Has God Asked You To Step Out? Belinda Thacker’s Story

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Hey friends, welcome to the Her God Story podcast where you will always hear a good

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story to encourage and inspire you in your walk with the Lord.

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I'm your host, Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares America and International,

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author and traveler on this journey of faith.

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We hope you like or follow this podcast on your favorite streaming platform so you won't

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miss any of these amazing stories.

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You know, after Jesus rose from the grave, He appeared to His followers at various times.

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In John 20:19-21, it begins telling of one encounter.

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The New Living Translation says,

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That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid

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of the Jewish leaders.

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Suddenly Jesus was standing there among them.

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Peace be with you, He said.

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As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and His side.

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They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord.

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Then He said, Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.

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You know, at that time, the disciples were somewhat afraid and a bit bewildered by all

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that had happened in their world.

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But Jesus spoke peace to them, filling them with joy.

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Then He reaffirmed their purpose, to be sent out to be witnesses of the good news of the

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Kingdom of God.

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When we look at all that is happening in our world today, it too can be overwhelming and

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it can be bewildering.

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But God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, still speaks peace to us and

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still has purpose for us.

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My guest, Belinda Thacker, who is the Director of Communications for Somebody Cares America,

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was sent out this year to be a tangible expression of God's love to earthquake survivors in

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Turkey.

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Previously, we shared her faith's journey on an episode that we titled, In the School

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of Faith, so I encourage you to listen to that episode as well.

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But today, you'll hear how God called, anointed, and sent her out on a short-term mission of

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love to Turkey.

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Welcome Belinda.

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Thanks Jody, it's good to be back.

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Belinda, as you were seeking the Lord at the end of 2022, to hear His heart for you in

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this new year, He started speaking to you.

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What did you sense Him saying?

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Well, actually, He started first speaking through my sister in a Zoom Bible study that

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she was in.

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She does an online study.

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And one night during a time of prayer, someone in that group heard a word from the Lord for

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people whose birthdays were on January 13th, which is my birthday.

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And what they heard was that if you get an invitation to travel internationally in the

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new year, not to answer too quickly, yes or no, which sounds kind of vague, but I received

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it and I went into the new year and it really resonated in me.

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And I really felt like God was going to open up some kind of door for international travel

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for me that year.

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So as I'm moving along in the new year, I just had a sense to pray and be ready for

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that when it happened.

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As is often the case when we first hear a word from God, we really don't have any idea

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how it's going to happen.

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You had a few challenges standing in your way.

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So what did you do?

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I mean, you heard this word from the Lord, but you had to start taking steps.

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And what were those?

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Actually two weeks after my birthday, I did get an invitation from a friend who was going

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to be going to Jordan in April.

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And it sounded like a wonderful, a wonderful trip, something I would love to do.

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And it was going to be a group of women.

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And I knew this friend who invited me was going to be leading worship at some of the

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biblical sites in Jordan and another friend I've known for years.

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She was going to be leading the devotions on that trip.

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And there was going to be lots of really adventurous times too.

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And just really, it just sounded amazing.

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And my first response was, yes, I'm going to go and my second response was, oh no, I

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can't go.

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That's too long and too far and too much money and all these things.

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But I remembered that word was don't say yes or no too quickly.

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So I just began praying about it and processing it and really had a hard time discerning for

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a few days.

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What God wanted was the answer yes or no.

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I didn't want to make a no answer based on money because I know that God can provide

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if he calls.

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And I didn't want to say yes, if this wasn't the trip that he had.

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So while I was processing that, I even journaled one night and I was praying and I said, well,

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Lord, I would love to go to Jordan.

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I've wanted to go there before.

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And I love the Middle East.

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I love that culture, but I don't know for sure that this is the trip that you have for

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me.

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And I even said, if I could go anywhere, I would love to go to Turkey, which is where

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I was born.

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My dad was in the military and I was born there and had never been back since that time.

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I said, I would love to go to Turkey.

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So anyway, I still continue to process that over the next course of probably about two

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weeks I was processing.

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Even got requested an extension on getting my deposit and the answer in because I hadn't

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heard definitely from the Lord.

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And then on February 5th, I actually did have a piece about declining it.

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So I drafted an email to the coordinator.

