December 13, 2011
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December, 2011
Warm greetings to you from us! We pray you are enjoying this season! We prayyou have a very blessed Christmas filled with new revelation concerning exactlywhy Jesus Christ was born!
We are truly enjoying being 65 and 70 years old now as itseems to give us a license to spend more quiet, relaxed time together than weever did before.
Each week day, Monday through Friday, when we are hometogether, we have devotions .
First we watch an edifying Christian TV program while eating breakfast. Then the TV goes off and we enter into praiseand worship followed by prayer. This time is like an oasis of beauty and lovewith our best Friend, Jesus.After devotions, the two of us have a “senior pastor staff meeting” in which we freely discuss whatever is currently onour hearts concerning our ministry.
We consider it God’s grace in us to haveremained best friends and sweethearts after having been married 35 years and being pastors together for nearly 32 years. Couples who have never pastored a church together would find it difficult to understand the huge array of “issues” that wehave to deal with Sometimes there isnot quick agreement. Over the years wehave learned to patiently wait for answers from God’s Spirit that give us bothpeace . During the “patient waiting” much conversation and prayer takes place as we listento the Lord and to one another beforedecisions are made. This has served tobring us closer and closer together as one in the Lord!
Our sons, Jonathan, 40, Austin, Texas, and EG, 39, St. Petersburg,Fla. are in good health and in lovingcommunication with us quite regularly. We will all be together in a few weeks to celebrate EG’s 40thbirthday. . We deeply enjoy “hanging outwith” our adult “kids”. Knowing how manyfamilies struggle to be at peace with one another, we cherish the harmony andfun we have which includes the liberty of discussing just about anythingwithout any discomfort or hurtful words.
River of Life, the church we pastor, continues to flourishin her relationship with God and with one another.
Our worship team isunusually gifted — filled with many instruments and singers. Robert is in charge of the singers and the instrument players.
Our prayer times atthe beginning of services on Wednesday evening and on Sabbath morning have heartfelt participation from the people,both when the mike is open for them to pray in front of the congregation and when they go from person to person prayingfor one another in their seats.
The times of “open pulpit” happen each Sabbath (and in specialevent services, e.g., Christmas , Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, and our church anniversary) when people sharesomething they saw in the Word or a talent reveal thoughtful Bible Study . Also, many people share their talent in dancing, drama, singing,instrumentals, etc.
Our sermons continueto often be “interactive” as the atmosphere continues to be like a “housechurch” in a church building. We encourage people to not only ask questions,but also to add to the sermon whatever insight and/or verses that they maythink of while listening. We also have a“mike person” who will bring a mike to anyone in the group that wants to speakso that their contribution can be recorded right along with the sermon. We arehappy to report that the contributions from the listeners are normally very insightful and show maturity in Word and in Spirit.
We have a weeklypotblessing brunch in between our two Sabbath services. This is not a “continental breakfast”, it is a full fledge hot meal withmeat, eggs, fruit , and desserts. I am so gratefulthat people freely bring enough wonderful food each and every week as if the foodpreparation and delivery were easy! Robert makes pancakes each week too. I know it is God’s favor and His love in us towards one another that causes people during this fast paced , electronic communication era, to beconsistent in old fashioned, face to face, table fellowship .
Most important, the love and open communication at thebrunch time between all the generationsis a joy to watch. It is like a bigfamily time each week!
Our weekly TV program , “River Reflections” isstill being shown on our local cable channels in Grand Rapids, Wyoming, andKentwood. We tape it together in theirTV studio every 2nd and 4thMonday of each month.
I am leading a “MediaClub” in our church so as to encourage more videotaping during our church services resulting in more talent andspecial ministry footage to be inserted into our TV programs .The members of this club this year learned to video tape better, edit the videos , and be on alert as to what needed to befilmed as soon as it started to evolveduring a service. Everyone in the clubwas already actively on the staff at thestudio with me – now they are learning to transfer things from church servicesto the TV program. We hope to step up the content of our “River Reflections”program even more excellently in 2012.
One of our associate ministers, Bruce Bolthouse, has a monthly men’s meeting . “Amen” whichincludes both our teen guys and the grown men. They have Bible and/or bookstudies as well as prayer and fellowship. We are so grateful for the faithfulROL men! The older ones are now are watching out for the younger guys,mentoring them – seeing them through the process of growing up into Christ.
Bruce and his wife, Theresa, lead our Children’s Church. We also have Pastors Cliff and Annie Baker leading the Jr. High youth and Pastor Karen Vander Vliet leading those from sixteen through twenty one.
