When many of us were young we were told that we could do anything and be anything; all we have to do is believe. As we grow older we are told that hard work and determination will earn us the American dream. Our dreams may seem challenging or even farther out of reach as we age. However, as average American children, the idea that we can better ourselves and achieve dreams remains: it inspires us, motivates us and drives us from one self-improvement technique to the next. This is our reality.
Then, there is another reality. There are children that are raised believing that becoming a pimp, a high level gangster, or maybe a rapper is the ultimate dream. Girls are taught that the more they can flaunt their bodies, lure in a guy, or find some skewed level of power in their lives – the more valuable they are. Twisted versions of power, family, love and belonging are instilled in generation after generation. This past week we met a beautiful girl being sold on the streets of Los Angeles. This beautiful girl stood with her body almost fully exposed. She asked us to pray that she would have the courage to better her life. She explained that she once had dreams to go to college and pursue a degree in Criminal Justice. Now she finds herself a victim of tragic injustice: the injustice of the violation of her body, her mind and her very identity. This girl was so incredibly sweet. Despite her situation she had such a childlikeness and sweetness about her. My heart instantly felt such a deep love for her; a love beyond my own human ability. I truly believe that God allowed me to feel His heart for her for a moment; this precious, beautiful, child of God. My heart ached as I listened to her dreams and listened to her speak of the bondage and fear that holds her captive. Because I know that God sees her and longs for her as His precious child. It’s girls like this that inspire us to dream big as a ministry. To believe, to work hard and to remain determined. Ministry in this area has proven time and time again to be challenging and not for the “faint of heart”. But they matter. Each woman, man, and child affected by this twisted injustice matters. If we only ever impact one life, then we have made a difference. Over and over again we meet girls with similar stories. They don’t know what they would do other than allow their bodies to be sold over and over. Many of them have criminal records from being arrested for prostitution or drugs. The average age a girl is recruited into sexual exploitation is 12 years old. That means many of these girls have limited education. In their reality- they are stuck. Leaving the life and pursuing hope seems impossible. We are already connected with other organizations, safe homes, and rehabilitation centers that are making radical impacts in these girls lives; but as a ministry we feel called to offer a next step. We dream of providing vocational training and job opportunities for these women after they have been rescued. We want to see victims of trafficking not only find their feet but thrive in life and live out their dreams. WE believe that we have a God who restores lives and who heals. So why would these daughters deserve anything less? -Jenny
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"People take your example far more seriously than they take your advice."We have written to you over and over about how our family is a large part of our ministry. Many people ask if it is hard to be a a family in missions. We usually reply: "It's all we know!" This is true. But just to be real for a moment, of course there are challenges! They may be different than you would expect. We have been doing this all of our children's lives so there are some things we have become really good at. Traveling 20+ hours with kids by plane, car or bus- check! Adapting to foreign cultures and foods- check! Keeping our kids healthy and taking care of them with weird tummy things/fevers and no resources- check! The challenges: We know that our family is under a giant spotlight 24/7, we share our lives with EVERYONE around us, and our kids say goodbye... ALOT.
The things that are challenging are also beautiful. If we balance and have boundaries they can be channeled and used to bring glory to God. We DO believe that God has asked our family to lay down some of the comforts and securities of typical life, but we DO NOT believe that has asked us to sacrifice our family at all. There is a great difference between laying our lives, our family and our children down as a sacrifice before the Lord, and another thing to neglect our call to be a family. We are still students in this. Thankfully God has given us VERY patient children and some incredible people in our lives to help us as we learn to do family well. Even in our messy moments our family really has been a HUGE part of our ministry. So many of our students and staff have told us that they have been learning a lot from our family and many have said that our example has been a tool God is using to bring healing and restoration to their lives! It is so encouraging to see the fruit of this. We really believe that it is important for us to keep pursing this. NOT being the "perfect" family... at all; but being healthy, full of love, purity and realness. We are discipling young adults from a generation of broken families and working with victims that have had every sliver of purity, love and authenticity stripped and robbed from their lives. That is why our family MUST continue being a part of our ministry. ThailandWe just got home from three months in Thailand. It was absolutely amazing. Our focus of the trip was Human Trafficking. We did prevention work, outreach to victims and recovery work. Our team was able to impact many men women and children who were in vulnerable situations. The main problem that puts people "at risk" is being poor or generational debts. In the Red Light Districts our girls built relationships with women being trafficked and our men reached out to the tourist men who were there to purchase women.
We spent the first 4 weeks in Chiang Mai. There we did prevention work with children in the slums and a nearby village an we worked in the Red Light Districts. We were able to help 2 girls come out of the sex industry and begin to rebuild their lives. The next 5 weeks we were in Pattaya . This city was literally founded for sex tourism. On one street alone there are approximately 20,000 men, women and children being enslaved and sold for sex. Here we worked in the red light districts building relationships with girls, teaching English classes to prostitutes as a form of outreach, worked with at risk children and were a part of assisting women that had been rescued and are rebuilding their lives. During this time we were apart of 23 children being rescued and 91 women being introduced to the organization that is rescuing women from trafficking. We also had the plessure of painting a playground, building wardrobes and painting a home for children who have been rescued from at risk situations! We finished our time in Phuket. Another city known for sex tourism. We did outreach in the Red Light Districts and assisted the organization there reaching out to women who have been trafficked. Our trip was incredibly fruitful and we had the honor of truly taking action and standing for those who cannot stand for themselves. Our team had moments of real brokenness as we faced the reality of trafficking but left Thailand with so much empowerment and hope for the future. Hey everyone just a quick post to let you know that the Justice DTS promo video is up and you can check it out on our Justice DTS page or also at http://ywamla.org/justice-discipleship-training-school/. Please like it and share it so we can get the word out about this school!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We Just got back from A showing of the Documentary Sex and Money which is about human trafficking in America. I am so stirred again to the calling we have from God to empower and equip people to take a stand against the slavery and exploitation of children and adults for personal gain. I know that there are so many people who feel called and desire to contribute but dont know where to start and that is where we come in. Our Justice DTS this fall will be exaclty that. A place to begin. We want to equip and empower people by discipling,training, and connecting them to ministries around the world. If you, or someone you know is stirred by this same thing then please apply now at our website http://ywamla.org/justice-discipleship-training-school/, connect the people who have this passion, and share this website on all social media. We thank you for your help!!!!!!