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I didn't send it because it was like 1130 at night.

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I knew she worked from home and I didn't want to interrupt her with an email at 1130 at

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night.

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But I said, I've decided to turn it down, but do you ever do any trips to Turkey?

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So then the next day I wake up, it's February 6th, and I wake up and I pick up my phone

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to check the weather.

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And the first thing I see is the news story about the tragedy in Turkey, about the earthquake

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and like so many people, I was heartbroken over it.

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But at the same time, I just knew that this is the trip that God has for me.

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Yeah.

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I mean, it's amazing.

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On February 6th, like you said, the day after you really felt the Lord said no to Jordan,

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this massive earthquake decimated huge region of Turkey in Syria.

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Now, you know, going to an area that's devastated by a disaster is not something to take lightly.

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I mean, it is not a vacation trip.

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It's not, you know, you can't go and find a hotel.

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And you know, it's challenging.

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But you knew that the Lord had called you to that.

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I mean, he had prepared you for it.

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He had prepared your heart for it.

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You even said, Lord, send me to Turkey if you can.

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So how did you prepare to respond to that in that difficult situation?

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Well, first, just connecting with you and with Doug Stringer and saying that I feel

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like I'm supposed to go here.

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And since we do disaster relief and we have various partners who work internationally,

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and one of those is Crisis Response International.

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And I just said, you think Cry would let me go with them?

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And Doug answered and said, well, they have an online training.

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And he contacted them for us and they sent the link for the online training.

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So that was my first step in preparing was to take their training, which was a lot about

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chaplaincy, about prayer, how to pray, what to pray, what Cry expects of their teams and

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what their method of ministry is.

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And then a lot of just the practical things.

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Like you said, you're going into a disaster zone and we did have housing and electric

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and internet and all those things.

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But still, anything could have changed at any minute.

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There could have been another earthquake.

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You don't know if you might get stuck somewhere, stuck out somewhere.

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So you have to be prepared for 72 hours to be self-sustaining and have a backpack prepared

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for that.

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So there was a lot of things to be done on the front end as far as getting the training

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and then getting the supplies that you need to be independent once you get there if necessary.

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But then there were things too, just preparing to be gone.

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I had never been away from my family that far and for that long.

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So there was a lot of things to be thinking through, especially since I'm in a single

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parent position.

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I'm not leaving like another parent who can just take over.

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I had to get a lot of things written down, a lot of instructions, make sure that somebody

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had permission if there was a medical need or anything like that.

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So I had to do some things like that.

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And then spiritually too, just reminding myself that God had called me.

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I know that there was another earthquake two weeks after the initial earthquake.

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So then people are texting me saying, oh, there was another earthquake.

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Are you sure you're supposed to go?

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But I was sure.

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So if I hadn't been spiritually prepared and hadn't known for sure I was supposed to go,

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then that could have caused a lot of fear or anxiety or anything.

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But the way that everything had happened, I knew it was God.

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So I had peace.

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I would have had less peace about not obeying and going than I had about going, even though

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anything could have happened while we were there.

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Yeah.

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So like you said, you took those practical steps to get ready.

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God took care of the finances in a miraculous way for you.

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And he also had a spiritual anointing for you as well.

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You don't live far from Asbury and you had the opportunity to go there a few times and

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the Lord met you there.

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Share about that.

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I live about 20 minutes from Asbury and heard about what was going on.

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Actually the first day that it started, the bus was already going around here and the

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pastors at the church I go to are from Asbury and very involved there and live in Wilmore.

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So I was hearing a lot even that first day.

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So that first Wednesday chapel.

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So by Friday, I went for the first time on that first Friday night and just really felt

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the presence of God in a way that I had not experienced before and even had trouble even

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lifting my hands and opening my mouth.

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When I first got there, nothing would even come out.

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The sense of the Lord was so strong.

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But because it was so close, I did have the opportunity to go even several more times

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after that and got to serve on the prayer team a couple of times.

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Then the last night that it was, it was, they had announced it was going to be the last

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night there and I hadn't planned to go that night.

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I had invited a couple other friends to go watch it remotely at some places because they

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hadn't been able to go and it had been too crowded and overflow rooms were full and everything.

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So I had invited them and they couldn't go.

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And then the Lord said, well, that doesn't mean you can't go.

