MINISTRY PARTNERS
We are blessed to link arms, hearts and minds with some incredibly talented, Christ-led, mission-hearted people and organizations. Together we are better. Together, we can change the world one precious life at a time.
Ministry Partners
– (Brothers And Sisters in Christ Serving) is a Christian, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization started in 1996, to strengthen churches and Christian outreach ministries throughout the metropolitan Milwaukee area. BASICS supports dozens of city ministries such as prison and re-entry ministries, community outreach events, recovery programs, youth activities and more.
From the beginning, BASICS has focused on forming partnerships between city and suburban churches, assisting more than 200 church pastors and 100 outreach ministry leaders, by equipping them through training, support, and access to needed resources.
BASICS currently supports over 30 smaller ministries that are unable to be financially independent. Hundreds of volunteers are actively involved, donating their time, talents, treasure, touch and tears for the work of God in Milwaukee.
BABBONI’S PHOTOGRAPHY … capturing life. At babbonis we specialize in Portrait Photography for Families, Extended Families, High School Seniors, Children & Business Portraits. Our Brookfield Studio is located on over 2 acres of property with lush gardens, gorgeous fields,. We always say, there really is something for everyone.“We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun!”
We love the opportunity to give back to our local community – many charities and nonprofit organizations.
Called to Watch – For the family members, friends, spouses, neighbors and co-workers of individuals with chronic illness. There is nothing easy about watching others struggle with chronic illness. In watching, we suffer too. There are two answers, one is community, the other is God. This blog points watchers to both
Critically Loved – Critically Loved provides education and resources to families of critically and chronically ill children. One way Critically Loved achieves this goal is by providing Medical Binders at the onset of a child’s diagnosis. This helps organize the child’s healthcare and provides steps to getting started. Critically Loved provides comfort and direction by being an online resource to help navigate a difficult road. We partner with pediatric health providers and specialty charities to reach parents who need practical, financial and spiritual support.
The Consilium – A community of purpose and grace for wise women. Founder and visionary, Diane W. Bailey’s passion is to see women grow into everything God has created them to be. Diane is a certified Life Coach, who loves loves meeting women in real life as she speaks at conferences, women’s Bible studies, and retreats, tailoring talks to meet the needs of each group. Topics include: 
- The Salt Life – Finding Joy In Your Life.
- State of the Heart – How Do you Handle the Sorrows of Life?
- Your Testimony – A Pearl of Great Price
- Stepfamily
Diane is the author of 30 Days to a Better Stepfamily and String of Pearls. She and her husband, Doc, live in the deep South.
Shelly Esser has been the editor of Just Between Us magazine for the last 25 years. Additionally, she was actively involved in women’s ministries for 20 years, is an author, and has served on the Board of the Pastoral Leadership Institute. She and her husband have four daughters and a son-in-law, and live in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
God Living with Chronic Illness – This site is the result of a deep desire in founder, Laurie Shoquist Miller’s heart to help and encourage others with chronic illness. Laurie was diagnosed with fibromyalgia when her kids were two and four. At that time, there were not a lot of resources for anyone with chronic illness. She searched for websites, books, ANYTHING to tell her how to be a Godly wife and parent with chronic pain. After several years, she finally began to find information about “good” living with fibromyalgia (in terms of physical wellness) but nothing for “God” living—nothing to tell her how to manage a life that included chronic illness with God’s wisdom, grace and strength. So she decided to start a blog to help others with chronic illness find the things she was desperately seeking and God-Living with Chronic Illness was born. Living well with chronic illness is a daily process of relying on God for the grace and strength to keep going. Laurie has found that we find the most peace as we let God meet our needs one day at a time. May His peace and presence be your constant companion and guide.
Just Between Us Magazine (JBU) – magazine was launched over 25 years ago by founder Jill Briscoe as a resource to encourage and equip women for a life of faith. At the time, the publishing experts told Jill the magazine could never be sustained with a handful of part-time staff and volunteers—but she went forward with her vision and God has been faithful. Primarily reader-written…JBU cover topics on family life, marriage, your relationship with Christ, and life’s struggles, as well as providing resources for doing ministry and everything in between. Regular content includes topics like dealing with difficult people, handling stress, battling depression and suicide, dealing with pornography, and understanding cultural issues like homosexuality.
