"It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. Do what you can!

Hello everyone!

So many amazing things have been happening I just had to update you all!

Refuge City has been approved by the IRS as a tax exempt organization! My accountant called me and said: "your friends called me". I was surprised and asked which ones. He said: "the IRS." I laughed wondering when the IRS had become my friends! He said that the IRS had called him and said that they were going to fax him a paper, and if I would sign it and fax it back, I would be immediately approved! I had been counseled to be patient, that best case scenario was 4 - 6 months, sometimes even up to a year. From the day my CPA mailed it to the day he called was 22 DAYS! He said that has never happened to him before! When God wants something done IT IS DONE!

I have gotten a facebook up. I would appreciate all you facebook users "liking" it. It is:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Refuge-City/210455565673105

Here is the Refuge City information. If you would like to donate you can send a check here. I will be getting the website going soon, and putting a paypal button on the facebook as well. As an FYI: I am not getting paid by Refuge City. I will continue with my own personal support at World Missions Advance. The money that goes into RC will be 100% for the house.

Refuge City

PO Box 802948

Dallas, TX 75380-2948

We have received some beautiful furniture for the house. No, we don't have the house yet! The Lord gave me the scripture: "Behold the days are coming, say the Lord, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper." Ezra 9:13. I told the Lord I would take it if I could get free storage and help and a truck. I was in the Sojourn Ladies Prayer and I am not exaggerating to say that it was done in less than a minute!

I was sent an opportunity to apply for a grant. I googled grant proposal and followed the directions! Haha! I just submitted it so please pray! I do not have an amount but any amount would be wonderful. It is through Dallas Social Venture Partners. It would be a huge blessing and I believe it is ongoing.

I have tackled the 325 page regulations for licensing so I know exactly what is expected. I am purchasing a computer on Sunday and beginning the paperwork next week. I believe I have found a school that will let us do online, in-house schooling. I have been connected with counselors that have been trained in Stockholm Syndrome, which is the type of trauma these kids have suffered. It is likened to people who have been in concentration camps. I have found a substance abuse group that is willing to partner with us. I have a case worker who wants to help. In other words it is all coming together, so quickly, I feel like I am running to keep up!

Prayer list:

* we would get the grant

*we need the house :-)

*speaking opportunities to share the vision ( feel free to invite me!)

*increase in funding

*God would give me the grace to get through the paperwork

I love you all! I am deeply grateful! Barbara

Hello friends and family!

I wanted to update you on all the great things that have been happening at the Barrymore Outreach, with the YWAM boys, and with the Karen ESL Outreach!

Barrymore Outreach has continued to be an amazing blessing to Ellen and I. We have had so many healings and blessings it just constantly surprises us. Recently a lady came and reported that months ago when we prayed over her she had throat cancer. When she went to the doctor, the cancer was completely gone! Also, she is a diabetic, and the doctor had to lower her medication to almost nothing! We were amazed, as we barely remember praying for her! God is extraordinary!

We had another increidble thing happen. I decided to do a teaching on the baptims of the Holy Spirit. These people live such difficult lives that I wanted them to have access to all the power they could. I did the teaching and then asked who wanted to receive. They all raised their hands. We started with S, and it was rough going. We told her to continue to press in and we went on to AF. God poured His Spirit out on her and she was crying and praying in tongues, and getting delivered. It was wonderful. The rest ended up receiving as well and we all had a wonderful time in God's presence. But there was more! As AF is walking out the door we noticed she looked sparkly. We thought it was her make up until she got outside and we all gasped! Her face looked like it had been dipped in silver glitter! None of have ever seen anything like it! I have heard of people getting glittery from being in God's presence but I have never seen it! Her family said it lasted for days! Her granddaughter came up to me and thanked me for the Bible study. She said her Grandma is a new person. No more yelling, or hitting, or cussing. She said when her Grandma is mad she goes and prays instead of lashing out. Thank you God!

Please pray for K. She is suicidal, and is cutting herself with razor blades. She feels hopeless after losing her last child to CPS. She needs an encounter with God.

It has been a great time with the boys from YWAM Dallas! Juan graduated from college, Jose and George from High School. Juan is the first YWAM boy to graduate from college and George and Jose the first to graduate from High School in their family! It was such a thrill to watch them graduate!

Two of the graduates!