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So and I felt like the Lord was not just saying you should go.

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It was like, I want you to go and you need to go.

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And I want you to get prayed for before your trip to Turkey because this was like a week

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before I was going to be leaving.

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So I felt like the Lord wanted me to go to get prayed for.

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So I did go and I was in the overflow chapel and which I didn't realize was open to the

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public.

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I thought I'd be able to get in, but it was open to the public.

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And at the end of that evening, I'm still saying, Lord, who, who do I need to get to

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pray for me?

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You know, there's a prayer team and there were some leaders and things.

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And I said, who do I need to get to pray for me?

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And right after I prayed that the man who was facilitating the service in the chapel

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got up and he said, anybody who wants to get commissioned to go, there's going to be three

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of us up here and we'll anoint you with oil and we'll pray over you and commission you

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to go.

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And so that's it.

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You know, so I went up and, and got prayed for and it wasn't a long drawn out prayer.

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It was just anointing my head with oil and saying you're commissioned to go.

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But that was all, that was what God wanted me to go for.

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And so I knew that God had something that he wanted to me to take over there along with,

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you know, thousands of other people who had come there to take back what, what they had

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received to where they were going as well.

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Yeah, you know, it is so important when we go really anywhere, when the Lord sends us

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anywhere, it's so important to know that it's God sending us because our enemy, Satan, is

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going to try to distract us, try to divide us, try to scare us, try to trip us up in

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so many ways that we need to have clarity of vision and anointing when we step out to

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go somewhere.

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And you don't need to be fearful because when God sends us, he does anoint us.

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But you were going into, you know, quite a devastated region and having that extra commissioning

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was powerful for you.

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On March 2nd, you joined the team with cry and headed to Turkey on this 10 day relief

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trip.

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Just tell us a little bit about what you did when you were there.

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Well, there were three of us on our team.

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There were three women, which is less people than they normally like to send.

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And they normally don't like to send just, just women.

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They like to have a mixed group.

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But that's just how it worked out for this trip.

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And it was just amazing.

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I had some great teammates and one was from Iowa and she's preparing with her husband

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and five children to be missionaries in Guatemala and open up a missionary aviation school.

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And then when we were in Istanbul, we met up with our other teammate who was from England

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and was coming to serve in Turkey with us.

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We got there.

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And then of course, there was a leader on the ground already from cry who had been there

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since pretty much the beginning and is still there now with his family.

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Now his family has joined him and they're going to be there longterm.

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But there was also our host was there who was she and her husband pastor at church in

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Izmir and she was there with two other women who were from Korea.

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So they all three spoke fluent Turkish and English, which was very helpful.

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So she had arranged a lot of food box distribution for us.

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So we had been picking up food boxes and she was the, our host was very connected in the

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community and so she had community leaders telling us different neighborhoods that we

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could go to that had a lot of need or hadn't gotten any help or even specific homes that

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had gotten a lot of need and not any help.

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So we did a lot of food box distribution after they left the next few days, we spent building

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a shelter for a man whose home was too damaged for him to living.

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He'd been sleeping on his sister's floor.

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We visited a lot of people while I was there.

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Somebody cares made a donation for us to purchase some mattresses, 100 mattresses that will

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be are being distributed to people in need who are sleeping in tents or sleeping on floors

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of relatives homes and I got to go and actually help purchase the first load of mattresses

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and deliver the first mattress to a family.

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So, but there was also just a lot of time just to spend time with people.

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The people are very hospitable, always wanting to serve, serve their tea, serve coffee, serve

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food.

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And so there was just a lot of time just to have that ministry of presence and just to

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let people know that, you know, we've come from all over the world and we care about,

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we care about you and we're here to help.

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And these people that were serving you tea and serving you coffee, they had lost a lot.

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Exactly.

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As you were in a part of the country where the earthquake had decimated the majority

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of the buildings and homes had been at least damaged, if not totally destroyed.

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So the opportunity for you to just spend time with them and let them know that God does

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care for them and sent you there to help, I'm sure touched their hearts in a deep way.

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So share about some of the ministry doors that the Lord opened for you.

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As you said, we met some people that had had incredible loss.

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We met a woman who, when we were doing food box distribution, she had lost 56 family members.

