Hungry for Peace Continued
I was hungry for peace, desperate for sincere comfort and encouragement that was from people who could help me through this crises. There were a few who offered me comfort, one had me read 2 Tim 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." After reading this verse I finally realized what real joy was--a gift from God. All of the fear I had felt disappeared and I knew everything would be all right. Not that I knew I would survive, but I knew that God was in control of my life and no matter what--I would be OK.
Eventually I realized that other people did not know what to do, what to say or even how to act. They were ill prepared to appreciate what I had been going through, they were fearful of hurting me or embarrassing themselves and they could not help. My belief that people needed training deepened when I discovered I was not alone in having this need.
My experiences and observations made the discovery of Overcomers and what they were doing, a blessing to me: a blessing and a personal calling.
At that time, for 6 years they had been offering comfort and encouragement to people who were suffering from cancer, martial problems, concerns with their children and other tribulations.
My visions of helping people by offering comfort and encouragement training through churches fit wonderfully into what Overcomers was already doing.
Before deciding to join Overcomers I asked myself several questions:
"What pastor would not want a prayer ministry that effectively ministered to their flock in their time of need? "
"What pastor would not want a group of members trained on comfort and encouragement and prayer?"
"If members of a church became more involved in ministering to those around them, would not that church, either large or small benefit greatly?"
"Were there more people like myself who wanted to help hurting people?"
With these thoughts in mind, I felt lead to become involved in Overcomers ministry.
Ten years later I was diagnosed with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. News none of us want to hear. My thoughts were more for my family than for myself this time. I know where I am going and God has a tremendous plan for me. In spite of oral chemotherapy twice a day my energy levels have steadily increased affording me the opportunity to continue God’s ministry with little interruption.
Today, Overcomers offers Personal Encouragement and Training to churches to help create an atmosphere where members can help members through prayer. Our own Personal Encouragement Team will help those who contact us on the Internet or by phone. In addition we will be available to help church members needing confidential prayer request. Our immediate intention is to offer training in Comforting Comfortably to church members, and a new Addiction Ministry for addicts and their families (focusing on Sexual Addiction) but open to other addictions.
Tony Brocato
Executive Director
For more information on how Overcomers is helping hurting people, please check out the information under “Equipping Those Who Care”.
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