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From my family to yours, Merry Christmas! This Christmas will be different in many ways across the world. But what remains the same is the purpose of Christmas: the celebration of the birth of our Savior! Jesus truly is the reason for our joy, our wonder, our cheer, our hope, our salvation. I do not know about you but in this turbulent and wild year, I am thankful Jesus is my firm foundation! This time last year, we were (and still are) grieving the loss of my aunt but celebrating that my mom was released from the hospital right before Christmas-we continue to be grateful for the work of healing the Lord is still doing in her life since then. I can honestly say the rest of the year feels like a blur with zoom for the win (haha). I continue to be thankful for each of you and your partnership with Ministry Care. Most of all, I am thankful for Jesus, that He is the light shining in the darkness. May your Christmas be filled with joy, laughter, abundant blessings, family and friends (even if via video or phone), and most of all, a remembrance of what the Lord has done through the birth of a child. And though Christmas may look different this year, may the Lord draw you near, offering hope, comfort, and encouragement and reminding each of us the true meaning of this day. Merry Christmas!! With love, Misty For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Introducing Christian Pisirai, 3rd son of Simba and Rumbi, born 11/18/2020 Would you prayerfully consider an end of the year donation? 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
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 It is Giving Tuesday! What is Giving Tuesday? I am sure many of you are familiar with the concept but 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. Last year, you blessed me and Rumbi abundantly as we were able to raise the money needed for a Children's Training for Healing the Wounds of Trauma that occurred in January this year. This year, I would love to give back to you!! I know I have not been the best at communication lately but rest assured, the ministry is as active and thriving as ever! It just looks a bit different at the moment with many outreaches moved to online, including the Healing the Wounds of Trauma groups and training I have been involved in. This is where I would love to give back. Starting in January, I will be offering a small group where we will be taking time to bring healing to wounds to the heart from trauma or loss. If you struggle with hopelessness, ongoing sadness or exhaustion, unexplained anger, nightmares, flashbacks, being overwhelmed, feelings of isolation, or unprocessed grief, this small group may be for you. The group will be led by myself and other facilitators who are trained in Bible-based Trauma Healing, Together, we will make a safe space for group members to:
 I appreciate your faithfulness in supporting Ministry Care. If you would like to make a donation, 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. 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. This year continues to unfold in ways never anticipated...for many of us. While my plans have not all worked out this year, our God is still in control and I am thankful for an opportunity to serve and follow His lead. My goal is still the same: to seek the Lord and be obedient to His call. Right now, that looks more like sitting in front of a computer on zoom (can we log computer frequent flyer miles??) to connect with Missionaries, my Global Community, and continue Trauma Healing. All international trips have been put on hold through the end of the year due to many uncertainties. However, we are tentatively planning face to face time with our missionaries stateside. I will share more next month about that. The good news...ministry continues to be thriving and growing and I am thankful for how I have seen the Lord work, even through zoom. This newsletter is a bit different as my purpose is to share a podcast interview I was invited to be a part of. Friends of mine have created a podcast that involves Practical Advice for Global Missions. Dave and Vicki Frazier use their 35+ years of experience in global missions, 20 of which were living abroad, to discuss a variety of topics related to global missions, with the goal of offering wise and practical counsel. Their book MissionSmart:15 Critical Questions To Ask Before Launching Overseas is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle and is a great book if considering cross-cultural work. Their podcast is another tool they use to equip people. I had the privilege of talking with Vicki about being single on the mission field. I will admit it is scary to share this as it takes a look at some of my early, lonely, and dark times on the field as a single person but also how the Lord used that time to move me towards growth, hope, and ultimately thriving. Check it out and let me know what you think...or if you want to know more about how to help care for your single missionaries! As always, I am grateful for each of you. Love and prayers, 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 Since my last update, I've been involved with kitchen renovation (see below), writing protocols on crisis management and grief/loss, and Sharon (who I frequently travel and co-facilitate with), and I completed facilitating our first online healing group and started our second one. I will say the amount of mental energy and effort that goes into each of these meetings online is intense. Especially in the middle of a pandemic as well as protests and rioting that was occurring. It was very tender and loving of the Lord to show up in our time together and provide healing and community support. As well, many of them are planning to continue in the training process to become apprentice facilitators and lead their own groups so we are looking forward to reuniting with them at the beginning of August. As I watched events planned for in-person in July either be canceled or moved to online, I am grateful that in the disappointment the Lord has provided an alternative method. Though doing this online is much more taxing and not ideal, it is effective. Facilitating these lessons online is very different and not what I would choose but I am thankful the Lord is not limited by things I might see as a limit. :-) Our current group has several who are in other countries and they would not have been able to have joined if we had not offered it online. Sharon and I had the chance to facilitate 5 stand-alone lessons too. We are still offering future lessons so if you are interested, let me know. Over the next few weeks, I move into facilitating two Online initial Equipping Sessions for Trauma Healing. Both groups are full at an online capacity of 15 participants. Just to give you an idea of the schedule, we will meet for 5 hours each day for 3 days for the first week and 5 hours for 2 days the second week. Pray for stamina, perseverance, discernment, wisdom for both participants and facilitators, flexibility, and good internet. “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” Matthew 7:24-27 Life and work continue to look very different right now for each of us in a variety of ways. One of the most common questions for those I am working with is, "When do we return?" With borders still closed, many travel restrictions still in place, and some countries still insisting on mandatory quarantine upon entry, many are left in an uncertain holding pattern, including me. Ministry continues full steam ahead...it just looks different as travel is still not occurring. I am very thankful the Lord provided a place to stay other than my parent's dining room since I have been in Indiana! I am involved in settling my aunt's estate, which includes her house and that is where I am currently living. One of the many issues of the house was an outdated and cramped kitchen. Early in May, my brother and I thought we could freshen it up a bit to improve the quality of the house especially since schedules were fairly flexible due to the stay at home orders and we thought it would only take a few days. Well...project makeover turned into major renovation after removing wallpaper revealed paneling, which revealed mold. There was a great debate in the renovation team about using Kilz and just painting over the mold or if we had to replace the entire drywall. In the end, we gutted the kitchen and replaced all of it.
