HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

hi everyone,

i have been so busy, Mission Adventure Teams every week and it's a lot of work, but it's been a blast! so much has been going on that time just kept flying by and i just realized i hadn't blogged in a long time. i hope everyone had a great thanksgiving with their families and friends! we had a wonderful time here at the base.. my mom and dad came up and had thanksgiving dinner with us! most of the staff and DTSers invited one local person to dinner, so we had about 70 + people here! it was really great with lots of food and desserts. there were at least 7 different types of turkeys, huge pans of potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole (yum!), corn casserole (thanks, mom!), two different Tofurkeys, vegan gravy , rolls... i baked 3 pies and loads of other sweet things- and oh yeah, can't forget the great coffee and flavored creamers! mom and dad brought bags of persimmons from home and branches of rosemary bushes and i had candles, so we decorated all the dinner tables really pretty! we had a wonderful prayer before dinner, and my parents got to meet a lot of my street friends here, as well as other YWAM staff members. after, we all went to a nearby park and played football! well, i didn't play football, i played on the monkey bars! anyway, i got to go back home with my family until Tuesday evening, when they brought me back to the city- my new home! it was a great thanksgiving, and i have so much to be thankful for! hope yours was great! :)

baby Rhyder update: his heart surgery was scheduled for dec 1, but it was postponed and will now be done this tues, dec 8. please pray for him! :)

Today the new DTS group will be doing their outreach in viet nam and thailand, just like i did for my DTS last year. i had an opportunity to go for 2 weeks in january, so i am going to thailand!! i will be doing everything the DTS are going to be doing - ministry work ,with the local YWAM group that i got to spend time with last year. i am so excited because i truly fell in love with that beautiful country and the beautiful people there, too! i wanted to let everyone know something... when i started my 2 yr commitment in june, i sold my car. i put that money in the bank, and have used it occasionally for some 'extra' things i have needed while i was here. one of the things i've used my money on is my trip to thailand. since it's a personal choice for me to go, i didn't want to burden my sponsors- everyone who supports me already has been so generous and i appreciate every one of you- and every single dollar you give to support me and my ministry! i love doing this, and i couldn't do any of it without you! i did want you all to know, though, how i was paying for this trip, because i didn't want there to be any concern as to how i was spending your finances. anyway- i just wanted to be upfront and let you all know what's going on and stuff like that!!

please keep me in your prayers, and please pray for baby Rhyder, too! please also send me your prayer requests! me and the other staffers get together every morning and pray- so i'd love to pray for you!! thank you for your love and support- it means so much to me. hoping you all have a safe and happy Christmas! love always, carrianne barr

PICTURES FROM FOOD PANTRY AND A FEW FAMOUS PEEPS!

........fall

Hello everyone,
Since I last wrote, a lot has happened. I started working the Mission Adventure (MA) teams all by myself, and it's really exciting. I work weekends from Fridays thru Sundays. Last Sunday while out with my team, we saw my old Sunday school teacher while passing out homeless sack lunches .... Miss.Debbie! ( she wasn't homeless, nor is she old! hehe) She was on her way to see Wicked at the civic center. (: So with my new schedule, I now have Thursdays off. Last Thursday was really tough. We always have food pantry on Thursdays, and my friend Rachel and I always deliver two boxes- one to a lady and the other to a man; neither of them can walk very well. We set aside a box for each of them and then deliver it to them after the pantry is over. Last week we went to the mans house- his name is Don ....we didn't get an answer and after talking to the hotel manager they gave us the key to his room. They figured he had been away for several days and we could leave his food on the counter. We walked in to find that Don had passed away. It was really hard to realize he was dead, and to walk in and find him like that was terrible for both of us. Don had shared a lot about his life with us, and we were able to pray with him often, as well as just let him talk and be his friend. I know I'm really going to miss him and his stories of serving in the Viet Nam war. I didn't really know how to deal with it and it's been kinda hard on me, but God and my family and my friends here really got me through it. This Thursday's food pantry was really fun though. We had a couple of celebrities come and help us out. One of my favorites was David Arquette, from Scream, Never Been Kissed and 8 Legged Freaks!!!

