Dear Praying Friends in Jesus Christ,
We are very excited to put out this prayer letter. On August 1 we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary. As you can see, we have a new picture in honor of this occasion. A special thanks to Sarah Conroy of Warroad, Minnesota, for her photography, and Pastor Robert Boyce of Flat Rock, Michigan, for putting this on our prayer letter. Without their love for our ministry, this would have not been possible.
We also celebrated my 70th birthday in July. Mary made it very special. Thank you to all of you who sent me wishes online and cards. It’s hard to believe that I am that old.
We have been getting some new churches to preach at this year. It is good to see that our ministry is still growing. We have been trying to teach some of the basic principles of learning scripture. The people are taking in every lesson. Some have never heard this before. A lot of good decisions are being made. I am finding out more and more how spoiled I was to have a father for a Bible teacher. He is still a blessing to me even though he has been with the Lord 13 years now.
We have traveled to many churches this year. We have been to Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. We also had the privilege of preaching in our home church. We just completed a Vacation Bible School in Osseo, Wisconsin. There were some decisions made.
We are trying to slow down a bit this year. We are also trying to travel to closer churches. Please pray for me that Lord will keep me going. I have been feeling very worn out. My diabetes is very much under control. I just had an A-1-C test. It was 5.2!
Mary is doing wonderful. Her intestinal infection is completely gone. She has been such a blessing this year. She has been by my side to all the churches. I did let her stay home from the V.B.S. She was getting a little tired herself.
We still have many places to go this year. One of my favorite churches will be in Watseka, Illinois. My father was a pastor there before he retired. Some of the church members still remember my dad and me.
Please pray for us as we travel. We ask also that you pray about our future. We are still going strong, but we will have to retire someday. The Lord will show us when.
May the Lord bless you as you serve Him faithfully. Some day we would all love to hear from our Lord, and Master, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
In His Service,
David and Mary Barker
I Peter 3:15