Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Written by: Tiffany Jacox, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Bellevue, Nebraska

One of my favorite things to do is to encourage others to see themselves the way God created them. People often struggle to see exactly where they fit in or to see the gifts with which God has equipped them. There are many reasons for these doubts and many of us have shared in that same struggle.

We can put our faith in the truth of God’s Word and use that truth to weed out the lies of Satan. We were created by God on purpose for a purpose! Jeremiah 29:11 states, "'ForI know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'”

Every person on this planet was created by God, in the image of God for God’s purpose. Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

God created each of us for His purpose and provided us each with special gifts to do His good work. Ephesians 2:10 affirms, “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

No two people are exactly the same. God did that on purpose! I encourage you to read through 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. You will see those gifts explained and that we are instructed to use our gifts in love. We come together as the body of Christ, made up of many members—all of equal importance using our individual gifts together as the complete body of Christ. Doing our part in love allows God’s love to shine through. “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

We don’t have to worry about being perfect or doing it all. God provided us with others to help lighten the load and encourage us and He is also working in you! “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).

We are to love one another; it is the second greatest commandment behind loving God with all that we are and all that we have. That means celebrating what each of us has to offer because God specifically equipped each one of us. It means coming together and sharing in one another’s joy and in one another’s pain and weakness. It means sharing in our good works that come from our deep faith and love of Christ. 1 Timothy 6:18 states, “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.”

No doubts. No comparisons. Just a celebration of the gifts each of us has been given to use in our part of God’s story.

As a ministry, we strive to celebrate diversity and to equip others to do the same. We celebrate the different parts everyone plays in the body of Christ. We love the different colored roses, all precious to the Divine Gardener, and the different stages of life and of growth that each rose finds herself in.

Our Divine Creator made us of every nation, tribe, people, and language. And I cannot wait until we get to heaven and sing as one voice, praising the Lamb!

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb... with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”...and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
(portions of Rev. 7:9-12, emphasis added)

In the meantime, to borrow from the Disney movie, Alice in Wonderland, my question for reflection is whether or not we are “painting the roses red”?

Are we celebrating the parts others play or are we painting the roses red?
Are we rejoicing in the beauty of the diversity of skin color our Creator has given us or are we painting the roses red?
Are we striving to allow each color rose to find her place in the kingdom, in service to the King, and in our hearts? Or, are we like the queen who only wanted red roses to begin with?

In 2019, Iron Rose Sister Ministries determined that the theme for the month of June would be “Celebrating the Parts Others Play.” I believe the Holy Spirit was guiding us to a timely encouragement and reflection. If there is any way that I, personally, or the ministry as a whole, can help encourage and equip you to celebrate the beautiful diversity that the Creator designed, please let me know.

May we avoid the fallacy of painting the roses red and may we lovingly serve as iron sharpening iron to one another if we perceive that another sister is doing so. I give you permission to call me out if you think I, in any way, am “painting the roses red.”

I love you my beautiful sisters of all shapes, sizes, colors, and perspectives. Thank you for being who you are and for sharing your lives with us.
M.

“Painting the Roses Red” video
Photo credit: “Queen Yelling Alice, Cards Painting Roses Red – Painting The Roses Red, Disney”
https://www.pngkit.com/view/u2w7e6r5w7r5e6y3_queen-yelling-alice-cards-painting-roses-red-painting/

I confess that when it comes time to read the passages of Scripture that include a genealogy, I do not read all of the words, nor all of the names. Since I cannot pronounce many of the names and I know none of them personally, I see it as a boring facet of Bible ready. Until I pass a name of someone whose story I am familiar with, or I see the name of a woman, for example, I don’t stop to consider the lives of each person listed.

In Matthew’s genealogical account, five women are mentioned (four by name: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Maria, and Bathsheba by reference). But what if any of the men or women listed had not lived his or her life?

Matthew speaks of the fourteen generations between Abraham and David, the fourteen between David and the Babylonian exile, and the fourteen from the exile to Christ. Would we get to Jesus without the life of Nashon, the father of Salmon? What if Eleazar weren’t the father of Matthan? Salmon was Boaz’s father, who we know well from Ruth’s story. Matthan was the father of “and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (Mt. 1:16).

Each one of these characters were real people in the Bible story, the Bible history. They lived here on the earth and played their part in the story of Christ. If it were not for each one of them, we would not have the opportunity to know Christ as our Lord and Savior. Each one had their part in what we now celebrate as the greatest story ever told.

Sometimes we wish we could live a big story of great impact. A recent college graduate wants to get a job where she will make a difference and do great things. The preacher wants to prepare awesome sermons that bring many to Christ.

But not everyone has a “big” part. Not everyone can. Not everyone should.
¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? (1 Cor. 12:17-19)

God places every member of the body exactly where He knows they fit best. He chose each person in the genealogy in order that, through them, His Son would come to earth.

