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Partnership, Compassion, & Rocks

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:40:16 GMT

Replacing Rocks with Seeds

Rocks

Last month and the team met together one of the first questions asked was, “What are you hearing from the Lord? Responses included, “Get your armor on.” “Do not leave gaps in your armor.” Additionally, following right along that same idea I was hearing, “Get the rocks out of your soil. Do not leave anything that the enemy can use as a weapon against you.”

Reading out of Mark 4, we talked about the soil of our heart. Is the soil of your heart a hard packed path that cannot receive the seed of the Word? Is it rocky with many things that need to be dug out of our lives? It is it full of the distractions and worries of weeds and thorns? Or have we allowed God to work the soil of our hearts until it grows a harvest 30, 60, or 100 fold?

What are those rocks? Could be unforgiveness that allows rocks of bitterness, resentment, hurt, jealousy, anger, or hatred to settle deeply within the soil of our hearts making it hard for seed to produce a harvest. Not impossible, but difficult. We talked about unforgiveness in the last blog post.

Maybe the rocks are a sense of rejection that leads us to believe that we are not worthy or able to receive from God. A direct counter to the sonship that He desires for us. The very identity as a beloved child of God with a God given purpose. And the inheritance to fulfill that destiny and purpose. This spirit of rejection is one God has been speaking to me about. How do we get rid of it? By replacing it. By accepting the identity of who we are in Christ. A son or daughter of the Most High. A brother or sister of Christ. Eligible to receive all that Jesus received. Seated in authority with Him.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs —heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:14-17

'even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus , ' Ephesians 2:5-6

It’s when that knowledge drops into our hearts it becomes revelation. We become grounded in that fact that we are His children and have that delegated authority that we can stand firm in our faith. We can stand firm in knowing who we are. We can catapult that identity into our destiny and purpose with confidence. The more we allow God to work that soil, the more quickly and deeply that seed can drop in and produce a harvest of revelation and results.

Working the soil. That sounds like a great metaphor and parable, but what does that look like practically? First it means that we have to spend time with our Father. We have to spend time in the Word, in hearing what the Holy Spirit breathed out in the scriptures revealing Jesus to us. As we take that in, He begins to breathe into us the seeds that begin to grow and flourish. Time just sitting with the Father. Time is also seeds that are sown in prayer, in listening, in asking questions. Sometimes I get those answers in scripture. Sometimes I hear that answer. Sometimes I just look back and realize that He has been revealing it slowly to me over a few weeks in daily life.

It’s in that carefully protected time that God shows us where something has blocked the soil of our hearts from allowing the seed to grow. He showed me where the rocks of rejection were still in the soil of my heart. I meditated on who the Father said I was. His daughter. His heir. With delegated authority backed by heaven to fulfill the purposes He put me here for.

Compassion

He reminded me lately of a discussion we had in October of last year. Intercession. I don’t necessarily think of myself as an intercessor, but I prayed for His compassion. I had been praying for that for a while. What grew in me from those seeds was a desire to pray for the people around me more. This included the people of Uganda as well as those in my family and daily life. The desire to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

In my own life, I found that compassion is one thing that allows us to start removing the rocks of unforgiveness, bitterness, rejection, anger, and other things that control us. When I view myself and others through a lens of compassion, I begin to recognize that people are often acting out of their own wounds, fears, limitations, or misunderstandings. This doesn't excuse harmful behavior, but it can help us release the emotional burden of carrying resentment. Choosing compassion creates space for restoration and peace. Not just with others, but with the Father as well. Compassion doesn't change the past, but it can change how much power the past has over me.

Compassion is what drove Jesus to action. He touched them, healed the sick, made them whole, clean, fed them, comforted, and raised the dead. Luke 15 has the parable of the Father who sees His son who has been in prodigal living and is moved with compassion and runs to him.

My own prayer that as I continue to seek after the compassion of the Father, that I am moved as Jesus was moved, to act as Jesus acted, because He heard His Father’s heart, and He did what His Father desired. The Kingdom of God is at hand.

Partnership

Intercession is the partnership with the compassion of the Father’s heart for people. I was reading in Isaiah the last few weeks.

Isaiah 59:16-17 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede ; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.

Ezekiel 22:30-31 TPT - ““ I searched for someone who would repair the wall, one who fills the gap, an intercessor to cry out for mercy, but I found no one . There was no one found who would keep my justice from destroying the nation. So, I will pour out my fury on them, and like a fire I will destroy them. I will punish them for the evil they have done. I, Lord Yahweh, have spoken.””

