May and June 2019
This last month and a half has been ridiculously busy and blessed! As you know, I am working full time for the Army in the middle of the Mojave desert, but the Lord has blessed us with an abundance of ministry.
Starting in May, I had the opportunity of sharing at The Pursuit Christian Fellowship in Gilbert Arizona. This was an extra special blessing because Tina and I got to hang out with a couple of our best friends, Tim and Jenny Lee, and Greg and Lori Ward. Tim pastors The Pursuit. Tim and Jenny haven’t laid eyes on Tina for close to 20 years. So you can imagine the blessing that reunion was.
June 2nd I was asked to share at another friends church, Calvary Chapel Paradise, in Las Vegas Nevada. I gave a brief highlight of our current ministry with Saving Grace Worlds Missions and then shared on the Purpose of the church.
I find it interesting that the purpose of the church is to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have yet to hear it. With an estimated 3 billion 234 million people who have never heard of the name of Jesus, much less the free gift of salvation offered in His name, I’m surprised so many of us in the church are not engaged in taking the gospel into all the world. In reality, if we don’t do it, who will?
Jesus in Mat 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
What Jesus is basically saying is put yourself in the other guys shoes and treat him the way you would want to be treated should the tables be turned. I know, knowing what I know now, if I were unsaved I would desperately want someone to share Christ with me. I’m so thankful for those who did share the love of Christ with me when I was lost.
I know that we are not all called to be missionaries, but we are all called to care about the state of those who are dead in their sins and trespasses, with no hope of heaven.
The message finished with a gentle invitation to get involved. Everyone has a part to play in the Great Commission. We all can do at least one of three things.
- We can Pray first and foremost. There is a lot we can do after we pray but there is not much we can do of any value until we pray.
- After we pray we can go. I invited everyone at The Pursuit Christian Fellowship and Calvary Chapel Paradise, and I invite everyone reading this update, pray about going on a trip to South Asia or the Middle East with me. We’ll visit the colleges I oversee and spend time ministering and pouring into the students there.
- Finally, for those who can’t go, but would really like too, they can send. Some people have the means but not the time. Some, have the time but lack the means. When a person serves as a “Sender” they share equally in the rewards.
If we will be involved in the Great Commission is any combination of these ways, we will hear from our Savior, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
I have started to lay the ground work for a new Bible College in the Middle East. I’m really excited for this work to get off the ground. I had hoped it would start this semester but there are a few more things we need to work out before we launch it. I have spoken to a number of people who are interested in teaching and we have approximately 20 muslim background believers waiting for classes to begin.
Lastly, we are about to start a new Semester at the Bible Colleges in South Asia. This will be the first semester we be teaching via Skype to the Northern and the Central campus simultaneously. This semester we have many returning students, as well as number of new students. The student body is growing. We have teachers teaching via Skype from Pakistan, Oregon and across Southern California. The classes this semester include Church History, The Prison Epistles, The Pastoral Epistles, and The Book of Proverbs, which I will be teaching this semester. Our staff on the ground will be teaching the book of Hebrews, the Gospel of Mark, New Testament Survey III (Matthew – Acts), and Practical Christian Ministry. On Thursday nights we have various Calvary Chapel pastors teach a Chapel via Skype. This semester the topics that will be covered are Missions: The importance of taking the gospel to the world, The attributes of God, and a Biblical View on the Spiritual Gifts. It’s going to be such an exciting semester.
My last lastly is this, I have applied for a 10 year visa and I will be returning to South Asia with a group of pastors sometime mid October – November. We will be holding a pastor’s conference for the local national pastors serving in South Asia. Our prayer is to refresh and equip them for the work of the ministry. We will also be holding a Leadership conference for the leadership and staff of the three Bible Colleges. We will be pouring into them fresh vision and strengthening them in the work. Lastly, half the team will continue on to Nepal for a pastor’s conference there while I take a team of pastors to the south to finish out the semester at the Southern Campus. I will have the pastors with me teaching block classes and interacting with the student. Imagine having a group of pastors hanging out with you for a week and you can ask them anything and just sit and soak up all their teaching. It’s going to be a glorious trip. Please be praying
If you are not currently a financial supporter, I would invite you to please pray about joining us in raising up pastors and missionaries who will take the gospel place we could only dream of going? Our ministry is to raise up men and women and send them out to the truly unreached people of the world.
For those of you who are standing with us in the work, thank you. Tina and I are so thankful for your prayers, love, friendship and support. I hope one day you’ll be joining me on a trip that will change your life and spoil you for ordinary living.
