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Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; may He grant you Grace and Peace! This past month has been busy! I went to Mexico to partner with World Access Project for one week. The team worked with a local social service agency and the local church (Iglesia Perdon y Amistad-the Church of Forgiveness and Friendship) and were able to distribute 47 wheelchairs, 11 walkers, 5 canes, and 4 sets of crutches. A sports camp was held on Thursday to help recipients learn to use their chairs and then Friday they were invited to a dolphin show. Several things stood out for me during the week. The first was the faithfulness and consistency of church members coming each day to evangelize and witness to the recipients. Ten people accepted the Lord as their Savior during the week due to the dedication of the church. Praise God to get to be a part of a great week!! The 2nd thing that stood out for me was the joy of the recipients! The 2nd man, Juan, we had in our group displayed pure joy on his face and tears in his eyes when he realized he could now get around using the wheelchair. It opens up doors of possibilities both for the recipients and their families for them to have mobility. It was quite a humbling week in that regard. We also had the chance to restore wheelchairs-6 were completely restored and 21 were prepared for extra parts. What a blessing to get to restore a chair and turn around the next day and hand it out! And WD 40 and steel wool goes a long way in restoration!!! I had the honor as well to get to spend time with the missionaries and do some ministry care too. Serving others is the essence of ministry. For me, we cannot be agents of healing in people's lives unless we are ready to bear their wounds for them and from them. The rest of May has been doing just that. I participated in a trauma healing course in Philadelphia, earning an apprentice facilitator status. I have been leading 2 trauma healing groups since then. If you would like to know more about trauma healing, please visit http://thi.americanbible.org/. I will attend the advanced training in Dallas June 17 to 23rd. These training's have not just been valuable for trauma (i.e., break in) I have experienced in my life but will also add huge value to Ministry Care and work I will do in the future. I am prayerfully considering returning to Uganda in July instead of the fall with several other facilitators to lead this training there. I will have more information to you by the end of June. I have also spent time in Memphis and Tupelo, Mississippi this month. It is too bad they do not give you frequent driver miles!!! Memphis was a challenge for me in thinking through a business as missions model but I am excited to see the doors the Lord continues to open and work with those who see the need to care for their missionaries. In Tupelo, there were great conversations as to how to care for missionary teens and we had a wonderful Middle East reunion dinner too! Finally, fundraising has been a focus this month too. As stated last month, I am about 1/3rd of my budget each month. Since January, my salary has been $700/month. As you can imagine, this is not enough especially when I am stateside. I have around $2500 a month I still need to raise. I ask that you prayerfully consider coming on board with me as a financial partner. $20 a month can make a big difference! Or ask the Lord what amount of a one time donation He would put on your heart to give. I have been making my salary work but right now, my mom is off work for the next 6 weeks due to a fractured back and it would be great to be able to help my parents as I am currently staying with them. It is humbling to include this information in my newsletter but frankly I cannot even help them with groceries at the moment unless I increase my monthly support. Funding will also come into consideration as I determine if I can return to East Africa in July. For those of you already supporting me, thank you so much and may God bless you for your faithfulness! If any of you would like to sit down with me, I would love to share the vision God has placed on my hearty for this ministry. Call me, let's have coffee and talk! Ministry Care is a 501c3 organization, therefore, your donation will be tax deductible. You may donate one of 2 ways. You can make checks payable to “Ministry Care” and send them to: Ministry Care 14934 Pacer Ct. Carmel, IN 46032 Or you can make an online donation, using Givelify, on our website at www.ministrycareinternational.org or click the button below If you have any questions feel free to email us as [email protected] Thank you so much! And may God bless you richly with His presence!
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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
October 2024
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