Follow
our founder on Twitter
or Facebook!
- Help us spread the word by clicking
or
on any page to tell your friends!
Click below
for web pages
Encouraging Those who Live with Chronic
Illness or Pain
Each
month we receive prayer requests from
people looking for prayer support and
encouragement.
The
Encourager's Club is a group of about
70 volunteers who receive the prayer requests.
You can respond to whatever ones you want,
by simply praying, or writing them an
email to let them know s/he is in your
prayers.
We
have 2 Encourager's Clubs - 1 for men
and 1 for women. Read more below!
Each
of us has a ministry. For many of
us that ministry is the gift of
encouragement.
We may not be thrilled with our
circumstances in life right now,
but we do know that we have
made it this far because we have
chosen to move closer to
God, not further away.
We
remember the days when we didn't
feel this way. (We still even have
them occasionally!) But we want
to tell someone else that we have
walked that walk and we understand
the emotional and physical pain
that they are facing. We can be
real with them. We can listen. We
can tell them to hang in there.
Whether
you are a man or woman, young or
old, you and your experiences can
encourage someone else on this difficult
journey of chronic illness.
When
the application is received you
will be "invited to join the
Encourager Club Ministry" through
Yahoo Groups, which is the service
we use.
Be
sure to respond and accept the invitation.
You can start to respond and send
people encouragement when you get
the prayer requests that come through
the Yahoogroup. You
can get a log here for convenience.
[.pdf]
Lisa
sends you out a volunteer welcome
packet and a "welcome CD"
to listen to and send your accepted
application is forwarded to Jake,
The Encourager Club coordinator.
Jake
assigns you a "care group leader"
to be a friend and overseer to make
sure you TOO are being prayed for,
etc.
Listen
to the CD, send back the forms requested.
Jake
also drops a yellow Encourager folder
in the mail for you with other items.
Be sure to check out other encouraging
resources here.
We
also have an Encourager's Club group
in the Sunroom.
You will be "invited"
to join this. If you don't you will
miss out on important information,
so be sure to say "Yes!"
This is how Jake will correspond
with you. You can also post questions
you have about encouraging, scriptures
you like to use to encourage others,
whatever!
A
note from Cynthia "Jake" Simons Trench,
Encourager Coordinator
"In
trying to raise a family while enduring
illness God has blessed me more than I
knew He could. My family is truly been
transformed. Within the last year, my
husband has become to me as Christ is
to His church, my children have become
close friends, and I seem to gain daily
new friends, who also struggle to meet
the days mountainous challenges in their
own pain.
God
has enabled me to love and comfort His
people like never before. I am looking
forward to doing the same within Rest
Ministries. I have found much comfort
here and I pray, given back the same comfort.
My
top favorite things to do include: hanging
out with my husband, my kids, inner city
service, Isaiah 58 service to new friends,
pain and illness support group. First
in my life is God, then my husband, my
kids, and others God brings my way. I
am amazed at the new friends God has blessed
me with! I look forward to getting to
know you as you join us as an encourager."
Jake
Why
I Encourage... A Volunteer Shares
I
call people about once per month on
average and write or email about three
times per week. I like to encourage
others because it makes me put my own
problems into perspective and to know
that I am not alone. It helps me get
my mind off myself, and I enjoy relating
to others and learning their stories
and listening to their ups and downs.
It also makes me feel good to share
what God has asked me to share.
God
has put within me the desire to encourage
and the joy that comes from touching
others with a part of Him.
2
Cor. 1:4 says: "(God) comforts us in
all our affliction so that we may be
able to comfort those who are in any
affliction with the comfort with which
we ourselves are comforted by God."
Encouraging others encourages me.
Yes,
quite often people respond with e-mails
or nice cards saying they were very
blessed and encouraged to receive a
note or e-mail from someone who is praying
and who understands.
Some
people have very little contact
with others who are chronically
ill, so it's a breath of fresh
air when someone actually
cares and can relate without
condemning or rejecting. It
does make me feel good to
know that I've brought a small
piece of joy from God the
Father to someone else and
perhaps alleviated a bit of
their pain for awhile. God
says we are to "bear one anothers'
burdens (with long suffering)
and so fulfill the law of
Christ" (Gal. 6:4).
That
is why we are here--to love
one another, for love is the
only thing that lasts. Not to
do so is to ignore Jesus's desire
for the church to function healthily.
Let's work together to build
up one another and so strengthen
the body of Christ as we reach
out to those in pain with His
heart.
Sincerely, Laurie Alloway
Books
that Offer Encouragement During Difficult
or Depressing Times
Follow
our founder on 
on any page to tell your friends! 
Each
of us has a ministry. For many of
us that ministry is the gift of
encouragement.
"In
trying to raise a family while enduring
illness God has blessed me more than I
knew He could. My family is truly been
transformed. Within the last year, my
husband has become to me as Christ is
to His church, my children have become
close friends, and I seem to gain daily
new friends, who also struggle to meet
the days mountainous challenges in their
own pain. 
Yes,
quite often people respond with e-mails
or nice cards saying they were very
blessed and encouraged to receive a
note or e-mail from someone who is praying
and who understands. 
