Asheville-based Crossfire Ministries celebrating 30 years of ministry

A devout Christian, Asheville's Randy Shepherd has always relied on his faith in God when making life choices, and in 1990, he prayed about starting a new venture — his own basketball camp.

"I said, 'Lord, if one boy comes to the camp and learns basketball and also gives his life to the Lord Jesus Christ, it will be a success,'" Shepherd said.

He started up the Randy Shepherd Basketball Camp that summer and set a goal of having 100 boys in the camp. By the camp registration deadline, Shepherd said 175 boys, ages 6-18, had signed up.

"Glory to God, there were 100 boys that made a first-time decision to repent of sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ in the first camp," he said.

Little did Shepherd know that this was just the beginning of what would become a worldwide organization. Two years following that first camp, he and his good friend Jamie Johnson got together and came up with the idea of an even bigger project. They called it Crossfire Ministries.

"We prayed about the name and the Lord gave us the name Crossfire, because the cross is our salvation... Jesus died on the cross. And fire is the Holy Spirt, and fire is also a basketball term... firing the nets," Shepherd said.

Shepherd and Johnson have been running Crossfire Ministries now for 30 years and are currently in South Dakota, sharing the gospel through the sport of basketball. Since its beginning, Crossfire has spread the gospel in 68 countries and 47 states, Shepherd said. The only states it hasn't been to yet are Montana, Vermont and North Dakota.

He does Facebook posts from the trips and at the end of every post, he says, "Pray for seeds planted." That one seed planted 30 years ago has produced quite a bounty.

The humble beginnings

Shepherd was a basketball player at Asheville High School and he played against Johnson, who was at Enka, many times. Although rivals on the court, the two were instant friends.

After high school, they continued playing against each other in college, Shepherd said.

"He played at Montreat and Gardner-Webb University and I was at UNC Asheville. We had known each other for many years and played a lot of pick-up ball together," he said.

In 1988 after graduating from UNC Asheville, Shepherd was offered a position with the Spirit Express, which is an international basketball team in Memphis, Tennessee. It was faith ministry raising support through individuals, businesses and churches, just like Crossfire ended up being.

"We would play major university teams such as Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Colorado, Colorado State, Wyoming, Missouri and smaller schools such as UNC Asheville, Appalachian State, East Tennessee and Furman and many others in an exhibition basketball game prior to their seasons starting. We would share the gospel at halftime to the audience in front of thousands," Shepherd said.

After doing this for three years, his good buddy ended up joining him.

"I saw how the Lord was using the ministry and became a part of it for one year," Johnson said. "We felt led of the Lord to leave Spirit Express in November 1992 and return to Asheville to start Crossfire Ministries."

This was at the time Shepherd had his summer camp, which started in 1990, in full swing. After the first year of the camp, he said he got several phone calls from moms asking if he would include girls in the camps.

"We prayed about it and we added girls to the camp the next summer. There were 240 boys and 60 girls at the camps the next summer. Glory to God since then we have seen over 23,000 young people, boys and girls ages 6-18, attend the camps, with thousands giving their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. To God we give the glory," Johnson said.

After Johnson came on board in 1992, the duo decided to change the name of the camps to Crossfire at the beginning of 1993.

From local to worldwide

As its popularity grew, Shepherd and Johnson decided to expand Crossfire to other states in the Southeast. It continued to grow and they ended up going to states all across the nation.

Eventually the ministry was invited to other countries and camps and clinics were conducted in some of them, Shepherd said.

"We have ministered at five summer Olympic games – Atlanta, Georgia; Sydney, Australia; Athens, Greece; London, England and Rio, Brazil. We have spoken and ministered in Israel/Palestine Holy Land 23 times — in Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem in schools, churches and teams because of the platform of basketball which opens the door to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have ministered in the Philippines 15 times, speaking in schools, churches, conducting basketball clinics and playing basketball exhibition games. We have also ministered in Africa four times in Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Nairobi," Shepherd said.

He said Crossfire hopes to resume taking trips back to the Philippines, Israel, Brazil, Africa and "wherever else the Lord opens the doors in the near future." This week, he and Johnson are out in the western part of the US.

"We are in South Dakota conducting basketball camps for the Billy Graham Association on the Lakota Reservation and are looking forward to our local basketball camps when we return to Western North Carolina," Shepherd said.

Cherished memories

In their 30 years with Crossfire, Shepherd and Johnson have had special moments that they'll always cherish, including holding camps in the Holy Land and witnessing to countless celebrities — even the president.

"For me whether it’s sharing the gospel with President Barack Obama 10 years ago in Asheville, or with Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, or an inner-city young person, it is just a great privilege," Shepherd said. "Whether it is a world-renowned superstar or a young boy or girl (red, yellow, black or white), it’s not God’s will that any should perish but that all should come to know him as their personal Lord and Savior and repent of sin."

Johnson said every trip has its own uniqueness which makes all of the international trips rewarding.

"I have enjoyed every trip to Israel, because it is where God’s word and the life of Christ occurred, therefore it’s tops for what it delivers on a spiritual level. However all trips are filled with many opportunities to share Christ, which makes them all special."

He said going to countries with a higher poverty rate is "most humbling to experience," and that he always comes home grateful for the many blessings US citizens are afforded.

Johnson said one trip to the far East does stick out in his mind.

"I will mention one trip in particular that personally impacted me back in 1998 when Randy and I went to Korea. There was a pastor who had a small congregation of less than 10 and the whole time we were there he served us so selflessly," he said. "He went door to door letting families know we were going to do a basketball clinic, plus shared the gospel with each family. Seeing how he served all week moved my heart and demonstrated to me what serving is all about."

2022: Year No. 30

For this year alone, Crossfire has spread the gospel in 15 states in churches, schools, colleges and universities, student rallies, FCA huddles, prisons, rescue missions and in the streets.

"There have been over 2,100 public professions of faith in Jesus Christ and over 590 recommitments this year," Shepherd said. "We look forward to more opportunities to preach and minister in churches, schools, teams and starting back traveling internationally soon."

And basketball isn't the only sport Crossfire uses in its ministry. The group has around 30 softball players in WNC and the team travels to different states and countries as part of its ministry.

While Shepherd and Johnson love traveling all around the world, they really enjoy getting back to their roots in Western North Carolina. They will be returning soon to crank up the Crossfire Camps locally, and the first stop will be in Hendersonville.

The list of camps are as follows:

HALF-DAY CAMPS

► June 27-July 1 (1-4 p.m.): Hendersonville First Baptist Church, for boys and girls ages 6-12. Cost is $100 per camper.

► July 11-15 (1-4 p.m.): Asheville Christian Academy, for boys and girls ages 6-14. Cost is $100 per camper.

FULL-DAY CAMP

► July 18-21 (8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.): Mars Hill University, for boys and girls ages 9-18. Cost is $250 per camper.

OVERNIGHT CAMP

► July 17-21 (Sunday check-in at 3-4:30 p.m.): Mars Hill University, for boys and girls ages 9-18. Cost is $375 per camper.

For more information on Crossfire, go to https://crossfireministry.com/ or call the Asheville office at 828-255-9111.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Asheville-based Crossfire Ministries celebrating 30 years of ministry