“I wondered how we had survived when others didn’t.
Now I know that it was God who saved us because others were praying for us.”
Zoya’s words to us were filled with tears as she shared how she and her family narrowly escaped being crushed by falling trees during a wind storm as they recently were driving home. That evening we had talked about the many people who were praying for the conference and the pastors and wives who would attend. Zoya realized that this was God’s answer to her question and it was a great reminder to us that the Mighty One hears our prayers even when we don’t know all of the details in advance. Thank you for praying!
There is something amazing that takes place when you bring together a group of pastors and wives and release them from being the leaders in their churches for a week. The Good Shepherd who abides in us sets the table by offering time to rest, pray, study His Word, go for walks as couples and rekindle our love for one another and calling as ministry leaders. The Good Shepherd meets us where we are and fills us.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” John 15:10
Throughout the week we looked at what it means to abide in Christ and how to run the race set before us. Pastor Will brought inspiring insights and practical ideas for serving as shepherds and our friends from Central Asia taught on resolving conflict and managing expectations. All were strengthened. [read more on MissionMakr…]
“One day I received a phone call from Pastor Nikolay. He asked if my wife and I would like to come to a pastors conference. So I called my wife and asked her. She was silent and I wondered had happened. She had started to cry. For years she had been asking God to provide a way for us to spend some time together as just husband and wife. We were tired. It had been twelve years since we had been away together like this.” – Andrei and Katya
When was the last time you wrote a love letter to your spouse? If you are like many, it’s been awhile.
At our conference we give couples time to assess their common vision, pray together, discuss family and ministry priorities and strengthen their communication. Learning to regularly share our deep love and appreciation for our spouse is important if we want to Go the Distance in our marriage and ministry. We ask each couple to write a love letter as a special ticket to get into our Friday Romantic Evening.
Your partnership makes this possible. Thank you!
Rick and Diana Lowe
And the Shepherds’ Support Board: Steve and Connie Troxel, David and Beth Butler, Stuart Hendry, Lannie and Melba Green, Jack and Nancy Shirley, Sid and Zane Williams
Coming Up Next
We are currently praying about the opportunities that the Lord is spreading before us for 2018 and beyond. We have a conference scheduled for Peru in January, Guatemala in May and several others later in the year. Please continue to pray for the Lord’s wisdom and resources to better encourage, equip and engage pastors and wives serving in His kingdom work.
You can learn more about the conference, sign up for updates or donate to support the conference by going to: shepherdssupport.org/ministry-trips