The Tribune

By FELICITY DARVILLE

IF you are a woman feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by life, there is a Christmas angel looking out for you. Krista Barr-Bastian knows what it is to feel as if she is losing the will to fight back when what she really wants to do, deep down, is to win at life.

Krista was hit by a series of tragedies that could have sent her in a downward spiral. She had to dig deep to find the strength within to overcome them and in the process, she found her true purpose in life. She empowers women who are at the same critical juncture - the point where they feel like giving up - and helps them push powerfully past their pain to find their purpose.

Her life lessons inspired her to write: “Woman! Push Powerfully” - a new book released this December 2023, just in time to help women fill their hearts with joy for the holidays and make a powerful push into 2024.

A special holiday edition of “Woman! Push Powerfully” has been released and a 12-day campaign will commence on December 14 ending on Christmas Day, December 25, 2023.

During this 12 Days of Christmas Campaign, Krista wants to give away 120 books as gifts to women across the city of Nassau. In order to fulfill this, she is inviting individuals or companies to help her to share the life-giving messages in her book to women in the capital. During each of the 12 days, she will also share a powerful message each day on her Instagram page, @eventsbyKrista, with the hopes of inspiring as many women as possible. After all, women are mostly the ones making Christmas meals, purchasing items for the home and gifts for others, and making arrangements for their families to have a merry Christmas.

Women tend to bury their feelings or troubles and put everyone else first; so Krista decided to put women first this Christmas. This transformative campaign, she hopes, will inspire women and help them to enjoy the season as much as everyone else.

Krista inspires women who are in the trenches of life, helping them to overcome and step fully into the purposes of God. She is no stranger to the strife of life. She has had to navigate a broken marriage which left her a single mother to four children - Chloe, Dawson, Kruiz and Kole. This was compounded by the death of her mother and grandmother, which happened just nine days apart during 2020.

“These difficult and painful life changes led me to give birth to a new and purposeful life; a fruitful life,” Krista said.

“Although I was stripped of the people who were critical to my life, I decided to continue to push powerfully! I decided to partner with God as I continue to walk this journey of life.”

A former certified public accountant, Krista now inspires women from all walks of life, encouraging them to rise above their difficulties and serve with excellence in the positions that they occupy - whether it be in the home, in the workplace or in their community.

She has had the opportunity to lead professional conferences and talks with women in the educational and healthcare systems and also women who are engaged in church ministry.

Krista believes that the future of the world is highly hinged upon how women decide to show up in their spaces, irrespective of the difficulties that confront them.

“I have a vision to see the world filled with fruitful women birthing the purposes of God for the prosperity of the world and the advance of the Kingdom of God,” she said.

“Hence, Woman! Push Powerfully is a big part of that mission to achieve this vision.”

Krista was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. She came from a two-parent home and grew up in a close knit, traditional structured family. Her father is Dencle Barr, mother is the late Helen Barr. She is the eldest of three children.

Her mother and grandmothers served as powerful inspiration in her life. They are all now deceased. Her maternal grandmother was Kathleen Adderley, a woman of great faith and the reason her faith is where it is today. Krista went to church with her every Sunday and she ensured that Krista and her siblings were involved and present.

Krista’s paternal grandmother was Effie Walkes, a woman of boldness and strength: “She was significantly involved in Majority Rule Day and was said to be the only one in the room of men at the time the decision was made to take the drastic actions to ensure the voice of the majority of people was heard and respected! She was a fighter at heart and stood ten toes down always! Just brave and bold!”

“My mother - Helen Barr - was just a complete gem! The epitome of generosity and forgiveness! She was all about love and peace. She had a tremendous heart for people and was much like a saint! A pure heart of gold that was open to everyone.”

“Their impact and influence in my life was truly significant and it’s why I am so adamant on serving full in this life! Their lives and their sacrifices, especially towards me, must be honoured through my life!”

Krista is a graduate of St John’s College and continued her education at the University of The Bahamas and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She became a certified public accountant and practised in the field for more than fifteen years. The shift to speaker and author came in 2021, when she left the field of accounting to pursue her passion, which is to inspire women to step into fruitfulness.

“I had always felt that my career wasn’t hitting my heart as it should, even though I was progressing as I wanted to,” she shared.

“As I began to have children, it became difficult to keep up in a very fast paced, demanding environment. Then, as I lost my husband, then grandmother and mother, I truly had no support. It was then that I took it as a clear sign to exit a space I could no longer participate in effectively. It was a very strange opening to pursue what my heart truly desired... to live the life I truly desired within.”

She successfully co-authored the anthology “Keep Going!” - an inspiring book published by Universal Impact Press (UIP) that shares the stories of women who overcame adversity to succeed. Then, Krista worked with UIP’s president, Aisha Wonderfull, to produce her own book.

Krista’s book presents five “push” principles which help women to fasten their faith in God and enter a dynamic divine partnership with Him so they can overcome the difficulties and pain of life and birth their “divine fruit”- the purposes of God in their life. She brings women to the understanding that the pain is necessary.

“At the core of their trials and troubles is a call to transform their lives, their impact, and their leadership,” she explained.

The five push principles are: powerful person; powerful purpose; powerful presence; powerful perspective; and powerful patience.

“These principles allow for a strength of mind that will usher women past their pain and into their purpose,” she said.

“The fruitfulness of a woman is what God desires most. Fruitful women are what the world needs to thrive and prosper as God has planned. Women must show up strong and not allow the troubles and challenges of life to stagnate them and keep them barren. They must be determined to impact the world with their divine fruit! They must push to shift, shake and transform their spaces. The ‘new’ that the world is waiting for is in the womb of women. This book will serve as her midwife, leading her into a fruitful mindset that will equip her to ‘push’ and birth into the world just what it needs from her to prosper and progress as God intended. Just as a woman is critical to the progression of the human race through childbirth, she is important to the advancement of the plans of God on the earth. She was created as incubator and keeper for the purposes of God. By divine design she is a Heaven-sent helper, and she must show up as such by any means possible. The fighting spirit she needs is in this book! This book is her path to victory! Her victory is in her fruitfulness!”

Those wishing to support her 12 Days of Christmas Campaign by donating a book to a woman who truly needs it, or for those just wanting to purchase books as gifts for their loved ones this season, contact the author at kristabarrbastian@gmail.com.