Sadly the Karen Outreach has come to an end. It was difficult for me to continue with the ESL classes after I moved on from YWAM Dallas. It was a sad good bye, but good timing as the people who have the apartment wanted to do some new things for the summer. I miss my guitar class with the Karen kids too!

My guitar pal!

The Karen ladies make beautiful Karen weavings that they sell so that they can stay home for their children. If you are interested go to: http://www.hope4refugees.org/kli-kla

God continues to show Himself strong in all areas of my life. I will update you later on Refuge City.

Your love, prayers, and giving make it all happen. I am grateful! Barbara

Greetings from Dallas!

Summer has arrived and with it the heat! We have had such a lovely spring with lots of rain, but sadly, I think that has come to an end.

I wanted to let you know what I have been up to. I have spent my time learning about the Human Trafficking issue, and all about running a safe house. A few of the things I have become involved with:

* I have submitted the application for my non profit. It will be called Refuge City after the dream that the Lord gave me.

* High Risk Task Force. I am part of the first Dallas High Risk Task Force, specifically in the area of Court Advocacy. Most of the time when the kids go to court they go alone. Imagine being a child and there is no one to even sit with you, let alone help you! One of the Lawyers involved is letting us sit in on some Court Proceedings and then will explain the system and how it all works.

* I attended the first ever Safehouse Development Conference in Austin in May. I learned so much and came home overwhelmed! :-)

* I received two certification this last month. One is for Licensing, and the other for Safehouse Development.

* I also attended a Government Regulatory meeting on Safehouse Development and came home with a 350 page licensing regulation manual. Riveting reading!!

* I will be training in Fort Worth to take material in to speak to the girls at Letot, which is the juvenile detention center here in Dallas. It will be a chance to begin to work with the girls who will be coming to the safehouse.

* I will be in Houston on the 17 - 18 training to use a curriculum called Hands that Heal. It is the curriculum that most of the houses will be using. I want to see if it is what I want to use.

* I am applying to take part in an Organizational Mentorship Program. It is sponsored by one of the few faith based children's house in the nation.

* I plan to go to Palestine Tx this month to visit the house in Texas that is closest to being opened.

* I am trying to go to Abilene, TX to visit a house that is similar in nature, though not for trafficked kids.

* I met with a Police Officer in Red Oak who gave me some good insight on the penal side of trafficking.

* I attended a Trafficking Workshop put on by Salvation Army in Ft. Worth

* I will be involved in a webinar about Understanding the Sexual Exploitation of America's Children

I have continued to do the Barrymore Outreach, and it has continued to be amazing. I also am working with the boys at YWAM Dallas, in their daily lives. We got Robert in for braces this month which is a big thing for him. Jose is next. Juan graduated from College and we had a big party for him. Next George and Jose will graduate on the 11th of June. It is a huge thing, and also will be followed by a party. We are so proud of these boys, and their accomplishments. David has poured his life in to them, and this is the fruit. I have continued teaching ESL to the Karen Ladies. We had a big "Coffee House" to end it, as they will be taking off in the summer.

I will send some pictures of the outreach in a few days.

Prayer needs:

That the non profit will be approved quickly and as is.

That the Lord will begin to bring in the funding that is needed.

Great volunteers and workers!

We will need a very large house with at least six bedrooms!

That I can get licensed.

Protection and covering. Trafficking is dark.

Your love, prayers and support mean everything. We can change lives together.

Barbara

Dear friends and family,

Greetings from Dallas!

The months of March and April have been difficult months for me, months of transition and change. I am a person who normally loves both, but this time I have not.

Many months ago the Lord began speaking to me about the Human Trafficking issue. He wanted me to do something about it. I did not know what to do, I knew little or nothing about it. So I began to pray. He told me that the people coming out of trafficking have no place to live, to rest and to heal. So I contacted a local agency and asked them what their greatest need is. They said there were two: 1. Better laws to prosecute. 2. There are no safehouses for the being being brought out. So I knew I had heard from the Lord. So I began to wonder how that would fit in to YWAM Dallas. We had a piece of land. Is that where the safehouse would be? Then the Lord gave me a dream. The dream was about being the leader of it, and building a city of houses, both in the US and abroad! I was truly overwhelmed by the thought! I knew that could not happen through Y Dallas, so that would mean started my own non profit. I was scared by the thought of that kind of responsibility. Then the Lord gave me this verse: Is 37: 6: "Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard....." When I said ok to Him, it began an outpouring of dreams and words, and confirmations. I investigated starting the non profit through YWAM, but is is not possible, so I will set out on my own.

