Slowly but surely Melanie and I are becoming acclimated to the great Pacific Northwest again. Well, at least Melanie is. I've been out on the road ministering a great deal since the first of June when all of our personal and ministry belongings arrived in Washington State.

I leave again next Tuesday and head right back to the Dallas area to speak at the North Texas Home School Convention in Plano next weekend and then on to First Assembly of God at Freeport, TX.

The rest of August I'll be in California at churches and conducting "teacher training" for a large Christian school in the Bay Area.

JULY CAMP WAS AWESOME!

Last Spring some of the leadership of Faith Bible Church in San Francisco heard me minister at the great Bay Area Sunday School Convention (BASS). At that time, they began the process to bring me to their camp as the keynote speaker. I cannot begin to tell you how awesome it was!

I spoke 4 times at their camp held at a comfortable and may I say "anointed" Christian retreat/camp in the mountains above San Bernardino last week. The amenities were great but the spiritual atmosphere was terrific! Young people from over 10 churches from around California took part.

On Tuesday night I ministering, giving my testimony of how God delivered both Melanie and I from drugs, New Age philosophy and the rock music industry and God moved mightily bringing over 20 of those in attendance to make first-time acknowledgments of Jesus Christ as Savior! Wow!

Easily over half of those present then stood to ask God for a deeper walk with Him, to rededicate their lives to His service or to receive prayer concerning issues they were challenged by.

This is the kind of event that reminds me of just why God called us into His service back in the early 1980's. God obviously made a deep impression on many who attended. Let me add also what a thrill it was for me personally that the very next day some of the young people wrote a skit which portrayed my life and testimony. They performed it that night for the entire camp. What a talented crew! It was awesome and I was and still am very touched and honored by it.

The Sunday following the camp I had the opportunity to minister to the entire family at Faith Bible Church in San Francisco. A church of primarily Filipinos, Faith Bible exudes the sense of community and seeming spiritual oneness that every church needs in our day. Again, it was terrific. I can't wait to see all of our new friends there again in the future and to hear of the continued work that God began through the ministry I presented there.

View pictures from Faith Bible Camp here

THREE CONCERNS...

God did a bona fide miracle in providing for our move from Texas to Washington back in May. He provided every cent we needed ($9,000) - over-and-above our budget. Through a simple newsletter and email like this one it was faith-building - even phenomenal - to watch as God's people responded to our need. Honestly, after 21 years of raising all our funds independently we have never seen anything quite like it. It was if God was saying, "move...and do it NOW!" Thanks so much for your support then and for your continued support now.

There are three pressing needs that must be met over-and-above our budget once again.

1) The most pressing need is to secure housing and adequate ministry headquarters for us. Having already placed $2500 down we have made a bid to do just that but we need to come up with an additional $7,000 cash by October 15. The situation will give us exactly what both our family and ministry need. It will also allow us to move from our temporary situation (we're currently staying with Melanie's sister). We are grateful for a place to stay but operating the ministry from someone else's home is not very effective to say the least. Your gifts over the next 2 1/2 months are critical to making this most crucial and basic need become a reality.

2) I have the opportunity to have my book Entertaining Spirits Unaware put back in print. Through a special arrangement with our old publisher they have agreed to print and market the book during the upcoming "Halloween" season but it means that I need to come up with $1000 immediately to see this happen in time.

Here is just one of many emails I have received since Entertaining Spirits Unaware went out of print last Spring. It just came yesterday.

Thanks for helping with this immediate need!

3) We starting thinking of raising the funds to purchase a new(er) ministry van last year but due to our move we simply put the plan on hold. As posted on our home page (www.ericbarger.com) we have $2,360 earmarked for the van but need approximately $12,000. Obviously, we need a dependable vehicle for this traveling ministry God has called us to!

You may give to any or all of these special needs in any one of four ways. CLICK HERE for information.

Thanks again for standing with us, for your kind and encouraging emails, your prayers and intercession for us and the ministry and for your continued financial support.

I'll keep you posted with news and new products to help you TAKE A STAND! for the Kingdom of God!

Our sincere thanks and blessings to you!

We love you!