Vision Ministries

Hello to all our friends. We have begun to get the word out that we are heading for Perú. Our newsletters will be mailed out on this coming Monday giving a lot more information. Thanks to all who have prayed for us as we have sought the Lord. Now that we know the direction in which the Lord is leading us, we are tackling the mountain of things to complete and preparing for the move.

Presently we are itinerating. We have a good ways to go on raising our monthly support.
We will work on keeping you updated as things develop.

Dear friends, I write to you today with great joy. A few days ago during our evening devotions at home, Caleb, our four year old, nestled up to me while we were praying and said in my ear, “Daddy, will you pray for me to be saved. I want to be saved.” I asked Caleb to explain to me how a person is saved. After explaining to me the plan of salvation, we prayed together that God would forgive him of his sins and come into his heart. After we prayed together, Caleb spent a great deal of time praying on his own. I could hear his soft voice praying for others as our prayer meeting continued. As I carried him to bed that night, he looked up to me and said, “Daddy, I believe Jesus saved me tonight.”

Since Tuesday, we have noticed a positive change in him. He at times would complain about having devotions “again”. He went through a time of not wanting to participate. We thank the Lord that Jesus reached down into the heart of this little fellow and brought him into the fold. Caleb summed it up last night by saying, “Daddy, Jesus is helping me.” I guess that about says it all!

On February 11, 2008 we kicked off a new ministry in the form of an e-letter free to friends and supporters of Vision Ministries. The Missionary Minute(tm) is an e-letter designed to explore principles of missionary practice along with unique perspectives, which I think you will find enjoyable. Click here to subscribe to this free e-letter. Once you’ve clicked on the link, enter your email, click Register, and check “The Missionary Minute” box to subscribe.
The e-letter is planned to be sent out about twice a month. Some of the goals of the e-letter are to help missionaries further understand their calling, help those who feel called to foreign missions to explore that calling, and to help friends and supporters of missionaries to understand some of the unique challenges that foreign missionaries face.

As published through our e-newsletter in January, I (Joe) had hoped to make a trip with Bro. Akers to Venezuela during the latter part of February to visit the work he founded, and which we assisted him prior to our departure from that country. Now it is evident that I will need to delay that trip. I’m uncertain when and if I’ll be able to go. Your prayers for us are appreciated.

Dear Friends,
Just a quick note to let everyone know that we lost our baby. Judith had problems with the pregnancy early on, and was on bedrest for quite some time. We worked hard and prayed for God to spare our unborn child, but it was His will to take it. Judith is doing well.
On a positive note, this coming Sunday, February 17th marks Judith’s and my 10 year anniversary! God has been gracious to allow 10 wonderful years together. We thank the Lord for His goodness. God bless you all.

Today marks the first day of the Barraclough Homeschool. Normally we start the second week of January and run through September or October, depdending on our travel schedule. (This year we are starting late due to arriving back from Peru last week.) For all you homeschoolers out there, I thought I’d share what our curriculum is like by child.

Jennifer, Age 5 and 1/2
Jennifer is the newest edition to our homeschooling scene. For the next six months she will be studying phonics, with all the fun letter sounds. We use the ACE phonics program, and while it is deficient of a few vowel sounds, I’ve found that it has not hindered the children down the road. Her second half of first grade will consist of English, Science, Social Studies and Math. This little bundle of energy is ready for the challenge–at least that what she says!

Isaac, Age 6 (almost 7)
Isaac is our second child to hit second grade. By second grade, this is what our core academic curriculum looks like: Math, Science, Social Studies, English, Etymology (Word Building/Spelling), and Literature and Creative Writing. Then we throw in Bible Reading of the Book of John, and Old Testament History starting with Ancient Egypt and the Pharoahs. We also give each child a choice of three books to read during the year at the second grade level.

Nadia, Age 8
Leading the pack is Nadia. Third grade curriculum is a little more challenging as she is finding out. Core adademic curriculum is the same as above: Math, Science, Social Studies, English, Etymology, and Literature and Creative Writing. Nadia also has Bible Study of the New Testament, Bible Copying of the Book of Matthew (copying the Bible as a Scribe), and Old Testament History.

In addition to the above, we also have family Bible Reading (to read the Bible through in one year), Devotion and Scripture Memory. And finally, once a week, which is new to us this year, we will have Art class. This year’s curriculum focuses on Visual Shapes. The glory of it all, is that we are blessed to school our own children in our home, and this home school is mobile, meaning it continues whether we’re in or out of the country, whether at home or on the road preaching and raising support for the missionary ministry. What a blessing it is to be involved in their lives in this way.

God bless you all. Pray for our children that they will not only learn, but develop a love for learning, especially of the Bible.
Thank you all for your prayers and support of our ministry.

We arrived back from Perú on Monday, and just arriving back home tonight. Our days and nights in Perú were filled with a tremendous amount of activity. First of all, thank you to all who prayed for us. We were hit with a few bouts of sickness, but thank the Lord, we were able to continue on with our agenda.
First Stop: Lima
Our arrival in Lima was marked by finalizing arrangements to fly into Puerto Maldonado, the provincial capital of Department Madre de Dios, lying in the Amazon Rainforest. As we crested the magnificent Andes Mountains, a carpet of rainforest stretched out as far as the eye could see; the only break in the dense greenery were the winding river channels.