Kyle Re Creative – At Kyle Re Creative, our focus is capturing the moments that mean the most to you. Preserving memories through photography and creating designs that breathe life into your brand is our passion and commitment. Kyle has had a passion for telling stories through the arts since he was very young. Whether it was on a sketchpad, a laptop, through songwriting or the lens of a camera, he’s always been in love with the creative process. After earning his degree in Graphic Design, he realized he wanted more than a typical 9-5 job, so he shifted his focus towards starting his own business in photography and graphic design. Kyle currently specializes in Wedding, Lifestyle, Fashion, Corporate & Fine Art Photography. In the Graphics Department, he specializes in Logos, Apparel Design, Infographics & Company Branding.
Emerson Mertens is a graphic designer, photographer, and artist with over twenty years of experience in the arts. She began her artistic training in classical ballet and the performing arts, which led to a career as a professional dancer, instructor, and choreographer. Emerson is inspired by her life-long love of the arts to create unique digital media and photo art, and she combines her years of experience with the skills gained from her college studies. She now works with HeatherMertens.org building websites and creating graphic media and digital art for clients. In 2019, Emerson graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science in Religion: Biblical and Theological Studies with an emphasis in Photography and Graphic Design.
North Shore Congregational Church – At North Shore Congregational Church, “Our purpose is to grow and deepen Christian Discipleship in a faith community guided by the Holy Spirit.” Through worship, study and prayer we seek to know God, Scripture, and one another in a way that helps us pursue, together, that deepened relationship with God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of the welcome of Christ, we invite all to join us in the journey of growing closer to God in heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Mark Mallwitz – Servant to Leaders – Mark equips others leaders in both BASICS Milwaukee and in the community at large through through encouragement, prayer, listening, and guidance.
Terry Powell – Penetrating the Darkness – Can vibrant Christian faith and depression coexist? What are the myths about depression still prevalent in the church? What information, resources, and coping strategies alleviate the burden of chronic depression and instill resiliency as a Christ-follower and servant? Those questions shape the slant of Terry’s blog.
He is not a psychologist or a physician, yet he is all-too-familiar with the nemesis of depression. During decades of ministry in churches and as a university professor, Terry has experienced recurring bouts of deep despondency. He describes himself as a fragile, desperate, bloodied soldier of Christ who marches with a limp, who by God’s grace, is still engaged in the battle.
Terry’s posts include:
- Identifying and debunking misconceptions about faith in relation to depression
- Personal stories and things he’s learned the hard way about day-to-day coping with despondency
- Stories of other believers, past and present, whose frailty didn’t preclude their usefulness to God
- Interviews with counselors, authors, and other experts
- Reviews of books, blogs, and articles offering helpful information
- Up-to-date research on prevalence, causes, and treatments
- Bible truths/verses that instill hope and refute false beliefs often spawned by dark moods.
Esther Smith – Life in Slow Motion – In 2012 I started my blog, Life in Slow Motion, as a way for me to process my own experience with chronic pain and connect with other people going through similar situations. Over the years, this blog became less about me and more about serving the people I encountered. As a licensed and Christian counselor, I now use my website to provide a variety of resources to help people address the physical, spiritual, and emotional impact of chronic pain.
Smile.Amazon.com – AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice. *Amazon and Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
husband, Kelly, a husky pup named Paddy, and a brand new baby boy. Allie has the joy of the Lord in her heart and wants to share the gift He has given her! She started Purejoyink with the hope of spreading love and joy through creativity and ink. Allie studied Graphic Design in college, but is mostly self taught in the art of invitations and hand lettering. Ever since she was little, Allie has had a love for weddings and all things cute! She loves to create and doodle, brainstorm designs, and make pretty things for her fabulous customers! Everything Allie does is custom.
