Author: rbarnett

More Pics and the Other Half

The other half of the totes have arrived and just in time. Tomorrow is our first VBS and the tote with the supplies was in the missing half but a short 4-hour round trip car ride to Tegucigalpa and back and we now have all 14 Totes. I missed out on our first door-to-door experience, but we had a good grouping of our teams and I am confident all is going well. We had 12 children pray to receive Christ at this morning’s fiesta. There were 60 children in attendance in all and for that we praise God and I look forward to hearing their experiences this afternoon at tonight’s share time.

We are doing some souvenir shopping and some sight seeing tonight. Comayagua is home to the second oldest clock tower in the Americas and so we will take the team to see it.

I will try to get some of the others to post tonight and if there is someone that you want to hear from specifically, comment and let us know and I will pass the word.

We do have one sad thing to report…it’s already Thursday and I would bet there will be a few that will not want to leave.

And now for the stuff you want to see:

What Do Chocolate and Tan Stand For?

For some of you it may describe the color of your dog. For others of you it may describe your favorite ice cream and summer pastime. For those of us on the team, it represents a long and rewarding day of painting at the Homes of Hope Orphanage in Comayagua (Jeff Vibbert…We wish you were here!)

We painted a bedroom, a living room, a hall, and the kitchen and hope to finish the other bedroom, the downstairs living room, the other hall and both bathrooms. If we get that done and can still move, then we will start on the exterior. My prayer is that this brightens up the new year a bit for the girls of the home. Pastor Robert and his wife had a good smile as they watched the progress.

Speaking of New Year, there has been a lot of fireworks already and one of the things we saw today, that if I get a picture of I will attach it for you (I hope to add pictures tonight), is dressed up dummy’s with peoples faces placed on them. We were told that people create these images or dummies, or other things that they feel are bad, and as part of the new year celebration they will fill them with fireworks (aka explosives as they have no ATF here and still have the really good fireworks…we know, they were going off all day today) and blow them to bits as a symbol that they are ridding themselves of this evil for the new year. Needless to say, it might be interesting throughout the night tonight.

Tomorrow is Pamela’s birthday, our lead interpreter (or for Eddie Baker…interpretater) and she will not be with us tomorrow, but we will be painting for the majority of the day and tomorrow evening we will do some training with the team to prepare them for the fiestas and for the door-door evangelism.

Right now we are getting ready for our first church service, which should host a couple hundred people. Brother Wes Hahn of Shiloh Baptist will be preaching tonight a message on the most important question that every person must answer based out of Matthew. I am looking forward to both hearing him preach, but also to being able to worship once again with people who have become a second family of sorts who are not afraid to worship with everything that they have. For some on the team, they may walk out of service both in amazement and possibly with a bit of fear because of the complete different feeling and the extreme energy that is expressed, maybe it will rub off on all of us.

Our first share time will also be tonight after service and dinner and that is always my favorite part. I will encourage the others to start their blogging efforts tonight as well as I will set my laptop out for everyone to use.

That is probably more than anyone wants to read at the moment so I will post more later, but keep the comments coming. Oh and Aunt Donna, Wes said Hi.

Half

Half is the number of totes that arrived today at Toncontin Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Fourteen entered the check stand in Indianapolis and only seven arrived causing a delay in our departure to Comayagua, but we had cool heads and big hearts and I was proud of everyone who were simply like Gumby…very bendable.

Half is also the amount of sleep most of the team received last night as the majority had to leave around 1:00am in order to get to the airport by 4:15am CST.

As we begin this journey we realize that throughout even the most difficult of beginnings that God is the leader of this team and through him all things are possible. Though we have half of the supplies as of now, all of what we need for the first half of the week is here and we do not need the rest until the second half of the week. (Pray fervently that it all arrives!)

In my reading tonight in Colossians 1:11-14, I read the following:

11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

That is my prayer for this team this week, that we are strengthened from our weariness with the power that only comes from God, I pray for all endurance and patience for both the team but especially for myself as I feel the pressure of being half here since my wife is at home healing still. I pray that even through the hardships that we will certInly face this week, that it will be a catalyst to drive us to our knees in thanksgiving to God the Father for all he has done and is continuing to do in our lives. I am now calling on the truth of His word in that he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and that he will continue to protect us this week from that darkness as well. And lastly, I pray that as we realize our own redemption, our forgiveness from sin, may we also have the desire this week to see others share in that same redemption through both boldness in speaking and serving others and through the preaching of God’s Word.

We are blessed to have such a diverse team, but even more blessed to have so many others that serve through Open Eyes Ministries that make it so easy to come and to work on a foreign mission field.

Unfortunately, as I lay here at the end of the first day and think about spending half of our day in travel, I can only imagine how many “Christians” are only willing to give half of there hearts to Jesus when he has asked for our whole heart. Lord, may we ever be changed to a state of discipleship where half is never good enough and may it begin this week.

