Breathtaking Bolivia

Breathtaking. Literally… at over 13,600ft every breath is precious.  We landed in El Alto, Bolivia and began our journey down the mountain to La Paz.  At over 12,000ft, La Paz is the world’s highest capital.  We had a very productive meeting with the church leadership in Bolivia at the Nazarene Seminary.  What a beautiful campus surrounded by majestic peaks.  Rev. Macedonio, director of the Seminary, told of the “campamento” he went to this past weekend.  He left La Paz in the back of a dump truck on top of a load of gravel and traveled all night long to get to Yungas, where the youth retreat was to be held.  30 young adults committed their lives to Christ this past weekend during the campamento!  I wonder if I would be willing to travel all night long in the back of a dump truck to preach the gospel???  I’m glad Rev. Macedonio was willing.

Please pray for the work in Bolivia.  There is great need here and there are many projects that could really benefit from some willing, radical followers of Christ to sacrifice their own comfort so that others can come to the realization of Jesus Christ as their personal savior.  Hope to see you soon in Bolivia…

Headed to Paraguay

After traveling 23,490 miles, switching beds 31 times, and spending time with a lot of wonderful people, we are at the end of our home assignment.  God has been faithful and each of you has been a tremendous blessing to us!  Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you that have opened your home, your church, and your lives to us throughout these last few months!!  

We are excited about the days ahead.  Charlie will be speaking in Alaska for our final two services and Barry has headed to Paraguay to get things started and set up for our new ministry.  Charlie, Alex, and Alyssa stayed behind for a few weeks so that we would all be able to attend Chris’ (Barry’s brother) wedding in November.  On November 15^th we will all travel to Paraguay (except Andrew). He loves college and his new adventure into adulthood.  Mom is surviving because he loves her enough to text back and keep in touch.    Alex and Alyssa are really beginning to embrace this new chapter in our lives.  Please pray for them to find great friends as we settle in to our new home.  It has been fun for them to be with their cousins in Alaska for a few days before we leave.

We cannot express to you how grateful we are for each one of you.  We have asked for your prayers as we go to Paraguay, to find favor with the people there, and God has already proven faithful and prepared the hearts of many that Barry has already met and begun to build relationships with.  We also asked for prayers that we would be able to raise enough funds to purchase two vehicles, one of which we have already been blessed with.  It is so much fun to experience God’s answered prayer!!  Thank you again for your prayers and support.

We look forward to all that God has in store as we move forward.  We will be posting lots of new pictures and stories in the weeks to come so that you can travel through this time with us.  We love you all and ask for your continued prayer and support.  We will keep you in our prayers!!

Barry and Charlie 

On the Road Again

….the wheels on the car go round and round, round and round, round and round….We are rolling down the road again, headed back to hot Oklahoma for week number two.  It has been an incredible few weeks!  Boys and Girls camp in Michigan was definitely a highlight.  A great place and great people that we would love to spend two more weeks with.  I think everyone would agree that girls definitely smell better than boys!  WOW.  There is so much to be said about taking showers and changing your socks.  Water day at girl’s camp and the mud pit at boy’s camp topped the list of craziness.  It was exciting to see so many young girls and boys getting their hearts all stirred up and drawing closer to the Lord. 

We also went to Nashville and Clarksville, TN and Kings Mountain and Jacksonville, NC.  Tennessee is always a treat!  It feels like home when we get to go back and catch up with our old friends.  None of us are getting younger, are we?!  North Carolina was a wonderful new experience, but I will say that we are glad that was scheduled the week before Irene decided to pass through.  We know that there have been a great deal of people that have been affected by the hurricane and for the next few weeks and months, so many people will be picking up the pieces from the destruction that it has caused and trying to put things back together.  We will be keeping all of them in our prayers every day.

A milestone for mom and dad this morning…. we dropped Andrew off at Mid America Nazarene University.  Like we mentioned earlier, we are not getting any younger.  It just seems impossible that we are old enough to have a child in college.  It was not easy for mom. (Everyone keeps trying to tell me that he is not going to miss his momma, but I know they are wrong!  Big college boy or not, he’s gonna miss his momma! J) We drove away with a tremendous sense of peace knowing that he is where God wants him and in a place with people that we trust to guide him through this new journey in his life.  We are excited to see what God has in store for him! 

 As we were driving through the peaceful, rolling hills of the plains today, we were mesmerized by an absolutely beautiful sunset.  It never ceases to amaze us how we can feel the presence of the Lord through all the different pieces of His creation.  It’s like pieces of a puzzle that all fit together and so perfectly express the attributes of His character.  Today, the sunset reminded me of His faithfulness, His constancy every day in every detail.  We have experienced it day after day through answered prayer, through the sale of our home, through the support that has been given through churches, family, and friends, through the safety of our travels, through college provisions for Andrew, and the list goes on and on.  We are so grateful!  Even in the midst of the organized chaos of transition, spending hours in the car, and sleeping in different beds every few nights, we have JOY and an undeniable, unending, unexplainable peace.  We wouldn’t trade anything for being in the center of God’s will!  Thank you for your prayers and support and encouragement!  We love you all!!

To support us in our ministry go to http://web.nazarene.org/goto/carney.missions

Revised Deputation Schedule

Here is a schedule of where we will be over the next couple of months.  We would love to see you at one of the services as we share how God is working in our lives and around the world.

July 31- Donelson, TN (am)

August 7 - Valley Shepherd in Meridian, ID (am)
               - Nampa First Church, ID (pm)

August 14 - Clarksville First, TN (am)
                 - Nashville First, TN (pm)

August 21 - Mustang Naz in OKC (am)

August 28 - Canadian Hills in OKC (am)
                 - Wichita First, KS (pm)

September 4 - Kansas City First, MO (am)

September 7 - Waxahachie, TX (pm)

September 11 - McAllen, TX (am)
                       -Mercedes, TX Spanish (pm)

September 18 - San Antonio First, TX (am)
                      - Canton First, OH (am)
                      - New Philadelphia First Zone Rally, OH (pm)

September 20 - Barnesville Zone Rally at Woodsfield Church, OH (pm)

September 21 - Newton Falls, OH (pm)

September 22- Salem Zone Rally at Sebring First, OH (pm)

September 25 - Angus, NM (am)
                       - Carlsbad, NM (pm)

October 2 - Shawnee, KS (am)

We appreciate your prayers and support through this time.  If you would like to support the ministry you can go to the following link: http://web.nazarene.org/goto/carney.missions

Mission Services

We had a great time yesterday sharing with Benton 1st and Cornerstone Nazarene.  The morning service was a mission fair as we worshiped with two of our Hispanic Churches and Benton 1st.  It was like a little slice of heaven here on earth.  The evening service was an intimate time with friends as we shared our hearts about what God is doing around the world.  We are in Arkansas one more week before we pack up what's left and head for Kansas City.  Please keep us in your prayers as we begin the heavy travel over the next two months (especially for Alex and Alyssa as then endure endless hours on the road away from their friends).

God has been providing in amazing ways as He confirms the call on our lives.  If you would like to support the ministry in South America through our family you can go to: http://web.nazarene.org/goto/carney.missions

Deputation Begins

Please pray for us this week as we start our travels across America raising funds for the ministry in Paraguay and Bolivia.  God has brought us this far and we know He will provide in amazing ways.  You can give directly to the ministry by going to:  http://web.nazarene.org/goto/carney.missions

We will be in Southern Arkansas for the first three weeks before we head to Kansas City.  The Journey has begun!!