May, 2005 Newsletter
Matthew July 11th, 2008
May, 2005
Greetings! I want to open this letter with a great big “Thank you!” for all who prayed for this ministry during the 2005 Legislative Session. There were many changes in laws, ranging from the speed limit to Daylight Savings Time. However, those pale in comparison to the changes God has wrought over the past two months. We have seen continued record chapel service attendance, more elected officials requesting the prayers of God’s people, and over 75 people attending our first annual prayer briefing at the Statehouse, to name just a few.
In early March, I was invited to attend the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast. I caught a glimpse of the governor’s heart when he stated, “The Lord I serve directly said, ‘Whoever is to be the greatest is to be the slave’.” I was thankful to hear such a desire to serve from our state’s highest office, and was grateful for the opportunity to attend such an event with the leaders of this state.
I had the opportunity to speak at two missions conferences in March. I also spent much time putting together the first publication of this ministry, a “Legislative Directory”. This contains the home addresses, Statehouse phone numbers, and email addresses of all 150 legislators. This tool is proving very useful to churches and individuals who want to contact their leaders and thank them for their service. Recently, someone asked me for a copy for putting in the car so they could call and pray for a different legislator every day on the way to work. What a great idea! I’d like to thank Stephen Leckenby, once again, who donated his time to design the directory, and Main 1 Media, which printed it for a reduced rate. Please let me know if you’d like a copy.
From the end of March on, much of my time was dedicated to making the First Annual Pastor’s Prayer and Policy Briefing successful. Activities such as creating a post card for mass mailing, prayer, phone calls, prayer, meetings, prayer, scheduling speakers, prayer, coordinating food preparation, etc., kept me quite busy. Before I knew it, April 20th was there, but so was God. He proved faithful again, and HE made the event a tremendous success. Special thanks also to the people from my home church for serving the lunch. They were awesome.
Four of the six event speakers were current legislators, including a member from each party in both the House and the Senate. Also speaking were a former Secretary of State, and the director of the Indiana Family Institute. Each of the legislators spoke boldly and gave a very clear testimony of Christ working in their lives. They encouraged all in attendance that we do have leaders who desire to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. Many pastors have said how much they enjoyed the event, but one comment particularly stands out. One pastor said, “The event completely changed my view of politicians.” That comment was a blessing to me, because that was one of the stated goals of the event - to have pastors recognize that there are brothers and sisters in Christ right here at the Statehouse that need their prayer support.
Many people are asking what I’m going to do now that the session is over. Here are a few of the things I intend to do: improve my computer skills to make my time more profitable and set up my web site; map out a strategy to get several churches in every legislative district praying for and corresponding with their legislators; schedule speaking engagements; continue ministering personally to the legislators while they are at home; meet and develop relationships with pastors; continue to assist with weekly chapel services at the Statehouse; and help with and conduct Bible Studies there. I will also still be working at Home Depot part time, and our church is starting a building project which I hope to help with part time as well. As a note, June is filling up quickly with a trip to
From the outset of this ministry, one of the main goals was to mobilize churches to carry out their Biblical responsibility to minister to their God-given leaders. The first four months of this year have given me a good foundation for carrying out this goal. I see the ratio of 1/3 of the year focusing on ministering to the legislators and 2/3 of the year focusing on churches to be appropriate. I am requesting your help in this endeavor, not only in prayer for the ministry, but I specifically need contacts with pastors and churches. Thanks again for your prayers!
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
Rev. Matthew Barnes