The Public Servants’ Prayer

Matthew January 14th, 2008

What a year this has been!  It’s hard to believe all that has transpired in one year.  God has blessed us immensely.  Here are some of the highlights: 

Ministry

In reflecting on what God has done in just 3 short years of this ministry, I am very encouraged - and sometimes a bit overwhelmed, until I remember Who’s ministry this is.  Opportunities for ministry abound inside the Statehouse community - more than time will allow.  I am thankful that it is now much easier to go to the Statehouse daily throughout session because we are only 45 minutes outside of Indianapolis.  I have enjoyed building new relationships and deepening old friendships through continuing Bible Studies and Chapel Services outside of session.

I have also worked on developing the content, feel, and interactive pieces of the publicservantsprayer.org website.  It has yielded tremendous fruit as a tool to reach people we might not otherwise come in contact with. 

Home front

We still love the “new” home God has provided for us. We have put any “spare” time we have into updating our house.  From knocking out the wall between kitchen/dining room, to converting the garage into a family room, to building floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in my office, updating electric, painting, etc., we are working hard to make it a center for hospitality.  In an effort to trim heating costs, we invested in a wood burning insert that has worked splendidly.  We are now using it as our primary heat source.  The majority of these renovations have been made possible due to a donation given for that specific purpose.  Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!

Family

Miriam has kept busy home-educating, (even in the midst of our traveling!), maintaining a home while remodeling, and planting and harvesting a large garden.  She loves working with children, and so she thoroughly enjoyed the 5 times this year when we were able to travel together with an international children’s ministry.  I see the great need to work with the leaders of today in the Statehouse, and in the children’s ministry, I’m able to work with the leaders of tomorrow.  In March we had the unique blessing of being able to lead a two day children’s conference in Hawaii.  We saw a side of Hawaii that most tourists don’t see (the real life side).  We did, however, get to go to a couple of  “tourist attractions” - Pearl Harbor and the Diamond Head Volcano.  While we did not get to truly rest and relax there, it was an experience we will never forget and we are so grateful for the opportunity.

Each year we are invited to many new churches to share about the the Public Servants’ Prayer Ministry.  This means much more traveling.  Throughout all of this, Miriam has packed and unpacked more times than she’d like to remember, planned and cooked meals and taught school work in hotel rooms, kept children quiet in churches, and taught dozens of memory verses, both to her own children and those in various locations.  I am reminded of the verse, “He that findeth a wife, findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.”  Proverbs 18:22 

 Thank you

We would like to once again thank all of you who have shared in this ministry.  Whether you have attended events, prayed for us, or supported us financially, you are all essential to this ministry’s growth. 

May the Lord  richly bless you in the coming year! 

In Christ’s Service,

Matthew Barnes

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