Children’s Ministry Books Now Available!

We are pleased to announce the release of a series of seven Children’s Ministry Books written by Kim Star-Voss for use in “Making Little Disciples!”  The books have been developed over the years by Kim from her vast experience teaching children’s ministry in the USA and the foreign mission field. They provide valuable teaching resources for Sunday School, VBS, Children’s Worship or Children’s Ministry events.  Each book contains Biblically based information or resources that can be used to teach children about Jesus and God’s Word in a simple, easy to use format.  They also require very little in the way of additional materials to use or implement, thereby making them ideal for churches and ministries with limited resources or funding.

These seven books include the following:

1.  Children’s Discipleship – Discipleship plans and goals for children by age

2.  Prayer Ministry with Children – Explaining, learning & modeling prayer

3.  Testimonies & Faith Stories – Teaching children how to share their faith

4.  Puppet Ministry – How to make and use puppets for ministry to children

5.  Bible Storytelling Skits – 26 simple Bible story skits for teaching children

6.  Praise Stretches – Praise activities that worship God and refocus children

7.  Games with a Biblical Purpose – A book of common children’s games with a Biblical message

FaithLife Ministries works primarily in underdeveloped or developing nations and these resources are intended to assist pastors and church leaders in these countries in discipling children, often a neglected part of their ministry. Therefore, these books are being made available free of charge for that purpose. The books are available in electronic format and the responsibility for printing or translation rests with the users. However, these books will also be available for anyone who is interested in them with our request of a donation to our ministry for those who are able to do so.

To request a copy of any or all of these books, simply visit our website at www.faithlifeministries.net or click on the Children’s Ministry Books link in the right hand column of this webpage. There you will be able to see the books that are available and request the ones that are desired at the bottom of the page.

Our goal and prayer is that these books will be useful resources in helping raise up the next generation for Christ!

Barry Reaches 100 Mission Trips!

My recent trip to Seoul, Korea with Kim was my 100th mission trip!!  It’s hard to believe that God has enabled me to serve him in mission for that many trips over the past 18 years.  That averages out to about 5.5 mission trips per year.  When my pastor, Dr. Barry Kolb, first invited me on a mission trip to Kazakhstan in April of 1996 I had no idea what God had in store for me. But occasions like this cause us to look back and see what God has done!  So in this blog installment I am going to share the highlights from those 100 trips as well as some interesting facts and statistics about them.

To begin with, here are some highlights:

Here are some interesting facts and statistics:

It has been a wonderful journey these past 18 years and 100 trips, serving God as a trainer and mission team leader.  He has certainly led me down an unexpected path, but one of many blessings. I would strongly encourage all of you who read this to consider going to the foreign mission field and allowing God to open your heart to the needs of His people in other nations.  When you serve others in Jesus’ name it produces a joy like no other!  I would also like to thank all of our faithful supporters who have given generously to make  all of this possible. Your partnership in this ministry has been a blessing to me as well as so many others.  God was indeed using you as well to impact the nations.

To God alone be all the glory, honor and praise!!

Acts 29 – The Balkans

“Gaining a Foothold for Christ!”

Recently Kim and I had the privilege of teaching our Management for Church Leaders™ training in two Balkan countries – Albania & Kosovo. What we discovered was a church hungry for leadership and management training and eager to learn how they can more effectively grow their churches.  We also visited Skopje, Macedonia and met with a pastor there who expressed great interest in our training for their country as well.  And our hosts in Albania indicated that they have contacts in Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia too for our training.  So there is great interest in this type of training for the Balkans, an area that we had not previously considered for our training due to their higher education and economic level when compared with nations in Africa and Asia. But what makes this region strategically important is that it is predominantly Muslim and the church is only 20 years old in these countries at best!  It is like having the opportunity of training the early church leaders in the book of Acts! We sometimes say that we are an Acts 29 church, continuing the work that ended in Acts chapter 28 of the Bible.

In Albania, for example, the church there began just 20 years ago when this nation became independent and democratic after 50 years of communist rule.  Albania was not part of the Soviet Union, but was the only nation to outlaw religion of any kind during those years.  Prior to 1990 a citizen could be arrested and thrown in jail simply for having a Bible.  We read where some evangelists put Bibles in the Albanian language into watertight bags and sent them over the Adriatic Sea from the island of Corfu to reach Albania during the prohibition of religion.  There were some Albanians who found these Bibles and, at great risk, kept them, and became some of the earliest Christians in that nation!  So God was at work preparing the harvest field in Albania even before missionaries were allowed in! Most of Albania is Muslim as well, making it a strategic nation to win for Christ. Today, there are close to 500,000 Christians in Albania, of which about 200,000 are Protestant. And they are raising up the next generation of Christians now.  So they need our training to effectively continue the growth that has already begun!

