|
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:28-31 Webster's defines the word weary to mean: 1: exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness 2: expressing or characteristic of weariness 3: having one's patience, tolerance, or pleasure exhausted Have you ever felt weary? Recently, this topic has been near and dear to me. Sometimes I think we get busy "doing" that we forget to just "be". I love the passage in Isaiah and I have been reflecting on it a lot lately. What I love the most is that the Lord NEVER grows weary. Even though I may grow weary, He does not. What comfort that brings to me. It has been a great but tiring month. We held an Initial Equipping in Maryland that was focused on Corrections.I went from Maryland to Philadelphia where I was able to attend the Community of Practice for the first time. The goal of the Community of Practice is to bring facilitators, mental health professionals, and advocates from organizations and churches that work with trauma survivors for networking, collaboration, professional development, encouragement, and prayer. It was really cool to hear what is going on with Trauma Healing around the world, especially in places like the Middle East. I loved my time there and look forward to attending again next year. In the brief time I was back in Indiana, I was thankful to attend a 10 year celebration of Hope for His Children, a ministry I have partnered with in Ethiopia. Finally, we held a dual track Equipping for the first time in Mississippi. This is where both an Initial and Advanced Equipping is running concurrently. I believe strongly that Trauma Healing has such a place in churches and ministries as we all need to learn to walk alongside those hurting. As I am thankful for the ability to "pick up and go", I am also recognizing the value in making sure I am taking my own time for rest and most importantly, continuing to develop deep roots in my walk with the Lord. My hope in Him is what shall renew my strength! With love, Misty At the Community of Practice in Philadelphia, we had a chance to do a community lament. Our table chose to focus on the word 'Hopeless' as we see the trauma around us and that is what comes to mind. We each drew a picture focusing on different aspects of what we see in hopeless situations: war, refugees, abuse, generational trauma, etc. We then built a quilt so to speak from these pictures. A testimony from a participant in Mississippi: Being here set me free in an area of my own life and finding healing. I do feel that I can better help others as I continue to study and use the training material. I am so grateful that God put this need into those who developed this training and made it available to us. We were so blessed with the expertise and passionate caring of our facilitators that I feel this was perfectly done. Thank you so much!!! Prayer requests and praises:
Would you prayerfully consider becoming a partner of Misty Bodkins in 2019? There are 2 ways you may donate to Misty at Ministry Care. You can make checks payable to “Ministry Care” and send them to:
Ministry Care 14934 Pacer Ct. Carmel, IN 46032 Or you can also make an online donation, using Givelify, on our website at www.ministrycareinternational.org Ministry Care is a 501c3 therefore your donation will be tax deductible. If you have any questions feel free to email us as [email protected]
0 Comments
 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2nd Corinthians 5:17 NIV)When I saw the above butterfly, I was immediately reminded of 2nd Corinthians. Years ago, Rumbi had to intervene me for a counseling class and one of the questions had to do with what my metaphor was for counseling. I honestly did not have one but as I was looking around my room I saw some butterflies hanging on the wall. It then clicked. Just as the moth struggles to break through and become a new creation-the butterfly, we also struggle with things in our lives that need to be different, to change and be more like Christ. The good news is the Lord has already made us new! The old is gone! The new has begun! I am likely not explaining where my heart is with this but I love that we are not left where we were. The Lord continues to transform us and sanctify us, loving us in our brokenness and bring beauty out of the ashes. When we left China, we headed to Thailand to facilitate a Healing Group during a retreat with missionaries from the Asia Pacific area. We had 22 in our group. Again due to their locations I will not disclose where they were but we had a range of workers for 30 years to one heading to his field of service for the first time. It was a great group and I love how the Lord continues to make us His new creations, no matter how long we have been serving Him. As a result of our time, there is now interest in Sharon and I returning to Asia in the future to facilitate Equipping Sessions for Trauma Healing. I had not been back to the states for very long when I left cold Indiana for warm Florida. I went to assist with an Initial Equipping in Palm Bay. This Equipping was full at 25 participants and we ended up with 22 apprentice facilitators when it was over. My role during this time was more of a coach. For one facilitator, this was her first training. Thinking back to when we started in July 2017, I wish we would have had a coach to help us out! What was beautiful is when she had an aha moment of why the Lord had her there. She speaks Spanish and was excited to learn that the materials have been translated into Spanish. She now has several thoughts about being involved with the program in areas in Latin America. It was really neat to see her growth as well from the first day to the fourth. Our lead facilitator did an excellent job and I continue to feel privileged to get to serve the Lord in this capacity. Looking forward to what March has in store! With love, Misty From our Florida Participants: My healing has been evident. I came to learn how to treat the hurting and in the process I received healing! Powerful and liberating! The facilitators were warm, professional, and displayed the Love of God. The unity of spirit and team concept was evident from start to finish. It was a pleasure being a part of this training. This training has covered so many aspects and I think one that impacted me was writing a lamentation concerning my brother's death. It was very freeing and I hope to share this with many others! I will recommend this to others I know in ministry.  PRAYER REQUESTS:
Would you prayerfully consider becoming a partner of Misty Bodkins in 2019? There are 2 ways you may donate to Misty at Ministry Care. You can make checks payable to “Ministry Care” and send them to:
Ministry Care 14934 Pacer Ct. Carmel, IN 46032 Or you can also make an online donation, using Givelify, on our website at www.ministrycareinternational.org Ministry Care is a 501c3 therefore your donation will be tax deductible. If you have any questions feel free to email us as [email protected] |
AuthorMisty Bodkins has a Master's degree in clinical psychology. She has worked both stateside and internationally doing counseling, training, teaching, and research. Her passion is working with people who are in crisis. Archives
June 2024
Categories
Misty Bodkins
|
RSS Feed