Hi there. We are Athol and Debbie Barnes, and we have been married since March 1996. In 2000, God led us to America from our home and families in South Africa. Our first 5 years in the USA were a faith-building time for us, and we could clearly see the hand of God working in our lives. He had brought us here for reason and was preparing us for some greater purpose.

In 2004, through a series of God ordained meetings and not so subtle devotions, God showed us a place where Athol would be able to serve Him using his training and talents. God clearly spoke to us through one verse in particular,

Luke 12 v 48

"...from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

We started our support raising in 2004, and came onto fulltime staff in January of 2005. Athol is the Director of the Project Setup department. It is amazing to see how God has been using his years of experience in the corporate world in our ministry with AIM.

We have been blessed with 2 special gifts from God. Christie Grace was born in April 2002, and her adoption was finalized in August the same year. Joshua was born in March 2007, and his adoption was finalized in July 2007. To receive one newborn is a blessing, but to have been blessed twice in this way is nothing short of a miracle!

Debbie serves the Lord by working for www.missionsresources.com . This has been a recent development for us as she resigned from her position as an RN at Northside hospital. She is blessed to be able to stay home for the children and we are now able to go on mission trips as a family.