The one thing that I find in these scriptures is the desire to partner with us on the earth. It’s the original mandate to have dominion and subdue. To spread the kingdom of God (Eden) throughout the earth. To use His armor and authority (Galatians 6, Ephesians 2) and to partner with our Father in the work of diminishing the Kingdom of Darkness and it’s hold on the earth to establish the Kingdom of God. (Psalms 82, Psalm 83, Psalm 85)

This is what I, we are armoring ourselves with as we prepare for Uganda. By working on these her at home, we are grounded and able to be effective as we hit the soil in Uganda. To be armed with His armor, and to remove the things the enemy can use against us so that we can be Jesus’s hands and feet as His body here on earth.

Updates

We, personally, are 70% funded at this moment for our portion of the trip. Any funds that come in after we are fully funded will move over into the trip fund to allow us to provide Bibles, wells, farm animals, and meet other needs of those that we are ministering to.

Upcoming Fundraisers include a bake sale and participating in the Yard Crawl in Winchester, VA in August. October is not that far away, and we continue to be excited for what God is preparing both here and in Uganda for us.

Heart Work, Heartstrings, and Hustle

Sat, 23 May 2026 21:14:48 GMT

Preparation is more than raising funds

June will begin our gathering together to bond as a group, fast and pray, and begin to tackle some heart issues that will help shape how we approach and minister in Uganda this October. 4 months away from now we will be stepping into a time of ministry that can be very intense, but also very joyful. Ugandans are very joyful, but their daily struggles reflect an oppressive spirit that we typically don’t think about here. Though we encounter the same type of oppressive spirit, it’s easier to recognize in a country that embraces the spirit realm as a part of life.

Chains of oppression can hold us hostage in many ways and then use those chains to yank us around, tie us down, or just beat us up with them. The goal, first, is to remove the chains from our lives so that we can live more fully in the freedom Christ provided for us. The secondary benefit to removing the chains before we go so that we are not providing the enemy with anything it can use to interfere with or stop our ministry there. Ephesians 4:27 “and do not give the devil a foothold.” Another translation says not to give the enemy an opportunity to manipulate you.

Heart Work

What chains us down? The first thing the Lord highlighted to me was unforgiveness. It’s personal to what I’m working on in my life, but he also highlighted it as something that we all deal with. Unforgiveness is a door. While trauma is a door that will rip into our soul and hold the wound open for other things that will enslave us to enter in, unforgiveness is a door that we deliberately hold open ourselves to allow things like strife, bitterness, unrighteous anger, resentment, or hatred to enter in. Just to name a few of its “friends.”

We’ve all seen the damaging effects that any one of those issues can cause in our lives. First, those issues focus us inward on ourselves making sure to place ourselves on the throne of our lives as ruler. Our needs and desires must be met first. Our rights must be respected preeminently. While there is a myriad of theological reasons that we do not want to be placing ourselves on the throne, self-centeredness also undermines the purpose of going to Uganda to serve the people there and minister to them. If we are following Christ’s example, He emptied Himself of what was due Him (honor, worship, devotion, divine rulership). Jesus came in the flesh to serve His fellow man, bringing healing to those around Him in spirit, soul, and body. He came and lived to set the example for us.

Unforgiveness brings bitterness and resentment into our heart. We might feel entitled to harbor the resentment and bitterness in unforgiveness, but that unforgiveness (and the things that come with it) do not hurt the one who wronged us. It only hurts us. When we hang onto those things, we are poisoning our very soul with the offense, replaying it, and allowing it to seep deeply into our hardening hearts. We allow it to become a part of us, changing us in a negative way, planting seeds that root in as bitterness; producing a fruit that does not taste very good to those around us and is not a source of life. Ultimately, unforgiveness is the refusal to close the door on an offense and allowing the additional intruders to enter into our lives. These intruders, the Bible tells us in Matthew 18:34, are torturers that hold us in a prison. Matthew 6:12-13 tells us that forgiveness delivers us from the evil one.

So, Forgiveness opens the door to the prison we are in, is the key that unlocks the chains, and the seeds that produce life and freedom. Why do we need that and how do we plant that in our lives? The how is a decision that we make. We often elevate our feelings to a point that it becomes the reason for our decisions. Forgiveness is not a feeling and if we are waiting for that feeling to come to forgive…. It will never happen.

Why do we forgive? First and foremost, we forgive because we are forgiven. Not a single one of us can say that we have lived life never having hurt someone else, done something wrong, or made bad decisions that have created problems, issues, and offenses. Most of all, we have deeply hurt, offended, and wronged the very One who created us, loves us, and provides for us. Yet He still planned before the foundation of the world, came in the flesh, forgave us, and paid the debt that we never could. He lived in the flesh to give us an example to follow. Luke 23:24 TPT reads, “While they were nailing Jesus to the cross, he prayed over and over, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” The soldiers, after they crucified him, gambled over his clothing.” In the worst moments of His life, He forgave. I’m pretty sure His flesh did not feel like it. But He refused to give the devil any place in His life and perfectly lived out forgiveness. When you know that forgiveness, that weight of condemnation and judgment being lifted off your life (Luke 6:47), there should be a compelling desire to share that with others who experience the same weight.

