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Sacred mission: Project Crossroads honors service of Howe, Becker (copy)
The Rev. Harry Howe shares his gratitude with volunteers and supporters who have helped Project Crossroads.
Many Project Crossroads supporters gathered for a dedication of the sign declaring the ministry's headquarters to be the Howe-Becker Mission Center.
Project Crossroads Executive Director Kirk Lowe spoke to the gathering. He was accompanied by, from right, the Rev. Harry Howe, Bill Becker, the Rev. Natalie Justice, and Howe's granddaughter Laurel.
Dean Little of Beaver Ridge United Methodist Church talked about what Project Crossroads means to their church.
Over the course of decades two men put their faith, hands, feet, and backs into providing warm and safe houses for the people of multiple Southwest Virginia counties. For some people that meant a new roof or a ramp for a wheelchair. Sometimes that meant giving them firewood.
For one of the men, along the way, he also heeded the call to respond to disasters and help serve a holiday meal.
Last month, a sign was dedicated to honor the Rev. Harry Howe and memorialize the service of the late Tom Becker. At the Marion headquarters of Project Crossroads, the new sign declares it to be the Howe-Becker Mission Center.
Dedicating the sign, the Rev. Natalie Justice, a Project Crossroads board officer, said it is a “visible witness to a sacred mission.”
She asked God that it remind all who see it of all the lives changed through the fruitful work of the mission, a ministry where the “presence of Christ meets human need.”
Kirk Lowe, Project Crossroads’ executive director, said the event, which featured an open house, was not just a sign dedication but building a space as the ministry grows.
Of the two lives celebrated, the one most familiar to area residents is Howe, a longtime Methodist pastor who came to Smyth County decades ago to serve a Methodist charge. According to Lowe, the minister stayed there until their ministries outgrew their wall.
Howe, he said, “Left an indelible mark on this community,” region, and world.
Lowe encouraged Howe to look around at the crowd and know he touched each person. “We love you.”
Howe founded Project Crossroads as a full-time ecumenical mission in 1993 after several years as a part-time extension ministry. Project Crossroads formerly serves Smyth, Washington, and Wythe counties, but has at times extended into other communities.
Howe retired as the ministry’s founding executive director in 2024.
He thanked many of the missionaries who’d served at Project Crossroads and returned for the ceremony. He could call many by name.
Howe celebrated Lowe, who began serving with Project Crossroads as a youth, then became a youth group chaperone, and eventually gave up an engineering career to serve the ministry. Howe said, “This is not a job. This is a calling.”
Howe also celebrated the news that the ministry is growing. In 2027, he said, the organization is bringing a full-time Home Rehab & Accessibility Coordinator on board.
“The ministry grows,” declared Howe.
Howe continues to serve the region as a physician assistant at the Mel Leaman Free Clinic based in Marion. He’s also enjoying grandchildren. His soon-to-be 6-year-old granddaughter Laurel accompanied him to the ceremony. Growing into another companion is 6½-month-old Ellie.
The late Tom Becker served as a member of Beaver Ridge United Methodist Church for 40 years.
Beaver Ridge UMC started undertaking missions with Project Crossroads 30 years ago. Becker was an organizer of many of those teams, “serving here and around the world.”
Dean Little of Beaver Ridge told the gathering, “This is our favorite charity.”
Of Becker, Little said he lived his faith by serving others. As a longtime Scout Master, he helped 40 young men attain Scouting’s highest rank of Eagle Scout.
Of the day, Becker’s son Bill said, “It’s his legacy.”
Bill said his father loved coming to volunteer with Project Crossroads, helping people. Bill said his dad was frequently doing things to help people without anyone knowing.
Today, the Tom Becker Foundation provides annual support to Project Crossroads.
When the formal ceremony ended, people continued to tell stories.
Lowe reflected on Howe’s faith that even extended to loading trailers down and believing they’d get where they needed to go. Howe recalled a trip to Speedwell that made everyone smile.
Little recalled working on the former Mount Pleasant Church in Marion that today houses the Mt. Pleasant preservation society and museum.
