerships that allow us to carry out Christ’s call to local and worldwide missions. In South Charlotte, we partner with the Sharon Lakes community to host a weekly Bible camp for children. Internationally, we partner with El Shaddai Ministries to support the spread of the gospel in Haiti. Our sister church reaches the community in BonBon, Haiti, where we send teams each year on short-term trips. We also partner with an organization in East Asia, where we also send teams each year.
We also believe that God has placed us in Charlotte to be a church that sends people out, into their workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. Additionally, we formally train and send people out as pastors, missionaries, and counselors, and into other full-time ministry jobs. Because of this, we believe in continuing to support these missionaries as they pursue the work that God has called them to do.
City to City Latam is an instrument to evaluate, identify, accompany, train, coach and send church planters to see cities as their field of action and not just plant their churches.
CPC currently supports the Hub Development in Lima Peru and its extension in Quito Ecuador. CTC LATAM is expanding its ministry across all Latin America. CPC sent a team of members to Lima in 2023 to familiarize us with this opportunity. We came back with an enthusiastic endorsement of the work of CTC with its partner ministries in Lima. Multifaceted ministries with churches, agencies, iCafe, universities, communities, schools, arts and equipping 100s of people for a Gospel Movement is their heartbeat. We are privileged to come alongside the local leaders , Frances Castaneda and Julio Chang and partner in this region.
Also on the same trip in 2023, the group from CPC continued on to Quito Ecuador. In Quito, the work is also under the development of CTC LATAM with a primary local leader Carlos Cevallos. Carlos is pastoring a church as well as coordinating the extension of the gospel movement among like minded evangelicals in Quito. Dozens meet monthly for training and equipping to pass the good news of Jesus Christ to their community, families and churches.
Dony St. Germain
El Shaddai Ministries International
Haiti
Dony St Germain and his wife Sharon, along with his brother Louis are key church planting movement leaders in the island country of Haiti. Dony is the liason and representative to the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) for Haiti.
Cross Park’s Partnership with ESMI
Cross Park has partnered with Dony from 2011-2019. In addition to monthly support, CPC has sent 1-2 short term trips per year to Jeremie, Haiti. Our focus is on outreach medical clinics and children’s ministry in the remote rural village of BonBon, and teaching in the seminary and University in Jeremie. The church at BonBon was established in 2011 like Cross Park. Through medical clinics that ESMI has done in that church, the church at Bon Bon has been able to plant 5 more “preaching points,” or places of worship without a building, in the remote hillside of that region. We have also partnered with the University that ESMI has started in Jeremie by sending doctors and pastors to teach on needed topics in the school of nursing and at the seminary.
Due to recent and current political unrest and gang violence, Cross Park is not currently planning mission trips to Haiti. ESMI continues its powerful work in Evangelism, Education, Economics, Empathy and is bearing much fruit.
An Overview of ESMI
About ESMI
West Charlotte Church
Worship Service Location: 2701 Freedom Drive, Charlotte, NC 28208 (Movement School Auditorium)
West Charlotte Church is a church in and for urban west Charlotte. They are a brand new and growing community of faith. Their mission is to love God, make disciples, and love our neighbors according to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. Their vision is to be a church in and for urban west Charlotte devoted to biblical teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers (Acts 2:42).
Ethan Brown
RUF
University of Illinois
Ethan was born and raised in South Florida. He was adopted as an infant and is grateful that he came to know the Lord at a young age. Ethan attended the University of Florida, where he met his wife, Amanda, through their involvement with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF). After college, he spent two years working for RUF at Duke University. Ethan and Amanda moved to Charlotte and began attending Cross Park in July of 2018. In 2019, they welcomed their son Judah into the world. Ethan is completing a Masters of Divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary in 2021 and intends to serve as an RUF pastor at the University of Illinois in the fall. In his free time, he enjoys making and drinking craft coffee, reading, watching Netflix, and playing basketball, Spikeball, and just about any other sport with a ball.
Craig & Yumiko Chapin
Christ Bible Institute team
Nagoya, Japan
At age 14, Craig was convicted of the Lord’s call to mission. He kept that call before him through his teens and 20s, as the magnitude of the gospel grew in his understanding. At age 26, the Lord led Craig to Japan, and he has served Christ there for the better part of the past 35 years. Raised in a Buddhist family, Yumiko fell in love with classical music at an early age and studied at Kunitachi College of Music. In her mid-20s she met Christ through a church-run English school. Eight years later, she and Craig had their first date and married in 1999. The Chapins work with the Christ Bible Institute team in Nagoya, Japan—the third-largest city in the world’s second-largest unreached people group. Craig teaches New Testament at Christ Bible Seminary, serves as the seminary’s academic dean, and manages the seminary library. CBI’s vision is to see the gospel of the glory of Christ cherished and proclaimed throughout Japan. To this end, the seminary equips Christians in Japan for the work of gospel ministry. Yumiko is involved in Bible studies and employs her musical skills for the seminary and in church ministry, playing piano for worship services, for seminary ceremonies, and for choir rehearsals and concerts. In addition, she helps Craig to express biblical truths with sensitivity to the language and culture of Japan.
Haley Chitty
SIM and Cornerstone Counseling Foundation
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Haley serves as a clinical counselor at Cornerstone Counseling Foundation, whose mission is to provide healing and hope for Christian workers in Thailand and throughout Asia. Haley’s ministry experience includes seven years of college campus ministry with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ), followed by graduate studies in Christian Counseling at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte.
Nick & Sarah DeVusser
RUF
Johnson & Wales University
Nick and his wife Sarah have lived in Charlotte since the summer of 2019. Nick is the RUF Campus Associate at Johnson and Wales University here in Charlotte. He is currently finishing up his Masters in Divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte and hopes to work with RUF in the future as well. Nick and Sarah have one child, Miles, and one dog, Spurgeon.