The kitchen renovation got me thinking about sin and areas of weakness in my life. It is so easy to cover those issues up-like putting Kilz over the mold. However, those issues do not go away. If anything, they get worse. It takes a lot of hard work, sweat, tears, and vocal frustrations to make progress to rebuild the right way: without moldy drywall and on solid rock (Matthew 7:24-27). It also takes the same when the Lord shows us areas in our lives that He wants to transform more into His character. Those are ugly areas that I have been covering up like the paneling for the mold. As I look at the final project in the kitchen and see such an amazing transformation, I understand it is all well worth it to continue the hard work in my own life as the Lord reveals the areas I may be quick to hide. I do not know about you but I continue to feel a level of stress and uncertainty of the future...asking my own "When do I return" or "What is next" type of questions. In the meantime, I will continue to be obedient to what the Lord had asked of me in the here and now. If you are asking the same questions, we can walk that path of uncertainty together and see what the Lord has in store ahead. Thank you for your continued love and support and let me know how I can be a support to you, 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 During this unprecedented season of Covid-19, our lives, work, and ministries look very different. Many of us are sheltering in place, seeking creative ways to serve. Still, others are continuing to provide vital services. Our emotions are being affected, we are all suffering individually, but also experiencing a collective trauma. Some of us may be feeling sad and anxious, while others may be experiencing uncertainty or unexplained anger. Our usual coping methods are limited, so we may feel a lot of emotions that we can't explain. We are uncertain how long this disruption will last. Some of us may be faced with an uncertain future. In traumatic situations, it is natural to feel stress, anxiety, anger, helplessness, and loss of control. Hear me say this... it is okay to feel these emotions, and it is okay not to be okay! The Trauma Healing Institute has developed specific material called, "Healing from the DIstress of the Covid-19 Crisis" and we have been using it to facilitate discussion on processing our feelings and emotions from a Biblical perspective. Sharon and I have been offering 2.5-hour sessions several days a week on this topic. If you are interested in being a part of it, please let me know. Our desire is to help you reflect on God's love and care during this time, feel encouraged, and gain an understanding that you can use to help others. Here is a glimpse of the discussion. I encourage you if you cannot join in one of our zoom discussions, to talk these questions over with a trusted loved one or journal about them. I am always willing to talk anytime either in a group or one on one. REFLECTION QUESTIONS 1. How has the crisis created by this virus affected you? 2. Do you feel:
3. What kinds of losses have you experienced due to COVID-19? 4. If you have been isolated from other people, how has that affected you? After discussing or journaling your responses to these questions, look at the list below to see if there are things you did not already think of.
Thank you for your continued love and support and let me know how I can be a support to you, Misty  Have you ever noticed how Jesus responds when He sees people who are worried, anxious, or afraid? He doesn’t tell them to “just stop worrying,” He asks them curious questions, draws their attention to birds, flowers, other parts of creation, and reminds people of His presence & reliability. . We don’t have to feel ashamed of our fears. We can accept Jesus’s invitation to look to the peace found in His presence and in creation, even in the midst of frightening days. Watch the birds fly, play, sing, and look for food. Watch clouds moving across the big open sky. Enjoy blooming flowers. Notice how the trees deepen their roots and reach to the sky at the same time. . Enjoy these beauties with God, our Creator. You will find yourself a little steadier and more at peace, perhaps. 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  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 "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 |
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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