Chicagoland ministry reaches out
to hurting women on the streets of the Windy City.
Kathy Peterson's life was in shambles. Her
husband sent her packing after a deep rooted spirit of depression
escorted her down the road to drug abuse. Peterson entered a
homeless shelter with little more than the clothes on her back, a
craving for the next fix and a tearful longing for her children and
the joy that had eluded her for so long.
That's when she stumbled upon Crossroads Ministries and her deathly
journey took a detour down the road to life and peace. While it was
an up and down voyage for the 41-year-old Catholic-turned-Christian,
Crossroads was a safe haven where she found plenty of compassion
from Pastors Robert and Norma Rosado, founders of the outreach
ministry that has helped to rehabilitate hundreds of hurting women
over the past decade.
“I knew I had a calling, but I was kind of like Moses,” says an
overcoming Peterson. “I asked, ‘Lord, why do you want me? Are you
sure you didn’t make a mistake?’ I am called to preach and I teach
at the church now. God is using my experiences to help other women
in the program.”
The Rosados launched Carol Stream, Ill.-based Crossroads Ministries
in 1993 with a similar mandate: to rescue lost souls from the
lifestyle of drugs and despair that had once nearly consumed them.
Robert was addicted to drugs for many years and his then-girlfriend,
Norma, was so discouraged that she was suicidal before the duo
finally gave the reigns of their troubled hearts to the Lord almost
30 years ago. “Evangelism is our main focus,” Norma says. “We
believe that drug problems are a result of living a life without the
Lord, so our goal is to lead women to Christ, not to get them off
drugs. Clean living will come through a relationship with Jesus.”
The apostolic grace on the Rosado’s life takes ministry outside the
local church to deal with hard core needs, demonstrating that the
apostolic hears and sees what others refuse to look at.
The Rosados don't roam the streets at midnight looking for
prostitutes, street people, or drug addicts. Instead, they visit
local churches and allow their transformed and equipped disciples to
share their testimonies and invite listeners to refer loved ones to
the free program. Women come from all walks of life, some churched
and some unchurched, some barely legal and some senior citizens,
some from hospitals and some from jailhouses. But they all have one
thing in common: They are ready to surrender to Jesus. “By the time
they come to us they have already burned all their bridges and they
are ready to do something with their life,” Norma says. “Before they
leave we want to them to know they can trust God and have the skills
to get a good job so they aren’t tempted to depend on the welfare
system for a check every month.”
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Many of the women come in needing deliverance from evil spirits of
addiction, lust and rejection, among others. Norma still remembers
the 98-pound demon-oppressed woman who single-handedly destroyed the
chapel and another baldheaded petite female who busted up half a
dozen police cars with a baseball bat before police brought her to
the ministry with a broken arm. Just another opportunity for God to
be glorified. “We prayed deliverance for her and continued to love
her and feed her the Word of God,” recalls Robert. “She became one
of the sharpest students in the program. It was a supernatural
restoration. She went back to school and continues to serve God to
this day.”
The women's schedule is busy with a regimen that runs from 6 a.m. to
10 p.m. during the four-month program at the 21-room restoration
house. Disciples start off the morning with two Bible classes and an
hour of chapel followed by work duty. The Rosados started a cleaning
business to teach the women responsibility and help pay the house
bills, which run several thousand dollars a month for the six women
the county will allow in the program. Disciples gather for an hour
of prayer in the afternoon before dinner, evening classes, showers
and, finally, lights out.
While finances are a challenge, helping the women gain victory over
the spiritual opposition that comes against them is the main concern
after salvation. As the women begin to take a stand for God, Norma
says the devil is quick to launch spiritual attacks in the form of
nightmares and lying whispers that tell the women they can’t
succeed. This has caused many to flee back to the streets over the
years, but the Rosados are getting savvier to the wiles of the
devil. “We explain to them that the enemy wants to take them back,”
Norma says. “When they realize it’s not a battle against flesh and
blood they become violent for God. They realize they are not
fighting against our house rules. They are fighting the devil.”
This type of one-on-one ministry is at the heart of the program.
Norma stresses that you have to relate to these women at their
level. She takes a straight forward approach to discipleship through
relationship, knowing that these women see through superficial love.
No flesh petting at Crossroads. “The apostolic has validated our
boldness and directness,” she says. “We are not here to baby sit
people. They have to grow up.” Of course, religion tells the Rosados
they have no compassion but the fruit of their ministry says
otherwise. “Our heart is for these women, but building character is
vital,” Robert says. “Being a builder of people is apostolic.”
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