We are Very excited about leading the upcoming Justice DTS here at YWAM Los Angeles. Our goal is to champion the people with the passion to fight human trafficking. If you are interested in this school and want more information check out the page at this link!
http://ywamla.org/justice-discipleship-training-school/ This month is very important to our continuing ministry in YWAM. We are taking the month of August to raise the support we need to reach the minimum requirement of monthly income for YWAM. In July we raised $798 and the requirement is $1300. We have already raised an additional $195 in monthly support but are still in need of about $300 in order to continue our ministry. We know God has called us to serve in YWAM Los Angeles and to reach the lost. We are asking that our friends and family please consider joining our monthly support team. It does not matter if you pledge $5 or $500 or anything in between. Please pray about joining our team in equipping people to reach the lost and make a difference in the world.
BIG News This Month!!!
Our Little Lily has been praying for SO long, and now... We’re having another baby!!! As many of you know our little family is quite the miracle. Early in our marriage I had two miscarriages. We were so broken, but knew that God had promised us a family. We held on to that promise as our doctor told us that despite my young age it appeared that my body was no longer fertile. Several weeks later… we found out we were pregnant with Lily! Last October we experienced the loss of another baby. Once again, we were devastated but held on to the promises. We decided recently to see if my insurance would cover any type of research to give us answers. Surprisingly, I was referred to one of the area’s top OB/Infertility doctors. She had a 7 month waiting list, but somehow I slipped through the cracks in a good way, and saw her within 2 weeks! She told us that only a few of the tests would be covered by insurance. We knew that it could take years for answers, so we decided to pray and begin with the “free tests”. The tests showed again that I appeared to be unable to conceive. The weekend before I was scheduled for a more invasive test I took a pregnancy test just as procedure. Robert and I were blown away when we saw a positive! We have now had two ultrasounds to confirm and they have shown a healthy little baby. So, sometime around February 21, 2013 we will be welcoming our second little baby in to the world! Thank you to all of you who have been praying with us, and encouraging us to remember God’s promises! Hello friends and family,
So it has been way too long since our last update. We have been so busy with Encounter, which is the summer program that we are working with here in L.A. Last week we actually were able to lead a team of youth from Light of the Desert church in Scottsdale Arizona around Los Angeles. They were an amazing team and we learned so much. We took them to Homeless food kitchens, after school programs, handing out food on the street and also to do evangelism in different areas around the city. They got to see firsthand the differences that one person can make if they simply try and that was our challenge to them. At the end of the week we challenged them to take what they had learned back to their city and do something to help. We had each of them come up with a plan for themselves and share it with the group this way their youth leaders could help them to succeed. We loved having the group and the week reminded us how passionate we are about empowering the youth of this nation to reach the world. We are strong believers that if the youth of this nation is disciple properly then the world will also be. We are so passionate about equipping young people for this purpose and look forward to the coming months. So what is next? Well we have been invited on staff here in L.A and will be staffing the Fall Discipleship Training School (DTS). This is exactly what we feel like God has called us to do. We will be working with youth from all over and training them in all aspects of a walk with Jesus and then taking them over seas to live that walk out. Our hope is that through them the world will be changed in some way. If you have any questions or are interested in partnering with us please feel free to contact us at any time. Our website is robertandjenny.weebly.com and our phone number is 559-760- 5160. Thank you all for your continued support. Thank you, Robert, Jenny, and Lily Barber’s May Update
Hey everyone. This month has been incredible. Lily had her first birthday and we were blessed to see how many people love and care for her and our family. We have our wedsite up and running so check it out and read more stories about what we are doing! www.robertandjenny.weebly.com We have been continuing in ministry here in L.A while Robert is finishing his School of Ministry Development. We were also blessed enough to spend a week in Mexico at a leaders conference. We have been learning so much about leadership and Gods plans for our family. The Skate track ministry that we have been a part of has been amazing. Our friends Jason and Denise that have given their lives to Christ are still doing great. They are seeing God at work in the restoration of their families and their lives. They are both going to do Infusion here on base this summer which is a two week training and outreach school that the base offers. Please be praying for them as they continue their walk with Christ. We are also planning for the schools we will be staffing this summer. We will be leading church teams in an outreach around the city. With this we are also preparing teaching for these teams. Jenny is also going to start preparing for the fall DTS that we will be staffing as well. God is doing so much here and we are so excited to be a part of it. Thank you everyone for your support and for following what God is doing in and through us. Please be praying for us as these things really take off. Please pray for us to have wisdom in our leadership. |
AuthorWe are a family that has given their lives to the service of Christ. Archives
May 2015
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