AB Women's Ministries of
|
| Missionaries |
|
February 2010 Pillow Fights, Movies and Belonging... Mercy & Rick Barnes |
|
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him,
How can the love of God be in him?
Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3.16-18
So much has happened since our last newsletter but the word that continues to repeat itself in my head is "love". Love for our family, your spouse, parents or children or love for your pet. Not the love that emphasizes how it makes me feel because that is centered in feelings and those change. God's love is centered in compassion and action. Love is what motivates a parent to go without in order to feed their children, love is what gives us the energy to endure what seems like the unendurable. Love in Christ is what gives us forgiveness and a new life in which to serve others and grow as Christians. In this newsletter we want to share different aspects of what love means to us in our ministry here in Baja. READ ON and remember "you are loved". |
|
Pillow fights, Movies and Belonging By Mercy González-Barnes It was January and we had returned from our trip out east. Of course the house had that stale smell of not being lived in for a few weeks. There were dog hairs from our black lab, spider webs and the pile of paperwork that had not been finished before Christmas. Sounds familiar; the kids went off to their rooms to check on their beloved computers as I looked around and felt overwhelmed. As I tried to prioritize what needed to be addressed first, Joshua came back and said, mom that was the best retreat ever. I wish we could go back and stay with the other missionaries. Part of me wanted to ignore him and deal with the "urgent" but I turned and asked him, "What made this retreat different from others?" Joshua said, "Mom, we had pillow fights, we stayed up late and talked, and they included me". Now Josh is the youngest of the missionary kids and it was important to him to feel included and part of a community. Pillow fights, 8 kids sleeping together on camping mats in one room (talk about a stale smell) and just hanging out together made this retreat a special one for Josh and it made me think about how important our actions are. It's not enough to say that I love someone; I must show it by how I treat them. There were many times during the retreat that I would look at the kids as they sat in a circle at Penn Station (ages 21-10), how they watched out for each other, how they built a snowman together, how they watched movies and played and had their pillow fights. It was a simple example of love in action; a sermon on love that was being preached without words but by example. Remember, don't just say it, show it. |
| |
|
Ministry Update By Rick Barnes The most exciting thing that has happened recently is the celebration of "La Ladrillera's" first anniversary. Pastor Victor invited us to spend time with the congregation celebrating on Sunday, February 14. It is so exciting to see how this mission has progressed from meeting as a group under a tree to having a building, albeit "muy chico", on a lot that they are trying to scrape money to buy. But what really pleased us was their response to the recent rains. We live in a desert. Our average precipitation for the year is three inches. We have already topped that for the year. In one storm, we got over an inch of rain. As we have shared, the houses in "La Ladrillera" are just shacks. And in the rains, everybody's houses got soaked through and through. Some of the leaders called Pastor Victor and asked if they could use the building as a storm shelter. Victor's immediate response was "it doesn't make sense to have a good building go empty when there is a real need." So, many of the community bunked in the building until their houses dried out. Mercy and I can teach many things, but that type of sensitivity isn't taught, and there is no moment of greater satisfaction than seeing a mission reaching out to meet the needs of their community! Tragically, the same system that gave us the rains in the valley was much more intense on the coast. The president of the convention, I, and an advance team from Idaho were going to visit the town of San Simon, south of Ensenada. The day before we were to visit, the president of the convention informed me that bridges to visit the work were washed out. Later he found out that the entire town was flooded, and that the government had to decide to rebuild or relocate the town. I have no word on any casualties, but I can only imagine the difficulty the people are experiencing. In the Seminary, we are teaching practical tips related to church planting on Tuesday night. We are very pleased to see the cross-section of students we have, including two that are right now in the process of starting works. We will be hosting a Short Term Mission team to work with "El Buen Samaritano" next week. We have hosted this group from Norwich, Connecticut for several years running, and are excited to see them back (as are Ramón and Alma!) "El Buen Samaritano" is developed to the point that they are going to be sending monthly offerings to the convention, as the churches of the convention are asked to do. Progress goes by fits and starts, but it is going, and we are so pleased with the work they are doing. There is much positive going with the other works as well, but space doesn't allow this month. Stay tuned, and God bless! |
|
Financial Update As we continue with the new paradigm of being a missionary today, part of that is your financial involvement in our ministry. You have read what God is doing in our seminary and through the ministry of new church plants. These are not only buildings that are going up but the hope of the gospel is being planted in these communities. Lives are being changed concretely and leaders are being prepared to minister to their communities. We also have short term mission teams that come and make a difference in the lives of these new churches and at the same time their lives are being transformed by being stretched spiritually by these trips. I mention all of this within the context of our financial update because none of this can happen without your support. Our heart strings tug at us when we see the consequences of a horrible disaster like the one experienced by the Haitian people. I rejoice with all the support that has been sent over there but I would like you to think about the "people" that are the links between the financial support and those that receive it. Missionaries from International Ministries as well as other NGO's are those links. We want to uplift the work of our colleagues, Kristy Engel, Ketley and Vital Pierre, Madeline Flores and Adalia Schellinger-Gutierrez as well as Nancy and Steve James who responded right away to the need over there. We are so proud of the work that they do. We all need your pledge to our support so that we can continue to work with the people in our countries of service. What is the new paradigm? Each missionary must have a group of individuals and churches (Missionary Partnership Network) that pledge on a yearly (regular basis) to their support. Last year many of you gave generously through the matching funds campaign. This year there is NO matching funds campaign but the need continues to be there. Believe me, we really want the focus of our newsletter to be on our ministry, on what God is doing and not on the financial need but we do need your financial support and partnership to do our ministry. We cannot do what we do without your help. We enjoy our work in Mexico. I (Mercy) love seeing the eyes of students as the light bulb lights up over their head (like in cartoons). We both enjoy teaching and sharing what the Lord has given us. We learn so much from the people in Mexico and they stretch us every day. We appreciate the values that our children learn from our choice of work. It makes them better people and world changers. Is it a new paradigm? You can continue to give to the World Missionary Offering and it is extremely important that you do so. BUT if you don't TARGET a particular missionary family to support and YOU really appreciate that ministry, you will NOT be participating in the financial goal of that missionary. We will not say "Give to us"; we always say give to the missionary that the Lord has placed on your heart. If it is us, praise the Lord and Thank you! If not, praise the Lord and may God bless your gift wherever it goes. We know it is a CHANGE from how we've always taken care of our mission as a family but it is our present reality, it is the new paradigm. We are currently at 70% of our yearly goal. Please pray for how your church or you as an individual can help us reach our goal. Please consider making a pledge (be it monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or yearly). If you wish to give to our ministry via the website just use the following link: www.internationalministries.org/give Or send directly via U.S. Mail to: Lisa Schnovel International Ministries P. O. Box 851 Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 In the memo portion of the check write for the "Ongoing Support of Rick and Mercy Barnes" (Targeted Giving) |
| Return to Top of Page |
| American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware 106 Revere Lane, Coatesville, PA 19320 |