 Corona Virus (or COVID-19) was a new name a few months ago and now not an hour goes by without hearing it. It is affecting every aspect of our lives with daily decisions about how to live in isolation, what medical resources are available, should I return to my passport country, how do I answer my children’s questions, and what if I disagree with my spouse about what to do. And we find ourselves asking, “How do I live a life of faith in the midst of these challenges?” As you know, I have been working with others these past 3 years to bring trauma healing to those in pain. And right now, due to the virus, together, we are all experiencing a common trauma. One of my friends with SIL, Diana Spann, shared this recently and it is worth resharing. As an introduction to trauma healing, let's begin with three core beliefs we hold as a part of how God designed us.
This stress can elicit all kinds of feelings including fear, anger, sadness, hopelessness, and anxiety. As some of our usual coping methods are limited, we may feel a lot of emotions that we can't explain. But, God is near to the brokenhearted and He wants to restore what trauma destroys. To restore us to those principles of well-being and even for some to experience them for the first time. How does this happen? What you have been supporting through the years I now offer to you. God designed us to heal in community and we have developed resources to help. If you would like to be a part of an on-line group to process what is happening, email me at ministrycareinternational@gmail.com or call me at 765-603-3643. My international life has been disrupted through the end of May, but I am excited to see how God is going to use this time to reach out to my local communities, churches, and supporters to be a resource to them. Not only do we want to respond, but also be a guide. We know that times of crisis are actually the most fertile times of spiritual transformation. We don't intentionally look for a crisis, but let us come beside each other during this time and find a way together to be stretched, to grow, to process, and to find healing. Thank you for your continued love and support, Misty  If you are feeling any of these reactions, first remember it is normal. Reach out to me, let's talk. Also, visit https://disasterrelief.bible/ for more resourcesPrayer requests and praises:
Would you prayerfully consider becoming a partner of Misty Bodkins in 2020? 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 ministrycareinternational@gmail.com
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"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:9-10 This month this verse keeps showing up in my life. It is an encouragement to me to keep seeking the Lord, following Him, letting Him strengthen me to carry out the good He has called me to. Sometimes when moving from place to place, changing time zones, and having multiple meetings, it is easy to become weary but the promise of harvest spurs me on. The rest of my time in Uganda was filled in several ways. First, we facilitated our first Community of Practice (COP) in Jinja. The goal in a COP is to bring together facilitators, mental health professionals, administrators, and advocates from ministries and churches that work with trauma survivors for networking, collaboration, professional development, encouragement, and prayer. This builds momentum for trauma healing in a country or area. We have now been involved in Trauma Healing in Jinja for 3.5 years so this was a perfect opportunity to come together and talk through successes and challenges faced. We held an Advanced Equipping where I mentored and coached two Training Facilitators who moved on as Master Facilitators after this training. Both have a huge passion for Trauma Healing and ideas for seeing it grow in other parts of Uganda. I also went through an Orientation for the Audio Version of Trauma Healing. This will help those groups where literacy is an issue. They have the materials translated in Amharic, therefore, I was able to take the training to Ethiopia and pass it on to 9 others. The feedback from several of them is the audio is an answer to prayer as they were trying to determine how to do healing groups in their context but were unsure the way forward. I love how the Lord provides as He knows what the needs are before we do. The rest of my time in Ethiopia was spent in missionary care meetings in Addis and in Soddo. As well, my time overlapped with a team, and more importantly friends, from my home church. It was great to spend some time with them, serving at Compassion Family International. I missed last year as I was in Thailand so it was a joy to get to be with them and to be reminded of how hearts are touched when it is their first time here. February also brought time in Florida, piloting the 2nd Strength from Weakness group (9 new lessons developed by the Trauma Healing Institute). The feedback we had was phenomenal as it gave an opportunity to go deeper into layers of hurt and trauma and see the Lord continue to meet each person where they are at for healing. My heart keeps being tugged to do more and more within Trauma Healing as there is such great value because I see the Lord right in the center of it. And in my free time this month, I worked on developing protocols for a missionary care crisis response team. It has been a full and joyful month! Thank you for your continued love and support, Misty Prayer requests and praises:
