A history of CROSS Ministries written by Mike Sitzman (2009)
Looking back, I can see how my life has been preparing me for what is now my number one priority and interest - C.R.O.S.S. (Christian Relief of Supplies and Services) Ministries. It focused in 2001, when I was working in the Environmental Services and Maintenance Department at Clarke County Hospital. We were asked to clean out the basement and take discarded equipment to the landfill. It seemed to me there must be a use for it. I talked with Doug Hamilton, minister of the Osceola Church of Christ, who had a missionary friend on assignment in Romania. We talked with him, he checked with possible recipients, who responded they could use it.
As the plan developed, we came in contact with a group in Arkansas, C.U.R.E., who came, picked up all the equipment, and took it back to ship it from Arkansas. They asked if I could go with them to set it up. I agreed to do that and at the time I only thought about getting a free trip to Europe! Hospital employees did a fundraiser to get air fare for me, and it cost me nothing to go!
We were there for 10 days and had the complication of the equipment not coming out of customs. Because of that, we weren’t able to work with the equipment, but good came of it because we stayed with missionaries from Texas. They were wonderful people and we hit it off from the beginning. They took me to different locations where they were working, several hospitals, a nursing home, and an orphanage, just showing me what the conditions are like there. It was really heartbreaking to think anyone has to live like that.
I thought of how much time and money we spend for comfort - in hospitals and in everything we do. We assume the rest of the world lives like we do and don’t realize nobody lives like us. We are so blessed and people don’t realize that. On my first trip it dawned on me that we should do more of that. Our hospital had so much equipment and supplies to be thrown in the trash. It occurred to me if I talked to other places maybe they had stuff too. It took me a few months. God began envisioning what might happen if this could be developed and he laid out a plan that involved me. I was in tears thinking “You’ve got the wrong guy. This is way too big. I’m just an ol’ Iowa farm boy. What do I know about doing such stuff?” God didn’t give up though. He kept that burden on my heart until I made the first phone call a couple months after I got back, and asked, “Do you guys have extra equipment?” They did! Just like us, they didn’t know what to do with it and were hoping to find a place to give it. Such a place was right here in Iowa! I started asking and discovered all these people were more than happy to help. There are a lot of great people wanting to do good but don’t know what to do or how. I was still working full time, but on evenings and weekends I would use my beat up old trailers and vehicles to go pick up this stuff. I brought it back and stored it in my garage. Like so many things, it seems to start in someone’s garage. In this case it was mine.
Our starting the Thrift Store was almost a miracle in itself. Ed Lundquist knew that we were gathering medical equipment, and he let us use some of the lumber yard buildings for storage until we could get the equipment shipped out. When we decided to ask about using the main building, Hugh Stone and I talked to Ed and Darlene hoping they would allow us to use the building rent free for three months. That would give us a chance to get the store up and running, with the possibility of it producing some income before we started paying them. Ed just said, “Well, I’ve got a deal for you. Why don't you just use it for free?” How incredible! Without their generosity, we wouldn't have started because we had no money. This entire venture started on prayer and by this gift we were able to move forward!
Then came the volunteers. They are the heartbeat of the Thrift Store. Without them the Thrift Store could not function. But what really surprised me, and what I regard as another of the many miracles involved in this ministry, was the Thrift Store providing them an opportunity. They remark about how thankful they are to have a place to be useful. Some of them have lost a spouse or they are newly retired. They have spent their lives responding to need, and they wanted to continue doing so. And we could provide that. Ed gave us the place on April 1, 2008. The second week of April we started cleaning and arranging it to meet our needs. We spent April and May getting it ready and opened June 1, 2008. A strange part is that the store has always provided enough money to cover expenses. That has been uppermost in our minds. The Thrift Store has become a ministry in itself. We have seen one miracle after another. The volunteers continue to come in, some have come and gone, but the ones who are there all the time are changed. They no longer think about themselves. They are thinking about others.
What I do is what we’ve always done. We’ve always helped one another and others. That was what Dad did all the time. It just came naturally. When I saw what he did, I knew I wanted to do it. I think everyone knows they should help or they should do something. To their own loss, some don’t.