The Great Spirit walks with us through times of trouble, giving us courage and well-being so that we can give to others the same comfort given to us. We need your prayers, for as you send your voice to the Great Spirit, many will see in our lives the answers to your many prayers and give God thanks. -1 Corinthians 1:4 and 11 First Nations Version 

On my rainy walk this morning, many of my global partners came to mind and I was compelled to not only pray for them but to invite you to join me in those prayers. After all, you make it possible for me to work alongside these folks as I’ve served in my role as Global Consultant for Training with the Restorative Arts with International Ministries. Cuba, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ecuador, the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Kenya, Lebanon, Ukraine and more places and faces come to mind, making me both smile and sigh.

I smile when Ernesto shares that he’s getting close to finishing his Doctor of Ministry dissertation focused on how he implemented what he learned from our Expressive Arts in Transition training in Cuba to support community youth during the Covid 19 crisis. I smile when my Costa Rican friend Ruth invites me to collaborate with her to offer creative conflict transformation training to women and young girls in Costa Rica.  When Idaliana shares a poem, Eloy sends photos, Leslia and Marybexy write notes of thanks, or Oseth asks me how I need prayer, I smile. Their greetings remind me that together we are God’s answer to our prayers. I’m deeply grateful to them and all of you for the witness, commitment and encouragement that prod me to deeper faith and action.

I sigh as well, because along with everyday graces and gifts, grief and heartache touch us too. I sigh as I listen to Aida, Gabriela, and Elizabeth’s stories of the littles, the elders, the students and professors, the healthcare workers and those who’ve stayed in their home countries when others have left.  I sigh in sacred trust that God sees and strengthens the hundreds of internally displaced folk now staying at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Beirut, Lebanon in seminary housing where I stayed when visiting there. I remember the hummus and hospitality I enjoyed, and pray that the abundance of God’s love will bring comfort, courage and well-being to them as it did for me. These are just a few of the many challenges held alongside of the courage I witness.

 The resilience and creativity of my friends in the midst of difficulty inspires and motivates me to do all that I can to stand with them. Here’s how I need your prayers and support for the doors God has opened to partner with these wonderful colleagues–

1. In order to continue offering training and in person support to my colleagues around the world, I need to enlarge my team of monthly supporters who are called to a ministry of financial giving to make this possible. For those of you who like specifics, this would mean 15 new givers at $200 per month or 30 at $100 per month or 60 at $50 per month. Acknowledging that as we enter the Fall and begin to wrap up the year, you will be receiving a number of worthy requests for your solidarity and support; World Mission Offering, charities and political campaigns, and GoFundMe’s galore. It can get overwhelming, and yet, I want you to know that I need your prayers and your support. You can easily sign up to be on my team as a monthly supporter at this link:

https://internationalministries.org/author/m-baits/. If you need help setting this up please reach out to me at mylindabaits.gmail.com

2. We have been invited to expand the reach of our Expressive Arts in Transition pilot project in Cuba. After successfully graduating 8 certified EXIT facilitators, both the University of Holguin and a group in Santiago want to offer our arts-based psychosocial training program in their communities. We thank God for the $4000 already donated towards the $25,000 we need to complete these two new cohorts in 2025. If being a part of making the first ever Expressive Arts in Transition training in all of Latin America possible, will you consider giving a year-end gift? Any gift you can make will be helpful. By giving to this pilot project fund, you will make training and supervision available to those who are closest to the situation at hand. They hear the stories of struggle, they see the lonely elders and comfort the grieving children, sharing love by being the tangible expression of compassionate justice. You can donate directly at this link: https://internationalministries.org/expressive-arts-in-transition-exit/

3. At the end of this month I will be joining a small group of Global Consultants to accompany our colleague Kristy Engle and meet with ministry partners of the Hungarian Baptist Aid Society. We will visit ministry sites and encourage those involved in vital and life transforming ministries of care and comfort to those impacted by the war in Ukraine. I will facilitate an artful healing gathering with some key leaders there. Please pray that this time will be what is needed for the soul care of those gathered.

For those of you who are already part of my team, I can’t thank you enough. Thank you for your ongoing and faithful support. For those of you who, like me, smile and sigh at the beauty and brutality, gifts and griefs, resilience and raw realities of our world and want to DO something to make a difference, you are.

Praying that you will see in our lives the answers to your many prayers and give God thanks.

Mylinda