Saying good by to YWAM Dallas has been like being ripped in half. I have cried and cried. I am continuing the Barrymore Outreach and the ESL classes to the Burmese women as long as I can, but I have let all else go.

And so I move forward. Please pray! This is a dark and dangerous multimillion dollar business. It is truly infiltrating the lair of the enemy.

I will keep you updated as I move step by step. I have been amazed at the help that is already coming forth. God is awesome. We are never alone. He has plans and people to help and to pray.

I am thankful to all of you who stand beside me so faithfully. If any of you would like to know the long version ( the dreams and the words) please let me know and I will send them.

God bless you! Barbara

Here is an exciting pic! Here is me and K, the lady who told us never to touch her, who gave her life to Jesus on my birthday! So we blew out the candles together, me celebrating a physical birthday, and her celebrating a spiritual one! Thank you God for such a gift!

Miracles and more miracles!

Hello friends and family!

I am happy to say that we have been experiencing such a wonderful work of God that I thought I must write to you about it. If I told you all of them this wire would be so long you would give up reading it, but here is a sample of them.

D is a 28 year old, really handsome guy. When I first saw him and asked him if I could pray for him he took off running. The next time Ellen and I cornered him and prayed for him, the third time he came to us and stayed and stayed, crying as Ellen held him in her arms like a baby. He has been in some sort of lock up since he was eleven. This is his first time out for any length of time. Well, his cousin did something illegal, and they were blaming it in D. He was looking at prison again, if he did not turn in his cousin. We prayed that God would do a miracle, and the charges would be dropped. Then we did not seem him for months. I finally saw him on Tuesday, and he said: "You will not believe it Miss Barbara! The charges have been dropped! It is a miracle! I am free! So many good things have started happening in my life, that I am afraid to believe it!" We thanked God and prayed that good things would be the norm for him.

Through a lot of work (and favor) I have gotten one of our boys, R, into Dallas Can Academy. He is 17 years old and in the 8th grade. When I was getting his withdrawal letter from his last school, it came out that he did not finish his "time" there. He was put in an alternative school for bad behavior, and his Mom withdrew him and lied, saying she was moving out of state. ( to save herself from facing truancy charges.) The Alt. school said that they will not let him in Dallas Can with that hanging over his head. Dallas Can has never asked about it with R or I so I am praying that they will let it go and enroll him regardless. R's parents kicked him out because they said that he is old enough and they don't want to feed him anymore so he is living at YWAM Dallas now. We have seen such a change in him. His love for fighting and his anger have turned into laughing and joy. We prayed that they would overlook this thing and let him stay in school. He could graduate in 2 1/2 years which would be a HUGE accomplishment for him. I took R to school, and everything was ok, and then they called me back to come and get him. They said he had to do his time. I thought he was going to cry. I tried calling the DISD for help, but they had none.

So when I got to work that morning I talked to R, and said that he had to face the fact that he needed to do his time. We had studied Isaiah 53 that morning, and talked about that even Jesus learned obedience through suffering. He said ok. I called back Dallas Can and the enrollment counselor was pretty cold. I was asking her how to get R back in the other school. Then at the end of the conversation, I sighed, and said: I was really believing for a second chance for R. She then said, well, there is one more thing you can try. If you go to the Principal that assigned the days, he has the power to release R from them. WE PRAYED!!! Then we went. I said to the Principal that I was there asking for mercy, grace and a second chance. I told him that R was living with us now, that we were responsible for his schooling, and would he be willing to give him a chance at a new start. The principal looked at me and said yes! He typed the letter, we rushed back to Dallas Can, and R is in!!

We have now started a Bible study at Barrymore and have about ten ladies coming. One of the ladies came and said that she has a lump in her breast that they were going to test for cancer, so we prayed for healing. She went home and the next few days the lump grew big, and tender and then in the night bust open. She woke up with blood all over the sheets and the lump gone. When she went in to get tested there was nothing!! Unknown to us, another of our ladies had the same thing. As we were praying for S, she said she felt the power of God, and believed her lump had been healed. Yesterday she brought us the report back. It said: NO EVIDENCE OF CANCER!!!

I know this is getting so long, but one more thing. For many years it has been my dream to go to Burma and minister to the ladies there. They have repeatedly asked me when I am in India, but it is a closed country. Well, we have begun an outreach to the Karen people ( our new YWAM worker is Karen) so I told them I would teach them English. As I sat and talked to these ladies (through and interpreter) I came to understand that they were all from Burma. I almost burst out crying. I could not go there, so I get to be with them here. God is so amazing. He listens to our hearts.

