We are going to see the hungry fed, young missionaries raised up and sent out into the world, children grow in their understanding of the world they live in and the God who made them, and music written and poured out before the Lord!  The first fruits are already being seen this past January.

DTS Staff and Students

On January 5th we welcomed about 12 new staff to our DTS family.  We have a brand new crew of young staff members who are spending the first 3 months of 2012 preparing their hearts for the DTS this April.  We will introduce them more properly in a few weeks, but we are so confident in this group and all they are going to accomplish by God’s grace this year.  We are busy building community, growing in our leadership and serving the campus before being joined by our students this April.  And believe me, they are coming!  We have about 70 applications for the Fire & Fragrance DTS we are leading this Spring.  We are praying for all of these students to complete their applications and trusting that we will have about 60-70 students.  That is about twice the amount of students from last year!  God is moving through DTS and multiplying missionaries into the nations!  We are excited about the things God has in store for this group of staff and students.

Fighting Hunger with the Foodmachine

God has stirred our hearts to use the Foodmachine to more effectively send our outreach teams out with powerful mercy ministry in their tool belts.  We have been working with the developers of this technology for the past few months planning for them to visit our campus and train our staff on this technology so we could take it out with us this Summer!  We are planning to do this in Cambodia during July and August.  Take a look at this video of myself and a few of our staff being trained and building our very first mini Foodmachine!  It’s really happening!

On March 2nd I am flying with my friend Evan Thomas (from the company that developed the Foodmachine) to Cambodia to teach on a DTS and scout out the land for the Foodmachine outreach this Summer.  We will be in Battambang with our long-time friend Garth Gustafson for about one week preparing the way for what God is going to do there this July and August.  Tickets are purchased and the plans are all coming together!  We are excited about how God is going to use our DTS family to fight hunger with the Foodmachine!

Raising Up World Changers at The Learning Center

Ronda is thriving as a first grade teacher and constantly amazing me and her staff with her endless creativity and commitment to her students.  I don’t know how she manages to juggle all the balls she has in the air and be such a woman of grace at the same time.    She prays for all the families of her students and is such an encouragement to each of them as they partner together to educate their children.  We are taking advantage of our location in Hawaii to give our children amazing opportunities to see different parts of creation.  Just last week we spent the day on a field trip going whale watching.  We saw humpback whales just a few feet from the boat we were on with the entire Learning Center school.  What a memorable experience!  I never knew raising up world changers could be so fun!

Writing New Music to Sing over the Nations

At the end of 2011 I felt the Lord challenge me to write music this next year for a brand new album in the near future.  I have asked my friends around me to hold me accountable to pursuing this part of my calling.  I have set aside a morning each week to seek the Lord and develop new songs to use in the prayer room and corporate worship here in Kona.  I have written a couple songs this year already and more are on the way!  I am looking ahead to this September through December to produce another album of original songs that will ignite hearts to follow Jesus wholeheartedly!  Please pray for me as I spend this time before the Lord writing new music to sing over the nations!

Over the past 2 1/2 years we have seen some of the most abject poverty in the world.  Children living in homes built over sewage water.  Shacks filled with layers of boys and girls who can hardly move for lack of space.  Little tummies bloated with the pain of emptiness—empty of both spiritual life and physical food.  As a father, I know how difficult it is for my children to give me focused attention when they want a snack, let alone if they hadn’t had a square meal in days.  How can a child hear the truth about Jesus over the rumbling of their empty stomachs?

We have taken our teams into homes and communities, sharing the simple message of the love of Christ.  We have laughed with them, cried with them, and prayed with them.  Each time we say goodbye our hearts are bursting as we see the planted seeds bearing fruit that will remain.  We connect them with our local hosts and continue to invest in those relationships to sustain the long-term work that God is doing in each location but long to do more to sustain the hope that is deposited through truth.

Hunger and malnutrition are massive needs that we feel a burden to address.  We must walk out the YWAM value of bringing “The Two-handed Gospel” by expressing truth and offering practical mercy.  We can’t address physical needs with just kind words and a hug.  Physical needs require a physical solution just as spiritual needs require a spiritual solution. What if we could leave something behind in each location that could provide for a massive need?

YWAM is partnering with people who are creating “The Foodmachine,” a sustainable tool to fight hunger and malnutrition that can be constructed in developing nations to provide food for families and communities that are struggling to survive.  Watch the following video to find out more about this innovative tool to fight hunger in our world.

Every summer YWAM sends teams around the world with the Gospel.  This year we are excited to send them with tools to meet the practical needs they encounter.  We will send teams out trained to build “Foodmachines” in the local communities in partnership with local missionaries and residents.  While providing food locally, it will serve as a model that can be duplicated in appropriate surrounding communities.

Jesus was moved with compassion towards the people he met as he walked the streets of Jerusalem.  He healed lepers, opened blind eyes, and fed the hungry.  As he calls us into the nations, we are to do the same by including a strong mercy emphasis in our Discipleship Training School programs.  Meeting the practical needs of our world will also open doors for the Gospel to continue to go to the ends of the earth!

Join us as we continue to raise up the next generation to give their lives away for Christ in missions, and join us as we fight hunger and malnutrition in our world.  You can be a part of this through your prayers, your financial giving, your friendship, and your commitment to go!  We are excited to see how God moves in the nations in this next year.  Hungry hearts and hungry bodies will be filled by the love of our incredible Savior!

The Flame Goes Forward – Children’s Performance from Aaron Barker on Vimeo.

Today is yet another day filled with service projects and evangelism at the university. Pray for us that the Lord would go before us and prepare the way of the hearts that we meet. We want to see continued harvest while we are here and are grateful for every opportunity to share His love in these communities!

Thanks to everyone who is praying with us!