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!!

Spring Break? Who needs a break - Let's go to Jr. Camp

We had 27 from our church and Club Samuel go to Jr. camp this year. Thirteen of these wonderful children - including the twins - Marialisa and Leurisa received Christ as there personal Savior. Over 300 campers in all and many decisions were made. God is good!!

Marialisa & Leurisa

February 26ths Interactive Missionary Letter

God is so good. Believe it or Not we have finished the remodeling of the building and have been thoroughly enjoying it. Thank you so much for praying and giving towards this project. Turned out that the bathrooms were the most difficult and time-consuming job but even though it took a bit longer than expected we had lots of fun getting our hands dirty. When things got a bit more than we could handle we had several national churches from Santiago and Bonao send men that helped us take up the slack to whom we are also grateful. We still need to work on several projects in the tent area as well as purchase a sign for the church and will present theses projects soon when we have more details. This Sunday evening we had over 50 in attendance for our valentines day program, the Lord led me to speak on I John 4:7-11 and several raised their hands for salvation. Please pray that we will remain faithful to this work and the Lord will add to our church every beautiful stroke in this masterpiece that we need in His timing.

The feeding center in Santiago, Club Samuel, which is supported by Arden Road Baptist Church in Amarillo, just had a special program for their parents. We were very proud of how hard the kids worked and almost all the parents and or guardians came. Best of all a clear presentation of the gospel was presented and several accepted Christ as their personal Savior. Please pray for this ministry and for the children that have received Christ to continue to be a witness to their unsaved parents.

We Need Your Prayers!!

Pray for Tom has he prepares the messages, music and activities of the church. Pray that God would send us a Pastor and that God will use Tom mightily to prepare him for ministry.

Pray for Regina has she disciples the ladies. Specifically Aris, Lilian and Rosa. Pray for their spiritual growth as well as for the children in her 8-12 year old class.

Pray for Tyler as he fulfills, for the first time, his responsibilities of being a Sunday School teacher for the 4-8 year olds.

Pray for Jordan as he learns to take a stand at school. He's facing the challenge of doing what's right even if you feel left out.

Pray for Tiffany although she is 3 years old, she has befriended the owners of our church property, Juan Carlos and Noni. Pray that Tom and I can use this new friendship as a stepping-stone to share the Gospel.

JuliAnna, our 1 year old, along with 3 other active babies are now being taken care of by our first nursury volunteer, Lillian. Please pray that more will volunteer for our growing Sunday School.

In January, Kelview Heights Baptist church in Midland invited our family to their missions conference and Boston Baptist College asked Tom to teach a concentrated 2 week philosophy of mission course to 31 students. We accepted and seized the opportunity to visit family. Grandma and great-grandma were able to enjoy grandkids and meet their new grandbaby, JuliAnna, who was born in the Dominican Republic 1 year ago. We’re glad to be back home but thank God for allowing us to serve the churches and college and at the same time for allowing us to refresh.

Rain Rain Go Away

Rains have been non- stop for several weeks and have continued bringing mudslides and flooding. Our city Tamboril, has been among the worst affected areas in the country. The constant rains damaged 100 homes with the root of the problem being a sand mine that resulted in an enormous hole that filled with water and caused a landslide that destroyed 60 homes, two schools and a church. The town of Carlos Diaz about 4 miles from our location has been completely deserted due to the waters and landslides. The President of the country Leon Fernandez was here in Tamboril for several days directing recovery efforts. Spiritually, we are standing in the gap passing out tracks and taking the opportunity to pray and encourage those affected by the disaster. David (man pictured above) and I figure that there is close to 1000 people living in a gym (with only 4 bathrooms) just a few blocks from the church. There were so many affected, we decided to strike up a friendship with one family and help them the best we can. This is Glenis Santana with her sons Samuel, Wesley and daughter Wenifer. Glenis’s husband is a mechanic and was out doing odd jobs while we were there. They have lost everything and currently have two mattress’s between the five of them. It is a crazy situation in the gym, not a really good place for kids. Please pray that our church will be able to learn quickly the blessing of giving when so many around are in need of receiving. We want the people in our church to understand and practice that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Boston Baptist College Adventure

Heading to the frozen tundra of Boston for this warm-blooded island dweller is always a challenge. One – its cold. Did I say cold? Wait – let me add an adjective - freezing cold. Second - How do you keep 31 inquiring minds from all over the globe engaged in a Philosophy of missions class for 5 hours a day – two weeks running? Well, keep it simple, fun and pump in huge doses of faith. After all when good effective ministry that lasts is done on the mission field it is always accompanied by extreme faith. What an honor to share and challenge students with every inspired missiological nugget I could gather. It’s a sacred trust and I pray I can see them again down this road called ministry. C.T. Studd said "Some want to live within the sound of chapel bells but that he’d rather run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." I feel some of these students have the same desire and I have high expectations for each one of them.

JuliAnna's 1st Birthday

For JuliAnna's 1st birthday we bought cake, ice cream and presents. Big Mama, Big Daddy and family gathered around with camera's ready to catch that once in a lifetime shot where she's allowed to freely dig her hands into her first and very own cake with no interference. The camera's rolled and clicked; however, they didn't capture dirty hands playing and licking icing, that was just a bit too yucky and gooey for JuliAnna, way better to just think cleaner and neater and eat the cake face first. What fun!

Our Neighbors Are The First To Come

We have had so much fun starting this church. At first we were a bit embarrassed with the facility and dove into remodeling it so as to have an adequate place to meet. During this process, our neighbors saw us working up a sweat and began to inquire what we were up to. We happily introduced ourselves and shared with them our plans to start a Baptist church. To take advantage of their curiosity we told them to come to church Sunday morning. Without flyers, fanfare or even a sign, people started to come and we have seen a steady stream of visitors motivated by the love and curiosity our neighbors have to know more about us and the Lord. Several have accepted Christ and discipleships have begun. Tyler and I are holding down the Sunday School while Tom does the preaching, music ect. We really are a army of one family now but pray this Christmas God will give us some Sunday School helpers that want to grow in their relationship with the Lord through service.

A Thanksgiving to Remember

A big thank you to Lynn and Randy Brown for sending boxes and boxes of clothes and toys from Play House Day Care in Amarillo, Texas. Our partnership with Agape Missionary flights has bridged the gap between home and field. Yamarka and her courageous family are wonderful people attending Congregacion Bautista here in Santiago and really needed help this Thanksgiving. We were all very thankful that we got to meet Yamarka's mother who has been in Haiti - she is a very very sweet person. SHE GAVE ME A BEAR HUG AND BIG KISS (which is something I normally try and avoid unless it comes from one of my girls) BUT THIS TIME THERE WAS NO ESCAPE (Trust Me)!! Helping those less fortunate during this time is well - unforgettable - it was a honor and privilege to be a part of this and we felt very used. Please pray that this couple stays faithful to church and will stay together no matter the storms that come their way.