The Baran Family

Abigail was finally in her first official meeting on deputation!  It took place in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania at the Slippery Rock Baptist Church.  It was exciting for me to introduce our family with its newest addition!  Abbie did really well throughout both services.  So far in her little life, she’s pretty content wherever she is and for that we are thankful!  We enjoyed spending the day with the folks there in Slippery Rock.  Pastor Barnhouse just recently resigned the church so that he could follow the Lord’s calling as a missionary to the country of Africa.  He had taken several missions trips to Zambia over the years when the Lord finally began to burden his heart for the people there.  What an awesome testimony!  It is a great reminder to me that the will of God never ends.  He is daily leading and directing our paths.   Please keep Brother Barnhouse and his family in your prayers along with the church.  Slippery Rock Baptist Church is happily serving as Pastor Barnhouse’s sending church but they will miss him greatly.        

After finishing our first VBS of the summer we returned to our home church in Eden, New York to help in their Vacation Bible School.  The theme this year was Destination Bible.  This provided the opportunity to take the kids to different countries that have been touched by our Bible in a variety of ways.  My wife and I spent most of our time in the country of China where the Bible is illegal and Christians have to meet in secret.  I played the part of a Chinese pastor and my wife was a shop lady.  She certainly was the blondest Chinese lady I had ever seen! What a blessing to be a part of a ministry that reaches out to the local community! Over the weekend our church went to Buffalo to pass out tracts at the annual ‘Taste of Buffalo’.  Thousands of people attend this particular festival each year!  This gives us a great opportunity to give the gospel!  We also happened to be in the area for the fourth of July.  We spent the day with family and then ended the holiday passing out tracts in a park with members of our church.  Afterwards we watched a great display of fireworks!  Abigail hardly seemed to notice all the noise and did really well.  What a great July 4th!

The summer time becomes a busy season for our family!  My wife and I have been able to participate in several Vacation Bible Schools and Summer Camps throughout the years! We’re happy to be able to do the same again this summer.  For this particular week we worked with my father-in-law and his church in their VBS.  During our time there I taught a lesson on pride and King Nebuchadnezzar.  It was a lot of fun, I reenacted King Nebuchadnezzar’s life as a proud man and showed them God’s punishment for that pride.  I think the kids enjoyed seeing the transformation of a proud king to a crazed man eating grass.  Throughout the week several children were saved and a few new kids have stated their desire to come to the church there at Grace Baptist. Praise the Lord!