I am a student at Asbury Theological Seminary and a Missioner in the Inspire Movement. I’m currently based in Wilmore, KY but I consider Waco, TX my hometown. I’m a first-generation immigrant from Romania, having moved to the US with my family when I was 6. I came to truly believe in God and trust in Jesus as the Messiah when I was 16, and my life has been a beautiful journey with God since then; even in the hard times, God has always been my comforter and healer.

I love teaching people how to relate to God in deeper ways, whether those people are within the Church or outside of it. I’m thankful for the mentors and the communities I have belonged to; they have thoroughly shaped my understanding of God and His love. My desire is to spend my life investing in people for the sake of them knowing God in the same way that others have invested and continue to invest in me.

My Ministry Calling at Asbury

Since I’ve been in Wilmore, it’s become increasingly clear that there is a deep hunger for God here, especially among the student populations. I’ve been blessed to have many special moments ministering to people. However, I often found myself stretched beyond my capacity when it came to the ministry I feet called to in Wilmore because I was also working 2-3 days as a substitute teacher and attending seminary as a full-time student.

While I enjoyed substitute teaching and had opportunities to minister to people in that setting, I progressively felt like God was calling me to stop working in the schools and devote more time to making disciples and building up the Church in Wilmore. However, I was slow to obey because I was trusting my ability to make ends meet financially more than God’s ability to provide for me if I took this step of faith. Then, the revival at Asbury took place in February of 2023, and that made the need for discipleship (and hunger level for God) even more apparent.

Towards the end of the summer of 2023, I finally stopped resisting the Lord’s will on this matter. He told me to go on financial support so that I could devote my time to discipleship in Wilmore, and I began that journey.

That discipleship has looked like:

• teaching people to receive inner healing and guidance from God through two-way, conversational prayer
• sharing the gifts of the Holy Spirit with brothers and sisters
• encouraging others to seek the Lord through the testimonies of His goodness in my life
• inspiring people to be on mission with God by walking in step with the Holy Spirit
• introducing people to missional, familial communities

With the financial support of other people, I can devote significantly more time to these and other means of discipleship that God has called me to engage in.

Join Me on My Journey

If it’s on your heart to support me in this ministry, would you consider giving financially? A donation of any size is a blessing and your support makes it possible for me to do the work God has called me to. You can choose to give one time or on a recurring basis. As of now, my plan is to be on support and working in this capacity for the next three years, until I graduate. However, if you choose to give monthly, you can pause or stop giving at any time; there’s no commitment you have to make on how long you’ll be giving. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel obliged to give or continue giving but rather to do it joyfully/as they are able to!

Additionally, I’ll be sending out monthly testimonies of what God is doing in and through my life so that people can be encouraged by God’s work here. If you’d like to receive those updates, email me at d.barbus@inspireministry.org. If you’d like to connect and hear more about these things directly from me, please reach out and we’ll set up a call. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you pray about supporting me financially and/or sign up for the updates!

About Inspire

The work that I’m doing falls under the scope and guidance of the Inspire Movement. I’ve been a member of an Inspire church since I came to Asbury, and I became an Inspire Missioner in July of 2023. The Inspire Movement is an international network of people committed to developing Missional Discipleship in the leadership and life of the church. Our vision is to help all Christians live as whole-life disciples and everyday missionaries, who abide deeply with God and live missionally in the world.

Although Inspire is an ecumenical movement, it draws upon the wisdom of John Wesley who pioneered a world-changing movement of missional disciples. At the heart of this movement is discipleship as a Way of Life:

• Seeking growth in the love of God
• Using disciplines as a means of grace
• Sharing fellowship with spiritual friends
• Engaging mission through love of neighbor

These form the basic DNA for renewing the disciple-making practices in local churches, for starting up Fellowship Bands, House Fellowships, and for church planting teams. If you want to learn more about Inspire, you can reach out to me and/or visit our website at inspiremovement.org.