Puerto Maldonado: Provincial Capital, Possible Missions Base
As we arrived in Puerto Maldonado, capital of Madre de Dios Department in southeastern Perú, we were greeted by a few local believers, which was nice. God blessed our time there with much fruitful activity. Here are some highlights:
1) We were able to look at the old mission house. It was in need of much repair, but the property was of good size and has much potential.
2) We inspected the mission air boat used for navigating the river channels. It has a new motor but has never been tested.
3) We gathered information on Indian communities along three river channels where works were started years before by the former missionary, but where no work exists today.
4) We researched maps provided by government agencies to locate over a dozen other Indian communities, and obtained information on three totally unreached people groups.
5) We met with a local pastor and a former co-worker with the former missionary, making new friends, and listening to the happenings of prior days.
6) We visited one Indian community, Puerto Arturo, and met residents there, crossing the largest of all river, River Madre de Dios, and had a fruitful time of fellowship there.
7) And perhaps most compelling of all, we learned that NO MISSIONARY, NATIVE OR FOREIGN, IS WORKING IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF MADRE DE DIOS TO REACH THE DOZENS OF INDIAN GROUPS.
This left us wondering on God’s leading to this place of spiritual darkness and great need.

Networking in Lima:
The rest of our trip was spent back in Lima where we met with local pastors and leaders of a few evangelical groups. The Lord seemed to knit our hearts together with two pastors there. Perhaps the highlight was meeting with a leader of an evangelical group that has extended sponsorship to our family for resident missionary visas.

Please pray with us that the Lord will guide our steps as to what He desires from us in future days.

Things are coming together for our early January trip to Perú. Yesterday, we mailed off our passport renewals, and we have another appointment next week to renew Judith’s passport. Our departure date is set for January 3rd; we purchased the tickets yesterday. Today, we heard from our contact. They have been so gracious to make so many arrangements. After arriving in Lima, we will be traveling to Puerto Maldonado, the main provincial town in Madre de Dios Department (State). Please pray that the Lord will protect us. Puerto Maldonado is known for a lot of things, and none of them top the “good” list–things like crime, malaria, leishmaniasis, yellow fever, and prostitution to name a few. We are treading cautiously these days and seeking God’s will as to future ministry in this country and region. God bless you all and Merry Christmas.

Dear friends,
One new and exciting way to donate to our ministry is through purchasing your online products through www.giveline.com. If this is your first time, you will need to go to the top right corner of their home page to choose the ministry of your choice. On the search prompt, type in Vision Ministries and 64850 for the zip code, and you should see our ministry. Click on it and then begin shopping. An average of 16% of the purchase price of your product(s) will be donated from Giveline.com to our ministry after you complete your purchase. Merry Christmas to you all.

I know that many of you just received our newsletter via snail mail, but communication, communication, communication…
Here is a brief report on each field.

Caracas, Venezuela: Slums
News that we are receiving of the political activities in the country have not been very heartening, nor the news of the treatment of the remaining missionaries in the country. The work that we have been involved in that was started and still directed by Missionary Chuck Akers in the southwest Santa Ana slums is still going forward. There are many new believers whom we have never met, and some that have “fallen to the wayside”. Our next scheduled trip is toward the end of February 2008. Pray that God will encourage and strengthen the believers. The work is in a pro-government stronghold of socialism.

Bocas del Toro, Panama: Naso Indians
The work in the jungle is going superbly. The church planted in the village of Solong is doing very well with national leadership. The Naso Indians are taking the Gospel to other villages, and have had great results in the “capital” village of Sieyík. We (GMT) also placed two new first-term missionaries here. These two single ladies are working with the children and youth, and making great strides in building relationships with the women of the tribe. Doors for ministry have opened up in other communities for them as well. Another GMT couple (also first-term missionaries) are schedule to arrive around February 1st, 2008. So, we praise the Lord for these wonderful advances of His Kingdom.

Oaxaca, Mexico: Manantiales Mission
Our last trip to Oaxaca was in October 2007. We had a good response. Greatest of all, we were able to transition this work over to a national pastor from Tehuantepec, who is doing a fantastic job. This was our hope from the beginning, and this work is progressing in good hands. We may schedule another trip here in the latter part of 2008 to meet with the pastor, but this has been a tremendous blessing to have a Mexican national ministering and discipling these believers. This good brother is also a real soul-winner. He has been visiting the other settlements and visiting the people. Last October we spent several hours on horseback visiting homes. I think I was sore for two days afterwards.

GMT Administration and Training
We are in the midst of trying to figure out how to set up a server, which is not my forté. The Lord has helped us to be able to purchase new fund accounting software. Now, with the ministry providing administrative and accounting support to six families, we were in need of something better. Spring will be filled with trying to get all of this up and running.

On training, we had a wonderful week of Orientation for the two singles and one family in October. Since that time we have had one more family join GMT and a handful of others interested. It is exciting to see GMT functioning as the sending agency and “family” of missionaries as we each work in our respective fields.

Thank you for your prayer and financial support. God bless you all. We would love to hear from you…Joe