Adam Barnett

One Horrific Night

The other night in Nicaragua, I experienced something I'll never forget - waking up to really large cockroaches crawling across my face (it happened multiple times). I shared this horrible experience with my friends Kevin (crawled on his face, too) and Michelle (got stuck in her hair).  So, look at what I just found on YahooAnswers.com: "Cockroaches bite sleeping humans because they are looking for food.  Sometimes a cockroach will sense a small amount of food on the mouth or fingers of a person and will accidentally bite while they are trying to eat.  Cockroaches will also sometimes risk crawling over a sleeping person to get to moisture built up around the eyes or the nose.  The cockroach needs water to survive and if it can't find water anywhere else, it might have to get it from you."

This really irritates me. 

What does Pregnancy Feel Like?

Not too long ago, I said, "Honey, can you tell me what it feels like to be pregnant?  I really want to know so that I can understand what your body is going through and have compassion for you."  Andrea replied, "No.  I can't."  I was later telling a friend at work who is pregnant herself that story.  She took Andrea's side and told me that they can't really explain it.  Later, though, that co-worker got a catelog in the mail with this picture on the cover.  She walked over, handed it to me and said, "Here... this is what it feels like to be pregnant."  I'm not entirely sure how to translate what that means, but I do know that I'm so glad I'm not pregnant. 

It's a GIRL!!

My mom took these two pictures of little ones to come.  This is Andrea at 4 months with our little girl, Ellie Marie and Stephanie (my sister-in-law) at 7 months with their third son, Grayson!  Unbelievable, huh?!

 

Home from Nicaragua

We are home (barely due to flight and transportation glitches - typical!)  Ministry was amazing.  The team was more than impressive.  I'm chewed up head to toe by ants and cockroaches.  Sleep was minimal.  The good-bye was difficult (understatement).  Thank you for your prayers.  

 

NICARAGUA UPDATE

PARDON THE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, BUT I AM ON A DIFFICULT KEYBOARD!

I JUST FOUND A FEW MINUTES TO WALK AWAY AND FIND AN INTERNET CAFE... ALL IS WELL WITH THE TEAM.  LAST NIGHT, LINDSEY AND JACOB SHARED THEIR TESTIMONIES AT THE CHURCH WE ARE WORKING WITH, AND T.J. SPOKE (PREACHED).  HE DID A FANTASTIC JOB.  WE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME OF PRAYER AND WORSHIP WITH THE CHURCH HERE WITH A LOT OF TEARS, LAUGHTER AND JOY.  SARA, KELLY AND STACY ARE NEVER WITHOUT A KID IN THEIR ARMS.  I HAVE NEVER SEEN PEOPLE WORK AS HARD AS JAKE, JONATHAN AND TAYLOR... THEY HAVE BEEN LABELED AS HORSES IN THIS CULTURE FOR THEIR WORK ETHIC! CONTANCE AND ASHLEY HAVE MANY FANS IN THIS COMMUNITY BECAUSE OF THEIR SOCCER SKILLS, AND I AM ONE OF THEM! VERY IMPRESSIVE!  THIS TEAM DOES NOT NEED ANY LESSONS ON FUN OR LAUGHTER, BUT CALEB KEEPS US ON OUR TOES.  HE HAS BROUGHT AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF JOY AND LAUGHTER TO OUR TEAM! LAST NIGHT, KEVIN, MICHELLE AND I HAD TO RELOCATE AND GOT ABOUT A TOTAL OF 2 HOURS OF SLEEP DUE TO THE COCKROACHES THAT WERE WALKING ACROSS OUR FACES THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT... THESE THINGS ARE LITERALLY BIGGER THAN DOUBLE A BATTERIES.  CRAZY.  IT DID MAKE OUR STOMACHS SORE THOUGH FROM LAUGHING SO LONG ABOUT IT.  I COULD NOT FALL ASLEEP BECAUSE OF KEVIN.  HE WAS SCARED TO DEATH.  I LOVED IT!

HOPE THIS WAS A DECENT UPDATE... I AM CALLING IT QUITS BECAUSE I AM MISSING ABOUT 9 COMPONENTS THAT I NEED ON THIS KEYBOARD TO LAST ANY LONGER.  GRACIAS PARA SUS ORACIONES.  DIOS LE BENDIGA!

We Made It...

Hello! For those of you who are praying for us, we made it (well, some of us!). For some reason, our friends with Continental Airlines didn't think Michelle, Kevin or Sara deserved a ticket. Ah, the joys of international travel!! I am headed to the airport shortly to get them - they caught the next flight out of Houston. But, when I called Michelle, she told me they were in the Presidential hospitality room taking naps on couches and checking their email. They even get to fly First Class!

Thanks for your prayers. Off to play soccer tonight with neighborhood kids. Hopefully I'll be able to update this more this week... I'm on my phone because all Internet Cafe's are closed.

Hasta pronto!!

Matthew 6

Tuesday night, I met with a group of college students to talk about prayer.  The Bible says a ton about prayer, but there is no better place to look than Matthew 6, where Jesus tells his disciples how to pray.  So, we spent an entire hour simply talking through a small portion of this chapter.  It was an incredible time and the conversation was delicious (can I say that?).  Here the the whiteboard post-meeting:

Ink is In!

I'm not too sure how I feel about this (or if I even care), but I heard on the radio this morning that Barbie is now being sold with tattoo's (and stick-on tattoos for kids to put on their own bodies).  Parents are ticked and say it's not appropriate. What do you think - big deal or not? 

Anonymous Desk (minus the name-tag)

One of the best parts of ministry is the people I get to work with every day.  We sharpen and encourage each other as well as laugh non-stop.  We go through difficult, stressful times together and also have an incredibly humerous work-environment.  One of my co-workers, though, has a hard time keeping his area clean (I won't mention who, though, unless you can read the namtag on the desk!). 

Matthew 18:11 - Where is it?

This morning, I was reading in Matthew 18 (the chapter on the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven).  As I read, it went from Matthew 18:10 to Matthew 18:12 - completely skipping verse 11.  Normally I wouldn't catch something this meticulous, so I'm unsure why I did this morning.  However... WHY?  Where in the world is Matthew 18:11?  I researched a little...

Matthew 18:11 says, "For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost."  However, it does not appear in the NASV, NKJV or the KJV.  The verse is missing from some of the Bible's translations because the passage does not actually appear in the best early Greek manuscripts which contain Matthew.  The New Testament was written in Greek - the original documents, called "autographs" were copied and passed from one person to another.  Through a process called "Textual Criticism," people have supposedly decided that Matthew 18:11 didn't fit accurately in the original "autograph" of Matthew. 

Some think this because it is almost an exact replica of Luke 19:10, "For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  (the difference is underlined)  Throughout the Bible, there are of course many "repeats" in scripture due to the many Old Testament scriptures mentioned or quoted in the New Testament... but, for some reason, Matthew 18:11 was apparently "misplaced."

My conclusion: oh well.  The Bible, while handed down and passed through many centuries and generations, has of course remained pure.  It is the inspired Word of God (1 Timothy) and that cannot be manipulated - other than some misspelled words or other minor human mistakes! 

You can learn more about Textual Criticism by clicking here.