Josh & Ashley Grimm
RUF
Queens University
Josh is from Charleston, SC, and graduated from Erskine College (where he was involved with RUF as a student) in 2009 with a BA in Bible/Religion and Philosophy. In 2010 Josh met Ashley at a wedding, and they married in 2012. That year they moved to Charlotte for Josh to go to seminary while Ashley began working as a nurse. Josh graduated from RTS Charlotte with an MDiv in 2015, and started RUF at Queens in 2016. Ashley and Josh have five children: Isaac (’16), Ruby (’18), Eliza (’19), Charlotte (’21), and Peter (’23). Among the many aspects of campus ministry Josh enjoys are meeting with students to talk about life over coffee or a meal, and playing a competitive game of spikeball!
Paul and Clare Hudson
SIM
Charlotte, NC
Paul and Clare have been serving in mission with SIM for 34 years! They first worked in southern Ethiopia doing medical outreach, community development. Due to the civil war there, they had to return to the US, but soon re-deployed to Nepal in the mid-90’s. There they did medical work and participated in outreach to Tibetan Buddhists. Clare’s breast cancer diagnosis brought them back home in 1997. At that point Paul began working globally with SIM’s ministries of compassion. He helped start SIM’s multi-country Hope for AIDS program; this enabled national partners and churches to care for the most marginalized by Gospel word and deed. They spent the decade between 2004-2013 in Asia, where Paul served as Regional Director for SIM’s work in 5 countries. Since 2014 they have worked in the US but with a global focus helping SIM to integrate health care ministries and Gospel outreach, as well as medical leadership development. Clare has worked in Member Care and counseling since 2008.
Bob and Karen Ihrig
SIM
Charlotte, NC
Bob and Karen serve as leaders with SIM USA’s Operational Ministry. The two served in South Sudan for two and a half years, where Bob provided pastoral care for missionaries and trained local pastors, and led building projects for the SIM Medical project. Karen (a Certified Medical Assistant) helped train Sudanese medical staff, and enjoyed providing care in the Children’s Nutrition Village for severely ill and malnourished children.
Bob oversees the Operational Services of SIM USA’s 90 acre campus including buildings, grounds, and vehicle maintenance, food services, guest services, shipping and receiving.
Karen leads the work of the 48 bed Guest House and valet service from and to the airport, bus, & train for SIM USA’s Hospitality Ministry for new and seasoned SIM missionaries who are visiting the Charlotte headquarters for training or other events. As well as participating in interviews for new missionaries.
The couple is thankful to provide a significant part of SIM USA’s care ministry to the SIM USA Missionary family and enjoy the process of assisting their teams to thrive in their ministries.
Luke & Denise Johnson
SIM
Thailand
Denise and Luke (along with their mission organization, SIM) are convinced that no one should live and die without hearing God’s good news. By God’s grace, they want to help make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in communities where He is least known. They live in Chiang Mai, Thailand and serve by doing a little bit of everything. Luke is involved in video and media ministry, church-based community evangelism and discipleship, and does some behind-the-scenes administration. Denise is an RN and is the health advisor for SIM Thailand while also serving on the SIM Thailand missionary care team. The SIM Thailand team’s mission is “[To see] the unreached of Thailand authentically respond to the gospel and be discipled into biblically-based, community-transforming churches that engage in mission. Our mission is to make disciples where He is not yet known.” Ninety-nine percent of Thai people are not Christians. Most Thai people have never heard the good news of Jesus. Many communities have no churches.
Luke has been a member of Cross Park Church since it was planted. He has been with SIM since 2009 and lived in Asia since 2015. There, he met Denise, also a missionary, and they were married in 2017. They have three children. They also have a housekeeper named Wai who has become another member of the family. Please pray for Wai. Wai grew up in a Roman Catholic family but is not a practicing Christian.
Rev Charles A McKnight III
Charles has 15 years of pastoral ministry leadership experience. He co-planted West Charlotte Church (PCA) in the urban west Charlotte African American community. West Charlotte is the first and only African American-led PCA church planted by another African American-led church in denominational history (Christ Central Church, Rev. Howard Brown). He served as an Assistant Pastor at Christ Central Church prior toplanting West Charlotte.
Charles currently serves in the following denominational leadership roles:
• Coordinator of Missions to North America African American Ministries
• Executive Director of the Center for African American Church Planting
• Co-Host of the Between The Pew podcast.
• Advisory Committee member for the following: Missions to North America Unity Fund, Missions to The World, Covenant Seminary, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Link Conference, and for the Central Carolina Presbytery Church Planting Committee
Charles has a Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte), attended the US Naval Academy (Annapolis), and has degrees in English and African American Diaspora Studies from the University of North Carolina (Greensboro). Charles and his wife Charlotte have four children and he is the son of an AME Zion pastor.
Find out more about Charles and ways to connect to his ministry at charlesamcknight.com.
Tyler and Brooke Miller
Cru
Charlotte, NC
Brooke & her husband Tyler have served with Cru for over 10 years, stateside and abroad. Brooke currently serves in the Charlotte Metro area, with a focus on UNC-Charlotte and Catawba College. Cru’s mission is to Win lost students to Christ, to Build them up in their faith, and to send them out as Christ-centered laborers. Evangelism and discipleship are the heartbeat of their ministry. The Charlotte team is committed to praying for and sending students to East Asia to further the gospel there as well, and Brooke enjoys playing an intricate role in serving this country. They currently have one son and one daughter.
Juan Rodriguez
RUF
UNCC
Cynthia Ruble
Global Outreach International
Japan
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