But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand. (Is. 64:8)

Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? (Rom. 9:21)

Thanks be to God, the Potter, for making us part of His body. Thanks be to God for using us as a small part of His big story, especially when we feel that our part is not as grand, impactful, or important as we had hoped. Without your part, God cannot do all of what He wants to do in the body. And without the parts that others play, we cannot fulfill His plan.

We don’t know what God will do with each part, but we will understand later with 20/20 hindsight. Meanwhile, let’s trust Him and celebrate the parts that everyone has in the body!

P.S. Congratulations and Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads who play their part in the kingdom, in our lives, and in God’s body!

Celebrating the Portuguese Parts... Yes! We are advancing with our Portuguese resources!
Interview with Sabrina Nino de Campos

MICHELLE: Tell us a little about yourself and your relationship with Iron Rose Sister Ministries, especially in light of what you are doing now.

SABRINA: I am Sabrina Nino and I am Brazilian. When I was 17, I started a missionary program for young people in Brazil. I studied for a year and then went to Bolivia for my internship. There, I met my husband, John, and later Michelle, at different church camp events.

in 2017, I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, after visiting my family in Brazil. I spent two years total in Argentina, marrying my husband six months after moving there. John was already working there as a missionary with the church there.

Our desire, our plan was to move to the U.S. to study, living near my husband’s family, but my mom suffered a stroke and spent nearly a month in a coma. We left for Brazil immediately to support the family. After her health became more stable, we returned to our plan of moving to the U.S. for our studies. Currently, we are living in the same city as my in-laws and working with the Hispanic congregation while we proceed with our online coursework.

When I first met Michelle at the camp in Bolivia, I also got to know Iron Rose Sister Ministries. I fell in love with the idea of a ministry dedicated to women. Loved it. There’s a picture from that day... of a woman praying with me. We were totally opposite. We had nothing in common. Yet when we prayed for each other, it was so beautiful. I teared up from the deep love we shared as two very different women, coming together in that way.

(See right: Sabrina and Alejandra pictured from that day.)

As I continued with classes for the women in Bolivia, it encouraged me to find different activities for the women, strengthening the relationships amongst ourselves.

Later, when I went to Argentina, we started using Iron Rose Sister Ministries’ Bible study books. I enjoyed working with women’s ministry. It was challenging because the women were different from me and from others I had worked with, from different countries and other differences. But the books helped me to be more involved in the women’s ministry.

My mom always taught women’s classes and at age 10, she had me teaching classes! I didn’t know anything, but it instilled in me a love for giving women’s classes. It’s like it was in my blood.

When we first met, I asked you, Michelle, if Iron Rose Sister Ministries had any resources in Portuguese. She said that it was their desire and that Portuguese would be the next language they would add. However, at that time, there were other projects in the works, and they couldn’t dedicate themselves to that task at that time. I gave you my email address and we promised to keep in touch, awaiting God’s timing.

My desire continued and even grew, but from both sides, there were many obstacles and other priorities that hindered us from taking up the project of translating the materials to Portuguese. We were not in contact constantly, but the friendship continued, and I stayed connected with the ministry and its resources.

Fast forward to now, after several months of no correspondence because of what was happening with my mom’s health, I wrote Michelle an email to ask how the Portuguese project was coming along. It had become something that never left my mind. It stayed there until it became something that had to happen. One day, it was the only thing I could think about. So, I decided to sit down and write you.

Turns out, instead of responding to my email, you called right away.

MICHELLE: Okay, I need to insert something from my perspective here... I remember that day clearly. I called you because I had been praying for God to give us wisdom and direction during the pandemic. The night before and the morning I received your email, I was spending extra time praying about it. Then, when I got your email, I thanked God and called you.

Then, a few days later, Brenda Brizendine, one of our Team Members, called me on behalf of Nathan Holland, a missionary to Angola (a country where Portuguese is also spoken). He had returned to the U.S. with his family in light of the pandemic, but was taking advantage of the time to concentrate on a project we had discussed previously: the translation of Iron Rose Sister Ministries’ materials to Portuguese.

Nathan wrote me a lengthy email explaining that an Angolan sister, Dina, an official translator, had lost her job and now had greater availability to translate some of the Bible materials for the church.

I won’t go into all the details of each step that’s been taken or what each person is doing, but I never cease to be amazed at how God works. Only He can bring together a group of people, each with their respective talents, passions, and interests, in order that more women can be encouraged and equipped to connect to Himself and to other women more deeply.

SABRINA: Yes! It all came together in the perfect moment. Dina and Nathan appeared exactly when she needed a job and some guidance. Everything developed quickly, affirming that God was coordinating it all.

