Today
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2 Years Ago
The early days at GB were filled with trials, errors and a great deal of learning. I am certain we made a lot of mistakes. Thankfully, we serve a God who shows us grace and forgiveness!
Through it all, He has continually blessed His ministry and many, many young people have been touched by the spirit of God. He has delivered them from the bondage of drugs, self destructive behaviors and a host of other ills! Praise the Lord!
GB is a safe place for all young people. A place where they can be themselves. There is no judgment or criticism. We are committed to holding high Biblical standards. We are blessed to be able to watch His works first hand as he transforms their lives right before our very eyes.
We continue to form new partnerships, alliances and support with the local community. Fred and Jim are State licensed pastors. God's Barn is fully insured and is applying for Federal 501c3 non-profit status. We also are blessed to count several Churches and Pastors as ministry friends that provide support and oversight.
So...we would like to extend this warm welcome to all of you, especially the youth: come as you are, as far as you can, and God's Barn will meet you the rest of the way! May God richly bless you until then!
In the Beginning...
The notion of a barn as a rural meeting place has been on my heart for over 20 years. The idea was to create a place that young people could call their own. A place were they could worship God, their own way. A ministry for young people, by young people. Yet, like so many dreams, it sat on the shelf, untouched.
God gave his vision of the "Lion of Judah" to several of our closest friends and instructed them to prophesize to us and after some resistance, a dose of apprehension and a great deal of prayer, God's Barn was born. The process was not easy. While we are a faithful family, we are also fully human. As such, we struggled with following God's will. Funny how it all worked out after we committed ourselves to Him. We can now clearly see (in hindsight) how God has blessed us and how He paved the way for us!
In closing, I would like to acknowledge the event that sparked it all. In the course of this journey, I had the unfortunate experience of attending the funeral service of a young Lakeville women, Christine Lawson. View the article here. The tragedy of losing a young person from our church family broke my heart. It was through this event that God convicted my heart to make every effort to ensure that this tragedy is never repeated again. I grieve the loss of one of our own. So, Christine, this is in memory of you. You are our inspiration. You are the reason that the dream was removed from the shelf, dusted off and made a reality. I hope you smile down upon us as we will always remember you!