Bethany Global Workers Retreat 2023

We received a call from our mechanic, Mark, in Tennessee this morning asking how our trip was going! I had taken the car in to get it checked over before leaving on this trip the end of April and he wanted to make sure we were doing all right. Mark knows something about member care, following up after providing care to see the results of his service were effective. 

Our 3 day global member care retreat here at Bethany in Minnesota followed a similar pattern. Bethany's global workers gathered to be updated on current developments in the mission (the mission is now called Bethany International instead of Bethany Gateways) and also to receive ministry in areas helpful to field workers. It was a chance for us to connect with workers serving in Africa, central Asia and South America and check in with them to see how they were doing. 

Alberta presented material on Grief and Loss and had lots of follow up questions and conversation about personal challenges people were experiencing. I (Steve) talked about expectations.  Healthy expectations can minimize stress but unrealistic or unrealized expectations have a major impact on global workers leaving their places of service. Thank you for your prayers for the retreat, it has been a precious time of developing relationships with Bethany workers we had not yet met.

Praise! Heather has landed a temporary assistant theatre director job in Scotland. In another development, she and a team of actors/writers have received a grant to develop a play around the book "Endurance" about Ernest Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica. Thanks for your prayers for her.

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for safety in travels and continued good connections with our supporters and friends. We will be stopping in Wisconsin Sunday to visit a Bethany worker we met in Chiang Mai who has been diagnosed with cancer. Her daughter and son in law - also global workers, are home from the field to be with their mom. Pray for us as we come alongside them in this difficult time.

2. Pray for Alberta as she shifts into high gear - preparing to teach the "Equipping Women" seminar on line starting June 27th. We won't be home yet so she will need to login from Indiana!

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta