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I am so excited! Michal and I are going to go to Costa Rica on May 29 and will not return until July 22. We are enrolled in a Spanish language course during the month of June. We have been wanting and needing to increase our Spanish language proficiency. Along with full days of classes, we also will be helping the churches in Sabanilla and Alajuela.

Everything worked out just great! Since we are going to be in Costa Rica for VBS and camp in July, we didn’t have any extra plane ticket expense, and we don’t have to pay for accommodations, since we will be staying in the same house that we will be at for the VBS during the first week of July. Robert and Jamie will be spending June in gospel meetings, visiting grandparants, and camp in the states before joining us for VBS and camp in Costa Rica.
The plan to work with the Mars Hill congregation’s VBS is really shaping up. The Gospel Opportunities team has been asked to help with teaching English this year, so we will be only marginally involved with the VBS, except for Jamie who will be helping Chris Rich with VBS activities. We are all excited about the opportunity to learn new skills that will be valuable to us in other countries.

Last year, after the Christian camp in Costa Rica, the Gospel Opportunities team was asked to head up this year’s program. The camp is situated on an old coffee plantation in the mountains and is owned by a congregation in Paragould, AR. We are planning to take 25 Americans, the Costa Rican church will take 25 from their congregation, and there will be 50 non-Christians invited to attend. So far, we have about 20 Americans, so if anyone would like to join us, there is still time!!

The main emphasis of the camp will be to evangelize, so we will have lots of one-on-one studies. Robert worked hard on an organizational chart and lessons that included about 100 individual talks and devotionals done by all of the camp counselors from Costa Rica and the states. Please pray with us for this effort. We hope to be able to make an impact in the lives of these young people and strengthen the church in Costa Rica.

As always, the project of my house hangs over us, and we devote time to it as we can. The kitchen is nearly done and I am able to live in the house now. We still have to finish one of the bathrooms, lay carpet in the living room and guest bedroom, finish out the closets and myriad little things that are too numerous to mention both inside and outside of the house. It is great getting to live in my own house, though, and I am really happy about that!

We just finished printing El Apocalipsis de Juan (The Revelation of John) in February, and I am proofreading Las Cartas de Juan y Judas (the Letters of John and Jude) and working on setting up Romans. This continues to be an exciting part of our work, and we are so happy to have met Enrique Mortorell and collaborated with him on this commentary series. We have been asking folks to consider buying one of the commentaries to give to Hispanic preachers. We call it our “Adopt-a-Preacher” program. It is a great way for Bible classes, children’s classes and individuals to help spread the gospel by putting good literature into the hands of our preachers. So if you know of anyone who might be interested in this service project, or if you yourself would be willing to consider it, please let me know. It is only $10.00 per book, plus about $2.00 for shipping, and right now they are being printed about every six months. So that is only $24.00 a year!

After we return from Costa Rica, we would really like to visit with you or your congregation and present to you in person what we have been doing. Robert Swain is always ready to speak to the congregation, and Michal or I would love to speak to your ladies’ classes. And, of course, any of us would be eager to make a presentation to the elders. If you would like to see what we do, just let us know and we will be happy to arrange a time. We are really excited about our work and want to share it with you.

Please keep me and the Gospel Opportunities team in your prayers as we continue to look for opportunities to serve.

May God bless our efforts together for His kingdom.

Posted by Barbara at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first question I asked the doctor when I was in SICU was, "Can I go to Costa Rica in 25 days?" Requiring one after-operation check-up, he gave me the go-ahead.

Yikes! We leave tomorrow!

I will try to keep you updated. Seems they have internet where I am going, so I should be able to keep in touch if studying doesn't consume me!

Posted by Barbara at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Greetings in Christ,

I hope you are all enjoying the New Year and haven’t broken all of your resolutions yet! Wish I could tell you that I am still on target, but I am so far behind, I haven’t even made mine yet!

Here’s what’s happening in Winona...

We finally got our first Greek-Spanish commentary back from the printers during the second week of November. Boy, it looked wonderful to me! We have several congregations who have “adopted a preacher” by contributing $10.00 for the book (or $13.00 if they want us to mail it in the US or $15.00 if we need to mail it out of the US) to give to an Hispanic preacher who can’t afford to buy one on his own. We would love to give them away, but Robert had to raise the money to have it printed, and with trying to raise my support and his support and a work fund, we can’t afford the time and resources to raise the money for printing. We hope to make enough from the sale of this one to print the next one, the Book of Revelation.

Enrique is working feverishly on Revelation now, so I should have part of it in hand in a few days. Soon it will be back to the keyboard for me, typing in Spanish and Greek. Of course, I love it!

Raising support has been way outside my comfort zone, but I have met some wonderful Christian women and am constantly reminded how much love and faith the women of the church have. Many fine women have volunteered to help me with my support. The Woman 2 Woman program is doing well, and there are about 12 ladies’ groups who are participating in that program. In case you don’t remember, Woman 2 Woman is where a group of women commit to sending one dollar a month each to help with my support. One or two of the ladies volunteer to organize, announce and collect the money and send it on to my sponsoring congregation. This has been such a great help and encouragement to me.

