(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the March 2023 print edition of The Stand.)
After graduating college with a quantitative analysis degree in 1981, Sally Burke traveled from her Florida home to Palmdale, California. There, she began a career at Rockwell International as an engineer on space shuttles. There, she also met Ed, her husband-to-be.
In 1983, the two married and soon began their family. As motherhood became her main priority, Sally left the workforce to raise her children. In the meantime, Ed continued working as an engineer.
One day during his daily commute, Ed stumbled upon a Christian radio station. He was overwhelmed as he heard the gospel for the first time. Knowing he couldn’t wait any longer to accept Jesus as his personal Savior, Ed pulled over on the side of the road and invited Him into his heart.
When he arrived home, Sally greeted him with a child on her hip and another clinging to her leg. But upon hearing Ed’s news, she was in complete disbelief.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh no. What has happened to my brilliant husband?’” Sally told The Stand.
Transformation
Following Ed’s conversion, Sally noticed he was changing. He began exhibiting peace that she could not understand. When Christmas arrived, Sally eagerly expected her husband’s usual gift of diamonds. But instead, he gave her a leather-bound Bible.
“He told me that he had prayed over which Bible to buy and went store to store looking for it,” Sally explained. “So I thought, ‘OK, I’ll read it.’”
And when she did, her world changed forever.
“I saw that in Genesis, God created the heavens and the earth,” she continued. “Then I read the book of Psalms, and I said, ‘Whoever wrote this is brilliant because he makes complex truths appear so simple.’”
As her fascination with Scripture grew, Ed encouraged her to read the Gospel of John. In the pages of the New Testament, Sally found herself face-to-face with who Jesus is and accepted Him as Lord.
“Nobody walked me through anything,” Sally exclaimed. “And my husband didn’t preach it; he lived it!”
Prayer
After Sally’s salvation experience, the Burkes began attending church. Sally cried out to God to teach her to pray. Soon afterward, a friend invited her to a meeting to hear about Moms in Prayer International (MIP). She excitedly accepted the invitation.
During the group meeting, Sally was encouraged as she witnessed women join together and pray through the ministry’s four-step prayer process. The method focused on praise, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession. Sally learned how to pray God’s will using God’s Word.
She was also impressed at how the MIP groups left no time for idle discussion. Women gathered and spent the entire hour praying for children, teachers, and schools worldwide.
“I was at home in the praises of God’s people, and I didn’t want to leave,” Sally said.
Faithfulness
Over the years, Sally continued to attend and host MIP groups. But she didn’t realize that God was using these weekly groups to accomplish more than she could imagine. In 2015 after advancing through different levels of leadership, Sally was named president of MIP (momsinprayer.org).
“I went from a mom who didn’t know the Lord, to barely knowing how to pray, and now having the honor and privilege of serving my sisters in Christ all over the world,” said Sally.
As president, Sally manages the international ministry. Daily, she is blessed as she witnesses the power of a global prayer movement transform women, children, and schools worldwide.
“They come as scared kittens but leave as roaring lions,” said Sally Burke.
