We recognize that the top five needs of women serving overseas are: to be spiritually mentored, to feel connected, to be known, understood, and prayed for, to have a close friend, and time away from ministry and life responsibilities. We also recognize that these seemingly basic needs are often out of reach for many global ministry women. And we care.

And we need to care because the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health of these global women has high impact. Their well-being impacts families, organizations, geographic regions, and whole people groups.

So, follow along as we care for “Tatiana.” She comes to a Thrive retreat where she hears the speaker say something like, “It’s okay to be alarmed, just do it like Jehosaphat did. He admitted that the challenge was big, but he resolved to inquire of the Lord and move forward in trust.” And then “Tatiana” senses that it’s okay to talk in her small group about what alarms her (nighttime questioning by police or being unable to locate a child in a busy market or needing medical intervention in a remote location). She feels known and understood so that she can hear from other workers what helps them move toward “inquiring of the Lord” - restorative spiritual practices - rather than remaining stuck in fear. She knows this is a safe place to admit that she wants to learn to pray more deeply so she spends time with a prayer companion, or she processes her fatigue with a counselor. Then, because what happens at retreat should not stay at retreat, “Tatiana” looks at the Alongside options so she can have ongoing meetings with a spiritual director, mentor, or life coach.

Once she encounters this deep care, she can return to her field of service singing in worship from the depth of her heart (as we did this morning):

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, For my life is wholly bound to His Oh, how strange and divine, I can sing: All is mine! Yet not I, but through Christ in me

With every breath, I long to follow Jesus, For He has said that He will bring me home

And day by day I know He will renew me, Until I stand with joy before the throne

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, All the glory evermore to Him

When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat: Yet not I, but through Christ in me!

I encourage you to listen to that song and imagine yourself standing next to “Tatiana,” who serves alongside her husband and three little children as an agricultural teacher in a closed country.