When one of the leaders of YWAM Constanta came and told me about having the whole base set aside the month of September to seek God in prayer and fasting, I was a bit skeptical. What do you mean, we are going to put a hold on all the ministries we normally do and spend that time in prayer? One of the ministry teams I am a part of decided to cancel all our normally scheduled ministries.
So we came together as an entire base community Monday through Friday each morning to spend time in worship and prayer. It was a struggle at first, but then God showed up in big ways! We found ourselves repenting over not putting Him first in our lives personally but also corporately. We have been more focused on making God known in our city and forgetting about knowing Him. This was really putting the cart before the horse. One of the scriptures that came up was from Acts 6:4 where the disciples devoted themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. This is the place where our ministry should come from. We then came back to the scripture from John 15 and how we are to abide in Jesus and out of that will come fruit that will remain. Our staff were on our faces before a holy God repenting about not abiding in Him and just focusing on making Him known. Our intentions were good but we were forgetting about abiding in the One who deserves all the glory and honor.
As the weeks went on we could see a refining process happening with all of us. Praise God He was working on our hearts and bringing us into a unity we have not seen for a while. There has been a new joy and freedom in our community. We spent time remembering all that God did in the past and the different words from Him. This has flowed well into repenting of where we have strayed from those words and bringing us into realignment with what He has spoken.
I have worked with YWAM Constanta for 12 years now and this has been the most significant season for me and I can see God moving more than ever. A major reason for this, was simply setting aside our daily practical ministries to seek God’s face, worship Him, and see where He will lead us for the future. One scripture that has come up multiple times during this time is Isaiah 43:18-19 which says, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” We see that God wants to do a new thing in our community and the city. I’m super excited what this will be like not only in Constanta but also in our region!
Sarah Barrnad
Sarah Barnard is from the USA but has lived overseas for more than 16 years. She has served with YWAM Constanta since 2005, leading the DTS and cafe ministry, serving in different mercy ministries- like Henri Coanda.
She has a passion for studying and teaching God’s word- and always brings out new perspectives in a refreshing way.
She is part of the Mission Innovation team in YWAM Constanta- serving the region of Central Europe.
Sarah always brings life and fun wherever she goes- and she loves a good party!!
She is married to James, and together they have a little sweet girl, Emma.