It was really cool. (:
So right now, I'm a little sick with a chest cold, but hopefully that will go away by this weekend before my teams get here. Fall is here and thats my favorate season. I LOVE FALL....I bought 4 mini pumpkins and decorated my room very nice and AUTUMN-ISH!!

(:

Thanks for your support, love and prayers- it is really helpful to know you are with me in this way! Please let me know what's going on in your lives and what I can pray for you for!!

Hello everyone,
So starting in October I will be running MA teams with Kaitlyn. It will just be her and I and it looks like it will be really busy. BUT I am so looking forward to starting MA up again. All of October-December is filled up already.(: The new DTS for fall 09 are here.... It's really strange to think that it's been a year already since MY DTS last fall.I'm so excited for all of them, because I know how great DTS was for me! Yay.

I'm growing some pumpkins, peas and carrotts outside my window ....they are starting to grow and Im sooooo excited. yay!!!!

Please keep me in your prayers and make sure you pray for baby ryder as well. He has a hole in his heart and will need surgery at 3 months. Also a boy on the DTS needs to get his green card in order to go on his outreach ...please keep him in your prayers along with me and ministry starting back up in October. Thank you.

(:

Hey guys,
Oh wow.... time fly's when you are having fun! It's been amazing being here and making friendships with the people in the storefront. One day when I was in there I noticed that there was nothing on the walls that indicated we were a Christian organization...and that made me a little worried , so I went out and bought some canvasses and a couple people helped me paint them and wrote really pretty scriptures on them. They are now in the store front and even a Mexican man was looking up in his bible to translate the verses! (: How wonderful the Ellis room/storefront looks now!

Well for the month of September there is no MA groups coming. They begin again in October, and then it's just Kaitlyn and I leading these weekend groups. I'm a little nervous that I might get burned out but also excited to be leading teams again. God will do so much work in these students lives just being here. Now who wouldn't be excited for that?????

So the last week in August was really exciting for me, I got to go on the yearly staff camping trip/ retreat thing. It's just once a year where all the staff can get away from the city and focus on God and be together as group. We went camping (: SO FUN!!! Then the same week baby Rhyder was born ....so I got to go visit him that weekend.... YAY for babys!

It's been so wonderful and such a blessing to be here.
God bless. Love alwayzs, Carrianne

Great week

Hello everyone!Things are going wonderful here. I am enjoying being on staff here so much! I got to lead a MA team for the first time last week. A team of 22. They got to experience different ministry's like Hot chocolate night, homeless sack lunch, homeless plunge , prayer walks ,serving food at ST. Anthony's and a couple other really awesome ones! The homeless plunge is really neat because they get to experience first hand on what it feels like to stand in line at Glide for food and be kicked out at 6am until4pm with only bus fare for 1 way. I really enjoyed leading this team, and it wet really well. It was the last team for the summer until October when only Kaitlyn and I will be leading teams of about 50.

I cant wait to start running teams on my own. I also have allot of background/office work to do until teams start again.

Last Thursday evening I got to return home after the teams left for the weekend! It was so nice to enjoy my weekend at my 1st home in Morgan Hill. I got to see baby Tyler and Catrina before she gives birth next week, also my mom and dad!!!! (:
It was wonderful. Next week is the staff camping trip, that should be really fun and I'm SO looking forward to it !


Here's a couple pictures on our website of the woman's day event , that I talked about a couple postings ago. ( I'm in one of them (: hehe )
http://www.ywamsanfrancisco.org/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=110&gid=3
Have a good week guys!!! (:
Carrianne

August.....