The 24-Hour Window

Well, we are within the 24-hour window. Isaiah, Valerie, Adam and I have arrived at a hotel in Indianapolis and are getting ready for bed. Hopefully we will get to sleep early since we need to be up by 3am. The rest of the team will be leaving around 1am to make the drive over. Pray the weather holds out for them as we ran into some ice and snow on the way over, however the 85 degree reception will be a nice reward for the lack of sleep.

As the new year begins I pray that this week begins a new life for many in Honduras, but I more pray that the lives of the team will be even more impacted and that they will forever impact the lives of those around them for many years to come.

My heart still aches that Amy is not with us, but her heart and prayers are and hopefully we will be able to make her proud through these blog posts.

Pray for safe and easy travel and for rest so we may all serve faithfully.

Also don’t be afraid to leave comments on the blog, questions or just an encouraging word, either goes a long way for teammates to know that folk back home are following along.

Good night for now.

In Christ and 4HisService,
Rich

It’s Almost That Time

First off…MERRY CHRISTMAS! And it is Merry Christmas as Happy Holidays just not mean the same thing.

Second off…It’s Almost That Time for each of you to follow the mission trip on the Mission Blog. For those of your reading this on Facebook or another media site, you can find the blog at http://www.4hisservice.com/Mission_Blog/.

If you register your email address on the site you will receive an email each time we post an update to the page. I will be encouraging every member of the team to put something on the blog each and every day so also share the Mission Blog web address with your friends and have them register as well. You can also “Like” the 4HisService Facebook page and you will be able to see the posts there as well.

We leave early on the 30th from Indianapolis in order to head to Comayagua, Honduras. There will now be 14 of us on the team since Amy is now recovering at home from her fall and pelvic break.

For those of you who are techno-geeks like me you can download the flight tracker app and follow our flight (see below). Also we simply ask that you continue to pray for the Team:

  • Ashlei, Adam, Cassie, Connie, Greg, Isaiah, Lucas, Mark, Natalie, Rich, Tailar, Wes, Wesley, and Valerie

While you are praying for us you can also pray for the Missionaries:

  • Terry, Arlene, Jennifer, Hans, Pamela, America, and the rest of the staff

Lastly, pray for the people of Honduras, that God will prepare the way for the gospel message to go forth.

God Bless,

Rich

  • 12/30/2013 – 07:10AM EST – 08:50AM EST – DELTA #DL 1575 – INDIANAPOLIS TO ATLANTA
  • 12/30/2013 – 10:08AM EST – 12:54PM CST – DELTA #DL 0849 – ATLANTA TO TEGUCIGALPA
  • 01/06/2013 – 2:00PM CST – 6:27PM EST – DELTA #DL 0552 – TEGUCIGALPA TO ATLANTA
  • 01/06/2013 – 9:55PM EST – 11:36PM EST – DELTA #DL 1898 – ATLANTA TO INDIANAPOLIS

Keep your Eyes Open

Keep your eyes open because the next trip to Central America has been planned and we are going. December 30, 2013-January 6, 2013 are the dates for the trip and we ask that you begin to pray for the team as we prepare to be blessed through service to Christ once again in Comayagua, Honduras.

Here are the names of those I would ask you to be praying for:

  • Rich, Amy, and Isaiah Barnett
  • Valerie and Adam Bates
  • Wesley and Lucas Hahn
  • Greg Wampler and Tailor Monti
  • Connie Dawson and Wes Pepper
  • Mark Shipman and Natalie Lewis
  • Cassie Pinkston
  • Ashlei Tuel
  • Amanda Wood

Also continue to pray for the leaders and staff from Open Eyes Ministries (www.openeyes.org), and for the people who we will meet that God has already prepared their hearts to hear the gospel.

Going Home?

You may be wondering, why the question mark? As usual the day we go home we leave a piece of ourself behind. For many of us, we do not want to go home because the experience of the work that is going on here permanently changes you. I believe the official count for the week’s harvest was 260 professions of faith, many other rededications, and, if God was willing to use it, a countless many others from the numerous times my “televangelist” debut will be aired. I know at least one was affected because a cousin of my “interpratater,” as Eddie calls them, messaged her by phone to tell her that she was thankful for that preacher reminding her that she was in need of rescuing and that she committed her life to Christ.

While home is questionable at times because my heart is to be where people are being affected by the Spirit, I know that God has blessed me with a wonder new church home and also with a mission, one of inspiring others to go; to go to new locations and places to serve Christ. I know that there are those who think it is silly to spend all the money it takes to go on a foreign mission trip when there is so much to do back home, I will say I was one of them, but even as we witnessed this week, God changes hearts.

I pray that as you read this that maybe you will be the next to go.

Acts 1:8

In Christ and 4HisService,

Pastor Rich