What is ABIDE?

  • ABIDE is CrossPoint's youth ministry for Middle School on Tuesdays at 6:30 to 8:30pm, and High School on Sunday at 5:30 to 8:00 pm
  • ABIDE gatherings consist of hang-out time, group games, a lesson from the Bible, and small group discussions.
  • Students are split up based on age and gender and placed into small groups with our volunteer leaders.
  • All of our volunteers are background-checked and go through child safety training with sexual abuse prevention.
Our Mission: Connect middle and high school students the love of Jesus and each other

Why?

We believe every youth should hear the gospel of Jesus Christ that offers forgiveness of sins, eternal life, joy, and purpose. Middle and high school years are crucial for faith development, identity formation, and worldview shaping. We aim to support parents in guiding students toward a life built on faith in Jesus. Recognizing the influence of peers, we prioritize fostering meaningful friendships among students to positively shape their journey through these formative years.

What We Do

Weekly Middle School Youth Group
Middle schoolers gather every Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. These gatherings include hanging out, games, Bible teaching, and small group discussions to engage personally with the material. 
Middle School Hype Nights
Hype Nights happen on the second Tuesday of the month, and ABIDE starts early at 6:00 pm to give more time to participate in a fun event, such as Nerf War, Life-Size Board Games, or Color Wars. We especially encourage students to invite their friends to these nights!
Weekly High School Youth Group
High schoolers gather every Sunday from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. We provide dinner and then transition into our lesson from the Bible, small group discussions, and games. 
See more of what our last one was like here
Retreats
Our retreats offer students a chance to disconnect from the busyness of life and connect with God and friends through teaching sessions, small group discussions, and fun activities. We offer these 2x a year over a weekend.
Youth Mission Weeks
Over the summer, students are provided the opportunity to spend a week serving others and growing in their faith. Middle school students serve locally, while high school students travel out-of-state. 
1-on-1 Discipleship
This is a program for growing students who want to meet intentionally with a leader over a period of time to learn more about the faith and God’s call on their life. 

Middle School Leaders

Jason Packard
Jason was blessed with Christian parents and accepted Christ in middle school. Following a 31-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, Jason is now a student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary pursuing a Master of Arts in Theology.  In addition to serving as a deacon at CrossPoint, Jason is dedicated to investing in the lives of middle school students, the same age where he first accepted Christ.
Josh Lestina
Josh is a Support Technician for the IT Project at the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, where he services non-profit organizations in New Jersey. He graduated from Pensacola Christian College with a focus in Youth Ministry and has been serving as a volunteer youth worker since 2012. He deeply desires to share the good news of Jesus with every kid he interacts with.
Michelle Gillispie
Michelle is a wife and mother of four adult men and four granddaughters. In June 2023, she married John Gillispie and is now "doubly blessed" to be a full-time mother again to four more children between the ages of 3 and 14. She loves being a mom and a grandmother. She works full-time as an Operations Assistant for Neitz Electrical Contracting.
John Gillispie
John is a Reservist on full-time orders in the US Air Force. In June 2023, he married Michelle and now has a large, blended family. This family consists of four younger children between the ages of 3 and 14, four adult stepsons, three lovely daughters-in-law, and Papa G to three beautiful granddaughters.
Jodi Malloy
Jodi is dedicated to following Jesus and sharing the love of Jesus with the next generation. In addition to leading middle school girls with ABIDE, she teaches kids ages 2-3 on Sunday mornings at CrossPoint. She also makes the best cookies, which students occasionally get to be blessed by!
Lisa Dammann
Lisa has worked as a Veterinary Technician since graduating from college. She became a Christian at a young age but has grown in faith significantly over the last couple of years. She has been attending CrossPoint since 2023 and has worked with kids/youth ministries since before then!
Justin Bookholdt
Justin is an Electrician by trade with Neitz Electrical Contracting.  He grew up in Hamilton and was raised in the church. He came to faith when he was very young but has since started taking my faith more seriously in the past few years, which has driven him to invest in young men in the church so they don't, in his words, "make the same mistakes."
Allie Schujko
Allie is a proud older sister to three younger siblings who are a part of the ABIDE ministry.  She has ample experience serving kids of all ages and has worked at Mercer County Special Services since she graduated high school. She specializes in assisting high school students with physical and learning disabilities.
Christina Insdorf
Christina is married to Trevor and works as a PubSec Inside Account Executive at SHI Corp. She holds a degree in Psychology from Washington College and has been actively involved in serving at CrossPoint for the past few years. 

High School Leaders

Danielle Burlaga
Danielle is married to Ben, and they live in Bordentown City. Danielle is originally from Washington State and is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute. Danielle works with college students at Rutgers—Camden through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and loves spending time with students of all ages.
Renato Cobeña
Renato attended youth group for seven years and experienced firsthand the impact of strong mentorship and a faith-centered community. Now serving as a youth leader, he is passionate about investing in the lives of high school students. He has a degree in Architecture and Art History, which he uses alongside his passion for creativity to support the youth ministry through marketing, photography, and videography.
Belicia Cobeña
Belicia grew up in Canada and is a Canadian Filipino with a background in Special Care Counselling and Social Work. She is passionate about serving the community and volunteers in both the kids and youth ministries. She also finds great joy in singing with the worship team and has been married to Renato since 2021.
Mark Chery
Mark is a graduate of Stockton University, where he had the privilege of meeting his wife,  Ashley. He is very dedicated to serving and giving of his time towards high school students at CrossPoint. He recently worked as a truck driver instructor and additionally has driven all over the country for 2 months. Mark has grown up in the Hamilton/Trenton area.
Ashley Chery
Ashley has been married to Mark since 2020 and soon after began attending Fellowship CrossPoint. She graduated from Stockton University and now works as a speech-language pathologist in a public school. She uses her gifts and passion for investing in the next generation by serving in various ways with both ABIDE and the Kids Ministry at Fellowship CrossPoint.

Ben Burlaga

"My first time walking into a gospel-believing church was when I entered youth group as a seventh grader. My family had just decided to start going to church, and it quickly became a core part of my life as I made friends, learned about Jesus, and had tons of fun. In 9th grade, I came to saving faith in Christ through the youth ministry and was baptized the following summer. Youth group was vital to my faith as I learned about Christ in an age-appropriate study, and I made Christian friends who fanned the flame of my newfound faith. What I experienced is precisely what we seek to see happen in ABIDE. Our mission is to connect students to the love of Jesus and each other. I love working with students because my life was transformed by Jesus when I was a student and I believe the same can be true for every student."
Email: ben@fellowshipcrosspoint.org
Phone Number:  (609) 255-1204