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You know, she was a middle-aged woman.

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She had lost children, grandchildren, I'm sure siblings.

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56 family members?

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And the funny thing was, not funny, but I had taken a picture of her during the distribution

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because she was just dressed really pretty.

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But I could see such a sadness in her face.

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And it wasn't until afterward that I found out that she was the same woman who had experienced

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all that loss.

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And as she was talking with the person in our team who was ministering to her, she just

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kept breaking down in tears, of course, because she just had such a weight on her from all

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that loss.

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We met a woman at another location who had pulled 10 people out of the rubble of the

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apartment building next door to her, and none of them survived.

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Most of them died after she got them to the hospital.

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The hospital itself was operating in tents because it had been damaged as well.

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We met one family who showed us their son's bedroom where he and his wife had been and

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how a slab of a wall, when it fell, happened to get caught by a washing machine, which

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left just enough room for them to crawl out.

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So that was the only way they survived because that washing machine was right in the right

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place.

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And again, the people show us and they tell us these stories and they're just in tears.

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There's just a lot of trauma.

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There's just a lot of loss.

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But you know, at some places you see people doing their best with the smile on their face

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to just get on with life.

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When we finished the home of our friend that we built the shelter for, his brother-in-law,

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who had come out a few times to help with the project as well, invited us over for a

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celebration meal at their house.

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They had family there.

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They had some neighbors over.

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I mean, it was like a celebration.

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They had like two tables of food.

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There was a lot of laughter.

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And no, we didn't speak the same language.

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Google Translate as best as possible.

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But we were eating and laughing.

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And at one point though, he said, you know what, we're bleeding on the inside, but we're

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happy on the outside.

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He said, what else can we do?

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He said, we've lost family members.

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We've lost friends, but our nuclear family is all safe.

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So we're just celebrate the best that we can.

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So Belinda, I mean, that's tragedy.

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And you sit and you talk to them.

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But what do you say that can provide any kind of balm to those hurts?

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Well, I think that the main thing is listening.

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And even with the barrier, the translation barrier, you know, you listen, you let them

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know as best you can that God loves them.

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Some people ask for prayer.

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I had one woman who was a young mom and she said, I'm just scared.

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She's just dealing with fear.

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So I prayed for her, for God to just remove the fear, fear of another earthquake coming,

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fear of more loss, fear of all this.

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And I think each situation is just, you just kind of really let the Holy Spirit lead.

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What do you want me to say and how much can I say?

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But just by being there and just by letting people know that God loves them, whether it's

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in word or deed, it just means the world, means the world to people.

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Yeah.

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I think oftentimes we undersell the value of the ministry of presence, right?

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Being with someone, being with someone in loss can provide great comfort to them without

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a lot of answers coming from you.

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But oftentimes the Lord does provide an opportunity to just sow a seed that He will water along

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the way and that He will.

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So you know, you were able to sow those seeds strategically as the Lord gave you that opportunity.

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What did the Lord speak to you during your time there?

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I'm sure, you know, you go and you minister, but God is always, gosh, when we're in the

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middle of ministry, God oftentimes speaks most clearly to us as well.

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I think that what you're just talking about now is one of the things that I had to let

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go of expectations.

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When we do the cry training, there's so many testimonies about miraculous healings or salvations

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or people being delivered from different things.

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And so you want to see that, you know, you get excited and you want to see that.

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And we did have the opportunity to pray for several people who needed healing, but we

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didn't see anything.

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That doesn't mean it's not happening or didn't happen under the surface or won't happen again.

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But we didn't see that or we didn't, you know, lead anybody to the Lord that we know of.

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But so it's easy to get discouraged with that.

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But the most important thing is just the obedience.

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Like you said, the Bible says that some plant, some water, and it's God who gives the increase.

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And sometimes God allows us to be there when he does the increase and when he brings in

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the harvest.

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But the important thing is you're obedient.

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You're obedient to go, you're obedient to pray for people, you're obedient to do whatever

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it is he says to do.

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And thankfully, in this day and age, there's even some people that we're still keeping

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in touch with through social media.

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So we have a chance to even further those relationships like that.

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So I think it's important not to get discouraged.

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You know, if you're obedient, you trust God to do what God's going to do.

