What makes me qualified to run a Faith based website?

In all honesty, nothing truly qualifies me to be in a role of guide, mentor, or teacher. I do not claim to be. I do not have all the answers. Or even most of them. I am a believer with a burden for prayer and desire to reach others. I am a stumbler. I do not profess to understand all of the Word. But I love the Lord and want to be bolder in my faith and allow Him to work through me.

What was the inspiration for starting this website?

Last Spring I took a Lead Like Jesus workshop that was amazing. The goals for myself that came out of it was to be an encourager to others. And this new endeavor certainly fits with that desire.

I love to write. I love to read. I love worship music. And most importantly, I love Jesus. My main hope is that I can be an encouragement to others. If the Lord can use me to comfort or convict just one person, the whole project is worth it! I remember writing up a business plan for a college assignment. Perhaps I will be writing up a business plan to present to the Lord for His approval and direction.

I have had a desire to start a prayer ministry for some time. It has been growing deeper and deeper in my heart. I thought about trying to set something up that was nearly hands off. That I would not be vulnerable. That while my heart would be a part of it, my own thoughts and personality would not really be evident. It would not be from a personal place. There used to be a great app that I had years ago that was similar to Instagram. You could post little faith based graphics, or text posts. Scrolling through was simple and easy. No ads, no videos, no self promotions of businesses. It was simple and prayer focused. You could post a prayer request or praise report. Others could mark they are praying for you, and even comment with prayer. That app is no longer available.

I thought perhaps with the blessings of financial means from the Lord, I could put something like that together. I even thought it may be just as simple as allowing people to post anonymously and others to react with a “praying” or “praising” way without comments. Because, lets face it, there are those who target Christian communities just to be hateful and spiteful. And there are those who proclaim to be a follower of Jesus but do not always act in the most loving way. I also hoped that I could find pastors who may be willing to contribute with little devotionals or prayers.

I kept praying into this prayer ministry. Asking the Father how He wanted it set up. Asking for the financial blessings to be able to set it up. And I was waiting on said blessing just mulling over ideas in my head of what I wanted it to look like. And I felt the Lord convict me with “Why do you have to wait? Get started now and trust in the provision.” So here I am. I fully do not know what all this will encompass.

What are Faith Berries?

The inspiration for the name Faith Berries came about in a unique way. I have been checking domains for prayer type websites for a few weeks, and everything has been taken. I would pray to the Lord to tell me what the name is for this project or ministry. My family has also been putting together a plan on moving in the next few years. And one of the towns that we have grown rather fond of the idea of moving to has Berry in the name. I had a thought that I hope the church He plants us in if we move there has a prayer team or prayer meetings. And the term Faith Berries sort of just popped into my head. And then I took it one step further and thought that the seniors in the church would be the Elder Berries. I still giggle over that. Perhaps it is only funny to me. But I couldn’t relax until I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and checked the domain availability. It was available! And it stayed in my head as I fell asleep. It still was bouncing around later the next day as I was working. Three days later I registered the domain and took that leap of faith. “Get started now and trust in the provision”.