The belltower was about to collapse, Little remembered. As they worked, the bell rang. A police officer stopped by and told them that as he heard the church bells ring, a tingle went down his spine.
Then, Little said, he knew “it needed to be saved”.
Missions Still To Do
As they looked around, Lowe and Teri McCall, Project Crossroads’ administrative assistant, see the need for the Christian ministry to continue to serve and grow.
The ministry focuses on providing safe, warm, and accessible housing to low-income and elderly homeowners, and homeowners caring for disabled family members. It provides home rehabilitation services, firewood, regifted used furniture and appliances, and other acts of Christian witness.
Volunteers come from throughout Virginia and other states. Many of those teams stay at Project Crossroads’ headquarters at 136 Snider Branch Road. The building, which includes bedrooms to accommodate 16 to 18 people and a kitchen, is the former Mount Rogers Shelter Home and was gifted to the ministry in 2010.
Behind the house are multiple shelters for firewood, several of which aren’t full and some are empty. McCall said a great deal of firewood needs to be added before cold weather arrives.
Last year saw a sharp increase in firewood need with 124 pickup loads going to 56 different families.
Project Crossroads also serves as a depot and coordinator for Holston Conference United Methodist Committee on Relief’s supplies and helps distribute them across the region when needed. Following Hurricane Helene, Lowe said relief was also taken to Erwin, Tennessee, as well as other localities.
Project Crossroads also coordinates the annual Warren Family Community Thanksgiving Meal held in Marion each year. Last year, Lowe said that 350 meals were provided, which was up by about 100 meals.
McCall said the ministry values the teams who volunteer as well as individuals and company initiatives like that of Burwell Material Handing in Chilhowie, which gave its employees a day off to volunteer.
Next year’s staff addition will be a huge boost to the ministry, McCall said, allowing multiple groups to serve at a time.
The Project is also working on a house on Walker’s Creek that was gifted to the ministry. McCall said it was a bank foreclosure that was presented to Project Crossroads in 2019.
Lowe said it’s been gutted, but they’re pushing for volunteers to help have it livable by the spring of 2027.
McCall knows firsthand how the mission experience changes people. Her daughters served as volunteers with projects in their teens. From the work they did to meeting the people who lived in the homes, she said, the experience was transformative. However, she reflected that one of the most important lessons is “that people in need are our neighbors, people we see often.”
Learn more about how to volunteer and support Project Crossroads at www.projectcrossroads.org.
Police seize cash, substances in Wytheville, Bristol
The Virginia State Police conducted a multi-jurisdictional interdiction operation on Thursday in Wytheville and Bristol, resulting in the seizure of multiple controlled substances, a firearm, and nearly $395,000 in cash.
On July 30, the VSP Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) Special Investigations and Programs Division, Mass Transit Unit, BCI Wytheville Field Office, BCI Claytor Lake Task Force, BCI Holston River Valley Task Force, and the United States Postal Inspection Service executed four search warrants at two marijuana retail stores (Best Buds of Bristol and Best Buds of Wytheville), and at the private residence of the business owner, Brandon Garden, 33, of Bristol.
The operation resulted in the seizure of:
• 17,083 grams of marijuana valued at $204,996
• 1,173 THC vapes valued at $35,190
• 1,163 grams of THC edibles valued at $13,956
• 1 gram of cocaine valued at $89
• 80 bottles of THC syrup valued at $11,100
• 63 grams of psilocybin valued at $2,457
• 23 doses of LSD valued at $230
• 4,136 grams of THC butter/dub valued at $202,664
• One Glock pistol
• $394,926.06 in U.S. currency
Garden was taken into custody the same day and charged with distribution of marijuana over five pounds, two counts of possession of a Schedule I controlled substance, and possession of a firearm while in possession of a Schedule I controlled substance.
Justin Dean (center), star of MJDejaVu, poses with Bella Cooley and Scarlett Spencer (right) after a June 27 performance at Wytheville's Chautauqua Festival.
Justin Dean (center), star of MJDejaVu, poses with Bella Cooley and Scarlett Spencer (right) after a June 27 performance at Wytheville's Chautauqua Festival.
