iAsk: Natasha Kosachevich, Spiritual Counselor, Questions on Women in Ministry

 Every Monday I will be posting new interviews with Christian leaders to find in-depth counsel on issues such as ministry, family, careers, politics, finance, and theology. Today's in-depth interview is with spiritual counselor Natasha Kosachevich from California. Let's begin...

Natasha Kosachevich

Paul: First, can you tell us who you are, what you do, and what is your greatest passion in life? Our readers will be interested in hearing your story.

Natasha: I am just a simple daughter of the King of Kings J. I love Jesus and my passion is to introduce as many people as possible to Him and to encourage those that have already met Him to get to know Him better, fall in love with Him deeper and trust Him completely.  I love to share anything and everything that I learn from Him with those who will listen.  I love sharing with young people, teenagers, youth, young adults, and couples about Gods order of things.  He is the ultimate Designer of Life and He knows best how it should be handled.  Besides the fun subjects of faith, love and relationships I also cover some of the not-so common ones of abuse, sexuality, addictions and emotional healing. 
        

Paul: 1. 2013 is coming to a close and many events have taken place around the world, too many to list. For you personally, what world events in 2013 have impacted you the most and why?

Natasha: I spent most of 2013 in New York City, and thus the Connecticut School shooting was something that was close to me in proximity, and heart.  The lives of the innocent is something that is very precious to me.  Seeing children perish before truly living is devastating.  This event hit very close to another passion of mine which is the truth about abortion in our country and worldwide.  Seeing the nation mourn the lives of kids in one classroom but ignore the fact that close to 4000 pregnancies are terminated DAILY in the US alone is pretty overwhelming.

Another event that wasn’t really worldwide, but reminded me of Gods control was the flooding of the Dinuba River in Europe.  I was IN Eastern Europe at the time, and left the city of Budapest for a month, and during THAT specific month the river flooded.  When I returned and walked alongside the riverbank I was fascinated that just during the weeks I was gone the river flooded and covered the very sidewalks that I was now walking on.  The frailty of our life and Gods complete control over nature was very vivid to me.  I was reminded that no advancement in technology or modernization can stand against the mighty hand of the Creator.
    

Paul: 2. As you know, I co-labor alongside Lee Grady with the Mordecai Project to confront the abuse and oppression of women worldwide. Has the Slavic church as a whole suppressed the leadership gifts of women? Also, do you feel Slavic Christian women should be given greater measures of responsibility and authority in spiritual work like church ministry?

Natasha: Traditionally, I believe the Slavic church has disrespected the gifting that women can bring to serving people better.  I think partially it’s due to lack of resources and biblical education in the past years of the former Soviet Union and part of it is overlooking the way Jesus treated women and taking verses out of context or assuming that His commandments of going and making disciples concern men only.

I think wisdom and discernment must be applied in any church ministry.  But I Do believe that women were created in the image and likeness of God, and omitting their importance in the body of Christ is overlooking a very important aspect of God.

Recently, I was reading the gospel of John and marveled again at the fact that Jesus Himself, after resurrection showed Himself first to a woman and commissioned her to ‘go and tell,’ and she was in turn the first witness of His resurrection to the disciples. (John 20:10-18)  

Natasha sharing Jesus

Paul: 3. What message of encouragement and inspiration would you share with women who have been abused emotionally, physically, or sexually in Christian homes? If women are oppressed at home, what hope can they look for?

Natasha: Get to know the Lord Jesus who took all the pain and the shame to the cross.  He left heaven to pursue the brokenhearted, comfort those who mourn and restore all that was lost.  His LOVE covers ALL sins, those that you committed and those that were committed against you.  He is the Only One who can make old things new and restore you to His original design. (Isaiah 61)    

Paul: 4. From your travels around the world, what have you noticed the Lord speaking to the body of Christ?

Natasha: “Get Ready - Jesus is Coming!”

