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:

Trip #   Date                   Location               Highlight

1           April, 1996          Kazakhstan          1st mission trip

2          October, 1996     Kazakhstan           1st mission trip as a trainer

6          January, 1999      Peru                      1st trip as team leader

12        May, 2001            Philippines           1st FaithLife Ministries trip

15        February, 2002   Philippines            1st MCL training

20       October, 2002      Latvia                   1st family mission trip

22       March, 2003         Peru                      1st MCL in South America

27       July, 2004             Peru                     1st Celebrate Recovery training

40       December, 2005   Kenya                   1st MCL training in Africa

54       May, 2008             Latvia                  1st MCL training in Europe

57       November, 2008   Philippines          Last team trip for FaithLife

78       April, 2011             Myanmar            1st MCL for house churches

88       June, 2012            Guatemala          Train National Police Force

94       June, 2013            S. Korea               1st training of Lutheran pastors

100     July, 2014             S. Korea               1st MCL Volume #2 training

 

MCL = Management for Church Leaders

 

Here are some interesting facts and statistics:

1.  # of Nations visited:   34

2.  Avg. trip cost:   $2,700

3.  Most visited nations:  Philippines (19), Peru (15), Kazakhstan (12)

4.  # Trips by Continent:  Asia (45), Latin America (31), Africa (17), Europe (7)

5.  # Trips by Role:  MCL Train (62), Other Train (20), Team Lead (11), Misc (7)

6.  Favorite nations to visit:  Philippines, Kazakhstan, and Peru

7.  Nations with best food:  Peru, Albania, and Latvia

8.  Most Beautiful nations:  Rwanda, Nepal, and Colombia

9.  Most Challenging nations:  Haiti, Dem. Rep. of Congo, and Nigeria

10. # of trips with flight delays or cancellations:  7

11. # of trips significantly affected by flight delays or cancellations:  2

12. # of trips I was sick or ill:  7

 

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!!