 For missionaries living overseas, sometimes a little joy comes from finding potato chips that we would eat in the USA!! Would you prayerfully consider becoming a partner of Misty Bodkins in 2020? 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 ministrycareinternational@gmail.com "There are not enough mental health professionals to meet the immense need for comfort and to teach basic emotional strategies that can bring relief and healing to people in our communities-including children and teens. This is how the church can help." Excerpt from the Life Hurts, Love Heals curriculum. Trauma is part of the human experience in the broken world. Trauma happens when a person is overwhelmed with fear, helplessness, or horror in the face of death or threat of death. This affects their psychological, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. This is the tragedy of trauma:
Which brings up our central questions. How do people recover from trauma? Can the Bible help? What can the church do? You know I have been involved in the adult and teen curriculum for Healing the Wounds of Trauma. This month, I also had the opportunity to participate in the children's version. Why is Children’s Trauma Healing Needed? Whenever a community is traumatized, children suffer, but often they are without a voice and their heart wounds go untreated. Children have some basic needs: safety, structure, order, protection, comfort, intimacy, adults they can trust, autonomy, and control of their lives. But when there is trauma, it fills their formative years with violence, abandonment, neglect, chaos, unpredictability, danger, cruelty, abuse, boundary violation, and exploitation. Living in the present, children have no backdrop of the past to help them under stand what has happened. Because they believe adults are good, often they conclude they are responsible for bad things that happen. They have great difficulty articulating their inner pain because their language skills are still in development. When adults don’t know how to help traumatized children, their response is one of frustration, which only increases the child’s pain and despair. This is where the Children's Training in Healing the Wounds of Trauma can help. In Uganda, we did a 3-day classroom training with 26 adults and then facilitated a 5-day Healing Hearts Club camp with 84 kids from the ages of 8 to 13 in attendance. It was a long 8 days but beautiful in how we saw the Lord work, including 7 of those children giving their lives to Christ. We are thankful for the facilitation team who made it possible, Good Shepherd's Fold for hosting the event, and the Trauma Healing Institute for continuing to develop tools for our tool kits in helping those whose hearts have been wounded! Thank you to my partners in the states for making it possible for both me and Rumbi to attend!! Thank you for your continued love and support, Misty Prayer requests and praises:
Would you prayerfully consider becoming a partner of Misty Bodkins in 2020? 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 ministrycareinternational@gmail.com If I were honest, I am glad 2019 is coming to a close. It has been a year of loss and heartache; of struggles and trials; of grief and suffering But I cling to Romans 5:3-5 (NLT), which says, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." I am so thankful I have not walked this year alone but I have had YOU as friends and supporters and I have had the Lord who has not left me but has encouraged me and loved me tenderly as a Father loves His children. And I stand on His Word, especially these verses, knowing He is producing qualities in me that will help me to continue to serve Him. And in all of the challenges of 2019, I also see all of the good. The Gospel has continued to be spread and His light shining into dark places in countries I never dreamed of going to. Thank you for continuing to be there every step of the way in glorifying His name and building His kingdom!! Enjoy some highlights of 2019 in the ministry. Thank you for your partnership. And let's bring in 2020 celebrating what the Lord has done in 2019...even the tough stuff! With love and thanks, Misty THANK YOU FOR HELPING BRING HOPE AND HEALING THIS YEAR!Would you prayerfully consider becoming a partner in 2020? 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 at ministrycareinternational@gmail.com  From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!
This Christmas will be different in many ways as we grieve the loss of a loved one. But, I am thankful for the sweet memories of her and that she walked with the Lord. I am also thankful to have my mom with us as she spent the last week in the hospital with double pneumonia. Though she is out, she still has a long recovery ahead so I appreciate continued prayers for her. But most of all, I am thankful for Jesus, my Savior, and Lord. Without Him, my life would look so different. May your Christmas be filled with joy, laughter, abundant blessings, family and friends and most of all, a remembrance of what the Lord does in each of our lives. And for those of you whose Christmas may look different this year, may the Lord draw you near, offering hope, comfort, and encouragement. Merry Christmas!! With love, Misty  It is Giving Tuesday! What is Giving Tuesday? It is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when nonprofits focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.
