Our mission is to provide purposeful discipleship to Christ's prisoners and their families continuing through release, transition, and restoration to the community.

Our strategy for community restoration is to encourage members of the church to establish an orderly, humane community infrastructure.

Faith in Christ provides our impetus. We are directed by the two Great Commandments from the Lord and the Great Commission.

PRINCIPLE 1 Each person is created in God's image with inherent worth and diverse talents, and each of us is bound together in various social relationships and responsibilities.

PRINCIPLE 2 We each bear a responsibility to do justice and love our neighbors: a responsibility that comes from God.

PRINCIPLE 3 Government can do some things, but it cannot reach deep into the human character. Only God changes the heart. Our worst social pathologies (e.g., illegitimacy, crime, poverty) can be solved if people experience spiritual transformation; if the hearts of parents are turned toward their children; if respect is restored for human life and property; if a commitment is renewed to care about our neighbor and our community.

PRINCIPLE 4 Our country is blessed by a rich diversity of people and institutions – families, houses of worship, private and religious charities, schools, voluntary associations, local grassroots organizations—able to champion virtuous ideals and restore hope. We believe that the highest acts of man are acts woven together through compassion and responsibility.

PRINCIPLE 5 Every single one of our country’s social problems, no mater how severe, is today being addressed somewhere and somehow by some faith-based or community group. This is a great-untold story.

PRINCIPLE 6 We encourage government to “fruitful cooperation” with mediating institutions that are meeting the needs of Americans in crisis. Government policy must bolster, not weaken or displace, people and organizations that are carrying out their vital responsibilities and getting things done.

PRINCIPLE 7 The urgent public mission of enhancing America’s civil society through the gospel requires a fresh definition of compassion and responsibility, one that focuses on the consoling hand and word of someone who “suffers with” and who invests himself or herself into the lives others.

PRINCIPLE 8 We view the First Amendment as a vital protection against unreasonable government interference. Government should not exclude religious expressions or concerns from the public square, nor grant privilege to secular programs or solutions. Government’s treatment of faith-based organizations should be one of benevolent and positive neutrality. Crossways’ mission is not to promote Government reform, but rather to promote the transformation of people won to Christ and discipled with the purpose of encouraging personal responsibility, compassion for others, a strong work ethic, and obedience to God.

PRINCIPLE 9 State and federal law, rules, and regulations should not discriminate against Americans eligible to benefit from government financial assistance for human services (e.g., job training, health care, shelter, child care, education, counseling, drug and alcohol rehabilitation) simply because they choose to receive those services from faith-based groups. Such groups, on an equal footing with non-religious groups, should be permitted to serve beneficiaries of government-funded services—and without having to “secularize” their distinct religious character of self-governance.

PRINCIPLE 10 We see no conflict with, or threat to “promot[ing] the general welfare” when government cooperates or contracts with faith-based social service organizations on the same basis as it does with non-religious organizations in seeking to fulfill this purpose.

Founded in 1994, Crossways is a Christian humanitarian organization, serving prisoners and their families. Crossways goal is to help transform the lives of convicted felons, their children and their families throughout the criminal justice system. Crossways employs an In-depth Manual for Biblical Discipleship in eleven of the prisons in Washington State. We offer this to anyone without regard to religious beliefs, gender, race, or ethnic background.

Our vision is to carry this purposeful discipleship throughout Washington State and across the nation. Through Bible Study, Prayer Sessions and programs like the Self Confrontation Discipleship Program, Crossways develops relationships and prepares sincere candidates for community transition assistance. Crossways transition assistance includes connection to affordable housing, employment assistance, financial planning, and providing connections for personal growth and worship.

Crossways servants and Life Coaches help demonstrate God's love and hope and share His blessings by helping transform the lives of men and women in their walk to freedom. Our vision is that every committed prisoner will be met at the gate by a restorative team that has grown in relationship through discipleship and that team helps each former prisoner validate his faith through a season of successful transition and reintegration to community. Faith fuels our work and supplies our staff with wisdom and ability. Faith governs the stewardship of our donors with the resources they share, and and faith enables our recipients to work toward the fulfillment of their dreams.

The third element in our vision is to be creating Responsible Living Environments within each community for sincere transition candidates to utilize while seeking employment and restoration to community. Every person who wants to put together a new life of freedom needs a place to live, a place to work, and a place to worship during at least a year of transition. The Restorative Home is designed to be a self-supporting environment where former offenders are given assistance through a season of transition to help them to validate their faith and begin new lives.