Lisa Copen

Free

Chronic Illness Ministry Expert

Lisa Copen Quick Facts

Main Areas: Chronic Illness Ministry, Chronic Illness Daily Living Issues, Book Marketing
Best Sellers: Beyond Casseroles: 505 Way to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend
Career Focus: Founder, Author, Speaker, Director
Affiliation: Founder of National Inisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, Founder of Rest Ministries, Inc., Affiliated with Joni and Friends International Disability Center

Lisa Copen is the founder of Rest Ministries, a Christian organization that serves the chronically ill. She has authored eight books, including resources for over 300 HopeKeepers groups, a program of Rest Ministries.Her newest book is "How to Start a Chronic illness Small Group Ministry" with 320 pages packed full of tips on deciding if you should lead a group, to presenting the idea to your church, to problems that may occur in your group.

As editor of HopeKeepers. Magazine and founder of National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, Lisa seeks to encourage churches to increase an outreach to the chronically ill nearly 1 in 2 people in the U.S.

Lisa's works have been published in periodicals such as Just Between Us and Faith Writers Magazine, and books including God Allow U-Tu s. Lisa is a sought-after speaker and has been a guest of radio programs Decision Today, Family Life and Joni and Friends.

Lisa loves being an entrepreneur online and has taken her knowledge of internet and book marketing to a new level with www.scrapbookmyadoption.com where she designs overlay transparencies and www.youcansellmorebooks.com where she posts daily blog tips for book marketers and is releasing multiple “50 Ways to ____” for book marketing and promotional ideas.

She resides in San Diego with her husband and son, and has lived with degenerative rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia since 1993. Visit her web site at http://www.restministries.org and sign up for the free online ezine to receive the first 40 pages of her book “Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend.”

Free Articles & Book Excerpts

Beyond Casseroles: 505 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend

http://www.beyondcasseroles.com

Free Audio & Video Samples

Rest Ministries Promotional Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB_C4pggS7E

Invisible Illness Week Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUzcerrEeJs

About Lisa's Join Replacement Surgery on 4 fingers

http://www.youtube.com/restmin

Lisa Copen Audio & Video Programs

Preparing for Chronic Illness/Pain Ministry: The First 5 Steps Toward a Successful Ministry Plan

http://chronicillnessbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_6&products_id=297

Finding Treasures of the Darkness

http://chronicillnessbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_6&products_id=247

Chronic Illness & Hopes & Dreams: Keep Them or Wean Them?

http://chronicillnessbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_6&products_id=214

Lisa Copen Books

Mosiac Moments: Devotionals for the Chronically Ill

http://www.mosaicemomentsbook.com

Why Can't I Make People Understand? Discovering the Validation Those With Chronic Illness Seek and Why

http://www.whycantimakepeopleunderstand.com

Beyond Casseroles: 505 Way to Encourage a Chronically ill Friend

http://www.beyondcasseroles.com

Bible Study: When Chronic Illness Enters Your Life

http://chronicillnessbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_6&products_id=368

Bible Study: Learning to Live with Chronic Illness

http://chronicillnessbooks.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_6&products_id=308

How to Start a Chronic Illness Small Group Ministry

http://startasmallgroup.com

Articles by this expert

SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.

25 total

Article

5 Priorities After a New Illness Diagnosis

I distinctly remember the day that my life changed forever. After a few weeks of intense swelling in various parts of my body, my doctor called to give me the lab results at my place of work. She said the rheumatoid factor was positive and that this most likely was due to the fact that I did indeed have rheumatoid arthritis. I took a deep breath and asked, "On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being normal, what can I expect my life to be like from now on?" She tried to avoid the question, not wishing to discourage me.

