The Barnabas Foundation...

Camp was wonderful! By the time we left, we were 14 ladies and I think the final count was 300 women from around the country. The program was great, there was a group of Latina ladies from Texas that were so sweet and so right on target with their teaching and worship.

One of our ladies (not yet a believer) was really impacted Friday night as she listened to one of the workshops. She left an abusive husband- and her 4 children two years ago. He refuses to give her custody and she sort of gave up on the legal process to get them. She is now with another man, and two months pregnant. Pray for her as she sorts through her situation, especially praying that she begin by believing in Jesus and putting her faith in Him.  Pray for our members in the Hole as they minister to her and her "husband."

Those of you who have been to these type of retreat experiences know that coming back home, facing all the daily chores and stresses can be like a cup of cold water thrown at you. I pray that the families and neighbors of these ladies will see the change in them, and realize they have been with the Lord.

Tomorrow is Dominican Independence Day. I am hosting a "despidida" for one of our mission families who are leaving on their stateside assignment and then transfering to another island. I am really going to miss them! And even though I hate to see them go, I am looking forward to having all our mission family together- we will be 19 adults and 19 kids!  We are not together too often so it is a treat. Please remember all of them as they travel tomorrow on a holiday- driving is dangerous enough without throwing Carnaval and a national holiday into the mix.

We'll soon be off to Maimon de Bonao to join in the Ladies Congress of the Dominican Baptist Convention. I think there will be almost 500 women present, 13 of them will be ladies involved in the Timothy Project! I am excited- we have several who are not believers and have just started coming to church and several others who have been coming for a while but haven't really come to a commitment to follow Jesus.  This time of fellowship among ourselves as well as with the ladies from around the country, the Bible study and worship experiences, have great promise for helping them understand more fully the plan God has for their lives. Thanks for praying with me that it will be a watershed experience for our folks.

Last night in Guayacanal we were in our new location- it wasn't too comfortable and we didn't have enough chairs and of course no light (and I forgot my mega flashlight!) BUT it was a great Bible study with good participation. We looked at the source of our salvation because I am becoming more and more aware that so many don't really understand that our salvation doesn't depend on us (thus we can't lose it when we commit some error) but on Jesus, and thus they don't really understand nor live in grace which in turn means they are missing out on the "Vida abudante" Jesus came to bring!  I was amazed at how well our teaching and discussion went (especially given the circumtances!) and I ask you to pray that God continues to work in their hearts, showing them more and more of His love and grace!

One other thing, I have begun to pray that God would give us some sort of permanent location in both Guayacanal and Navarette. I have no idea how that could come to pass but I know God can do it. I am praying first for land and then for a roof to have overhead!  Pray with me please! 

Keep in mind that two of our churches will be functioning without the ladies this weekend so that brings extra responsibility to Hector and Victor- pray they will have a great experience leading solo! I look forward to giving you a good report on Monday about the camp!

We have had a "cold" spell this week- temperatures have been in the chilly 70s. I am enjoying it, knowing it won't last long enough!  Sunday was a good day- attendance was up at all the churches. We have 11 ladies ready to leave for the National (Dominican Baptist Convention) Women's Congress this weekend.  I am very hopeful it will be a great event, helping our ladies catch a larger vision of God's work around the world, cementing relationships and fellowship among our group and also making new relationships with other Dominican Baptist ladies. 

Tuesday night in Navarette I was thrilled to have 20 adults and more children present. It seems that the study of Matthew that we are promoting has sparked quite a lot of interest, as well as the presence of Big Pine Key. Pray for this group, that Minerva and Moreno (the couple where we meet) will make solid commitments to the Lord so we can begin forming a core leadership group.

During my visitation Tuesday, I spoke with a lady we had talked to earlier, who believes she can lose her salvation if she makes some mistakes. In fact, in talking with her again, I don't think she even believes she has been saved. I tried to share with her again that our salvation was bought with a price but given to us as a gift BUT she was firmly convinced and the Scriptures I shared didn't seem to matter. I was troubled by this encounter. Sound and healthy doctrine is important to sound and healthy Christians. So for Wednesday's Bible study in Villa de Yaque, I began a study of the security and eternity of our salvation. We had a small group present but I discovered that even among our strong Christian leaders, there was some doubt and confusion on this issue.  We looked at many different scriptures and I left them with a worksheet to look at even more scriptures.  Please keep this group in your prayers as they work through this issue.

Grace is so hard for us to understand and accept.  I am convinced to live as Christ wants us to, to enjoy the "abundant life" that He desires for us, we need to be clear about this issue.  Sadly, there is a strong presence of works theology here in the Christian community that leaves too many people thinking they can't be "good enough" for Jesus so they never even come close to Him. Pray for our leaders to fully experience grace so that they in turn can share this good news with others!

Jacinta Julia Adams Fernandez, a mother of three, is one of 175 Dominican prostitutes lending their bodies to a trial of what New Jersey-based Merck & Co. (MRK) hopes will prove to be a vaccine against the virus that causes AIDS.

Since turning to prostitution after a divorce 13 years ago, Adams has seen friends and co-workers die from the disease. Prostitution is illegal but widespread here, largely ignored by the authorities.