The Bride of Christ, remember your first love. Purify yourself. Get your ‘dress’ in order.  Get your heart focused on the Groom! 

Paul: 5. Christmas time is around the corner, where and with whom do you plan on celebrating the holiday?

Natasha: For the past 3 years I have been either out of the country or out of the states for the holidays, so I am looking forward to spending the time with my family in California this year, and listening to a lot of Christmas music, which I love. 
 

Follow @PaulMuzichuk

Why Is It So Difficult To Encourage?

For the last five days I have been traveling in Eastern Europe with my spiritual mentor and co-laborer Lee Grady in a city just inside the western Romanian border in a city called Oradea meeting with Christian leaders, pastors, and missionaries encouraging them to continue the work of God. Spending time hearing the local struggles and difficulties they face and the walls of religion and denomination power struggles begs to ask a simple question: Why is it so difficult to encourage sisters and brothers in Christ who live in the same city yet we cannot reach out and hold a prayer meeting or conference together? Even as far as not visiting with local leaders from the same church to just affirm, encourage, and support their passion for the Lord. I believe its time to break the spirit of spiritual pride, elitism, and religious domination so that we can let the Holy Spirit teach us humility, love, and grace.

Where are the spiritual fathers?
Apostle Paul was trying to model the concept of being spiritual fathers to the church in Corinth when he wrote to them saying, "for though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me." Christian laborers young and old, European and American, women and men, feel discouraged at the lack of affirmation and encouragement that must be poured into their hearts. One common phrase that I hear very often among many many leaders is that I never had a spiritual father. What blocks this? Why is being a well known teacher, evangelist, author, or pastor so heavily pursued yet thousands of spiritual daughters and sons are left abandoned and orphaned spiritually. The bottom line is we need each other to not only further the gospel of Jesus Christ but to have deep, genuine, and heartfelt relationships in the Christian walk.

Being Relational is Vital
I have been greatly blessed to have met young men in Oradea who travel great distances to not only be taught God's Word but just have the opportunity to spend time talking and hearing and feeling encouragement. I believe it is vital to be relational in our relationships and have the humility and love to just be with people who need even a hug. Have we as Christian leaders become so full of pride that we can only focus on the ministry work and not on those who minister? I challenge you to invest into the lives of others relationaly.  Find someone and mentor them. Be proactive in pouring encouragement into each other. There is never " too much" encouragement. I heard at times that if we encourage someone too much they may get too prideful. That's a cold heart of religion. It is the heart of Jesus to be with people and love them!

Our conversations should not make us look hyper spiritual but simple and approachable. There is one example of one minister in Hungary, where i am currently ministering, that a local pastor shared with me how this minister went to heaven and met with the apostle Paul. Not only did he claim he met with him but that Apostle Paul laid hands on him and anointed him as a prophet to Hungary. The discernment should be evident to us that this minister is so clothed with praise and adoration that he is so spiritual that only apostle Paul can commission him into the prophetic ministry. There has been too much praise of men, yes Christian men, that the regular Christian has an extremely hard time relating. Friends, be full of faith, love, humility, patience, and let your life be surrounded by spiritual sons and daughters in whom you pour encouragement.

It is not difficult to encourage those who are weary and wounded. Just start! Let people have easy access to you, so they can not only hear and feel encouragement but also see it with their eyes. Christians, especially in America, have shifted to a selfish and me only mentality. We have become lazy and conceited in finding the needs of those around us and pouring encouragement out. Job is a perfect example of everything that went wrong in his life and yet he found the love to bless his friends that were accusing him of being sinful in his actions. The book of Job gives us a model in chapter 42 verse 10, "and the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before."

Challenge
Encourage those around you! Become a spiritual father or mother to those that need the love and compassion and support of God the Father! Invest time being with people! It is more important to be relational than to prosper in ministry. Jesus wants our heart and he wants each of our lives to reflect His heart and His love. Encourage someone today!

Twitter: @PaulMuzichuk