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Deciding Who Your Chronic Illness Small Group Will Serve

As you begin to decide on the logistics of your support group, one of the first things to consider is who you would prefer to actually attend. For example: - Will this be a group for men as well as women, adults, and possibly teenagers? - Will your group serve those have recently been diagnosed with a chronic illness, or those who have lived with illness for many years? - Will seniors who live at home independently find it to be of value, as well as those who are currently living in assisted living facilities? - Don't forget to include people who are single who live alone, as we

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Article

Twittering For Your Health Awareness Event

Twitter has quickly become one of the most effective ways of sharing with the world what you believe is important. If you live with a chronic illness or have an interest in a specific health condition, you will find that Twitter can be one of the most exciting ways to let others know about it, even if you have little or no budget. Here are 16 things to know if you plan to use Twitter for your health awareness campaign: Preparing to have an effective Twitter account from the start: [1] First, decide if you want to use your Twitter account to share more personal information (and for

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Congregational Care Begins With Small Group Leader's Prayer Life

As you begin to make plans for starting an illness support group in your church or community, it can be easy to forget to pray, even about the simple things that have to do with your group. Although you may have the best of plans, it will all be pointless if you do not first have a daily walk with God and spend time with Him in conversation. Small Groups web site recently did a study and found the following results about the relationship between prayer and small group success: 83% of group leaders who have what they define as a strong prayer life had at least 1 person come to accept C

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Why It Is So Hard To Define Chronic Illness In The USA

If you were to walk up to a person on the street and ask him what he believed the difference was between illness and health, chances are that you would likely receive a fast reply about how health is when the body works correctly and illness is when it does not.

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Article

Im Here In Sickness and In Health: I Just Don't Want to Discuss it

"I feel like there are thumb tacks in my bed!" I say to my husband as he crawls into the other side of our bed. "I know there is nothing there, but I just feel bruised all over." "I'm sorry," he offers with a sympathetic voice, but there is little else he can do. "Actually, I sort of feel nauseous too," I share. "It's probably just the drugs. I wonder if I should eat something or if that would make it worse. I'm sure it will pass if I can just get to sleep." I look over and he is already starting to snore. For many of us, our spouse is our best friend.

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How to Use Twitter to Manage Your Chronic Pain

If you have a chronic illness or live with daily chronic pain you are physician may have requested for you to keep a diary of your pain levels so that he can monitor what activities or influences in your life can increase your level of pain. He may have recommended that you also record your sleep patterns and even your diet Anyone who has ever tried to do this can find it overwhelming. However, it can be extremely helpful to both you and your doctor when you have an increase in inflammation or in a extreme flare. What caused the increase in pain? The weather? Something you ate?

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10 Behaviors Patients Shouldn't Put Up with from Their Doctors

We will never find the perfect doctor, as they are all human and none of them are perfect. It comes as no surprise to most of us that they call their professio "the practice of medicine." One of the leading causes of death and injury in the United States is medical mistakes. Statistics show that medical errors result in death in the lives of somewhere between 44,000 to 90,000 people in the United States.

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12 Things For a Nurse to Know About a Chronically Ill Person

The medical world could not function without nurses. It's no secret to any of us who has had a doctor's appointment or been in the hospital that a nurse can make all of the difference in our total experience and recovery process. Whether undergoing a routine procedure, scheduling a simple appointment, or being there beside us while the doctor has a serious conversation, a nurse's presence can determine how well we as the patient copes with the situation and emotionally processes the outcome.

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Article

Can You Manage Chronic Pain By Pretending It Is Okay?

If you have ever wanted to dream about having a life that is different than the one you are currently living, you are not alone. And if you need any additional help in imagining a life different than the one you have, just go find a 6-year-old.

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9 Ways To Plan Women's Retreat So The Chronically Ill Can Attend

We often assume that the chronically ill are in the minority, however, you may be surprised to know that nearly 1 in 2 people in the USA have a chronic illness and about 96% of it is invisible. Are these women attending church retreats? Too many of them are suffering silently. They are ...

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5 Ways To Create Fast Healthy Dinner Plans When You're Exhausted

So, you know you're eating out too much, you've added a few pounds, and the cost is starting to get out of hand. But with your busy schedule and limited energy, where do you start to find the right meal planning idea that will work for your family? Are you one of the people who check with a ...

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