Kosovo is a different story, however.  They were part of Serbia and the former Yugoslavia during communist rule and only got their independence in 1999 after the Kosovo War, which many Americans remember because of the violence and atrocities that were committed.  Our host, pastor Petrit Lleshi, grew up under communism in a little village in Albania no more than 25 miles from Kosovo and never thought he would ever be allowed into that country! And now, a little over 10 years later, we crossed the border on a new highway and trained 35 pastors and leaders in Pristina, the capital city.  Kosovo is predominantly Muslim as well and has a negative attitude towards Christians because of their Serbian occupiers who were Orthodox. The church in Kosovo is still small with only perhaps 50 churches and 3,000 Christians.  But that has happened in just over 10 years! Walls are coming down and God is moving in this nation!  And we were privileged to meet and train these 35 leaders and help them continue to expand God’s Kingdom in Kosovo.

We also visited the city of Skopje, Macedonia where the church is small but growing as well.  We met with pastor Sasha Vuletic, someone who is working to plant more churches and expand the Kingdom there, and he also expressed great interest in our training for his nation and said it was much needed. The same situation is true for Bosnia, Montenegro and Croatia where the opportunity exists to plant and develop a strong foothold for Christ in the Balkans. So we are excited and honored to be part of what God is doing in this part of Europe to establish His church!

Although this region was not part of the target area for our training, it has become evident to us that God is leading us there and it is important, necessary and strategic for us to provide our training to them.  We will not change our vision of reaching 100 nations, but will include Eastern Europe now in some of our planning.  We are already talking about going to Macedonia and Bosnia in 2015 to train and will also look to find potential MCL Trainers in the Balkans region to continue our work and train others there in the future.

Please keep the Balkans and our ministry in your prayers as we seek to do God’s will and assist the church in its growth in this region.

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

FaithLife Ministries is Building a

Training Network!

Last November we announced that we have adopted a new strategy for disseminating our training around the world.  Our vision of seeing our Management for Church Leaders™ training (MCL) reach 100 nations globally remains our goal, but we are now focusing on raising up foreign trainers to help us teach our material rather than just us alone going abroad to do the training directly ourselves.  We believe in the principle of multiplication ministry and desire to develop a network of qualified foreign trainers who are trained and equipped to teach this training for us. While we have always encouraged those we train to teach others, building a global network of trainers and working together will enable us to reach more nations with less resources and in less time.

In order to implement this strategy we have been working on developing a better Trainer Manual to assist foreign trainers in teaching our material.  That manual is near completion and will be distributed electronically once it is done. This new Trainer Manual will have more detailed instructions, helpful illustrations, and encourage more participant engagement through planned questions and discussion.  This will improve the quality and consistency of the training. We have also created the designations of Authorized Trainer and Certified Trainer and have developed a process for each designation. This will lead to better management of the Trainer Network, provide for tracking of training, and encourage a commitment to train.  Additionally, we have shifted more funds this year to support Certified Trainers who teach our material in return for their commitment to train others for us.

In 2013, foreign trainers taught our MCL material to 2,200 pastors and church leaders in 13 nations and we praise and thank God for that!  One of our goals this year is to increase that and thus far in 2014 we are off to a good start.  In January, foreign trainers have taught our MCL training in India, Nepal and Ghana to over 200 leaders!! Furthermore, there are already plans to train several hundred more in 5 nations over the next few months.  I also anticipate that there will be additional training in other nations as well as the year progresses.  We have already begun to build this Trainer Network with those foreign trainers who are presently teaching our material to others, and pray that others will want to be a part of it as well.

I will still be traveling and training directly, but my focus now will be on training in new nations and training foreign trainers in order to certify them to train others.  I am also looking into opportunities to hold regional training conferences where foreign trainers from several nations can come to be trained.

We are excited about the future and seeing how God will guide us in this network development.  We desire to not only achieve the vision He has given us, but also to be good stewards of the resources He provides us to carry out this ministry.  We believe this strategy will accomplish that and that God has already begun to work in the hearts and minds of our foreign contacts who will become part of this Trainer Network.

If you would like to be part of our Trainer Network, please Contact Us.

For several years many friends have been encouraging me to write a book about my mission field experiences. So I began to assemble a list of the spiritual and unusual experiences I have had over the years and to try to put them together into a readable format. But I struggled with how best to do that in a way that was inspiring or of interest to others.

In June of this year Kim and I were in Seoul, South Korea and our host there, Pastor Eun Seob Kim, made a comment to me that he was encouraged by my faith and teaching as a lay person, and what God was doing through my life and this ministry. Then in July I was in Mexico City and my friend and training partner, Pastor Lane Reuter, also strongly encouraged me to write a book. But he suggested that I write one about my faith story and how God called me into full-time ministry. As we continued to discuss this idea in Mexico I then realized that I could put all of these things together to tell my story.

So I used my time at home in August to write the manuscript for my book entitled “Transformed: Learning To Live by Faith.” It is the story of how God transformed my life from being a believer in Christ to becoming a follower of Christ.  It is a story of how I am learning to live by faith rather than by the pursuit of money or a career.  It is my story of what happened to me when I began to submit my life entire life to Christ instead of just a part of it, and how God has blessed me immeasurably more than I could ever have imagined!

I am in the process of finalizing the manuscript and submitting it for printing and publication by Xulon Press, the oldest and largest Christian self-publisher. I am anticipating a release date of around November 1st.  It will be made available on-line through the Xulon Press Bookstore in both print and electronic reader format. It will also be made available on-line at amazon.com and to Christian bookstores and other retail outlets.  I will have further details about pricing and availability once the book is in the production process.

