I have been privileged to see God glorified and magnified
by the events of the past 5 days. Throughout
our visit, the BABR staff witnessed as to how the LORD led them to serve at
BABR and why they were committed to do so for as long as He called them
too. Their joy and enthusiasm was
contagious and we had deep respect for their role in serving Him.
Our team
also, through prayer and commitment to serving God, worked in beautiful concert
together to serve and make the Retreat a wonderful experience for all
involved. This was made possible by
God’s grace and was lovely to witness.
As leader, I never heard a cross word or complaint from anyone! All problem solving was done gracefully and
solutions were quickly reached as our primary intent was to serve the Navajo
women by serving God first! Wow! What a blessing to be part of the trouble
shooting and to feel the Holy Spirit’s guiding hand!
The Navajo
women were so delighted and happy to come to the Retreat to fellowship, worship
and learn about God’s teachings! Their
joy was evident on their sweet faces and they were very gracious with all the
team. Many new friendships were formed
between the women and the team. As leader, I felt very privileged to witness
our team bonding with the women.
In
reflection of all these events, the Holy Spirit taught me how all this fit
together as the body of Christ in action to glorify and magnify the LORD. Vertical action represents glorifying the
LORD and horizontal action represents magnification of the LORD.
The BABR
staff, because of their commitment and dedication to the LORD, formed the
foundation to make the Retreat possible.
They committed their energy and attention to doing the LORD’s will
(vertical action) and the result was BABR and the women’s Retreat (horizontal
action). Our team, because of their
desire to serve the LORD and their commitment to prayer (vertical action) were
able to come together and learn to work as a team dedicated to gracefully serve
the Navajo women and to show them the LORD’s love and generosity (horizontal
action).
The Navajo
women, many who are pastors’ wives, Bible teachers and first timers, came to the Retreat because they love God and
desire to worship Him above all (vertical action). They experienced love from the staff and from
the team and immensely enjoyed the fellowship of their old friends, new friends
and the creative crafts and hilarious games that were played! Laughter and singing abounded! All of this
was the horizontal action of magnifying the LORD.
But
wait! This isn’t the end of God’s plan
or the end of how the body of Christ is working! The glorification of God and the
magnification of His love becomes an ever ending ripple effect as each person shares
their story about God touching their lives in some way because of the
Retreat. The staff was encouraged and
greatly pleased at how smoothly the Retreat went and how God was present and
will continue on, fortified, to share the Gospel and have other God centered
events at BABR. Our team was amazed and
overjoyed with God’s power and Presence in all aspects of the Retreat and are
enthusiastic about continuing to serve Him however He chooses. And the Navajo women will share their stories
about how they were filled up with His Grace and how they were encouraged by
Leslie’s teachings on how to soar through their problems on the updrafts of
God’s endless love. And personally, as
leader , I am renewed and am rededicating my life to serving Him, the King of
Kings, LORD of LORDs, ruler of heaven and earth. I look forward to my next mission and next
adventure in serving our God!
Linda Martin - Team Co-leader
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