And for my last lastly, If you would like me to come to your church and share a message on missions and God’s heart for the unreached of the world, I would be more than happy to do so. Please just email me and we can make those arrangements.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
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Psalms, Praise, and Prayer
“I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High”
Ps 9:1-2
One of the Psalms I read this morning. I love the Psalms and read them daily. I am frequently reminded by the psalmist how much of our walks with the Lord is simply just a choice. In the psalm above he states his choice to praise the Lord, “I will praise you, O Lord.” He tells us how he chooses to praise the Lord, with his “whole heart.” He also declares how he is going to carry out his choice, by “telling of all [the Lord’s] marvelous works.” He says, within his heart, he chooses to “to be glad and rejoice” in the Lord, while outwardly, he chooses to “sing praise” to the Lord.
I need to be reminded that much of my walk with the Lord, how I express myself to the Lord, and how I go about life, is a choice that I need to make on a daily basis. Lord you are worthy of all my praise!
I know it’s been a while since my last update and since my return from 
South Asia. So I want to share with you some of the amazing things God has and is doing.
South Asia was more than I could have imagined. We had 10 flights where we 
traveled just shy of 22,500 miles in 18 days. We visited each of the three Bible Colleges campus we had started. One in the north, in the foothills of the Himalayas, one in the south, our main campus, and one in the central area, where there is open hostility towards Christians.
We met with the local team at each campus and discussed the upcoming school years and the two year curriculum that we developed and were going to go forward with. We also discussed vision and direction for the colleges and ministry to reach unreached people groups.
We also held two Pastor’s Conferences where we had some 80 pastors come out to be taught, refreshed, strengthened and encouraged in the Word. That alone would have made the trip a success, but there was so much more.
We met with pastors who wanted to come under the umbrella of Calvary Chapel and learn to teach the Bible inductively, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. So, the Sunday after the second conference, we held a typical Calvary Chapel Sunday morning service. Pastor Asher, one of the pastors traveling with us, taught through chapter 1 of 1 Samuel. Talk about powerful! That Sunday morning was some of the most powerful teaching I have ever had the privilege to hear. There was no hype or emotionalism, what these pastors were used to, just simply teaching God’s word and seeing the Spirit bring it to life. It was wonderful!
We also visited some of the remote churches pastored by some of our recent graduates from our previous Pastor’s School. What a blessing that was. To see people living so remotely, so simply, with very little, never having heard about Jesus before was something I have never witnessed. Then seeing God do a work in those villages, raising up a church, where Christ is being preached, was truly humbling.
When I returned, I was very busy with work, we also traveled to Oregon where I got to officiate my aunt’s funeral. Afterwards, when I returned to California I began working on scheduling Calvary Chapel pastors to teach the new 16 week semester which started in July. Due to short noticed I taught two classes until two of the pastors would be available to teach. The first was the Book of James on Tuesdays, which was a 5 week class. The second, on Wednesdays, was an overview of the entire Bible. That was a 6 week class. Each started at 8 PM Pacific Coast Time and went until 11 PM. It was a tough 6 weeks since I wake up for work at 4 AM.
The really great news is, this semester we welcomed women to be part of the program. At our central campus, where we teach via Skype, we were given a piece of property that we made into a women’s dorm. We have 17 students, 6 of which are women. The students are studying through the Bible with translated Chuck tapes. This semester, the other classes include the books of Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, the Gospel of John, Inductive Bible Study, Systematic Theology, and Practical Christian Ministry. Our other two campuses are also following this teaching schedule.
When we left South Asia God gave us vision for construction of 8 new churches buildings, to buy some means of transposition for some of the pastors who did not have a motorcycle, to expand the Central Campus class room, to rent a larger property in the north, and to purchase beds, tables, chairs and supplies for the schools. We thought all of that would be about $140,000. That’s not to mention support for the missionaries or the $25 a day to feed and house each of the students. It was a crazy, we could never do it apart from God, thought. Just last month God provided, out of no where, approximately $125,000. All Glory to God!
Would you please pray?
- Pray the Lord would continue to bless the work in South Asia.
- Pray that we would have wisdom and insight as leaders to what the Lord is wanting to do and accomplish. Pray that we would then be able to facilitate that work.
Would you please continue to pray for our family?
- Pray for Tina and I as we would love to be closer to Ashley and Elijah. We want to be able to have the impact the Lord desires grand parents to have on their grandchildren.
- We are longing to have fellowship and be part of a church. We live over an hour one way to my current place of employment and an hour in the other direction to church. As a result we are unable to be at men’s and women’s Bible studies or serve in the church the way we would like to. We feel a little isolated with out a close church family near by to fellowship with. we miss what we had in Corvallis and Europe.
