Dear Prayer warriors.
Well the day is finally here. I leave this Monday the 29th May for New Orleans to start our leader team training and to make final setup arrangements. This will be my last Sunday that I will be able to attend our home church, Roswell Street Baptist, until the end of August. Debbie and I are not looking forward to the extended time away from our church family.
I have set up a blog for our prayer supporters to keep track of all that is going on, and the plan is to send an update with pictures each week. You will be able to view the blog at the following address
http://atholbarnes.myadventures.org/
Please check back frequently.
It is difficult to explain in one or two sentences all that we are going to be doing this summer. I will try to set a small picture for you of what I will be heading up this summer.
- 2900 people coming to the gulf coast to serve on mission teams
- 6 different housing locations (from churches to tent camps)
- Over 110 different churches represented from around the country.
- 355 ministry teams serving in different capacities.
- We will be working with 4 major relief distribution centers
- Partnering with over 20 local churches
- With 22 part time and fulltime staff.
And the most important task will be setting up a 24 hour prayer room at our housing locations to bathe the ministry in prayer.
The ministry will be varied and will include the following aspects; relief work, reconstruction, prayer walking, evangelism, children’s ministry etc.
It is amazing how God has opened doors for us from our humble beginnings in First Baptist Church of Reserve in September last year right after the hurricanes. We still partner with this church, but now most of our relief efforts are focused closer to the city.
A few weeks ago, we finalized a ministry partnership with a Baptist church in Long Beach, where we will have 350 people ministering to the Mississippi gulf coast region. This was where the real wrath of hurricane Katrina was felt. An area not seen on the TV news.
Debbie and I have had a difficult week and we know that we are in the middle of a spiritual battle. Debbie has had two separate trips to the doctors this week, and was admitted to hospital for some tests, early on Wednesday morning. She is recovering now and is spending the weekend recuperating. I have been struggling with a cold and the usual frustrations that come with organizing such a large operation. The good news is that Christie is well and continues to be a blessing to us, and Debbie’s mom arrived last week and will be helping to look after Christie for us.
I plan to spend the first two weeks in New Orleans and then will return home for a few days. Debbie, her mom and Christie will come back with me and spend some time in New Orleans as well. I will then be traveling between the gulf coast and Gainesville every two weeks, to spend about three or four days at home.
I am excited to see all that the Lord is going to do this summer, and truly believe that we will see the city transformed, both spiritually and physically during the days and months ahead.
Some of the prayer items we have are the following:
- Traveling safety for all our team.
- The training to be effective and lead by the Holy Spirit
- The leadership team, that we will have a common goal and unity.
- All the youth coming to New Orleans this summer
- The ministry to be effective and powerful
- Debbie and Christie as I am away for so much time.
- Debbie’s health.
If you are in the New Orleans area in the next twelve weeks, please give me a call and I will be more than willing to host you and show you around the ministry.
This is the time for the church to shine and it is amazing to see how the body of Christ is stepping up and making a real difference to this devastated area on our doorstep.
Thank you so much for your prayer and support
God bless you
Athol Barnes
