Today I get the pleasure of highlighting one of CrossCity’s amazing volunteers, as well as my new found friend! Deb Huerta has been attending CrossCity since 2006. She grew up as a weekly church-goer. Deb stated “My mom forced me to go with her every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from birth to when I turned about 15. It was a small church in a tiny town called Huron. At 15 I moved to Fresno and attended Northside/CrossCity. I was baptized at CrossCity in 2009. I’ve always known the Lord, loved and believed in Him. I struggled with surrender. I’ve known Him my whole life, but I didn’t GIVE Him my life until about 2 years ago. From an early age I understood that God was always with me; because of this, I took our relationship for granted. In 2022 I stopped feeling His presence. I’ve gone through silent seasons with Him before but this was different, it felt different. The silence made me desperate for Him. I prayed and read my Bible like never before, but nothing changed until I took a trip. There were pamphlets at church promoting a trip and in big bold letters I saw the words ‘HAVE YOU BEEN FEELING DISTANT FROM GOD? JOIN US ON A TRIP TO JERUSALEM!’. I signed up that day. The trip changed me, it lit a fire in me. Jesus was felt everywhere, I cried (happy tears) everyday on that trip. Now Jesus is my everything and I happily surrender my life to Him.”
After this encounter with God, and the new fire that was lit in her, Deb started asking God to use her. She took a deep dive into serving; something that was not a habit for her growing up. She signed up to be a greeter at church on Sunday mornings, and started attending Local Outreaches when she was able. Just recently she attended a CrossCity mission trip to Kenya, and many of you saw her video this past weekend at church. In reflection of the last few years, she shared how “God placed missions on my heart a long time ago and I had been telling him no. Then God said you’re not putting yourself in places where I can use you.”
In February, the CrossCity Missions Department hosted a “Local Outreach Weekend”, where all our local partners, composed of different ministries and non-profits, came together in hopes to bring awareness to the CrossCity congregation of how many opportunities there were to love God’s people right here in our city! During this event, Deb stumbled upon the Pregnancy Care Center booth. Pregnancy Care Center serves women in need by providing free pregnancy medical support, education on pregnancy, relationships, sexual integrity and sharing the gospel. Deb signed up to start serving there, and fell in love. She stated “This role nudges me to lean on God more because I rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance with every person I encounter. There is a saying at PCC: “Every appointment is a divine appointment.” I had never thought of strangers being purposely placed in my life by God. Now I view every person as a “divine appointment” and rely on God’s guidance to move me where I can serve Him best.”
What started out as volunteering turned into a new job. After only going through her volunteer training, Deb received a job opportunity there working as the receptionist, as well as a Patient Advocate. Her favorite thing about this job is having the space to share the gospel with women in need, and that every work day starts with reading the Bible and praying. We are so proud that God is using Deb as a beacon of His goodness to women in need of His comfort and mercy! Her last piece of advice I’ll leave with you was this: “Serving others changes you in the best way possible. It takes the focus off ‘ME’ and refocuses on others. I believe loving others and serving others is what Jesus was all about. Joining missions and assisting those in need allows me to walk in His footsteps.”