There are many wonderful ministries to give to and I ask that you prayerfully consider giving to Ministry Care. In particular, I ask that you give to a specific project. In January 2020 in Uganda, there will be a Children's Equipping Session for Trauma Healing. Rumbi Pisirai, who is now running the counseling ministry in Zimbabwe, has a heart to work with younger children in Zimbabwe. This training is a perfect opportunity for her to gain more experience and equipping in this area. When we worked together, we primarily worked with teenagers as my background is not in working with children and this is a gap in training for her. The total cost for her to attend is $998. The breakdown of this is: Flight: $458 Transport to and from the airport: $140 Housing and meals for the 8 days: $200 Registration fee and materials for the 8-day training: $200 $200 has already been given to this project. We just need to raise an additional $798. If 16 of you would be willing to consider a one-time donation of $50, we would meet this goal. Therefore, in honor of Giving Tuesday, would you consider making a donation to Ministry Care this month? There are 2 ways you may donate. 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. You can make a note that is donation is for Rumbi. Because of the economic situation in Zimbabwe, Rumbi cannot attend this training on her own. But you can help make this happen for her! Thank you for your support for her and thank you for your partnership with Ministry Care. Ministry Care is a 501c3 therefore your donation will be tax-deductible. If you have any questions feel free to email us at ministrycareinternational@gmail.com or call at 765-603-3643.  From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
It is with gratitude and a full heart that I write to you. Thank you for the many prayers and financial gifts that you have shared with Ministry Care this year! We would not have been able to have done this work around the world without YOU! Because of YOU, missionaries in crisis have been walked alongside, listened to, and encouraged. YOU have traveled to places globally like Bangladesh and Nicaragua-to places the Lord opened up that never seemed possible. YOU have provided a space for missionaries to debrief their service and to find a time of refreshment and renewal. YOU have provided training's in the states and in Ethiopia and have been involved in emotional healing with teenagers. YOU have prayed and walked alongside me when we had our own unexpected death and grief journey. This year has been full of mountains and valleys and YOU have been there every step of the way. What I do would not be possible if I did not have YOU! May your Thanksgiving be filled with remembrances of what the Lord has done this year. And thank you again or your continued support and love as we work TOGETHER to further His kingdom and for His Glory. "There are not enough mental health professionals to meet the immense need for comfort and to teach basic emotional strategies that can bring relief and healing to people in our communities-including children and teens. This is how the church can help." Excerpt from the Life Hurts, Love Heals curriculum. A Commitment to Ethiopia Where God opens the doors we are committed to serving Him. On average, it takes about three years for a Trauma Healing Ministry to be self-sustaining, which includes Apprentice Facilitators, Training Facilitators, and active Healing Groups. My journey in Ethiopia started in 2012 when I had visa issues in Zimbabwe and needed to serve elsewhere for 3 months. In that time, I forged lasting friendships and relationships that have continued 7 years later. The trauma healing journey in Ethiopia started in February 2018, when we held our first Initial Equipping for 20 national and expat workers. Over the past 18 months, Sharon and I have mentored and encouraged those engaged in holding healing groups. In September, we held the second phase of their training, the Advanced Equipping. It is awesome to work with a group that sees the vision of how God wants to use Healing the Wounds of Trauma here. One of our trainees was from Southern Ethiopia where there has been particularly intense, violent tribal conflict. He is one of two people trained in the Dilla area. It was incredibly impactful to hear his heart to bring Christ to the people there and to bring hope and healing using the curriculum. Please pray for Bitsuanu as he seeks to bring healing to individuals as well as a community torn by generational hate, suspiciousness, unforgiveness, and ongoing violence. LIFE HURTS, LOVE HEALS In Ethiopia, besides facilitating the Advanced and checking in on various missionaries (see the above pictures), we also spent 3 days with a group of 16 teen boys who grew up on the streets of Addis Ababa. Partnering with Make Your Mark Ministry who has been working with these boys for over a year, we walked them through the ‘Life Hurts, Love Heals’ trauma healing teen material. It was a blessing to share meals, play games, and enjoy a beautiful rural retreat setting with them. Another gift was working with Fekadu, Yosi, and Yoni, three amazing men that work with MYM. All three served tirelessly in dual roles as co-facilitators and translators. I was blessed by their heart of love and compassion for these boys. Their deep desire to help each boy know his true value and worth to His Heavenly Father and to guide them on the path to be healed from the wounds that life had inflicted was truly inspiring. To say the weekend was transformational for the boys is an understatement. God used the time and material to bring healing, restoration, forgiveness, and true