Christian Unity Ministries

Unity News

May, 2007

The God of All Comfort

by Blake Coffee

I have seen II Corinthians 1:4 illustrated many times, particularly in my continuing experience with support group ministries. But I may have never seen it as vivid as with Becky's Hope Ministries on my recent trip to Cluj, Romania.

In the mountains of Transylvania, about 15 kilometers west of the gypsy town of Huedin, lies a beautiful mountain valley. Tucked away about half way up the mountain on the south side of the valley is a Christian conference center which, once or twice a year, becomes a place of retreat and rejuvenation for a growing group of moms who know more than most of us about the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles .

These moms are special, because most of them have been blessed with a special needs child. Some of them have already given some of the most productive years of their lives for these dear children. The rest of them will almost certainly do so before their time on this earth is over. With God's help, Becky's Hope Ministry finds these moms and brings them together at this retreat center (free of charge) for rest, comfort, equipping and Spiritual feeding.

My privilege on these four beautiful Spring days in March was to join God in His ministry of comfort to approximately 40 of these moms and handful of pastors who all serve as small group leaders to the hundreds of others who will come in the Summer retreat. I went to teach about relationships, particularly with other Christians. But as usual, I quickly became the student.

Watching these moms struggle with Spiritual concepts of reconciliation and restoration, I saw (again) that these Biblical truths have just as much meaning in the painful lives of these dear sacrificial moms as in any other lives in any other circumstances. I saw these dear friends reading the stories from God's Word, weeping over the truths they found, and finding healing from some of their deep-seated wounds—even wounds inflicted by other Christians and by churches. I saw God's Word find application in the lives of people with whom I truly have only one thing in common: the Spirit of God. I felt my own faith taking root all the more deeply as I

watched these moms in small groups hugging each other and crying together over God's Word.

My responsibility in Romania was to teach. But my privilege was meeting the Spirit of God in the hearts of my new Romanian sisters and brothers and seeing a beautiful example of Christ through their servant lives. My lesson was that God's truths know no cultural boundaries, nor are they limited in any way by painful circumstances. In fact, maybe they are enriched by painful circumstances.

That, at least, is how I saw it.

___________________________________________________