For Barbara, Christ Journey Church became the place where strangers turned into sisters and faith became something deeply lived out in community.
After attending the church for about a year, Barbara was still searching for deeper connection. She had attended Circle of Friends and was hoping to eventually find a small group where she truly belonged, but she had not found that place just yet.
Then, in what seemed like an ordinary moment, God stepped in.
While attending a business event in Fort Lauderdale, Barbara met a presenter from the SBA and approached her afterward with a few questions. The woman invited her to sit and chat over a meal, and somewhere between business conversation and small talk, their lives unexpectedly intersected.
“Where do you live?”
“Miami.”
“Me too.”
“What church do you attend?”
“UBC.”
“Me too.”
Then came the question that changed everything:
“Who is your small group?”
Barbara admitted she had not found one yet, and without hesitation, the woman responded, “Come to mine. You’ll love these ladies.”
That invitation became the beginning of something life changing.
That very week, Barbara met the women who would become her core Christian sisters. Though life has made regular meetings difficult over the years, they have remained committed to doing life together, supporting one another through every season.
And not long after finding that group, Barbara entered one of the darkest valleys of her life.
She remembers sitting in a Sunday service while Pastor Bill preached powerfully from the stage. Overwhelmed by the weight of everything happening around her, she sat quietly off to the side toward the back, close to an easy exit.
Then she looked around the sanctuary.
Scattered throughout the congregation were the women from her small group, sitting beside their families. In that moment, an overwhelming sense of gratitude washed over her. Even in her pain, she realized she was not alone.
She began thinking about people who walk through life without faith, without community, without sisters in Christ beside them. The thought deeply moved her.
That moment became a turning point.
For Barbara, it was a reminder that God never intended for people to carry life’s burdens alone. We have God as our Father, and we have each other.
As Christ Journey Church celebrates 100 years, Barbara’s story is a testimony to the power of Christian community. Sometimes the most meaningful moments begin with a simple invitation at a lunch table, and grow into lifelong friendships that carry us through life’s hardest seasons.
