June's 2012 Newsletter!

So, the past 3 months have been nothing but amazing. I have been leading the DTS in Iquitos, Peru. We have 16 amazing students from all over the globe. The school is divided into 2 parts - 3 months lecture phase & 2½ months outreach. We are now in the outreach phase. The structure of the school continues with the staff leadership, but the atmosphere changes a lot. Each week we work in a new church & city & have a completely different schedule. This year we are traveling throughout the southern parts of Peru & into the country of Bolivia. For example, we will be ministering up in the Peruvian Andes Mountains with a Quechua people group, help building a YWAM orphanage in Puerto Maldonado & to the other extreme of the busy city of La Paz, Bolivia.

God has blessed me with an amazing team of staff & students that are amazing. We have another week ministering in Iquitos & then we start the major traveling. They are all excited about this new phase. Ready to give after receiving this whole time. Please pray for protection, as we will be traveling almost 100% by bus. Border crossings, guarding our luggage, our physical safety & unity. Ahhh, unity. Please pray that God would help us to continue in the spirit that we have been in during these first 3 months. Please continue to lift us up, because I KNOW that satan is not happy that a strong team is going out. Pray that we would also be able to have special, fun times as a school. Spiritually speaking, that God would help each one of us conquer different areas of our lives, be student or staff. We are all growing in this life. I want the students to continue to grow and I want the same for the staff and myself.

For me personally, I would like prayer just for the stress of leading the school. Financial things, contacts, details with the churches… etc. I have been learning more and more how to trust, delegate and let go. It has been such an amazing process that started when my mom got cancer last year. I HAD to let go. I COULDN’T control everything or better yet, anything! I have learned how to rest in God’s hands when something this big was weighing on my family. After experiencing His comfort and support, He led me to trust others. I am a control freak and tend to not give people much because I want it a specific way. UGH! Not the best trait of mine. It’s still a process, but I am enjoying the new feeling of seeing others take something that is dear to me & run with it. I am still there, but being a part of another person taking on more responsibilities, brings joy to my heart. To get the weekly updates on our outreach, stay tuned to my facebook page. www.facebook.com/sylvia.barnard

My mom has finished her treatment! Last week marked one year since we got the devastating news that challenged our family in a new dimension. She still has things that we need to be careful with and I ask you to continue to pray for her and my family, but she is on a great path to conquering cancer 100%. She has had some of the tests done, but has a few more to go. So far, everything has been positive. I came up to Lima this past weekend to visit with my family before we leave on our 2-month outreach. This time was so good. We didn’t have much “to do”… we just visited, talked, ate! It was good. 

On to romantic things… So… if you have been out on my facebook, you might have noticed my status. Yes, I am in a relationship with a man named Randhus Carrión. He is Nicaraguan & lives there. We have known each other since 2003, but the romantic spark has only taken place in the last 5 months. Our relationship has been all long distance, but is has given us the chance to really talk. When all you can do is skype, that’s exactly what you do. TALK. I wouldn’t recommend a long distance relationship to everyone, because it is hard & at times frustrating to not be able to have that person in front of you & look into their eyes… BUT, God has helped us a lot. We have been skyping every night since January 9^th. I don’t think I could even add up the hours we have dedicated in quality conversation. I am really enjoying this relationship.

Last month my dad had the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua for the Central America regional YWAM conference. He was able to meet with him and his parents on 2 occasions. My parents love me and want to best for me and are advising me in several areas, but overall supportive of the direction that this relationship is going. He will be traveling here to Peru in August. We are counting down the days until I pick him up at the Lima airport. When he arrives, it will have been 8 years since I have seen him in person. I know that sounds extreme. Well, it is! But, we are both excited. I have few pictures of my time in Nicaragua in 2003 & 2004, but I am looking forward to showing you guys CURRENT pictures of us. Patience! The countdown is at a little less than 2 months. 

Thank you so much to those that are already supporting me and for those that responded to the “Cappuccino corner“. For those of you that didn’t get my last newsletter explaining about my “Cappuccino corner“, let me explain it again. I am looking for a more stable support base. Instead of looking at my budget like one big giant, I decided to divide it up into more reasonable amounts that people could feel like they could be a part of each month. So, the idea is to sign up for a “club”. In my “Cappuccino corner“ you can join the “Short Club“ at $25 a month, the “Tall Club“ at $50 a month, the “Grande Club“ at $100 a month, or the “Venti Club“ at $250 a month.

My monthly support goal is $854. Breaking it down, here is what I need:

- 8 people to join the “Short Club“

- 4 people to join the “Tall Club“

- 2 people to join the “Grande Club“

- 1 person to join the “Venti Club“

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for the DTS staff as the lead the two teams on their outreach.

2. Please pray for all the students as they begin this new time of putting all the things they have learned during this time into practice. Pray that they TRULY become family!

3. Please continue to pray for my mom and my family.

4. Please pray that God would open all the doors for outreach that He wants and He would make it clear which ones He wants to close. That He would give me patience while coordinating with 16 different pastors for these upcoming 8 weeks.

5. Please pray for Randhus and I as we continue to get to know each other more & more. That He would guide us and our families in all of the decisions we make.

6. Please pray about joining my “Short“, “Tall“, “Grande“ or “Venti“ Clubs and be a part of my financial support team. Sylvia is in need of some “coffee”!