{Now Closed} Fostering Friendships in Ministry, a Recipe, and a {GIVEAWAY}!

Koinonia

A Greek word (κοινωνία) that means communion by intimate participation. It is used frequently in the New Testament, in passages such as Acts 2:44-47 as a way to describe the communion and fellowship in the church community.

We used to go to a Sunday School class named Koinonia. We loved that class. They lived out the meaning of their name every day! The word “koinonia” appears 19 times in most editions of the Greek New Testament. In the New American Standard Bible, it is translated “fellowship” twelve times, “sharing” three times, and “participation” and “contribution” twice each.* It is active, involved.

One of the most common discussions I have with women who are in ministry is how difficult it is to foster friendships. The life of a woman in ministry can be lonely. We struggle with finding boundaries. We struggle with feeling like a work-horse and nothing else. And sometimes the result is that we lose the joy of serving God and serving His people. Isn’t it amazing how a lack of friendship can have a ripple effect of that magnitude!

My mission today is to encourage you to invest. Invest yourself. Like I said, the idea of “koinonia” is active. It requires contribution and participation! How do I do this? By creating opportunities for friendships to develop.

For me that looks like this:

and this:

Aren’t we a great group of ladies? These are my friends.

I really enjoy having people over. When I talk about this with other women in ministry they often tell me they feel like their home is too small, or that they can’t afford to feed people. Neither can I. But here’s my solution: I don’t worry about it, I do what I can. We lived as a family of 5 in a 750 square-foot apartment for 3 years and I regularly had people over. And who says you have to feed them dinner? You can do coffee if that is your culinary gift (*wink*wink*).

Or you can make it a little more special. Make chai tea! It is universally loved, and rarely made at home. You can make the spice packets ahead of time and store in a cool, dry place. Then you simply have to brew the mixture and serve.

Here’s the recipe I use (LOVE it!):

To make a packet, combine:

1/2 tsp. whole cloves

1/2 tsp. peppercorns

2 small cinnamon sticks

1/3 tsp. cardamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 star anise

1/2 tsp. whole allspice

1/2 tsp. ginger

To brew:

In a 2-qt saucepan, bring 4 cups of water and the contents of the packet to a boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, adding 1 black tea bag of any brand to simmer for the last 5-7 minutes. Strain the tea from the saucepan into a large bowl. Add the strained tea mixture back into the saucepan and add 3 cups of milk. Heat the mixture just until boil and serve! Sweeten to taste.

The beauty of this recipe is not only can you make the tea packets ahead of time, you can even make the liquid tea mixture and store it in your fridge! Then when you’re ready to serve you can pour it into your saucepan, add your milk and have a beautiful and special hot drink to share with your friends.

A hot beverage served in a beautiful vessel makes for a warm heart. ~Me!

He-he…I just love serving my chai tea in adorable mugs. Here’s my current favorite:

It says, “He fills my life with good things! Psalm 103:5″ It’s so cute! Best part about it is the lid that fits the top. It keeps the drink warm – wonderful.

And I have a bag that matches! I love this bag because my laptop and paperwork fits in it perfectly. It’s sturdy enough to handle the weight. Everywhere I go people ask me about where I got it.

If you guessed this is what we’re giving away today – you’re RIGHT! I love my readers so very much! You are the reason I do this. I’m so grateful and excited that Dayspring was willing to partner with me to bless you in a special way. They are offering one of these beautiful teacup and matching tote bag to one of you wonderful women in ministry!

To enter: U.S. residents can simply fill out the form below.  You can do as many or as little as you like, but each one you do is an entry! This giveaway runs from Thursday, June 21st through Friday, June 29th at midnight. So get your entries in!

Disclosure: We received a teacup and tote bag for review. No other compensation was received and all opinions expressed are original to ministrymomma.com

*NAS Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries. The Lockman Foundation. 1981, 1998.