We are taking a group of ladies from Barrymore to the Sojourn Women's Conference. It will be a first time for most. We are very excited about that. Pray they are deeply touched.

I love you all. None of this would happen without your love and support. God bless you, Barbara

Christmas at YWAM Dallas was an amazing time of blessing, laughter, fun and fellowship! People streamed into the church until there was standing room only. There were more than 400 people who heard the Gospel that night, maybe for the first time.

The teenagers did the real story of Christmas in costume with a dramatic reading. As they walked out they carried the big cards that you can see in the background. it was beautiful.

David preached that Jesus came to the Ordinary people, the Important people, and the Young people.

The church is packed out!

We had an abundance of everything! We had twelve turkeys, two hundred Kbobs, four forty pound briskets, plus all the food that the families brought! It was a feast! Everywhere you turned there were people eating and laughing and having a wonderful time!

Here is J.T and Believa doing a "Jesus rap".

Emele and the kids doing a song and looking so cool!

Of and the boys did a Haka, a type of manly warrior chant that they do in Tonga.

We gave out about 130 sponsored gifts, and another seventy five unsponsored gift. Every child who came got a gift.

We are so thankful to God for all He did that day, so thankful to all of you for helping, sponsoring children, donating and praying.

God bless you all. It is going to be an amazing year!

Love, Barbara

Hello friends!

I pray that you all had a wonderful Christmas, and I am trusting that it will be an amazing year for all of us!

I wanted to update you on the Barrymore Outreach. This is the one that we do at the apartments in South Dallas. Ellen Jenkins, my ministry partner, and I decided to do a Ladies Tea, a time to love on and pamper the ladies, as well as to celebrate Christmas with them. We had recently learned that the management company had been changed, and Laura, the manager who invited me in to do the outreach, had been let go. She was very panicked, becuase it would not only mean the loss of her job, but of her apartment, and all of that at Christmas time. So we went into it wondering if we would be able to continue our outreach there. We prayed with Laura that God would change their minds, and that Laura could stay. The Sojourn Church Ladies Prayer Group provided each woman with a lovely gift, and Ann Heckenlaible came and brought beautiful little arrangements with name tags for each of the ladies. The tables were loaded with goodies, and decorated so lovely ( thanks you Ellen!) and everyone was in high spirits. We served the ladies, not allowing them to serve themselves. I told them the Christmas story from the perspective of Mary. They were touched having never thought of Mary, as a person, nor ever heard the story in that way, possibly not knowing the Christmas story at all. As I challenged them to be like Mary, willing to say to God: "Let it be done to me according to your word", regardless of the cost, many became teary eyed. Ellen then shared the Proverbs 31 scripture, also challenging them to be women of excellence. We then talked about the New Year, wondering what we could believe for. I told them about the scripture in Job 22:28: " You will also declare a thing and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways." We began to declare and decree things for the New Year and many of them were crying. It was beautiful! Such a time of hope! Declaration went up to give up addictions, to quit cutting, to be free of depression, to be healthy, to be free of poverty, to try to get to see her children etc. One of the ladies told me privately that ever year at Christmas she tries to kill herself. We have been praying against that.

Then an amazing thing happened. We had made a special gift for the manager Laura, to thank her for allowing us to be there. We really wanted to honor her. So when she came in we clapped and cheered, and served her, and presented her with her gift. With tear filled eyes she told us that she had just received news that they were going to keep her on at Barrymore Apartments! God has done a miracle for her, and for us!!

Thank you everyone who prayed, and donated and cared! It was such an amazing time! We can do so much when we all work together!

We are planning in this next year, to expand the ministry to a Bible study, bread and prayer. Pray with us that God will continue to heal these lovely ladies, and bring them to Himself.

Laura, the manager on the left!

Beautiful Caroline on the right

The ladies with Ellen!

The beautiful name cards!

Please pray for the ladies of these apartments! Pray that Laura will be blessed in her work, and that more people will come to rent. (they have an entire building with just a few people in it!)

Also, pray for the men. We are able, by God's grace, to touch their lives too! I will tell you more of their stories next time.

God bless you!!! Barbara

Psalm 65:11: "You crown the year with your bounty. Your carts overflow with abundance."