I can’t leave the men out of my praise either. Several elderships and men of the congregation have come to my aid when they heard of my need. It is very difficult for a woman to raise money. As Robert says, I have two strikes against me in the church. One is that I am female, and the other is that I am single and don’t have anyone to speak for me. So it does my heart good to see the outpouring of people who do care and are willing to help.
We are planning to go to Costa Rica in July, so I am diligently studying my Spanish. Robert is planning to go to Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama sometime in February or March with David Riley, the preacher at Mars Hill in Vilonia, AR. Then the Swains are going to Romania in May. I am trying to set up a plan to visit the Alpha and Omega Hispanic Preaching School in Little Rock to do immersion language learning for the three weeks that they will be gone.

My house is coming along slowly. With the holidays and lack of money on my part, work has ground to a halt, except for all of the caulking and plastering, which doesn’t require much money. So I am working that into my schedule. It seems to be a never-ending job!

I got a big boost in October! The campus ministry at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway brought a group of students on their fall break. They built a deck off my kitchen. Wow! It is wonderful! And thanks to the Mars Hill congregation in Vilonia who paid for the construction materials.

Right now, Robert is working on building kitchen cabinets with my expert assistance. He says, “Where’s the tape measure?” I find the tape measure. That’s my job. He says, “I need a phillips screw driver.” I get the screw driver. That’s my job! He says, “I need you to hold this board while I saw it in half.” I hold the board. That’s my job!! What would he do without me? Seriously though, I have learned a lot about construction. I can hang sheetrock, float out windows and facings, mud walls, and just about every other job that needs to be done. Maybe someday these skills will be of help to others in an evangelistic effort.

I hope you are all planning a great New Year, full of fun and family and memories in the making!

May God bless your efforts for His kingdom.

Posted by Barbara at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Please visit GoEvangelism.org if you would like an update on our work.

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Posted by Barbara at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow! I have been home for two weeks already! I am just now coming out of the fog of jet-lag and holiday-company-overeating-lag.

We left Tasmania on November 12 and spent Thursday in Singapore repacking for Myanmar (Burma). Singapore is sort of a hub for the Choates. They stay at the Supreme Hotel, and the hotel lets them store luggage. Since they are usually toting books from place to place, it is convenient to unload things that aren't needed for certain parts of the trip.

We were met at the airport in Myanmar by Winsome Vertannes, a single woman who lives with her mother. They do all the cooking and arranging transport for the missionaries who come to teach at the preacher-training school, which is held in the spring and fall. We drove to the Seasons Hotel in Yangoon, formerly Rangoon. It is an amazing hotel, with an attentive staff. We had to stay in a hotel because the government does not allow foreigners to stay with locals.

The Burmese are a very pleasant and polite people. The predominant religion is Buddhism. The country is controlled by the military. They had free elections, but when the people elected their president, the military put her under house arrest, where she remains to this day.

I have to say, Myanmar was one of my favorite countries, except for one thing. The Myanmar government has a strict policy regarding the internet. I was not able to check my email or even go to the home pages of my email servers! For over a week I was nearly internet-less! It was frightening!

We left Myanmar on Monday, November 24 for Singapore. We spent the night at the Supreme Hotel, gathered up all our luggage the next morning and were on our way to the airport by 6:30 am. Our flight was at 10:00 am, Tuesday morning. About 25 hours later, we arrived in Jackson, MS at 8:00 pm, Tuesday evening. No, that is not a math mistake. We gained about 10 hours. Tuesday was a long day!

Since I have been back, nearly everyone has asked me, "Did you have fun?" Well, yes, we did have some fun on the trip. But was it a fun trip? No, I can't say that it was a "fun" trip. I can say that it was an adventure.

This was not a vacation trip. It was a mission trip. Anyone who has been on a mission trip will understand what I mean. People think, "Wow, you went to all these cool places! Did you see the sites? Did you travel in style and stay in luxurious hotels, and eat expensive, exotic foods?" No, no, no and no!

We saw very few "sites", we stayed mostly in other Christians' homes and ate food that they prepared for us (which was often exotic, by the way). We seldom ate in restaurants, unless you call Burger King in the airport a restaurant! We traveled for days on poorly air-conditioned trains in which we had to take our own food and water. We sat elbow-to-elbow in the back of airplanes. We still haven't figured out how we managed to always be put in the back of the plane!

Was it great? You bet! Would I take a vacation to most of the places I went? Not on your life! Would I go again if there was a need? In a New York minute!

There are brethren strewn all over this world, and I have met some of the best. I would love to see them again. But I probably won't have that opportunity. As she was giving me a good-bye hug, one dear old sister, whom I met in New Zealand, whispered in my ear, "If I don't see you again, I will see you in heaven."

Our lives are as fragile as that old lady's whisper. It is up to us to pack as much service to God as possible in the short breath of time we have on earth. Hang on tight, because sometimes it can lead you on a wild adventure!

Posted by Barbara at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)