Day One

What a fantastic start. Day one of Operation Barnabas each summer is always an exciting time as teens travel from all over the country and the world to be trained and practice ministry in hopes of going home and continuing this mind set.

We now have all of the teens (except for the four who are getting picked up in the next hour or so). Some of these teens have been up for over 24 hours and are now sound asleep--totally whooped. They have came with a great spirit and have been totally enjoyable to be around.

Operation Barnabas is the largest equipping ministry in the entire Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, no holds barred. People outside of the FGBC are now interested in participating in OB and I couldn't be more pleased. Ministry training and equipping does not know the bounds of denominations and it is needed now more than ever.

This is the 35th year of training OB teens and the total of young people involved through the years is now over 3,000. You can trace a lot of pastors, missionaries, para-church and church leaders to involvement in OB.

I honestly believe this is the greatest summer opportunity any teen who is seeking God could participate in. I credit families for their courage in allowing their teen to participate and be away from them for 7 weeks. And I feel sorry for too many people who think this is just a "nice thing" for some teens to do when the entire program is focused on ministry, servant-leadership, and evangelism--three concepts that most churches I know need desperately.

100 teens sharing their faith all summer and learning to put others before self? That deserves some attention and needs more press from those who can write and publish anything about it!