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This is a long term thing.

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There's teams coming in one after the other.

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And he's going to accomplish his purpose.

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He's got a purpose in all of this.

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And it's just trusting him as long as you do your part and everybody does their part,

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then he's going to do his part as well.

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Yeah, and you know, Belinda, we're entering a season when God's calling his people out

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from behind the walls of our churches into the world to be a witness.

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During the COVID pandemic, I think the Lord really kind of called people to a time away

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with him to really develop a deeper sense of relationship with God.

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And I think so many of us sense that now's the time God's saying, come out.

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Come out now.

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Come out.

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I've filled you.

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I've healed you.

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I've spoken to you.

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And now I'm calling you like he did the disciples.

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They were behind the closed doors.

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And then he said, okay, peace.

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And now I'm sending you.

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Would you share some of the practical steps that all of us need to keep in mind as we

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make ourselves ready and available to respond to that call?

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It likely won't be exactly the same as your call, but there's going to be something for

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everyone.

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And what are those steps that we can all say, okay, I've been sheltered.

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I've been in my four walls or in the church four walls, but Lord, I'm ready.

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What do I need to do?

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Right.

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Well, I think one thing is we have to be connected.

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We need to be connected to a local body.

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We need to be connected.

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For me, like I said, I'm part of a ministry that's already doing disaster relief and we

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were connected with another ministry that was sending a team over.

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So don't neglect your relationships and don't take them lightly because God can use those.

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If there's training, if you're somewhere where you can get any chaplaincy training or disaster

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response training, then missions training, then do it.

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In my first podcast, I shared how the Turkey earthquake in 1999 really got me into having

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a heart for missions and wanting to go.

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And at that time I wasn't trained, but that prompted me to get my missions training from

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my church at that time, which later allowed me to go off and do other missionary work.

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So if there's training, go ahead and get your training.

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But I think just also just cultivating that relationship with him is so important no matter

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where we are in life and just walking closely and listening.

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If I had not made the right decision about the Jordan trip, then it would have been a

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fun trip, but it wasn't the trip that God had and I would have missed out on this one.

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So I think we have to be so careful to really seek God and make sure that we're following

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his instructions for what he has for us.

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Yeah, I know that one of the places I love to travel, you know, I love to see new places

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and go to new people and people ask me, oh, where's the favorite place you've been?

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And my general response is the next place I'm going to go.

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That's my favorite place.

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But I know that at one point I had really wanted to go to India.

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India just fascinated me and I had the opportunity to go to India.

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I mean, I was on a team and I was getting ready to go and, you know, it was a work team

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and I was going to get paid to go.

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And I just felt like the Lord said, no, this is not your trip.

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And so I went to my boss and said, I think I need to stay here for XYZ reasons and somebody

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else needs to take my place.

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And so I stayed behind and, you know, I didn't know why at the time it quickly became clear

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to me why the Lord wanted me to stay.

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And I was glad that I was obedient.

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And then years later I got to go, you know, in another context, I got to go to India.

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It was, you know, a desire of my heart that the Lord fulfilled for me.

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But it is, like you said, so important to understand the timing of God and not be swayed

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by our own emotions and our own desires, but to really submit those to the Lord because

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his ways are always the right ways.

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Well, Belinda, as we close, can you think of a woman in the Bible whose stories inspire

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or encourage us to respond to his call and how?

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Well, last time I was on your podcast, I responded about Abigail.

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And Abigail is my girl again this time.

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You know, I just love her story.

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I just love how, and again, she saw a pending crisis coming toward her household.

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She grabbed her resources.

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She took action and she went and she physically interceded on behalf.

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And she prevented a disaster from happening.

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And we're normally not in a position where we can prevent things from happening, especially

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when it comes to natural disasters.

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But we can still gather our resources and go and stand in the gap for people who are

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hurting and in need.

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And so I have to go with Abigail again.

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Yeah, yeah.

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She was in tune with what was going on around her.

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You know, she wasn't just in own cocoon.

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She listened.

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She listened and saw and responded.

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In Matthew 10 verse 16 in the New Living Translation, Jesus said, look, I am sending you out as

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sheep among wolves.

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So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.

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There's a quote that says God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

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And I found that to be true.

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So has Belinda.

