Bio for the

Crosby
Family,

Claud…

Life forever changed for me when I was 18 years old, as I spent a summer serving Jesus in

Philadelphia
. While sitting on the stoop of an abandoned building, I talked with a dear man stuck in the bonds of crack and heroin addiction, as the hot air of Philly’s summer engulfed us, I realized there is so much more to life than I had thought. From that moment forward I knew I was to spend my life on others, seeking at all costs to lead them into deep relationship with God.

However, having grown up and attended a small private school in

Richmond
,

Va.
, There was no place in my life and the lives of those around me for the calling I was experiencing. Consequently, by default I attended universities from some years trying to fulfill the call the world had on my life. But after those few years of pursuing different art degrees, I still found a “holy dissatisfaction” with the direction in my life.

So, in the fall of 2001 I returned to

Philadelphia
to live with a mentor of mine and begin working among the addicts on the streets and in rehab houses. I joined the pioneer year of AIM’s “First Year Missionary Program”, along with 2 others, and we began to encounter what life could look like fully devoted to Christ. Following the year I came on staff with AIM, and remained in Philly for two more years working to set men and women free from the bondage of heroin, crack, and alcohol addictions. While in Philly I witnessed amazing moves of God, and came to see many freed from their addictions and begin new lives.

During the third and final year in

Philadelphia
, the Lord began to expose me to the world at large, and a deep love for people of many other nations began to emerge in me. Consequently, I began praying intensively for a number of places around the world, most prominently

China
and other nations where the Christians are persecuted. Shortly, after a number of months praying for

China
, the Lord allowed Mary and me, along with another co-worker to take a 2 weeks trip there to scout out the land.

From that short trip I quickly fell in love with the nation, culture, and its people, and new it was not the last time I would be there.

Mary…

Mary grew up in the

Deep South
, in

Baton Rouge

Louisiana
, a twin and daughter of mission minded parents. Having grown up in a strong Christian family she had a phenomenal foundation for a future walk with God. However, the challenges of growing up deaf were many for her as a young teenager, and depression and loneliness began to set in. In her early teen years, Mary knew the truth about who God was, but also believed the lie that because she was deaf she would not be able to hear the voice of God.

However, at 15 years old Mary miraculously encountered Jesus, as he came to her in a vision and told her “he wanted to be her friend.” Instantly, the depression lifted and Mary found what it was to “know” God. From that moment onwards her heart became alive to the things of the Lord, and she immediately began seeking out ways to serve him, and her deafness that previously seemed a hindrance became a sweet blessing to her. The following summer she joined her youth group at church for a trip to

Mexico
with AIM. While in Mexico God spoke powerfully how he would one day send Mary to

Philadelphia
for ministry among the poor, and that she would serve in many other places world wide. Following that trip, Mary later served in

Brazil
,

Panama
,

West Virginia
, and again in

Mexico
.

Years later in 2001 Mary also moved up to

Philadelphia
to work among the poor and addicted on the streets. She served at both a health clinic for the Latino population in Philly, and a local soup kitchen serving meals and praying for the homeless who came in for food and clothes.

Claud & Mary…

We met while serving together in

Philadelphia
in 2001, and the Lord began to speak powerfully to us and many dear friends of his plans for our marriage. Soon after that, Mary and I had the opportunity to lead a number of AIM trips together to places including: Philly,

England
,

Ireland
, and the

Dominican Republic
. While I, (Claud), continued to serve full time in Philly, Mary soon returned home to a day care job in

Baton Rouge
for some time. We were later married in

Virginia
on

April 10^th, 2004
.

Later that year, I accepted a teaching position at a private University in a large city in

China
. So, in fall of 2004 we moved to

China
for 10 months. Once in

China

we taught English and served at an orphanage, while learning the language, as well as learning Chinese sign language. During our time in

China
, we enjoyed exciting work among college students, the vast deaf community, and the large concentration of Muslims in our city.

My introduction to

Swaziland
came back in February of 2004, as I joined a team of leaders from a number of nations world wide for a pilot trip into

Swaziland
schools, testing out a curriculum to promote abstinence among high schools students. Statistics are one thing, but coming face to face with many of the looming social problems, and the worst pandemic in the world was heart wrenching. Mary and I later returned to

Swaziland
for two weeks in January of 2005, during the Chinese New Year, to visit our co-workers, who were making deep contacts and establishing an AIM base there. While on that trip the Lord spoke powerfully that we were to return to

Swaziland
following our year in

China
, and were to begin working among the orphans in the rural areas.

So, in June of 2005, we took a team of 14 to work in the rural areas for two months and began our work here in

Swaziland
. We have been living here ever since and continue to work in the rural areas, within a community of 10,000. Our consuming passion is to be a part of God’s work here, and to see him raise a remnant of the orphans here as an army for the gospel, to go out among the persecuted nations of

Africa
, the

Middle East
, and the world.

Nondumiso…

Our daughter’s full name is “Lihlobo Nondumiso”, which means “Summer Praise”. In June of 2004 our team began to visit the government hospital here in the capital city of

Mbabane
, which is where we met Nondumiso. We found out that Nondumiso had been found in the forest, only a day old and still having her umbilical attached. The Doctors said she was most likely born the day before the police found her and that it is a miracle that she even survived. While taking care of Nondumiso and another abandoned baby sharing her crib, God began to stir in both Mary and I that it was time to look into adoption. Subsequently, through a series of miraculous events we were able to take Nondumiso home with us later in July. Her name comes from a mentor of mine who was deep in prayer for us regarding the whole situation with her, and God gave him the words “Summer Praise”, as she was indeed the praise of our summer. Most incredibly, as we prayed and sought the Lord’s direction about adoption, God spoke the following words to Mary from the book of Ezekiel 16:4-6…

“As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born. And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your blood, I said to you in your blood ‘Live!’, yes I said to you in your blood ‘Live!’.”

For us, this scripture was and is one of many powerful confirmations of the Lord’s marvelous plans for this little one we were to take as our own!