Would you please pray for Bryan and Austin?
- They are hoping to see the Lord open doors for them. They are attending school but would also like to get jobs. The job market here is nearly if not totally non-existent. They also are feeling isolated with out friends and family close by.
As always, we are so thankful for your friendship, your willingness to pray and your love for us and our family. I’m so sorry that it has taken me so long to write an update. Pray for me and I’ll try harder in the coming months.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
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Just around the corner
Just wanted to give you a little more information about our trip to South Asia. IT’S JUST AROUND THE CORNER! I mean, it’s coming soon and it seems to be picking up speed.
There will be eight of us going, four pastors, two really cool young men with a radical heart for the Lord, and two of the sweetest, godly, on fire women that I know. It’s a blessing to be part of this group. I think God has great things in store for us during the three weeks in June we are away.
The purpose of the trip has many aspects.
- We will be doing two Pastors’ Conferences. The theme is “Shepherds After God’s Heart” taken from Acts 20:17-38. They will be two day conferences, five teachings a day, with translation. We are expecting between 35 and 70 pastors from all over South Asia to attend. Some of the pastors will be traveling for 30-40 hours by train just to get there.
- Our heart is to pour into these guys who are serving the Lord in very remote locations among people, who many, if not all of them, have never even heard the name of Jesus. We’re going to meet with these pastors, eat with them, minister to them, encourage them in the faith and have Q&A panels where they can ask questions about whatever is on their hearts. IT WILL BE GREAT!
- We will be having a Ribbon Cutting and Open House at one of the new Bible Colleges to kick off it’s Grand Opening. This will include a BBQ and community outreach with soccer games and the like.
- We’re going to travel to some of the remote locations and meet and minster to some of the pastors and see where they are serving.
- We are going to meet with the pastors at the Bible Colleges and Pastors’ Colleges and hammer out the final details of the upcoming school year, talk about curriculum, and encourage the staff.
- We want to be a blessing to these wonderful men and women who are serving on the front lines. Serving in hostile regions of the world, risking serious persecution. We want to love on them in the name Jesus and bless them, be there for them and send them off encouraged and strengthened to continue the work and press forward for the Kingdom, taking new ground, seeing people saved.
Please pray for us, pray for the conferences, pray for traveling mercies and protection from sickness and the schemes of the Devil to cause division among the team.
Please pray for our finances also. I have only been able to raise about one third of the cost for the trip. Tina and I are trusting God to provide, but the trip is right around the corner and coming fast. I still need to raise about $2000 by the end of the month.
I also wanted to share with you how the classes went that I taught. Over the last two semesters I taught through the Gospel of John and the Book of Daniel. They drank it up. And not just my teachings, but the teachings each of the other pastors gave. We had American pastors teaching five days a week, in the morning their time. That was followed by our in country staff teaching five days a week in the afternoons.
It’s really cool, in that, in an area of the world that is becoming increasingly difficult for us to travel to, I sat at my desk, opened my computer, got out my Bible and a few other books and notes, and Skyped them.
This is what I saw on the other end.
And this is what it looked like from their side.
It’s amazing to realize that nothing can chain the Word of God! No Government, no false religion, nothing! Nations can try to ban the spread of God’s Word, satan can try to keep it from people, but “…the Word of God is not chained” (2 Tim 2:9). We’ll just Skype in if we have to!
Thirdly, and finally, I wanted to share with you about our new grandson. Tina and I are smitten! He’s so cute! Of course, we think he is the cutest baby ever! Good job Ashley and Elijah!
He’s now just seven weeks old. And he’s a happy baby. Tina was 
there for the birth and stayed up in the Seattle area with Ashley to help her and Elijah adjust. I got to go up there a few weeks ago and meet him.
I got to tell you, I’m a BABY WHISPERER. When he’s not doing so well, when he’s a little gassy or he’s having a hard time, just give him to me and he’ll be out in no time. Maybe he’s heard my teaching before? Maybe that’s it, I’m just boring?
It was so hard to leave them. But what a blessing to our family. Little Noah Knepper.
So please pray.
- Pray for the trip
- Pray for the pastors
- Pray for the conference
- Pray for our health
- Pray for the funds I need for the trip
- Pray about being a financial partner with me for this trip
- Pray for our family while I am gone
- Pray for God’s blessing and covering on little Noah
As always, I am so thankful for your support, prayers, friendship and love. I thank God that we have friends and family like you. God bless you. I look forward to telling you all the wonderful things God is going to do.
God bless,
Gary and Tina Barrow
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