Author: Seth Barnes

Confessions of a youth minister seeking good STMs

Written by Seth Barnes on March 10, 2007. Posted in Short-term missions. No Comments on Confessions of a youth minister seeking good STMs

Youth minister Lizzy Robblee sent me the following email in response to the blog on the faddishness of short-term missions: I have been in youth ministry for 16 years. I have served...

15 year old orphan & head of household

Written by Seth Barnes on March 9, 2007. Posted in Eswatini / Swaziland. 2 Comments on 15 year old orphan & head of household

This video, shot yesterday in Swaziland by Tom Davis and narrated by Pastor Walter, is a sobering look at the realities of life in the most dangerous country in the world, a land...

A source of hope in a land of starvation

Written by Seth Barnes on March 8, 2007. Posted in Fathering & Men's issues. 1 Comment on A source of hope in a land of starvation

Just back home and jet-lagged from Swaziland. I left my friend Tom Davis and the team behind to continue the work. Here is another video update from Tom. He takes a closer look at...

A hero in the most dangerous country

Written by Seth Barnes on March 7, 2007. Posted in The Holy Spirit is on the move. 7 Comments on A hero in the most dangerous country

Swaziland is the country where people die faster than anywhere else in the world – shockingly, the average Swazi doesn’t ever see 30 years of age. In the middle of it...

Video Updates from Swaziland

Written by Seth Barnes on March 7, 2007. Posted in Dealing with junk in our lives. 4 Comments on Video Updates from Swaziland

Here’s Tom Davis’ video update from Africa. We’ve been struggling to find a place that has sufficient bandwidth to upload it. We finally found the place with the fastest internet...

How do I know what to do with my life?

Written by Seth Barnes on March 6, 2007. Posted in Reaching Your Destiny. 3 Comments on How do I know what to do with my life?

More on the subject of choosing your vocation from Buechner: In the year that King Uzziah died, or in the year that John F. Kennedy died, or in the year that somebody you loved...

From Africa – one orphan’s story

Written by Seth Barnes on March 5, 2007. Posted in Fathering & Men's issues. 3 Comments on From Africa – one orphan’s story

After flying 18 hours to South Africa, we went to an archetypical African worship service. It was great – the atmospherics were perfect. We crossed a narrow footbridge over...

Vocation

Written by Seth Barnes on March 5, 2007. Posted in Reaching Your Destiny. 4 Comments on Vocation

A thought from Frederick Buechner: “It comes from the Latin vocare, to call, and means the work a man is called to by God. There are all different kinds of work, and the...

Top 12 trends in American Christianity

Written by Seth Barnes on March 3, 2007. Posted in Mobilization. 7 Comments on Top 12 trends in American Christianity

If you’re a Jesus-follower who is leading others, you need to study and consider the alarming implications of Barna’s list of 12 trends in the Christian movement. For...

Learning to work together as a team

Written by Seth Barnes on March 2, 2007. Posted in Leadership. 3 Comments on Learning to work together as a team

Ephesians 6:13-14 “…Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and...

Off to Swaziland this morning, come with me

Written by Seth Barnes on March 1, 2007. Posted in The Holy Spirit is on the move. 5 Comments on Off to Swaziland this morning, come with me

Today I’m traveling to Swaziland, that little tear drop of a country embedded in the northeast corner of South Africa. It will be a journey into a land of beauty, and paradoxically,...

Never Breaking a Fast

Written by Seth Barnes on February 28, 2007. Posted in Eswatini / Swaziland. 3 Comments on Never Breaking a Fast

I’ve been fasting for a while. Tonight, on the eve of my trip to Africa with a small group of people (who have heard about the horror of the AIDS death tide rolling into Swaziland),...

Best devotional writer of modern times

Written by Seth Barnes on February 27, 2007. Posted in Radical Living. 4 Comments on Best devotional writer of modern times

Say what you want about “My Utmost For His Highest” or anything by C.S. Lewis. For my money, the best devotional writer of modern times (still alive and living in Vermont)...

How to follow up on your mission project

Written by Seth Barnes on February 26, 2007. Posted in Short-term missions. 4 Comments on How to follow up on your mission project

The standards of STM excellence that our committee compiled a few years ago is a good place for anyone interested in the subject to start. Here is Standard #7: THOROUGH FOLLOW-UP. An...

The battle to get Jennifer home

Written by Seth Barnes on February 25, 2007. Posted in Portraits of Disciplers. 1 Comment on The battle to get Jennifer home

This may be the worst airport nightmare story I’ve heard. World Race participant, Jennifer Smith, who was in the remote village of San Juan on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala when...

Excellent mission team prep

Written by Seth Barnes on February 24, 2007. Posted in Short-term missions. No Comments on Excellent mission team prep

The standards of STM excellence that our committee compiled a few years ago is a good place for anyone interested in the subject to start. Here is Standard #6: APPROPRIATE TRAINING....

What does an excellent mission project look like?

Written by Seth Barnes on February 23, 2007. Posted in Short-term missions. 2 Comments on What does an excellent mission project look like?

Yesterday’s blog dealt with the faddishness that is undermining the credibility of many STMs. The point of the discussion is not, “stop doing them;” the point...

Are short-term missions becoming faddish?

Written by Seth Barnes on February 22, 2007. Posted in Short-term missions. 44 Comments on Are short-term missions becoming faddish?

Are short-term missions becoming faddish? That’s a rhetorical question. The answer is: YES. I estimate that 75% of STMs are done poorly (that is, not meeting many of the standards...

4 Lies we tell ourselves

Written by Seth Barnes on February 21, 2007. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 3 Comments on 4 Lies we tell ourselves

“He who dies with the most toys wins.” We say we don’t believe this, but our lifestyles say otherwise. The lie is that it’s all a winnable competition when in fact it is...

How to minister: Learning to grieve

Written by Seth Barnes on February 20, 2007. Posted in Spiritual Formation. 7 Comments on How to minister: Learning to grieve

Part Six in a series on “How to minister.” Continued from How to Minister: Touching Jesus the leper In our hypersensitive victim culture, we don’t need any more...

How to Minister: Touching Jesus the leper

Written by Seth Barnes on February 19, 2007. Posted in Wounded healers. 6 Comments on How to Minister: Touching Jesus the leper

Part Five in a series on “How to minister.” Continued from How to minister: Mourning with those who mourn (cont.) My coworker Amanda Petersen wrote the following beautiful...

How to minister: Mourning with those who mourn (cont.)

Written by Seth Barnes on February 18, 2007. Posted in Wounded healers. 2 Comments on How to minister: Mourning with those who mourn (cont.)

Part Four in a series on “How to minister.” Continued from How to minister: Mourning with those who mourn In 1995 I preached at a small church in the town of Bauta,...

How to minister: Mourning with those who mourn

Written by Seth Barnes on February 17, 2007. Posted in Wounded healers. 1 Comment on How to minister: Mourning with those who mourn

Part Three in a series on “How to minister.” Continued from How to minister: Imitating Jesus Something about grief is intensely personal. It is your loss, your pain;...

How to minister: Imitating Jesus

Written by Seth Barnes on February 16, 2007. Posted in Wounded healers. 7 Comments on How to minister: Imitating Jesus

Part Two in a series on “How to minister.” Continued from How to minister to others Sometimes we can get all tangled up and confused about what God wants us to do with...