identity in Christ. Please pray for MYM as they minister to the street boys of Addis and for this group of young men. Pray that they would allow God to continue to transform their hearts minds, and loves, and they would not return to addictions and street life. Thank you for your continued love and support, Misty 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 ministrycareinternational@gmail.com "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more because the previous things have passed away." Revelation 21:4" Sometimes life throws you an unexpected curveball. My intention was to write about our time in Ireland, share a bit about what I learned about the 'trouble' between the Central Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and brag on how the Lord is opening doors with the Northern Ireland Bible Society for Trauma Healing. Instead, while in Ethiopia, I had a phone call that turned my life upside down. My Aunt Tammy unexpectedly passed away on September 13th, very likely of an aneurysm at the age of 60 though she had some other health issues as well. She is a walking miracle as the Lord spared her from an aneurysm in 2011 and gave us 8 more years with her. Instead of leaving for Kenya on September 16th, I instead returned to the US, thankful we had finished our main ministry obligations in Ireland and in Ethiopia before the call. There have been times through my years in ministry that I did not return for various emergencies. And I know these are some of the hardest decisions missionaries have to face. But I knew without a doubt I needed to be a support for my family. It is a complicated situation that would warrant way too much detail than this newsletter but the short end is I have a very close relationship to this family member, who is also the mother to my half brother, Shaun. Plus, after just finishing facilitating a lesson on Grief, how could I not be with my family during our time of grief? The viewing and funeral have passed and now the real work of grieving begins. In case you have not experienced this journey, I have put in a picture of what the journey looks like. It takes about a month to work through denial and anger, which is where we are currently at. The praise? I had the honor of sharing the Gospel and baptizing my aunt in 2012 so though we do not despair, as we know she was welcomed by our Lord, our hearts still hurt for this current burden and it does not lessen the journey we are on. In the years I have been traveling, there are a few times going to the airport that stand out. The first time was February 2010 when I had visa challenges in Zimbabwe and unexpectedly had to leave. I sat with Rumbi going over last-minute instructions as she was stepping into the ministry on her own for the first time. She kept leaving for the bathroom to keep her emotions private. When I got to the other side of immigration, I wept and realized how much Zim had become home to me. The 2nd was July 2013 when I realized people sitting next to me had no idea of the trauma we had experienced, the sleepless nights, the nightmares and the fear. I understood then that you truly don't know what people on your flight are going through. You just put on a brave face and hope no-one talks to you. The 3rd time is now when my travel plans have changed and I returned to the states due to her death-full of grief and heartache. Next newsletter I will share more about Ireland and Ethiopia. In the meantime, please keep praying for my family. And have compassion, grace, and kindness for the people at the airport and planes. You never know what someone might be going through. With love, Misty  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 ministrycareinternational@gmail.com "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds." James 2:14-18 I have been reflecting on this verse a lot this past month, especially as I think about serving, both locally and internationally. The definition of 'serve' is:
Part of why this has come up is I had the opportunity to be a participant in a Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills (SYIS) workshop in Milwaukee. It was good to take off my facilitator hat and learn some new skills. A few highlights from the workshop include learning about conflict mediation and talking about stress management and maintaining margin in your life, especially as we serve the needs around us. The workshop gave us an opportunity to examine in-depth our core beliefs (not what we say but how we act), which is what has gotten me thinking deeper about service. I also had multiple meetings to share about Healing the Wounds of Trauma with Youth for Christ and Outreach, a ministry in Indianapolis that serves homeless youth. I am thankful that we have opportunities to work both globally and locally with Ministry Care. Please pray about the possibilities of healing groups and training with these ministries as their leadership considers the options. Ministry Care was also the mission spotlight at my home church, Dover Christian Church so it was nice to be able to share about the vision and purpose of the mission. Finally, I had some meetings regarding fundraising. My contract with Good News Jail and Prison Ministry ended June 30th, therefore I need to look carefully at my budget and consider raising an addition $600/month. Please let me know if you may be interested in partnering with me. Thank you for your support, your faithfulness, and your partnership. With love, Misty  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 ministrycareinternational@gmail.com |
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
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