Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy

We fell in love with Lilian I think on day one. She really loves the Lord and has a servant like spirit that has encouraged us on many occasions. Regina discipled her for several months and I was honored to baptize her not long ago. She always wants copies of the songs we sing in church and has had numerous prayer requests answered on our church prayer list. One of those requests was that her papers be approved by our government so she could join her husband who works for Wal-Mart in New Orleans. It was rather a strange request for us to put down. Our church had never prayed for someone to leave before - Smile - especially to the States - but we all realized that Lilian missed being with her husband. So we prayed the Lord's will be done and guess what? The Lord answered and after several years of waiting the embassy approved her request right before Christmas. The church did not know whether to shout with joy or to cry - but we were all thankful the Lord was working. The church had a going away party Sunday night for Lilian and while quite a few tears were shed we also rejoiced to see her whole family present that night. We played games, ate food, shared testimonies and at the end of the service we gave Lilian a large print Bible she had always wanted. It was the perfect ending to a new beginning.

Mission Conference Time

Thanksgiving week we completed our first missions conference here in Tamboril. It was a traditional five day conference (Sunday – Thursday) and our theme was Taking a Step of Faith (Tomando Un Paso de Fe) based on 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight”. We decorated the church with feet (taking a step) and the banquet Thursday night was absolutely beautiful and the food (including Turkey) was great. Everyone commented that it was the best activity we have had so far which made us feel very blessed. The faith promise missions commitment was over $3000, which will allow us to take on several missions’ projects for $110 a month including Jorge and Penny Briones who work in a remote city of the Dominican Republic called Nagua. The church purchased a large printer for their ministry and presented it to them Thursday evening to culminate the festivities. \

Couples Retreat in Constanza

October is family month. We started out with a series of messages on creating a family culture within the home and ended the month with a couples retreat in Constanza. Constanza is a agricultural valley in a mountainous region that has lots of flower nurseries and local markets. The theme of the retreat was True Spirituality based on I Corinthians 2 and 3. The lessons were great, we had a BBQ with Corn on the Cob, Yuca and Shish-kabob's but the BonFire testimonies on the last night were most definitely the Highlight of the retreat.

The Three B's - Beautiful Blessed Baptism's

Been apart of quite a few BAPTISM'S in the ocean before but this day was just BEAUTIFUL. Regina had some simple robes made and we traveled about 45 minutes from Tamboril to a public beach in Puerto Plata. The ladies made all kinds of goodies for a picnic and the kids had a blast playing in the sand. As you can see the water was crystal clear, absolutely the perfect temperature and even Lilian (pictured below), who is absolutely terrified of the water got in and followed the Lords command. I love doing this in public areas, so many of us got to witness and share with onlookers about Christ, it was a great memory builder and we were very BLESSED to be a part of it.

Family Fair in San Francisco de Marcoris

Bro. Erik and Holly Johnson in San Francisco de Marcoris (about an hour and half away) invited our church to help organize some of the activities for their first ever family fair. Our church (even as young as it is) took the most workers (pretty proud of that) and we all agreed that it went so well that we want to do one of our own next year. The church made a lot of contacts, Tyler and Jordan manned the dunking booth, Lilian stayed busy registering visitors (her specialty) and the rest of us took over different games and clean up chores. What a blessing it is to serve and be a part of helping another church get started here in the Dominican Republic. Please pray for Truth Baptist Church, Erik, Holly and Ashly as they labor in San Francisco de Marcoris.

August 1st Interactive Missionary Letter

New Mission Begins In Don Pedro

At the beginning of the year, two Haitian men approached me expressing a desire to learn more about the Bible. I was hesitant at first because I did not know how to speak Creole or French but to my surprise both men spoke excellent Spanish. Weekly meetings were established on Tuesday’s to teach basic doctrine and Baptist Ecclesiology (study of the church) type classes. Using the Bible, we began writing the Articles of Faith in Creole. Things have now progressed and a Baptist mission has been established in Don Pedro. In addition to the mission, we have begun services in Creole Sunday nights in our church here in Tamboril. Over 30 Hatian’s have been saved over the last few months as a result of JuanDial and Gary’s work. They need property, which seems to be a pressing need everywhere, but thankfully we have been able to provide them a piano, guitars and a small portable inverter over the last few weeks.

Several months ago we began inviting boys from a boys home called Hogar Crea two blocks from our church. Several of the boys came to our inaugural services and nine of them were saved. It was an amazing answer to prayer but Alberto the director still was struggling with receiving Christ as his personal Savior. We knew this could be a problem so the church started praying. Believe it or not (with several of the boys present) Alberto came to church Sunday morning and boldly declared that if the boys could change their lives he could too and I had the privilege of leading him to the Lord that day. He has since begun discipleships, received a promotion, and we are working together on the other boys and staff members. Please pray we will be able to reach the staff and boys in the Lord’s perfect timing.

Our Facebook account has steadily grown over the last few months. Send us an e-mail and we will try and explain how it works if you desire to give it a whirl. All our photo albums on www.dr4christ.com will be moving to Facebook

soon. Our latest is about the construction happening at Congregacion Bautista Cristiana. Everyone was in awe to see how much work the men from Liberty Baptist Church in Saint Petersburg had done. I calculate that in four days they saved us 3 months of work. Professionals rookies -

it does make a difference. We learned a lot about construction and dry walling which is still a rarity here in the third world. Bro. Talley at 84 years of age was everywhere preaching, including at our new Haitian mission in Don Pedro. We had over 200 for a special film entitled "The Climb" Sunday night and everyone was blessed to hear Bro. Talley share his testimony.

We are blessed to have four great kids. This summer Tyler traveled to Costa Rica to be with his Grandma and Grandpa Barnes and help out in a couple of camps as a helper / counselor. He really enjoyed the trip and got to go to Nicaragua and visit his Uncle Brian and Aunt Rachael. He has now returned to his duties as Sunday School teacher here in Tamboril and is doing a great job. Please pray for all of our kids spiritual growth and most importantly that they will learn to love serving the Lord their whole life.

Construction Team - Builds and Then Some

Everyone was in awe to see how much work the men from Liberty Baptist Church in Saint Petersburg had done. I calculate that in four days they saved us 3 months of work. Professionals verses rookies - it does make a difference. We learned a lot about construction and dry walling which is still a rarity here in the third world. Bro. Talley at 84 years of age was everywhere preaching, including at our new Haitian mission in Don Pedro. We had over 200 for a special film entitled "The Climb" Sunday night and everyone was blessed to hear Bro. Talley share his testimony.

Dr. Calvert Preaches Inaugural Service to Over 400

When God is at work, it is fun to watch and humbling to participate in His plans. Our new church in Tamboril worked hard for a month leading up to the third week of June. Dr. Calvert's team of 30 young people was also hard at work preparing special music and testimonies in Spanish. When we got together, God blessed mightily and we had over 1oo kids each day in Vacation Bible School with 32 receiving Christ as their Savior. Wednesday night we kicked the church off underneath the tent the Rawlings foundation donated with more than 400 in attendance. We had to dismiss the children and still had people standing outside the tent to hear God's word. 20 adults received Christ as their Savior that night and somehow there was cake to spare after all was said and done. Amazing!!

Samuel Club Blessings

Samuel Club keeps growing and growing. Over 50 have now been saved through this ministry and we thank the Lord that the children are learning more about the Bible everyday. Arden Road in Amarillo gave the funds necessary to complete the kitchen and this month we finished. It is looking and tasting great. God does answer prayers!!