Compassion is another word that comes to mind. The compassion of Christ that compelled Him to forgive, to heal, and to impart life into every person He touched is something that I desire to pursue. That was something that I came away from our last Uganda trip with. The desire to have the compassion of Christ. The Father’s heart for people and to impart that love and life in whatever form He led. Forgiveness is that ultimate compassionate trait that Christ gave and expects me to give. Just a note that forgiveness is not forgetting. Sometimes boundaries do need to be set for protection.

Forgiveness is giving up our right to demand payment for a debt someone owes us whether it is emotional, relational, or spiritual. Father God gave up His right to demand payment for the treason that mankind has been functioning in since the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and instead forgave. In fact, He paid that debt Himself. That’s grace. Mercy was forgiving us, grace was going the extra step and paying that debt owed Himself. Now He says to us, forgive because you have been forgiven.

Heart Strings

One thing that struck me earlier this year in on of Pastor Bobby’s sermons was about authentic relationships. Prayer brings the authentic into the relationship because you are bringing God into the relationship. I have found this to be true. In prayer with others, you are focusing on the One who brings life into relationships. Where there is life, things bloom, restoration occurs, and the Love of God flows in and through us.

As we begin to meet and pray together for this trip, we will begin to forge our hearts together in a way that will allow us to minister in unity, in greater strength, and exemplify the ecclesia in a bolder way. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Hustle

Now for the aspects of this trip that are the physical requirements. 4 months away and we still have funds to raise. Not only do we have travel funds to raise, but any additional funds will be used to assist the organizations and people on the ground in Uganda with the essential needs to promote life. Whether it’s chickens, sewing machines, Bibles, or a well for a community, these things take funds. Currently, we are just beginning and have only met about 5% of our current goal.

We have the passports and vaccines from our last trip, but we’ll still need to acquire the visas soon for travel. Each person on the trip will be able to take up to three suitcases with them. So, we’ll be looking for additional suitcases to take filled and then leave behind.

The next 4 months will pass very quickly and we are looking forward to this next journey.

Heading Back to Uganda

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:56:27 GMT

Heading back in October 2026

In October this year, the Staricks will be heading back to Uganda. When we came back last year, we knew that we wanted to invest more into that country and region. We wanted to build on what we had learned, experienced, and the relationships we had established. This group will have some original team members and some new faces. We look forward to the bond that will come during our preparation and in our time overseas.

We, the team from Crossroads Community Church, will be partnering again with Misty Fields, president of In the Garden Missions . They have been operating in Uganda since 2011 and have made a significant difference in the lives of children, adults, families, and villages. Through various ministries such as sharing the gospel, teaching in schools, delivering livestock to people, digging fresh water wells, supplying clothing, and other necessary things the local communities are being blessed.

In 2025 we were able to participate in the inaugural service of a Dove Church in Rwentobo, God's Garden of Grace Community Church. This local church is centered in the compound and home of In the Garden Missions' president Misty Fields. We will have the opportunity to be back in that church and spend some time of mentorship, teaching, and relationship building. The relationship part is vital to any ministry, and we look forward to being able to reconnect in person.

We will have the opportunity to revisit some schools, men's and women's fellowships, ministries, and churches that we have visited before, and also be introduced to new areas.

Some of the current plan includes:

1) Speaking at both men and women’s fellowships in different villages around the country and praying for both healing and deliverance.

2) Preaching at local churches, schools, and in villages.

3) Performing children’s programs at schools which could include songs, dancing, stories, skits and games.

4) Presenting newly sewn uniforms (made by members of Crossroads) to children at a school orphanage followed by classroom visits.

Although we plan for these activities, we will naturally serve in whatever capacity aides the overall mission success.

If additional funding is procured the following projects will also happen:

1) Distributing Bibles to people written in their own language who are currently on a waiting list.

2) Provide a gift of livestock (chickens, goats, pig, cow) that will change a family's social and economic status.

3) Donating children’s clothing and sport equipment to schools.

4) Training local leaders in business education, leadership principles, and money management to help improve their own households and communities.

5) Dig a fresh water borehole and at the same time do evangelism at the surround villages, medical camps, or livestock areas.

We are looking forward to going back to continue to build relationships with the team that is there on the ground and the community they serve. Obviously, this takes a team effort in funding and prayer. We could not do it without either. knowing that we have a team here as well that is praying for us is just as important as the team that supports us financially. We look forward to the opportunity to share with you as we prepare for this trip and once we return.

Blessings to you!

https://crossroadswinchester.churchcenter.com/giving/to/scott-and-tommi-leigh-starick-missions-uganda-trip-2026

Note: All donations through Crossroads Community Church are tax deductible.