Posted 1:10 am Saturday, May 16, 2009
Daughter’s ‘Nudge’ Launches Ministry To Help African Orphans
EDITORS NOTE: Professional photographer Kristin Laughlin of Austin will accompany PCM to Uganda in June. See a selection of her photos of the trip in the
Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Tyler Morning Telegraph.
"Then Eli (the priest) realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down and if he calls you, say "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." 1 Samuel 2:29.
By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor
Religion Editor
It all started with a Christmas card, a note really, from an 8-year-old child to her parents, penciled neatly in the wide lines of classroom stationery. It was a message from God, the child explained in her note.
“Dear Mom, I feel this Christmas we should be missionaries and help the poor. Jesus keeps pushing me to tell you.”
Thus the launching of a thousand potential spiritual ships, their destinations and effect yet to be ascertained. Certainly, the third-grader's note -- an assignment at Grace Community School -- has had, and will apparently continue to have, a profound effect on some in Tyler and on hundreds of orphans in Uganda.
Thus the launching of a thousand potential spiritual ships, their destinations and effect yet to be ascertained. Certainly, the third-grader's note -- an assignment at Grace Community School -- has had, and will apparently continue to have, a profound effect on some in Tyler and on hundreds of orphans in Uganda.
The group meets in Mark and Monica Barrett's living room for prayer after a planning meeting for their Africa trip, which will be in June.
That's because Libby's father, a Tyler pediatrician, eventually started a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization -- Parental Care Ministries.org -- because of God's "nudging" of his daughter. Monica's reaction was to take off with a friend for Mozambique, Africa, to minister to orphans in that country.
An influence, a new stream of experience, has begun to wind its way slowly through the intertwined life of Tyler. On Wednesday night, nine adults gathered in the Barrets' home to plan an "encouragement" trip to 34 pastors and a couple of hundred orphans in Uganda. The Barrets have convinced some locals to go with them,
A GENTLE NUDGE: Dr. Mark Barrett (right) talks to a PCM group about an upcoming trip to Africa. His wife Monica is on the left.
Myles Cunningham, a history teacher at Libby's school; the Rev. Doug Clark, senior pastor of the four Grace Community locations; professional photographer Kristin Laughlin of Austin, who drove to Tyler for Wednesday's meeting; and Jay Ferguson, head master of Grace School and his wife, Ashley, will all travel to Uganda in June.
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It's the third trip to Africa for the Barrets. It's the first trip to Africa for some of the nine who were gathered at the house. And it's all been God orchestrating the process, said Barret.
NEVER DREAMED
"I never dreamed I would be a missionary, or that I would go to Africa," Barret said as the group prayed for Africa in the next room. "This has all been led by God. When Libby wrote us that card, my reaction was, 'Well, why didn't God tell me?' I had to check it out myself, to get God to show me if we should be doing something like this."
Monica Barret didn't need too much convincing. She had been reading a book about ministry to orphans in Mozambique when Libby's Christmas "nudge" came. Reading her daughter's Christmas card, the words struck a chord immediately.
"I began to ask God what I should do about all this," she said, standing in the kitchen of her south Tyler home. "Then a friend called and asked if I wanted to go to Mozambique, to the very ministry I'd been reading about. I went to Africa and the experience was amazing."
Looking over at her daughters Bailey, 14, and Libby, now 11, who were busy cutting pie for the guests, Mrs. Barrett appeared to be in thoughtful admiration of her children.
"Libby heard from God," she said, looking back with a knowing smile, nodding.
Now the rest of the history of Parental Care Ministries is waiting to be written. It's off to a good start. The new nonprofit has raised money to expand the orphanage and school housing about 200 orphans and 12 support staff, and supporting some teachers' living. In America, the government's approval for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status came in blinding light-speed of four weeks -- months ahead of the expected wait time.
Dozens of 5-by-7-inch photos of the orphans, mounted on sheets of cardboard, sit in Barret's office. He uses them as visual devices on fundraising speaking engagements. Barret maintains a Web site and has learned to produce video of the family's excursions on his computer with iMovie. He "burned out" one computer with all he was doing on it, he said, so he bought another with greater capacity.
The ministry of Parental Care has so taken hold of him that he jokingly refers to his medical practice as "my other job."
HAVE IT ALL
"The thing is, this isn't a huge mission organization," Barret said, marveling at the very thought of what he's doing with his life. "It's just us. Here I am, about to preach to 34 pastors in Africa. We have a professional pastor and great speaker (Clark) going with us, but I get to speak. The ministry is open to anybody who wants to listen to God and let him open the doors. I can't believe we get to do this."
During a brief interview with the adults before a prayer time, Clark sat quietly, listening, instead of taking over as the "spokesman" of the group that congregants might normally defer to.
"They're doing a great job on their own," he said simply, when asked about it, waving his hand towards the Barrets.
Reflecting on what the Ugandan Christians they've met have to learn spiritually from American Christians, Monica Barret paused. A few seconds of silence passed and then she said simply, "Nothing. They already have it all. If anything, we could learn from them."
That straightforward assessment was echoed by her husband. The Barret's home in The Woods is a marked contrast to the materially simple life of the Christians they've met in Uganda, Barret said, but the people are relationally rich. As he spoke about it, his eyes glistened.
"We used to think we were generous people," he said, "but it's nothing compared to the giving there. They taught me how to give. You see the (Biblical story of) the Widow's mite played out over and over again. They have so little, but they come to church -- which is held outdoors, and sometimes as big as my living room rug here -- and put everything they have in the (collection) box. They value community, giving and the Word. They have a thousand times our spirituality in their hearts."
LAME
As Miss Clavel said famously in the children's book "Madeline," "Something is not right." Clark, who'd traveled to Africa previously, finally commented after hearing the Barret's take-away of what Americans could learn from physically impoverished Christians.
"There is something lame about coming back from an experience like this in Africa," he said, "and only taking away the thought, 'I'm thankful for what I have here and I'm glad I'm not there.' There is more to learn from a mission like this than that in the relational sense. That's what's happening here."
That's why he's accompanying the Barrets in June, he said.
"It's good that the guys in the front of the church (services) go out and see what it is we're asking people to do," he said. "This trip is much more than going to feed people and provide for them physically. It's about making relationships that last."
LIBBY'S LESSON
A clear-eyed, gentle child with a pleasant presence of peace about her, Libby said she wasn't so certain that her parent's reaction to her note would be enthusiastic. That hesitation almost stopped her from disclosing what God was nudging her to say.
"I wasn't so sure I should write it," she said, "I was sort of scared to because I was only 8 years old. I'm just a kid, and why would I be telling them what God was saying? I was just going to write 'Merry Christmas' and a scripture."
But when Libby's classmates began writing extended notes on their cards, she had second thoughts.
"I thought, 'Maybe I should write something else.' My mom is a Godly woman. She prays with me at night, and reads scriptures and stories to us all the time. I decided to write down what I thought God was telling me," she said, smiling, "and here we are. I can feel it when something is right from the Lord. It's like a fresh flower you pick because it's so beautiful and it flowers so quickly."
If she'd never written the note, Libby said, life would be different.
"I'd just be a teenager sitting in school like every other kid," she said. "When I felt God tugging on my heart, I prayed, 'Is this what you want me to do?' Now, I get to do exciting things like go to Africa, meet people and help them."
Libby will accompany her family to Uganda on Dec. 21 for two weeks.
Updated Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 4:55 p.m. CDT
Updated Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 4:55 p.m. CDT
