In December, 2012 as Jim Barbarossa prepared to speak a message at a Saturday night meeting, he kept hearing the word “Unity” over and over again in his spirit. Then God directed Jim to go look in an old file cabinet in his garage. To Jim’s amazement in the back of this old file cabinet were 30 messages Jim wrote as a baby Christian, 18 years earlier. One of those messages was on the topic of “Unity” in the Body of Christ.
Jim preached that “Unity” Message on December 22, 2012.
Shortly after preaching the “Unity” message, the Father told Jim to call a meeting of leaders, elders and 5-fold ministers for the purpose of joining hands and working together to equip the saints to go beyond the walls of our buildings to reach and disciple the lost.
On January 20, 2013 the Father brought together forty 5-fold ministers representing a diversity of 12 churches scattered throughout three Northwest Indiana counties, including the cities of Valparaiso, Porter, Chesterton, Portage, Gary, Michigan City, St. John, plus Hazelcrest, IL and Chicago, IL.
Four things all of the ministers present have in common is their love for Jesus, their desire for more of Jesus, a passion to reach lost souls and a hunger to see revival in our land!
One additional thing most of us, if not all, held in common, in the natural, we were all too busy to even consider attending this gathering in light of everything else we had to do.
But, we did attend and after introducing ourselves, we discussed the purpose of the gathering and then we began to pray as the Holy Spirit led.
Inter-mixed between the prayers, God spoke prophetically using various gifts to confirm His call and purpose for the “Unity” Gatherings and what to expect in the future.
As we prayed we could sense a shift taking place in the atmosphere.
At one point a symbolic prophetic act took place as every person stood on their feet, symbolizing the army of God rising up. This was followed by the sounding of the Shofar accompanied by a declaration of war, as the army of God called upon our Leader with a “Unified” shout, “Jesus”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There was such freedom in the atmosphere. It was such a joy to see the 5-fold ministry gifts working in unity complimenting each other in the body of Christ!
I wish I could find words to express the fullness of this experience, but this is one of those times where words fail to fully describe what happened.
The meeting I just described has “birthed” in the following locations what we now call “Indiana Regional Unity Gatherings!”
For dates, times and exact locations, visit us on our website: www.step-by-step.org
Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland Regional Unity Gathering, Chesterton, Indiana
Central Indiana Regional Unity Gathering, Indianapolis, Indiana
LaPorte/St Joseph County Regional Unity Gathering, LaPorte, Indiana
Northeast Indiana Regional Unity Gathering, Angola, Indiana
South Central Indiana Regional Unity Gathering, Corydon, Indiana
Southwest Indiana Regional Unity Gathering, Paragon, Indiana
We believe these 6 Regional Unity Gatherings are the “firstfruits” of 20 or more that will be started in the State of Indiana.
Regional Unity Gatherings are not the planting of a new church.
Regional Unity Gatherings are not the starting of a new denomination.
Regional Unity Gatherings are calling God’s Leaders, across all denominational lines to join hands in unity and take the Gospel message Beyond the walls of our buildings, out into our cities to reach and disciple the lost. If you are God’s leader, no matter what your title is (bishop, elder, pastor, priest, apostle, teacher, missionary, sent one, evangelist, prophet, youth pastor, or some other), no matter what part of the body you represent, no matter what denomination, no matter what stream, no matter what flow, God is calling us to join hands and carry His gospel into our cities and regions to reach and disciple the lost.
It is Time the lost people in our cities come to know God, through the love that we demonstrate for one another!! If we will come together and work in unity, God will Command His Blessing towards us! It is Time for the City Wide Church and Regional Church to Arise!
Regional Unity Gatherings Function As A 5-Fold Ministry Where Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors And Teachers Work Together To Equip The Saints To Do The Work Of The Ministry. Regional Unity Gatherings Are Part Of “The Church” With A Call To Come Along Side Other Parts Of “The Church” And Work In Unity With The Whole Body Of Christ To Move The Saints Beyond The Walls Of Our Buildings, Out Into The Community With The Training And Tools They Need To Reach And Disciple The Lost.
To help us fulfill our mission to reach the lost, disciple them and equip the saints we have 2 Free Resource tables in every Regional Unity Gathering.
Evangelism Resource Table: This table is filled with tracts, outreach gospel CDs, and Real Life Stories Christian Testimony Books. The people attending these Regional Unity Gatherings are encouraged to take these Free evangelism tools and use them over the next 30 days to reach the lost and come back with a report or testimony of what God is doing!
Discipleship or Equipping Table: This table is filled with books as well as messages on cds, and dvds. These messages are the best of the best and designed to equip or disciple the saints. Saints need a steady diet of faith building messages to be equipped and we encourage the saints to take these Free Resources for their personal growth and to then pass them on to help disciple or equip others. Regional Unity Gatherings provide the saints with the tools they need to reach and disciple the lost!
United Community Outreach:
In addition to equipping the saints to be effective witnesses and disciples in everyday life, we also want to bring the saints together from all the different parts of the Body of Christ in a City or Region to join hands and do, simple, yet effective outreach projects in the Community to touch lives and reach lost people!
You can see a sampling of these types of outreach projects on our DVD titled “Going Beyond The Walls - City Wide Church - How To Go Beyond The Walls Of Our Buildings As One Voice To Reach And Disciple The Lost In Our Cities”.
Real Life Stories Christian Testimony Books
Jim and Carla Barbarossa
Phone: 219-762-7589
Email: jimbarbarossa7@gmail.com or jim@step-by-step.org
Website: https://www.reallifestoriesbooks.com/
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