My dear Robert continues from 8 AM to 9 AM each week daymorning (before our devotional time) to stand outside by the road with signs of encouragement to all the motoristswho pass by. Leonard Street is busy –he touches the hearts of hundreds . He comes home often with reports of peoplewho stopped to share prayer requestswith him (which we then include in ourdevotional time and sometimes in church too). Sometimes – especially in thecold weather – people stop with hot drinks and express their gratitude toRobert for the way he blesses them with the signs.
If you are interested in a really detailed account of all ourchurch has done this past year, you could click on “bulletins” at riveroflifegrmi.org
Because of havingbroken my arm in two places in lateMay causing the arm to be too weak to manage luggage on a trip alone, Idid not go to Belgium to minister this past July (for the first time in arounda dozen years). Also, I am taking Aromasin,a hormone blocking pill, that has side effects that lessen the energy level I used to have (as well as cause pain in myjoints). But, if had been only the energychallenges and pain , possibly I could have handled the Belgium ministrytrip. But my arm simply could not carry anything even a little heavy at all at that time. I am planning, Lord willing , to return toBelgium again in 2012.
I am so grateful , though, that I did have the grace andenergy from the Lord to go back (after many consecutive years there) toArgentina last month for a couple of weeks to minister in church services in several different churches,a Bible college , a women’s gathering, and two leader’s gatherings at my host church. My own church was in frequent prayer for me while I was there. I could feel the results not only in increasedphysical endurance, but also in heightened revelation and prophetic flow. I alsohad opportunity to have hours of precious dialogue with my host pastors , Basilio and EstherNeznajko. They have founded two churchesand are an also apostolic “covering” for quite a few others. To be able to openly talk about leadership“issues” and receive one another’s insight was a joy to me. Basilio told methat if I were there only for those conversations, it would have been enough. Iagree. If we really face it, we would have to admit that there are preciousfew folks given to any one of us who are able to communicate deeply andfreely with strong mutual love, respect , and trust .
I did realize on theplane ride for Argentina that raising my arms above my head to put a heavy carry- on into the airplane bin would not have been possible for me in July – I could just barely manage that lastmonth!
At River of Life we had some other ministries came in to minister to us this past year – including the Doorns who are internationalmissions directors for Kingsway International, the Johnsons who have a hugeministry outreach in the Dominican Republic (all the way from pastor’smeetings, to children’s revivals, to street ministry, etc.), and the Neznajko’sfrom Argentina .
Also, River of Life financially supports from time to time several ministries doing mission work, groups helping the poor, Messianic outreaches in Israel, an orphanage in central America,and a few local street missions here inGrand Rapids too. We were recentlyreminded again by the Lord to “remember the poor”.
The quarterly youth seminars we established a few years agoare still going strong too. We have usedthem to teach on a variety of topics including one this year when we showed “old time “ revival movies ( four of them) back to back toeducate the youth on what it takes to bring in revival. That particular seminar response was apleasant surprise to me – they all seemed moved by the movies (which includedthe stories of Smith Wiggleswoth, EvanRoberts, Asusa St. beginnings, and Richard Wurmbrand’s testimony). We believethe youth are hungry for the “real thing” and their appreciation of thesestories again confirmed that to us. Ilistened to each video four or five times in order to lead the group indiscussions about them and I personally was deeply stirred once again in hungerfor revival!
I am still on “Ask the Pastor” on TCT – TV at least monthlyand this past year I also did some interviews on their “MichiganAlive “ interview program. Theopportunity to stay connected with other pastors and ministers is alwayspresent in that TV studio time.
We remain grateful for the means and the facility the Lordhas provided and is providing for us to carry on the ministry! For all of these nearly 32 years the fundsfor the ministry come in week by week – always, always enough for what is duethat very week. It has surely been awalk of faith! Our testimony is that the Lord is faithful! He gives instructions and then the grace andmeans to obey Him Plus, He touches our hearts with His loving smiles – motivating us to pressdeeper into Him!
We would love to hear about how you are.
Love from Robert and Rosemary Barnes
May the Lord bless you!
River of Life Ministries, PO Box 170435, Grand Rapids, Mi.49514
rbarnesrol@aol.com, riveroflifegrmi.org
3412 Leonard , N.W.
Walker, Michigan 49534
Services: Wednesdays : 6:30 PM
Sabbath: 9:30 Am; Brunch : 10:30 AM; second service : 11:00 AM
