Jim Barnard Finds Hope in Suffering through Community

Jim Barnard is the campus pastor at LifeGate Church in Denver, Colorado. Jim shares the story of learning to deal with grief and loss, gathering community, and finding hope in the middle of suffering. Throughout his journey, the communities around Jim have shaped his heart by encouraging him to be hopeful and deal honestly with his emotions while struggling with his wife’s illness. In the midst of that illness, Jim explains the ways God has been faithful to provide even things that were deemed impossible like having a child.

Please listen and share!

Stories Jim shared:

• The joys of being a campus pastor at a mobile church
• Giving his life to Christ as a 10 year old and his family falling apart a week later
• The youth pastor who valued him enough to invest in him
• Why you need to be a mentor
• Meeting his wife at a new church
• The health problems his wife Alisha developed three months into their marriage
• Moving into ministry as a career
• Crying in an elevator while giving up the dream of having a child
• Having a baby with 75 people in the waiting room
• Sensing God’s call to move while holding his newborn son
• Writing about his wife’s condition

Great quotes from Jim:

It was really challenging to find those people to mentor me.

I don’t know what to do with what God’s given me but I need to find people who know what to do.

Our story is our greatest evangelical tool.

Resources Jim mentioned:

• Quest Church of St. Louis
• Romans 5:1-4
• Jim’s blog I Write to Save My Wife