Newsletter

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

We have had a wonderful summer this year with the trains and Vacation Bible School.  We traveled many miles and saw some great decisions.  One of our Vacation Bible Schools was all the way down in Florida.  I took a young man with me, named Jared, from a church in Indianapolis.  He was a big help running the trains.  This gave me liberty to mingle with the children and answer their questions.  A lot of the church adult members also came out every night to help and see the trains.

We also had Vacation Bible Schools in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Some of these churches went all out with their decorations.  A church in Chicago even had a train skit which kept you in suspense so you had to come back every night! The theme was “Under the sea” at a church in Wisconsin.  Mary was able to find some gummy sharks to pass out to children who answered questions.

God has given us a special assignment this year.  We are preaching in a lot of small churches.  These churches average any where from 5 to 15 in attendance. We want to be a blessing and an encouragement to these small ministries.  Please pray that these churches will grow.  Some of the pastors are a little discouraged. I have said many times from the pulpit, “We go anywhere.” Please pray that God will give me wisdom to work with these special people.

We have meetings yet this year in Michigan, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin, Iowa, and New Mexico.  The trip to New Mexico is our missions trip this year.  We will be working with the Navajo people.  Last time we were there, they begged us to come back.  A lot of them are hungry to learn God’s Word.

Please continue to pray for Mary’s health. She has improved some but has a long way to go. She will be getting some more tests done soon.

We continually thank the Lord for His safety and protection as we travel so many miles each year.  What a privilege it is to serve Him presenting our ministry and getting people back into their Bibles!    

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker   

I Peter 3:15

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

It is hard to believe that it’s already May!  This year is flying by and we have been very busy serving the Lord.  Everywhere we have traveled we have seen God’s blessing with good decisions. People are getting saved and making a serious commitment to get into their Bible and depend upon it for strength and guidance in their daily walk with God.

Our year started out with a preaching tour of ten churches in Florida and Alabama.  Some of those were new churches who fell in love with our ministry.  I also made my yearly appearance on the radio.  What an opportunity to reach thousands of people at once!

In March we traveled back home to preach in Chicago and Indianapolis.  I did a revival with my model trains in Indy.  We had visitors and good decisions every night.  The pastor said it was the best week of meetings they have ever had.

Also in March and April, we traveled to Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri.  One of the greatest highlights was preaching at our home church.  The people were still talking about the message and what a help and blessing it was several weeks later!

Please pray for Mary as she is trying to improve her health. She has high blood pressure.  The doctor told her to take it easy before she has a stroke or heart attack.  She will be staying home a lot this summer to try and get this under control. 

We have many more churches to preach at this year. We will be heading to Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas, New Mexico, and back to Florida to name a few.  My father told me before he passed away seven years ago to “travel and serve the Lord while you can.”   We are praying that God will give us many more years before our health gives out. There is so much more to do for the Lord!

We continually thank the Lord for His safety and protection as we travel so many miles each year.  What a privilege it is to serve Him presenting our ministry and getting people back into their Bibles!    

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker   

I Peter 3:15

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

God has been so good to Scripture Memory Ministry this year.  We are very grateful and do not take all His blessings for granted.  What a blessing to see souls saved, lives changed, and people getting into God’s Word.

Our fall tour went very well. Our travels took us to Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Indiana. One of the greatest highlights of this fall was the missions conference we were part of in Adrian, Michigan.  This church takes a burden for missions to a new level. 

They sent each missionary ahead of time a questionnaire with a page to share some of the things you might need.  We put down new sheets for our bed, a push-broom for the garage, a new G.P.S., and a new tablet for Mary.  We were hoping to get one of these things.  They bought everything for us, plus so much more!  They also took the men missionaries to a Men’s Warehouse and bought us all new suits. The bought us not one but two suits!  The missionary wives were taken to a mall where they all were given money to buy new outfits.  Mary came back with a beautiful dress.  It seemed more like Christmas than a mission conference.

Another highlight was in Little Rock, Arkansas. A man in the church has a 1957 Chevy.  Mary and I got to ride in it to go out to eat and to the nursing home service in the afternoon!