HEY!!!!
So it's already August. Crazy!!! Things are going very well here, so thats great!!! (:
This week there are no MA teams coming so its kinda peaceful. I still have allot of office work to be doing and also working in the storefront/the Ellis room, SO much better then the kitchen. HAAHA! But I'll work were God needs me... lol! Saturday BJM ( because Justice matters ) put on a womans day chin dig. It was so neat, a whole bunch of woman came and we had booths for different things, some was for ice cream, nails, massages, making bead neckless and other fun things for woman. It was just a nice place for woman to come and feel good about themselves . Then later that day my friends came over from MH and we hung out and went to the giants game. #55. WONDERFUL! It was a good game and great to show off the TL to my friends!Today after work a small group of girls and I went over Karol's house and made scones ....SO YUMMIE....homemade blueberry and chocolate chip ones. They were wonderful. It was so fun! Well ta ta for now!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!
Carrianne

(:

HELLO everyone!!!!
Happy Sunday! Well I haven't been on in awhile , I'm sorry about that. I have been super busy lately. I have had kitchen duty last week and I'm in there again this week also. It's not east cooking for over 100 Mission adventure students. I'm also in there wired hours so I don't get much sleep. 6am-10am and then back again at 2:30-7 for dinner. I take naps in between being in the kitchen and then it's hard falling asleep at a decent hour so I end up being sooooo tired in the morning. STRANGE! Last Friday we went to the apartment building down the street where all the old Chinese and Rushan people live. We had a ice cream party and played BINGO! It was so much fun, they love that game!!!! Since I have the loudest voice there I was the one to spin the wheal and call out the number.... B7.... it reminded me of 'My Girl' the movie. Well I better get going into the kitchen. Those kids are hungry!!!
Please keep me and my family in your prayers! THANKS!

Hello everyone!
So basically I love being here. Its been awesome so far. I work a lot in the store front so I am getting to know a lot of these people. I baked a cake for a man named Marty today. It was his birthday and he was so excited to have a cake. (: I wish you could have seen his face ! Every week a new MA team comes . Every Tuesday they put on a party in the store front and serve all the homeless people spaghetti and have music for them and everything. It's wonderful. We also have the "food pantry " for all the residence people in the TL. I love working these days! (: It makes my week amazing. I'm doing a lot of office work and doing "behind the scene " stuff for MA!
My friend from my DTS works on staff in Oregon and he's here for the week with his MA kids. It's nice to see him again.
Okay Hope y'all are having a wonderful day

this weekkkkkk

HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!!
How was your 4th of July? I hope everyone had a great weekend! This week went by so fast. I'm still working on small projects to learn more about staffing on MA but mostly I am in the store front. It is very wonderful working in the storefront because I have made lots of friendships with these people that come in everyday! I am having a very great time here, It is my third week and it's wonderful.I have missed home a couple of times, I mean who wouldn't miss Morgan Hill on 4th of July??!!! Well I believe next week I will be working the teams. (:
Thank you to all my loving friends and family who is supporting me and praying for me while I am living here! It is such a blessing to be here and know that I have the support of you guys back home! WONDERFUL! Okay a prayer request for this week could be that I would give God my all and all and to go to Him everyday...find time for God! ~Thanks Y'all !!!!!
Love alawyzs, Carrianne

(:

okay so this is my room.....
so i put the zebra door knobs up.(:
the last 3 shelves are mine
this is my bed.... i love my random bedding and mr .bah shep (: / And my twinkle lights next to my posters!

HELLO Y'ALL!!!!!
I LOVE MY NEW ROOM!!!! I room with one other girl named Kaitlyn. She is a sweetheart and likes Hannah Montana so I love her already! (:
HAHA! It's been fun decorating and setting things up to make it my new home.
Well last week was just learning the basic staff stuff and also doing a few things Tia (MA leader)wanted to teach me! It has been a great first week and I LOVE it here! I usually have a meeting or worship in the morning from 8-9 then work from 9-12 and take an hour lunch then finish working till 5! Then I get the weekends of unless I work a team.(: I haven't fount a church I really like yet~ but theres so many to try out each week. I will put up pictures of my room. Hope you like! (: GODS AWESOME!!!!!!!and I love it here
Carrianne

HI!!!!
So it is Thursday night! I have been here for 5 days and have really enjoyed it so far! I just moved into my FINAL room! I decorated it and made it look like MY room. I'm totally moved in and it has been a wonderful and crazy week! I did started work Monday and right now I'm just getting trained on the basic staff work and then in the next couple weeks I will be getting trained on MA staffing! I am already working on file work for MA so it's been really wonderful! (: I LOVE IT HERE!!!! It has been great getting to see some old friends in the store front and at the Food pantry! Okay I love and miss everyone!

