Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by

This last month has been a hard month and an excellent month at the same time. Before I go into explaining what has gone on over the past month, I want to thank each one of you for praying for me and supporting me. Without all of your support I would not be in Thailand nor would I be where I am at now in my spiritual life. Your prayers mean so much more to me than anyone can even imagine.


                In the month of November I was staying above a restaurant in Malaysia with all the men. It was a month that the world race likes to call manistry. Basically, they put all the guys together for one month so we can share in the experience of being men and grow into the men that God has called us to be. It was a good month of spiritual growth for me. However, by the end of the month I was so ready to be back together with my team. The end of the month came and the entire squad came back together to have a short debrief period. I was excited to see the girls from our team again and wanted to catch up with how their month had been. Within a couple of hours I received some news I was not expecting at all. April told us that she was going home because she felt like God was leading her back to a job as a youth minister in Georgia. I had a hard time with it and did not really understand it then she was gone three days later.








               

               April left the same time that we left for Thailand. When I got on that plane to head to Thailand I fell asleep the entire plane ride because I was exhausted from staying up with April all night trying to get her flight home taken care of. As soon as I woke up on the plane we had landed in Thailand and I had an overwhelming peace come over me. At this point I wanted to move on from thinking about April leaving and I desired to pour myself into the ministry we were working with in Thailand. I had been looking forward to this bar ministry for a while because I can relate to most of those people in the bar.

                This month happened to be my favorite month as far as ministry goes and I fell in love with Thailand. We did not spend much time together as a team though because we were with the entire squad and it was easier for me to talk to other people and not focus on what had just happened to our team. Towards the end of the month I was tired and exhausted because I had been pouring myself into these people on Bangla Road. I saw God do some amazing things in the lives of prostitutes, tourists, bar owners, shop owners, and marketers. I praise God for every moment that our squad was able to spend on the streets of Bangla Road.



               


                On Christmas Eve my team decided to get together and open up presents as a team. Our plans were to open up presents then watch Elf together as a team but those plans ended up failing. We opened our presents then Adam had a meeting with the squad leaders. While he was having his meeting Bonnie, Jordan, Marlena, and I started watching Elf. Then we got another surprise! Adam came running into where we were at and told us his race was done. The organization decided to send him back home for reasons I will not say. So the next day, Christmas day, Adam ended up going back home to Canada. At this point, we were down to four members on our team.

                The next day I ended up getting ANOTHER surprise. Marlena decided that she wanted to go home. She felt like God was leading her back home. I honestly tried to talk her out of it because I felt like God was telling me to tell her to stay. However, the decision came down to her in the end and we dropped her off at the airport December 30th at 3:00 a.m. for her to go home. The decision was made by her and she feels like she heard from God telling her to go home so I am going to honor that in the best way I can.


 



               (Me,Jordan,April,Marlena,Adam,Bonnie)


               Therefore, now team X-Stream has lost three members in the last month and has been left with three members.  We were broken as a team and we were falling apart. However, the squad leaders have made a few changes to teams and we all feel like we are here for the long run and are at a peace about everything that has gone on this last month. They have put Carly, a former member of the liberators, on our team and we now have a team of four. We will be going into Africa with a fresh start. We have come up with a new team name, we are going to a new continent, and we are beginning a new year. I have confidence that we will be a strong team and we will carry out God’s will for our lives.   

                Please pray for our new team as we head off to go do ministry in Africa. Thank you for everyone that reads this blog and I pray that you will continue to keep up with us by reading our blogs. God is doing an amazing work in this world right now and I am so blessed to be a part of what he is doing. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers! Have a great new year! God bless!!