We worked in a junior church in Berne, IN and had the privilege of seeing three children saved!  Very exciting!

We are now on our Christmas break.  We are extremely busy getting lots of things done, including putting a new roof on our house! The old one was leaking over our garage.  We are trusting in the Lord that He will provide the finances for this expensive project! 

After our Christmas break, we will head south to Florida and Alabama for our winter speaking tour. We will be speaking in nine churches this year, two of them new churches!  We thank the Lord for His safety and protection as we travel so many miles each year.  What a privilege it is to serve Him presenting our ministry and getting people back into their Bibles!    

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker   

I Peter 3:15

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

Things have been very busy for Scripture Memory Ministry.  Last spring we traveled to southern Indiana to preach in some churches and a Bible college.  There were many good decisions on that tour.  We also traveled to Chicago, Missouri, and Alabama.  The meeting in Alabama was a missions conference.  What a blessing that was in many ways.  We were able to schedule three more speaking engagements because of that conference. Trips also were made to Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.  My nephew, David, went with me to the meeting in Minnesota.  He was a tremendous blessing and helped counsel with some of the young people.

As a lot of you know, my wife, Mary, had an operation this summer.  She had a swollen lymph node removed from the left side of her throat.  The surgery went well and there was no cancer, which we are very thankful for!  Mary is recovering quite nicely.  Thank you so much for all your prayers.  It meant a lot to both of us.  We are thankful also for all the e-mails and get-well cards.  This helped put a smile on Mary’s face.  We want to give a special “thank you” to our home church for the meals and special visits from the ladies.

This summer I taught a Prophecy Conference in Tennessee, and several Vacation Bible Schools in Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Texas.  Most of these involved setting up the ever so popular HO scale train layout.  Many good decisions were made, including some for salvation.  The train layout was a little different this year as it featured all classic cars (matchbox size) from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Both the children and the adults loved it!  You all know how much Preacherman loves cars!  Mary got out of helping set up the train layout and all the Vacation Bible Schools because of her surgery.  She says that was one of the biggest blessings of the summer! (You really can’t blame her.  She needed a break!)

Please pray for us this fall as we will be traveling to Wisconsin, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and eastern Indiana.  We thank the Lord for His safety and protection as we travel so many miles a year.  What a privilege it is to serve Him presenting our ministry and getting people back into their Bibles!    

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker   

I Peter 3:15

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

We have just returned from our Florida/Alabama winter preaching tour.  We traveled almost 4,000 miles without any van problems.  We thank the Lord for His safety as we travel.

We started in the Florida panhandle preaching in several churches.  We were involved in many ministries.  Besides speaking in the main services, I preached in Masters Club, men’s prayer meetings, Taekwondo class, and the Second Chance ministry.  I even had a chance to be on the radio where I was interviewed about memorizing Scripture.  Mary had the chance to speak at a ladies meeting.  We saw many good decisions.  Several of those were for salvation.

We had an open Sunday so we went to a church in Alabama.  The pastor loved our ministry and has invited us to his missions conference in April.  We also had the chance to see a little of the Gulf of Mexico.

We then traveled to the middle of Florida to DeLand.  I preached in nursing homes, AWANA, and regular church services.  I also helped trim some trees on the church property. That was quite a work out!

We then traveled south to churches in Fort Myers, and in Margate (this church is near the location where the Florida school shooting occurred).  Many good decisions were made in the services.  We also had the chance to be an encouragement to some pastors along the way. How I thank the Lord for the wonderful opportunities He gave us!  It is an undeserved privilege to serve Him.

Since we have returned home from our southern tour, I preached at a mission’s conference in Wisconsin, two churches and a Bible college in Indianapolis, and Jolly Sixties at our home church.   We are certainly keeping busy.

I also went to the doctor for my yearly checkup. I am doing so well with my diabetes that I do not have to go back for a whole year!  Mary is going to the doctor at the end of this month.  We are hoping to get a good report on her also.

Please continue to pray for us as we travel. We have many miles to cover this year.  May the Lord find us faithful till He returns.

