The following is an adaptation of the message I delivered that evening in the shadow of the cross.

We’re home! The Sarlos and Zappacostas have returned, and we are thankful for God’s blessing in travel, health, and safety. Thank you to all of you who prayed and supported us. You were there with us in the Spirit of God.

I want to suggest that the Bible does not see suffering as something that interrupts our ministry as servants of Christ, but rather, suffering is itself a type of ministry; one that the Church and our world desperately need to witness. I want to call all of us to prepare and lean into a ministry of suffering.