Thrivent Financial Choice Dollars – Thrivent Financial is a membership organization of Christians, whose purpose is to serve members and society by guiding both to be wise with money and to live generously. Thrivent believes that all we have is a gift from God and that generosity is an expression of faith. Thrivent succeeds when it’s members, their families and their communities thrive.
PARTNERSHIPS OF HOPE
Chronic Joy recognizes individuals or organizations who exemplify one or more of our ministry foundations:
- Hope
- Purpose
- Worth
- Encouragement
- Community-Building
- Joy
It is an opportunity for individuals or organizations to donate their skills, time, gifts or talents to further the work of the ministry.
PARTNERSHIP OF COMMUNITY
Our Partners are recognized for their vital place in this ministry, introduced on our website, and given our sincere gratitude and appreciation.
Chronic Joy Ministry Partners are a partnership of hope, purpose and worth. A partnership between artisan, servant, donor, or organization and Chronic Joy Ministry. A partnership of generosity and joy. And it is the vital and remarkable partnership of community.
For more information about becoming a ministry partner contact us at: care@chronic-joy.org.
From the Blog
Julie Jablonski – Creative Contributor
We're delighted to introduce you to Chronic Joy Creative Contributor, Julie Jablonski, whose gorgeous images have been bearing witness to the glory of God in His creation across our social media sites. Julie is a passionate, still-life photographer. Self-taught and still learning, she is...
Introducing Barbara Coleman – Ministry Partner
We're delighted to introduce you to Chronic Joy Creative Contributor and fine artist, Barbara Coleman! Barbara has been married and in ministry with her pastor husband for almost 50 years, and has lived with chronic illness for more than 30 years, specifically with chronic pain from Lyme...
Volunteer Prayer Coordinator – Bettie Gilbert
Chronic Joy's New Volunteer Prayer Pond Coordinator We are delighted to officially welcome Bettie Gilbert as Chronic Joy's brand new Volunteer Prayer Coordinator!Bettie is a beautiful soul with a huge heart for prayer who has been with us since the very beginning. (You'll learn more of her...
Business Resources
ADOBE – Creative Cloud for non-profits is an affordable licensing option available for small workgroups, departments, classrooms and labs – or even entire institutions.
APLOS
– Nonprofit leaders aren’t always professional accountants, fundraisers, or tax preparers, but with the right software and guidance they can do the tasks correctly and confidently. We offer support to help you do just that. Anything it takes to make it simple.
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CoSCHEDULE
– All Your Blog + Email + Social Promotion in ONE Place – Eliminate the endless email threads, sticky notes, and the dozen and half open tabs. Focus on the real work of writing top-notch content AND growing your audience.
FISTBUMP Media – Everyone has a story. Whether it’s a personal story, a business story, or one focused on a cause. We all have ’em, but often struggle with being heard. Your story matters, and we’re here to help you amplify your voice: website development and maintenance, email marketing and subscriber management, social media Analysis and content management, and publishing services for writers and businesses.
FLICKR at its best is a place to connect, to discover, and to evolve as photographers and lovers of photography. This is the world’s largest photographer-focused community. Here, together, this newly-independent community can shape the future of photography itself. Apply for flickr’s non-profit discount here.
Additional images to encourage and inspire hope, purpose, worth and joy can be found at Chronic Joy’s flickr site. These beautiful, high-resolution images are licensed non-commercial creative commons. Perfect to share with your group, on social media or to brighten someone’s day.
oogle FOR NON PROFITS – The Google for Nonprofits Program offers eligible organizations access to Google products and tools that can help nonprofits find new donors and volunteers, work more efficiently, and get supporters to take action.
MICROSOFT FOR NON PROFITS – We are committed to providing donated or discounted technology to nonprofits doing good in communities around the world.
TECHSOUP
– Explore Our Nonprofit Tech Marketplace! Incredible offers for nonprofits from leading brands. Low administrative fees. Join our global community!
UNSPLASH – Beautiful, free photos. Gifted by the world’s most generous community of photographers.
All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.
More precisely, Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash. This license does not include the right to compile photos from Unsplash to replicate a similar or competing service.