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

It has been a wonderful fall for Scripture Memory Ministry.  We had some good meetings in Wisconsin, Indiana, and West Virginia.  While preaching in Wisconsin, I had the privilege of detailing a 1938 Model “T” Ford. It came out looking beautiful and it sure was fun.  One of the meetings in West Virginia was a four-day revival.  The Lord really worked among the people of that little country church.

The biggest highlight of this fall was our missions trip to New Mexico. We spent two weeks working with the Navajo people.  We stayed on the Navajo Reservation with a missionary pastor.  Brother Neil Foerester and his wife have been there forty-three years, faithfully serving the Lord.

While in New Mexico I preached in several churches in the area, including Bro. Foerester’s where we had a four-day revival.  We had a question and answer session every night after the preaching.  God really worked in those meetings.  The people were very faithful and brought visitors to the meetings every night.  The last night of the meetings, they had a special fellowship for Mary and I. They made Navajo tacos and gave us some very beautiful gifts they had hand-made. 

Brother Foerster and I also had three jail ministries a day most of the time we were there.  We had some wonderful Bible studies and many good question and answers sessions. In one service I taught for 45 minutes, and then answered Bible questions for another two hours!

While in New Mexico I also preached at the senior center twice and had a Bible study at the Navajo University with some of the staff.  Another 2-hour question and answer session followed that Bible study.  The Navajo people are really hungry to learn God’s Word.  They did not want us to leave and are begging us to come back.  God is so good!

We would like to wish you all a very Christ-centered Christmas, and very happy New Year. Please continue to pray for us as we travel, presenting God’s Word.  There are many more hungry people out there wanting to learn the Bible.

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker   

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

We have had a very special, exciting summer this year.  As always, we did several Vacation Bible Schools that included my train layout.  This summer we had the privilege of setting the trains up at our home church.  We were part of the Fairhaven Vacation Bible School camp for two straight weeks!  The Shepard’s Ministry, the church kids, the bus kids, and even the Jolly Sixties Ministry all got to hear our interesting train stories.  Many of the Fairhaven church members were also able to see and enjoy the trains after the mid-week services.

Another special blessing this summer was a teenage boy, Stephen Dickey, from our home church who was a huge help, both at the camp and on the road.  We worked together very well, and Mrs. Barker got a well-deserved break.  We are hoping that Stephen can travel with us to the close to home meetings, and help us with the Vacation Bible Schools next summer.

In Osseo, Wisconsin, a pastor took Stephen and I to a hobby shop.  We found some classic railroad cars from the 1970’s.  A Frosted Flakes car, a Jell-O car, and a Baby Ruth car sure looked great on the layout that night at V.B.S!

We also traveled to many churches this summer presenting our regular ministry.  God has continued to bless us with many good decisions, including salvation and getting right with God. We brought back our book “Dare to Defend the Bible” to our book table.  We believe it is much needed more than ever.  Many people are buying copies of the book.

I am doing very well with my diabetes. I have lost 25 pounds and my blood sugar is down to 100.  I received an excellent report from the doctor my last visit.  Mary is also doing good. She has lost 27 pounds!  We both feel much better and thank the Lord for our health.

We have many more miles to travel this year. Please pray for us for safety as we encourage people to get into their Bibles, and to depend upon God’s Word for the answers!

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker   

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

It is hard to believe that 2017 is here!  We are looking forward to what God is going to do this year.  We certainly had an exciting year in 2016.

In October and part of November, we traveled to Utah and Nevada.  In Salt Lake City, we set up my train layout for the church and their Christian school.  Several children responded to the train stories I told in chapel.  I also preached in a small church in Heber City.

We then traveled to southern Utah for a round-robin mission conference.  I spoke in four churches in four days. It was a lot of fun and we made a lot of new friends.  We ended our tour in Nevada speaking in a church that overlooks the Ruby Mountains.  The view was breath- taking.  Many good decisions were made on this tour. We saw people dedicating their lives to Christ, getting back into the Bible, and of course, salvation.

Next, we traveled to California to an inner-city church.  These people love the Lord and their young people are sold out to God.  What a blessing it was to have teenagers shake your hand and tell you they enjoyed the messages!   