All proceeds from the book will go to FaithLife Ministries to support the work that we do in training pastors and church leaders.

I will continue to keep you updated as to the progress of my book though this website, our monthly newsletter, our Facebook page and Twitter.

FaithLife Ministries has released a new video that provides an overview of our global church leader training ministry. This 5 minute video discusses our purpose, what we teach, and includes testimonies about our training and its impact.  Furthermore, it contains information on how you can participate in what we are doing for God and Jesus Christ!  We encourage you to take a few minutes to view our video and consider how you might join us in reaching the nations for Christ!  Click here to watch the video.

I was recently in the city of Angonia, Mozambique training 90 pastors and church leaders on our Management For Church Leaders training course.  While there, I was invited by the Mayor of the city, Hermando Julio, to come to his office for a visit one morning.  I was not sure what the purpose was of this meeting, other than to meet him.  When I arrived with our host pastor in Angonia and my Malawi training partner, we were shown to his office where I was “officially” welcomed to both Angonia and Mozambique.  Not only was he aware of my coming he was also very supportive of the reason why I was there – to train pastors and church leaders about leadership and management of the church.  He told me that he also canceled several important meetings to just to meet with me. Our meeting also began with prayer!!

Mayor Julio began his comments by telling me that I was free to go anywhere in  his city and feel safe and welcomed.  You see, Mozambique had gone through 30 years of civil war that ended in the mid-1990’s, and he wanted to assure me that their city and nation were fine now.  He also encouraged me to see the various sites of his city.  He then quoted Scripture to me – 2 Timothy 2:2 – which says that we should train others the things that we have been trained, and thanked me for the very thing I was there to do!  He went on to say that in order for Mozambique to develop properly they need a foundation based on the Bible and Christian values.  Wow!  How refreshing to hear that!  Not only do they need to grow economically, but they also recognize their need to have the peace and love of Jesus Christ in their nation, and to work with the church to develop properly.   How I wish our nation would do the same!

So I will pray for Angonia and Mozambique, and that the Lord will honor their turning to Him for their future.  It reminds me of 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn away from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  I know if they continue to honor and seek God, He will answer their prayer and heal and restore their nation. 

Below is a photo of me with Mayor Julio (left), Pastor Stephano (my Malawi partner), Pastor Laos (our Angonia host), Martin (Stephano’s assistant) and the Director of Development for Angonia.

FaithLife Ministries lost a devoted board member and training partner, as well as a personal friend, with the passing into eternity of Daryl Hoh on January 9th, 2013.   Daryl was 74 and brought with him a mission heart and a love for the Lord that made this ministry better.  He was a gifted teacher and a wise counselor, not to mention a great travel partner.  He was also planning to go with me on 2 mission trips this year and was looking forward to the opportunity to serve God and train pastors and church leaders abroad once again.  While we mourn his loss to us and to this ministry, and feel the Pain of his absence, we rejoice that he is now with his Savior and experiencing the indescribable Joy of eternal life with God!!  What a blessing Daryl was to those who knew him, and what a blessing he was to this ministry.  He will be deeply missed! 

Here is a photo of us taken in Somoto, Nicaragua in September of 2009 with our host Bill Norling and partner David Quispirroca:

Please pray for his wife, Karen, and for his family at this unexpected loss.

Our vision is to see our training reach 100 nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. But we also desire to see our foreign partners conduct the training on our behalf to help us reach this goal. Recently, our Management For Church Leaders™ (MCL) training has reached a nation where we have not been ourselves. We have a new partner in Sierra Leone, Bishop Samuel Bobor of Freedom in Christ Mission International. He was unable to attend our September training in nearby Liberia and so I sent him a copy of our MCL training manual and Trainer’s Guide last month. This past week, he used our material to train 100 pastors and leaders at a conference in Freetown! And I have never met Samuel in person, only through email.  What a blessing this is!!

Bishop Bobor wrote the following to me; “The conference was held in my church and members of other churches came together with their pastors and so it was 100 that attended the conference. The conference was full and people were blessed with the teaching! We thank God for those wonderful teachings.”  Below is a photo from the conference:

We thank God for partners like Samuel, who are willing to take our material and teach it to others!  Sierra Leone is now the 27th nation that our training has reached, and we look forward to reaching more nations in the future through our partners.  God-willing, I look forward to meeting Samuel one day and training in person in Sierra Leone.

To God alone be the glory!!

FaithLife Ministries has added a new partner for southern Africa training.  Bishop Stephano Phiri of Jesus is Coming Soon Ministries in Malawi recently contacted us about bringing our training to Malawi & Mozambique.  Stephano has planted over 500 churches in Africa and also has a vision for developing church leaders.  In addition, he also runs an orphanage. 

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Stephano this past week in Valdosta, GA where we began to develop our partnership in ministry.  We are planning to hold training conferences in Blantrye, Malawi & Tete, Mozambique in March of 2013.  We thank God for bringing us together and pray for His blessings upon our relationship in equipping His church and leaders in southern Africa!