I'm Thankful for Barb

It was a rainy, chilly day when I met her - the kind of day that reminds you just how cold and miserable a New England winter can be if you are not dressed properly. My mom introduced us, figuring we would hit it off because of our shared interests in Southeast Asia and children. My mom was right. Who is this mysterious woman she introduced me to? Barbara Forster.

I remember nothing of what was said in that first conversation but I remember the feel of it. I remember the warmth Barb exuded, her ready smile and carefree vibe, exhibited in part by the fact that she was laughing and spilling her chocolate cookie down the front of her sweater when she turned around to meet me. I also remember that she touched me, as in literally reached out and laid her hand on my arm. I have already mentioned that I was in New England and if you have spent any considerable amount of time here, you know that we New Englanders tend to have large and well maintained personal space bubbles. So for someone I had met not ten minutes ago to touch me in this friendly way was very unusual. I was in no way offended or even bothered by this, but rather I was enraptured by this woman who could feel like my favorite grandmother when I had not known she existed the day before.

Barb and me during collection week for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.

Why am I even telling you about this charming and gregarious old lady? Because she is one of my trip teammates. Somewhere around nine months ago she told me “Tatiana, I feel like I have one trip left in me, just one more trip.” I wondered where it would be to, and who it would be with. Now I have my answer. Guangdong, China, with me (and the rest of our fabulous team).

Barb told me about this last trip on a Tuesday morning. I had begun spending most Tuesday mornings at Barb's little house with her, her housemate, Carol, and a few other ladies who rotated in and out as their schedules allowed. We came together to pray, mostly for missionaries, and also to talk. The morning would always start with catching up and included numerous stories from Barb. She would tell us about her time at Moody Bible Institute, the place where she met Carol. She also talked about her time working with the little Italian kids in Boston's North End, kids who called her “Miss”, not “Miss Barbara”, just “Miss”. She talked about the streets in the North End, so narrow that if someone was parked at her front door to take in their groceries, she had to wait for them to finish and move. Barb explained to us how she had hoped to go overseas straight out of Bible school, but felt God telling her that her place, for the time being, was in the States. So she happily worked away unaware of the exchange she was going to be making from the narrow streets of Boston to exotic mountain views, of being called “Miss” to being called “Aunty Barb”.

While Barb was working in the North End her friend Carol was serving as a missionary in Indonesia. Carol came home after a few years due to health issues and went to visit Barb. During the visit, Carol asked Barb why she hadn't gone overseas. Barb's response to Carol was that she really wanted to, but God had told her not to. Carol encouraged her to pray to ask if maybe things had changed and to see if God’s answer would be different now. Barb prayed all afternoon and into the night. The next day she submitted her resignation with the North End ministry. They were confused and asked if she’d already been offered a job. She said no, she did not have any job promised to her, but it was what God wanted her to do next so she was going to do it.

Some of Barb's confidence seemed to have evaporated by the time she submitted her application with Overseas Mission Fellowship (OMF) though. She was in her mid-thirties, unmarried and uneducated (Moody Bible Institute did not offer degree programs). She thought that she was too old and that OMF would only want someone with a formal college education. One of the things Barb said when she applied was that if they did not have any immediate use for her, she did not mind waiting around until they did have something for an old lady with no college degree to do. Far from telling her they had no use for her, OMF told her that they needed her so much and so immediately that they were not going to wait for the next scheduled training session. They decided to accelerate her through training by herself right away, which meant she had the benefit and the challenge of being the sole focus of all her trainers and instructors. Once all of the formalities, procedures, and red tape were taken care of, Barb flew to Malaysia, drove to the top of a jungle mountain, and became the newest "dorm aunty" for a group of missionary kids.

Barb was in Malaysia for years looking after the kids. They did fun activities, such as having sleepovers in the old horse stables and putting on plays. All the kids were convinced that she must have been engaged to be married to one of the male teachers after the two of them performed the "16 Going On 17" song from The Sound of Music and he kissed Barb at the end. Barb never did get married, though. She followed in the footsteps of such great women as Amy Carmichael, Gladys Aylward, and Mother Teresa, mothering many children, but never having her own.

Barb is now technically retired, but always busy. Together, she and Carol assembled around fifty shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, and help all ten days of the shoe box collection week. They mentor countless people, myself included, continue to host weekly prayer meetings, and always make room for extra people at their table during the holidays.

I am very thankful to have the support of both of these amazing ladies for my trip to China. I will have Barb with me every step of the way, to impart wisdom and bring her infectious joy. Although Carol is not coming with us, we will have her prayer support. She will be praying for us every single day, and that is something you can do, too! There are prayer points at the end of this post and I will be putting prayer points near the end of every post from now on.

Barb, me, and Carol.

I am so thankful for all of you, you who are interested in my work, who support me, inspire me, and love me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love, Tatiana

Prayer Points:

• Two of our team members are on another missions trip in Mexico. Please pray for the group's safety and that they will be a blessing to the children they are working with and their caretakers. Also for their families they will be missing being with on Thanksgiving.
• We are looking at getting our flights at the beginning of December because they will be much cheaper. Our goal is to have set aside $2,200 each before we buy the plane tickets. We only have four days left until this deadline! Please pray that everyone will have enough money so that we are able to take advantage of the cheaper prices.
• Please pray for our leader, Kim, as she takes care of planning and organizing things.

P.S. Guys, it's only 98 days until we leave!
P.P.S. If you want to contribute financially you can do it online here. In the drop-down list select "Storyteller Missions", and under "Participant Name(s)" put Tatiana Martin March'16 Guangdong China Team. Or you can mail a check to America World Adoption, 6723 Whittier Avenue, McLean, VA 22101 made out to "AAWA" with Tatiana Martin March'16 Guangdong China Team in the memo line.