One of the ways I have been edified by working with this project is that... Well, since I had to leave Buenos Aires without being able to say goodbye, and then, while in Brazil, I was unable to be involved with any type of church activity. Since being here, I haven’t been able to do much while I await my immigration papers. I was greatly encouraged to finally be involved in something I am passionate about and that drew me closer to my Christian sisters and to God. I think I felt like I was on stand-by. Starting on this project has relit the spark inside of me.

From one day to the next, when I finally felt ready to serve, God gave me a purpose. I wanted to do it, and with the support of Nathan, Dina, Brenda, Michelle, Iron Rose Sister Ministries... it has all flowed so well.

MICHELLE: I have been highly encouraged by Sabrina and Dina’s comments regarding how much they have been edified through their translation of the resources. They have been encouraged, equipped, and inspired to encourage, equip, and inspire others, all to God’s glory. Each one is doing her part and I give so much thanks to God for what they and others have done and will do for other women, now also in Portuguese!

P.S. If you are interested in getting involved in this project or another area of Iron Rose Sister Ministries, please let us know. We would love to help you use your talents as a part you can play in the Lord’s work.

Written by Michelle J. Goff, Founder and Director of Iron Rose Sister Ministries

After nine long months of waiting, it was finally here! Not a baby, but what felt like “my baby” at the time. Late April 2014, after having filed all the paperwork for Iron Rose Sister Ministries to be registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the U.S., our letter of approval arrived, retroactive to our date of incorporation, July 26, 2013.

While most people don’t jump up and down when they receive a letter from the IRS, I did that day! Bounding inside from the mailbox, I couldn’t stop jumping up and down, squealing, unable to contain my excitement! But no one else was home. There was no one with whom to share my joy.

The two very large dogs that belonged to my sister and brother-in-law sensed the celebration and began jumping too, easily reaching my height. Thanking them for their exuberance, I clarified that the excitement was not really theirs to share. Retreating to a dog-free location, I debated who to call first who would share in my unbridled joy.

I did not want to celebrate alone. No one wants to celebrate alone. Those who have been with us in the struggle celebrate the most together in the victory.

We see this beautifully illustrated through three parables in Luke 15: The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son (aka Prodigal Son).

The shepherd, after losing one of his hundred sheep, leaves the flock together and goes after the one that has strayed.

“And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep’” (Luke 15:5-6 NIV).

The same happens with the woman who lost one of her ten coins. “And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin’” (Luke 15:9).

Not coincidentally, both of those parables conclude with the direct interpretation of the parable: There is great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.

There is no more beautiful thing to celebrate together than a baptism, nothing more precious than someone who returns to God and His family after having strayed far from Him. Hallelujah! Amen!

I have tasted the joy and cried grateful tears at the return of a beloved child to her Father. Yet I have also been in the trenches of prayer through the watches of the night for those who have abandoned what they knew to chase other distractions, pursuits, or little “g” gods.

If you are the person who has strayed, please know that our Heavenly Father’s open arms are awaiting your return and that we will be there with Him and the angels, rejoicing! We can’t wait to celebrate your redemption together!

If you are the person who has someone close to you who has wandered from the Way, I grieve with you. It is a tremendous loss and sadness that no one wants to experience. However, I offer you the hope of the resurrection. While you grieve, maybe a child who has abandoned the teaching you know you provided, I want you to know that you are not alone. And please know that we Iron Rose Sisters are here to pray with you now and to celebrate together upon your child’s return. God loves him/her even more than you do, and He can’t wait to be the one to start the celebration!

“’Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:23b-24).

“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
Ephesians 4:16

Being part of a church family means you often hear lessons about doing your part in the “one-another-ness.” We are all expected to offer whatever it is we think we can contribute when it comes to serving and giving to others. The church is one body with many parts, right?

As I have worked with various congregations and small groups over the years, I have noticed an area of vulnerability that many people share when it comes to this aspect of spiritual living. Anyone can carve out time for things like reading scripture and prayer. Giving a percentage of your income is easy enough to calculate. But what about when you are expected to give of your own talents? This is where the lies creep in.

One of the biggest lies people in the church allow themselves to believe is: “I don’t have anything to offer.” It is easy to see the strengths, skills, and contributions of others who serve openly and think, “I can’t do anything like that.” We don’t identify the gifts and talents that come naturally as God-given abilities that can and should be used for His glory.

So how do we combat this lie when it creeps in and keeps us from participating as part of the body? The truth is that we each have specific gifts, skills, and strengths to contribute to the body of Christ. Each member is irreplaceable. I love the New Living Translation of Ephesians 4:16:
“As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

The body cannot grow if each part is not doing its own special work. My prayer is that each of us will boldly claim the God-given skills and strengths we have been given so that His body may grow to be healthy and full of love.

Take a moment to reflect: What are some of your gifts and talents? How can you encourage your Iron Rose Sisters to use their gifts and talents to contribute to the growth of the body?

*Written by Rachel Baker for Iron Rose Sister Ministries blog, June 2020