"It's rare for anyone who lives here not to know AIDS and what it can do," said Adams, a heavyset woman dressed for work in a tight-fitting yellow dress and bright red lipstick.

(AP) Manuela Perez, a sex worker, shows a document with tests results while her colleagues wait to be... Full Image

At least 70,000 of the Dominican Republic's 9 million people are HIV positive, and discrimination discourages many from seeking testing or treatment. Among prostitutes, about 3.6 percent are infected, although researchers report rates as high as 12 percent in some areas.

Last night was a tremendous success- we had 11 couples plus our conference leaders. We had some spouses who are not members of any church and we also had at least one new believer and his wife who isn't involved (yet) in our church. EVERYONE was thrilled! One of the men came out to get a drink of water and shared with us (the cooks and myself): "Boy, we make so many mistakes as husbands without even knowing it!" And later he suggested we needed to have these conferences about every 45 days to keep them straight!  I was so pleased that we were able to do something to help strengthen our families- and I continue to pray that our church members will shine brightly in their communities and bring more people to transforming faith- that "vida abundante" that we strive for (John 10:10) (In English it is Life Abundant.) 

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what the evening was like. And by the way, for all you Southern Baptist churches out there- thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for your support for me which includes my awesome house that is just perfect for these kinds of events!

Because I didn't go to the capital to pick up the Quest team, I was able to go with Victor to Guayacanal and give Sol a night to stay home and study for her seminary class! And boy, what a heartbreaking evening we had... the place we have been meeting since last August is no longer available. Victor and his wife had to move in the dark to a rented house while they finish up the house they bought.  He is sick, she has a daughter sick and they haven't been able to finish the house so they had to rent a place in the meantime. I can't imagine what they are going through. At least I was able to help a little by shining my car lights and using hte 10million candlewatt flashlight so they could at least see where to put the stuff in the new house!

I was encouraged as we visited our regular group. Interest is still strong and they are asking for us to spend more time with them. It is so true- discipleship is a relationship, not a weekly service! Please join me in praying for wisdom so that we can be with them more and nurture them in their faith. Also, pray with us as we search for a new meeting place. For now we will be meeting in front of Johnny's house.

Well, the Quest team visit is postponed indefinately, probably until April.  I imagine it is pretty disappointed to the team to have worked hard to get ready only to spend a frustrating day at the airport all for naught.  I do believe that God can and does cause all things to work together for good so somewhere down the road I think we will see the silver lining in this.  Continue to pray for the leadership of Quest as they make alternative plans.

In the meantime, I was able to make alternative plans so as to not let our food go to waste: We will have a marriage enrichment seminar followed by a special dinner for at least 12 couples tomorrow night! This is a first for The Timothy Project and I am excited. Strengthening marriages strengthens the family and in turn the whole community.  I think the interest level is evident too in how many responded with no notice! We have four couples coming from The Hole (one is Jose Luis who just accepted the Lord with the Big Pine group!), 5 couples from Los Santos, and three couples from Villa de Yaque. I wish I could invite the folks from Guayacanal and Navarette but transportion and space becomes a factor so we might have to do another one for them at a later time. 

Please keep Pastor Nicolas and his wife Elizabeth in your prayers as they lead this seminar tomorrow and for all the unbelieving spouses that will be in attendance. I am praying with confidence it will be a blessing in their lives and will bless their marriages and familes!

Many people ask me "What is a blog?" and to be honest, I don't know, other than to say it is sort of like a webpage but it is more like an on-line journal. Anyways, this blog has proved to be very effective in sharing news about the ministry of the Timothy Project with those who are praying for us- it helps to have the specifics for more effective praying. It also helps me keep in touch with lots of people at once because there isn't enough time in the day to call or write emails to all the special people and churches God has brought my way in the past years.

On the sidebar, you will notice a section called "Blogroll" which is supposed to be other blogs I read and recommend to others. However, I have modified it and included some websites that I enjoy. Today I did add two blogs: The Quest team blog for those of you who want to follow their journey and also Angelo's blog. Some may remember that Angelo came with the Quest team last year and then came back last summer for two weeks.  Out of those experiences, he has felt led to do a short term mission assignment here in the DR through Adventures in Missions. You can follow his journey through his blog. 

One last comment about the blogroll- I have been blogging for two years or so- you can see the previous posts, etc. by clicking on the Blog "Timothy Project" which will take you to my former blog.

Oh well. It looks like the Quest team may not be able to come at all, or at least until April.  We are still awaiting word to see if they can make some alternative flight plan but it isn't looking too good.

However disappointed we may be about them not coming, we are working to make new plans. Yesterday was Valentines Day and I had wanted to have a special conference/activity for couples but with the Quest team arriving, it was going to wait until March. Now we are scrambling to do it tomorrow evening. (I had already bought the food for the Quest team and didn't want it to go to waste!)

It looks like Nicolas, one of our pastors who is also a professional counselor, is going to be able to lead a special program that will bring enrichment to the marriages, our cooks have readjusted their schedule to come in the afternoon to prepare the dinner, and now we are busy inviting our couples from our churches. Please pray that their schedules will allow them to come and that the evening will bring a tremendous blessing!

Continue to pray for Ken Hall, Alyson Clark and the rest of the Quest team as they sort through their options and develop a new plan.