| | Dear Ministry Family and Friends
Thank you for partnering with me in ministry. Your prayers and financial support mean so much to me. This is a God thing. As I ask God for provision for my vocation and family, I know God uses you to answer that prayer. I need your help. I recently lost 2 large monthly partners, which puts my funding at 54%. I am at risk of being unable to fund my salary or healthcare. Will you prayerfully consider increasing your monthly partnership, introducing me to others who want to partner in ministry, or beginning a partnership with me?
I am still looking for 5 partners at $200 a month, 15 partners at $100 a month and 10 partners at $50 a month to be 100% funded! |
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There is a Time for Everything, and a Season for Every Activity Under the Heavens
I am more of a summer girl. I love my toes in the sand and warm summer days with the bright sun's glow above me. So, this transition into fall tends to bring some sadness but is also filled with hope and excitement for another ministry season about to start! Looking back at my summer, I see that it was not just a summer season for me as far as the weather but also a summer season in my life. There were so many exciting moments where God grew me and challenged me.
I was invited to share my story in May at Christ The King Church, a Converge church that meets outdoors in Florida. I spoke at both their services and walked the congregation through my life to see how God had prepared me for what I am doing within Converge International Ministries. I was honored and thankful to have Pat join me on this trip. We both fell in love with the people within the church and their pastor. They are proof that a building doesn’t make you a church, but it’s the people and their hearts to serve others and their love for the Lord that does. If you have a few minutes, my talk begins at minute 19 in the video. The link is provided below. |
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| Another highlight for me was to dream and collaborate with Tania Martin, Director of Mobilization, and plan the historic, first-ever “Send” gathering, a pre-conference event before the national S2East Conference. A representative from all ten regions across the United States was invited to attend this meeting, where we shared wins from current Send Leaders, learned from one another, and strategized about how the role of the Send Leader can be contextualized for the churches in their area. To read more about this historic meeting and the potential of how it can help mobilize churches and encourage them to collaborate in what God is already doing globally, click the link below. |
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A Time to Laugh and a Time to Dance
For the past 14 summers, I have traveled to Buchanan, Georgia, a small town just south of Rome, where my aunt, uncle, and extended family live. This place has become Holy Ground for me. A place where I take the week and look back at how God has carried me through another year and how He prepares my heart for the year to come. It amazes me how He always gives me what I need while there and renews my soul. This year was no different.
In late June, I attended the Converge National Conference, S2East, in Indianapolis, Indiana, where I met and connected with many ministry leaders and pastors. Afterward, I headed straight to a four-day junior high retreat with my junior high girls in Bourbonnais, IL. Both were amazing events, and I got to see God work firsthand in the life of one of my girls and celebrate her as she asked Christ to be her Lord and Savior at the end of the retreat. I felt so blessed yet exhausted, so the time of rest in Georgia was greatly needed. By the end of the week, when most of my time was spent on a swing in solitude and prayer in Georgia, God began to prepare my heart for my return home. I kept hearing Him ask me, “Do you trust Me? How much do you trust Me? You will need to trust Me.” I knew then that “summer” was over, and I would be walking into a " fall " season in my own life. Before I left for home, I reached out to my prayer team and asked them to pray for my return because I was unsure what I would be walking into once I returned. |
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A Time to Weep and a Time to Mourn
Even in the fall of life, God is good, but it is also challenging and HARD. I was home 1.5 days before I got a call from my mother that she had fallen. Just weeks before her 80th birthday, my mother fell and broke her hip and needed surgery and rehab. This was her 3rd fall within the last nine months, and each fall was more severe than the previous—stitches, a broken pelvis, and now a fractured hip. Thankfully, I was able to find a rehab place close to my home that I could visit often and help with her needs. My siblings and I would love prayers for healing, wisdom, and direction as we care for our sweet mother.
On August 20th, I had a huge health scare as I ended up in the hospital after being poisoned by a natural gas leak. I barely made it out of the house before I passed out in the front yard. The leak was caused by a local cable company that hit a gas line while burying cables.
Since my return from Georgia, many challenges and heartbreaks have occurred, one right after another, as seems to happen in a hard season in life. Yet, as in other hard seasons, I hold on to the promises and truth I find in Scripture. I am comforted by Psalm 34:18, which reminds us that He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. I am also drawn to Isaiah 41:10 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am Your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” |
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God is still In Control
I share these stories and ask for prayers for protection and comfort as my family and I walk through this season of life. In my time of quiet with God, I am comforted by remembering that no matter what season of life I am in, He is still in control, even when life feels more like chaos. He is my Rock. He can be trusted. He is holding me up with His victorious right hand.
"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow."
James 1:2,3 |
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A Time for Everything3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 |
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| | Prayer Requests:
- A need for more financial partners
- Spiritual breakthroughs and Gospel movements to begin throughout our Global Initiatives
- Wisdom, discernment and encouragement
- God to continue to open doors and create strategic partnerships throughout Converge
- Pray for my mother, Rosemary, as she continues to have health complications
- Pat is in a season of tinnitus ear/hearing issues
- Heath and safety for upcoming travel
Praises: - Celebrating what God is doing through Converge IM
- Gospel Movement breakouts in Togo and Southern Cone
- I am alive to tell the story of what God is doing
- God’s continued miraculous provision for my family
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Join my Ministry Team!
I invite others of you to join me as I continue to follow God’s calling on my life to help mobilize churches and individuals to help reach the least-reached for Christ! Monthly ministry partnerships keep and sustain me on the field of mission’s mobilization and special gifts help make travel possible. Join my team! You can give online in the link below or mail a check made out to Converge to Converge, Dept. # 9930, PO Box 850001, Orlando, FL 32885-9930. and put my name and #200517 in the memo line. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at barbe@converge.org. |
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