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But God is always faithful to make a way where there seems to be no way.

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When we in faith respond to his leading, he may not ask you to travel to a disaster zone,

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although you should be open to that.

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He may ask you to get involved with a local ministry or to help a senior citizen or a

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single mom or a struggling neighbor or something that's totally different.

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Are you willing?

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Are you ready to say, yes, Lord, I'll go take a moment and think about it.

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What is God asking of you?

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Belinda, would you pray for everyone who's listening to this amazing story and for the

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people of Turkey and Syria who are struggling even to survive right now?

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I will.

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First, I want to share a few things about Turkey itself before we pray for Turkey.

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But some people may not know some of the significant places that Turkey has in scripture.

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The apostle Paul was born in Tarsus, which is a city in Turkey.

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The seven churches in the Book of Revelation are all in Turkey.

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We got a chance when we were there to visit Antioch, which was a city of 200,000.

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It was pretty much just devastated by the earthquake.

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But that is the biblical city of Antioch, which is where Paul was trained.

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It was called the cradle of Christianity.

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It's where the first followers of Christ were called Christians.

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And it was known as a mission's sending center to the Gentiles during that time.

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And it's considered a gateway, bridging Europe and Asia and the Middle East.

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Sadly, today, according to the Joshua Project, there's 99.2% of the population is in unreached

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people groups in Turkey.

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00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:04,120
This place, which was once a robust sending where the gospel went to the Gentiles after

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00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:09,240
the resurrection of Christ, is now largely unreached.

462
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,840
So I just wanted to share that.

463
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:19,960
And while I was there, I did get a chance to pray over, I shared about the Asbury experience

464
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and our leader said, maybe you can pray over us before you leave.

465
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So I got a chance to do that.

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And while I was there and my teammates joined in with me in the prayer, just praying that

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00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:37,120
Turkey would become once again, ascending place and that God would use this tragedy

468
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:43,800
as our leader said, this could be the time when people's hearts are so open that they're

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00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:48,080
going to be open to the gospel if the church steps in and does it.

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00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:52,040
So anyway, I just wanted to share that before we pray.

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00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:56,960
On another note, as you said, if the church steps in, we also, somebody cares, is also

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00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:01,340
partnering with local churches in Turkey who are opening their doors.

473
00:30:01,340 --> 00:30:02,340
They are helping.

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00:30:02,340 --> 00:30:08,640
They're reaching out as we're trying to send resources to local churches who are

475
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:13,200
helping people resettle and find shelter and groceries.

476
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:19,600
And also some local churches from the region that are going in and serving in Syria where

477
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,120
the earthquake damaged Syria too.

478
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:26,880
So yeah, the local church in those areas, I mean, they're small, but they're active

479
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:32,260
and we're doing everything we can to support their efforts to be the hands and feet of

480
00:30:32,260 --> 00:30:36,680
Jesus in their communities in the midst of tragedy.

481
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:37,680
They need our prayers too.

482
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:42,880
We got to visit a church when we were there that is down to two families because of deaths

483
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:44,800
and people moving.

484
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:49,120
And even the pastor had been through such tragic losses with his own family that the

485
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,600
church sent him away to recover.

486
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:56,040
So there's another couple that has stepped in and they're dealing with their own trauma

487
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,560
and their kids are dealing with trauma.

488
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:04,200
And the encouraging thing was the day that we went there, there were several other relief

489
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:08,200
agencies that had come that day as well to attend church there.

490
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,720
And so they had a full church for the first time in weeks.

491
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:16,480
And one of my teammates even did an impromptu survey and found out there were like 13 or

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00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,540
14 nations represented there.

493
00:31:18,540 --> 00:31:23,520
So again, it was that encouragement that God sees you, God sees you and he cares so much

494
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:29,640
that this little teeny church in downtown Iskandarun, I'm going to send 14 nations

495
00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,560
to you just to encourage you today.

496
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:37,640
So yeah, we need to keep the local church there in our prayers for their encouragement

497
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:38,640
as well.

498
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:39,640
Yeah.

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00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:41,200
Well, go ahead and lead us in prayer.

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00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:43,000
Father God, we thank you, Lord.

501
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:51,680
We thank you that nothing in this life happens without you having a plan and a purpose to

502
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:52,680
redeem it, Lord.