In late November, we were in Missouri, and in December we went to Texas and preached in two churches.  One of the churches invited us to go Christmas caroling on the River Walk in San Antonio. We rode a river boat and sang to the shoppers along the way.  Many stopped and listened to us singing about the birth of our Saviour.  The Christmas lights were beautiful!  We finished the year at a church near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  We were able to get there in- between snow storms!

Please pray that God will continue to bless our ministry and supply our needs.  We also ask for prayer for safety on the roads as we travel to Florida in January and February for meetings.  We are excited to travel to churches getting people into their Bibles, and to depend upon God’s Word for the answers! If you are looking for another missionary to support, please consider us.

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker   

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

As you well know, this has been one of the hottest summers on record.  We have also kept our van’s wheels hot on the road this summer!  We traveled over 8,000 miles holding VBS programs around the country.  These all included my model train layout.

Our first tour was to five churches in the Pacific Northwest.  We traveled to Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.  I took Seth Golden with me as my teen assistant and he did a great job.  He helped me set up the trains and take them down (no small job!)  He also ran the trains for me many times, taught Bible verses to the children, gave many testimonies about his life, and even played the piano for some of the church services!  Seth was a tremendous blessing to me and the churches.  We saw many good decisions at VBS and all the church services.

After taking Seth home to Jefferson City, MO and preaching in his home church, I picked up my wife Mary at home and traveled to Pennsylvania for another VBS.  God used the messages and train lessons to speak to the hearts of many children and adults.

We then traveled to Wisconsin for two more Vacation Bible Schools.  Once again we saw some good decisions.  Some of them were for salvation.  The theme of the last VBS was dinosaurs and trains!  A sweet lady, who has been behind our ministry for years, gave us some dinosaurs that were the perfect size for the train layout.  It sure was fun having the dinosaurs invade the town, and even ride the trains!

We finished the summer with revival meetings in Michigan and Missouri.  I even spoke for an old-fashion day Sunday at a church in Wisconsin.  Our summer was busy, yet blessed as we saw fruit for our labor.

Please pray that God will continue to bless our ministry and supply our needs.  We also ask that you pray for safety on the roads for us as we travel through the autumn season.  We are excited to travel to churches trying to get them into their Bibles, and to depend upon God’s Word for the answers.

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker   

Dear Praying Friends in Christ,

We apologize for the lateness of this prayer letter.  Shortly after we finished our second tour of the year, we started having computer and internet problems on both of our laptops.  We finally broke down and purchased a new laptop computer.   Scripture Memory Ministry now has its own e-mail address:  Scripturememoryministry@gmail.com.  We are looking forward to hearing from you.

This year is going very well.  We had some wonderful meetings in Florida with many good salvation and other decisions in January and February.  We had our model trains with us on this trip and we set it up in several churches.  It helped bring out many visitors.  I even had the privilege to speak at a boy’s ranch while in Florida! This was something new and exciting for me; and what a thrill to see the alter filled during the invitation!

My wife and I have also been to Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee already this year.  Many of these meetings were 3 and 4 day revivals, and one of them was a soul winning seminar.  I also preached at 2 graduations.  That was certainly an honor and a privilege.

We will be traveling to Arkansas, and then to two meetings in the Chicago area before I travel out to the Pacific northwest for several Vacation Bible Schools.  The churches in Washington and Idaho will be enjoying the model train layout with their VBS programs.  I am excited about taking with me a teen boy to help with the trains, VBS, and to learn about the ministry.  I will also be going to a new church in Oregon.  Mrs. Barker will be staying home to enjoy a long needed break, and to spend time with her family. 

We are also happy to announce that another church has taken us on for support.  This gives us about 75% of the support we need.  God is so good!

Please pray that God will continue to bless our ministry and supply our needs.  We also ask that you pray for safety on the roads for us as we travel.  We are still looking for more churches to support us.  We are excited to travel to churches trying to get them into their Bibles, and to depend upon God’s Word for the answers.

In His Service,
David and Mary Barker