503
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:58,320
And you can take this tragedy and you can bring such a beautiful redemption, Father

504
00:31:58,320 --> 00:31:59,320
God.

505
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,440
You can turn hearts towards you, Lord.

506
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:04,600
You can encourage your church.

507
00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:08,200
You can call people to go, Father.

508
00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:14,080
And Lord, I just pray for every person right now who feels called to go with us to Turkey

509
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,800
or to Syria or to their next door neighbor, Father.

510
00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:25,760
We just pray that you would just encourage each person, encourage each of us to go where

511
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:30,480
you say to go, that you would just give us the words we need to speak, that you would

512
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:37,100
give us the finances we need, that you would give us the assurance that we need, that we're

513
00:32:37,100 --> 00:32:38,100
hearing your voice.

514
00:32:38,100 --> 00:32:45,080
Father God, we pray for all the people in this area who have been affected, Lord, the

515
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:50,360
people who have suffered loss of life and of family members' lives and of property

516
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,960
and just a way of life.

517
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,120
There's just people who have lost jobs.

518
00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,920
Father, we lift up each person to you, Father God.

519
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,760
And those who don't know you, we pray that their hearts will be open.

520
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:09,320
We pray that you would just arrange divine encounters for them to experience your love,

521
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:14,200
to meet believers who will share the love of Jesus with them, Father.

522
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,200
We pray for the churches of Turkey, Lord.

523
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:21,480
We pray for those who are, they're also suffering and yet they're serving their communities.

524
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,720
And we just pray that you would send them the resources they need, the help they need

525
00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:28,520
and the encouragement that they need, that you would lift them up and build them up as

526
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:29,520
well.

527
00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,120
Father, we thank you that you're faithful.

528
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,280
When you call us, you equip us.

529
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:39,520
And again, I just pray for every person out there who's listening, no matter what you're

530
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,800
calling them to do, that you would just give them the boldness and the courage just to

531
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:47,400
take that first step of faith, knowing that you'll meet them at that step and every step

532
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:48,400
along the way.

533
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,720
We love you, Lord, and we praise you in Jesus' name.

534
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:52,720
Amen.

535
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:53,760
Amen.

536
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:58,080
If you feel like the Lord is leading you to give for disaster relief efforts, you can

537
00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:00,160
go to somebodycares.org.

538
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:05,120
We are still accepting donations for the Turkey, Syria earthquake relief, as well as tornadoes

539
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:11,180
that recently just ripped through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia.

540
00:34:11,180 --> 00:34:15,660
So if you feel like you want to give to disaster relief efforts that will go through local

541
00:34:15,660 --> 00:34:20,440
churches to minister to their communities, give at somebodycares.org.

542
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:26,340
We also have a widow and orphan fund where we are reaching out to widows and orphans

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00:34:26,340 --> 00:34:28,220
around the world.

544
00:34:28,220 --> 00:34:32,480
And if you would like to be a part of a company of women helping widows and orphans, you can

545
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:36,840
also give at hergodstory.org.

546
00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:40,000
We can do so much more together than we can apart.

547
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,000
Thank you for tuning in.

548
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:45,320
In our show notes at hergodstory.org, you'll find scriptures and other information, as

549
00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:50,560
well as a link to the Crisis Response International disaster response training.

550
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:55,680
So if you're interested in becoming trained to be a responder, you'll be able to go to

551
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:58,520
that link and find out more information about that.

552
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:02,520
Don't forget to sign up for our emails and get a six-week devotional book you can download

553
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:07,880
for free, or you might want to purchase a 12-week devotional book for just $12, knowing

554
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,920
that all the proceeds will go to our widow and orphan fund.

555
00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:16,400
We'd love to pray with you also on our 24-7 prayer and text line, so give us a call or

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00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:21,280
text anytime at 855-459-CARE.

557
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,060
You could also email us at prayer at somebodycares.org.

558
00:35:25,060 --> 00:35:29,400
And now, dear friends, I bless you from Hebrews 13:21.

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00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:34,360
May God equip you with all you need for doing His will.

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00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:40,280
May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing

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00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:41,280
to Him.

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00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:45,640
Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and international.

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00:35:45,640 --> 00:36:05,760
To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.