Let me know how I can be praying for YOU ~Thanks!!!!
Love always,Carrianne

(: back in San Fransisco!

HEllo everyone!!!!!!
Well I am here.... sweet home San Fransisco!!!! I got here yesterday around 4pm .It was hard saying goodbye to my momma and dadda but it was so nice returning back here! Everyone helped me bring all my boxes and bags up to my room. (: I love my new family here, they are all so wonderful and welcoming. For the first couple of hours I meet the summer staff for MA ( mission adventures ) .They are called the SOS.Hahha~
I also helped with dinner and even joined in ..Yum! (:
Right after I got there 4 teams of mission adventures came and I got to kinda see how things are run...I officially start Monday ! It's been nice just settling in and seeing how things work before I start! I am very excited to start Monday (: YAY!!!! I am staying in a room with another girl, Angelia -shes super sweet and we shared a pot of coffee together with my NEW COFFEE MAKER~ thanks to my mom!!!! (: well we are just roommates for a week until I permanently move in with Kaitlyn. That will be next week , so I'm still living out of boxes and bags. lol
Okay I will try and update every chance I get! Hope ya'll are having a wonderful Fathers day! God bless!!!! (:
Carrianne

Hello Everyone,
I LEAVE TOMORROW!!!!! I'm getting really excited! I don't start my 'job' until Monday but I really need to have a day or two to unpack and settle in anyways ! Things are looking so awesome! I got a couple more supporters and am ready to leave!!!! YAY! God has blessed me so much. Its been a wonderful experience to have this time to tell people about what I will be doing and have them join my team! I finished packing and have the last load in the dryer right now!
San Fransisco here I come!!!!

I will update again once I get settled in up there and know whats going on.
Love, Carrianne

Please remember to keep me in your prayers and fallow my blog for more updates week to week.

Hello everyone!!!
God is good!!!! Well only two more weeks before I'm shipped off! Heehee!! Actually I plan on leaving on June 15th or 20th. I still need around $200 more monthly to have all my living acquirements taken care of. I know this is what God wants me to do and so I know the money will come in but its so stressful waiting. It's hard because I sold my car and quit my job already ~I'm getting nervous but I am sooooo excited at the same time.Its hard planning right now because I have been so busy lately. My best friend is getting married this week!!! I started packing already.(: PLEASE keep me in your prayers!!!
Proverbs 3:5-6

Love, Carrianne

***Remember if you want to support me monthly YOU know what to do! (: hehe

Commitment(:

Praise the Lord!
I already have a commitment of about 5 people to support me monthly and a couple one time gifts(:
Thank you so much for wanting to be a part in serving God too. I can't wait to return to SF and work for Him! I just visited the base in SF last week, even though my old DTS students were not there or aren't going to be there it still seemed like home! Just walking on the streets was so great! I got to see a couple of my homeless friends and tell them that I will be coming back soon, they were excited about that! I still need around $400-$500 commitment monthly so please be in prayer about that!
Heres a song that means so much for me!

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.


And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves.


We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…


He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves us,
Whoa! how He loves
Cause He loves us,


This is so meaning full ~ Whenever I listen to it I cant help but lift both my hands and praise the Lord! HOW HE LOVES~!

....A new step in faith~~~

Hello everyone!
Sorry for not updating sooner! If ya'll didn't hear I got accepted to go on staff for YWAM SF! I will be living there on the base for two years and will be working with the ministry of 'Missions Adventures'...I will be a leader for groups that come in from Jr.High-College age and will be showing them all the ministries we do there, so that they might go back to there homes and help out there, too. I am so blessed and excited to be a staff member with YWAM in SF!!!!

When I was there for my DTS, I saw how YWAM really does make a difference to these people in the Tenderloin District, and I went home wanting to return back to SF as fast as I could. I sent in my application and got accepted a couple of weeks later ! I have been home for about three months now. Wow time flies by so fast these days. I'm working again at In N Out Burger trying to pay my bills and save up until I leave, which I hope will be in June- right after Joelle's wedding! I just hosted a 'Thank You Dessert Bash' on Sunday for the people who sponsored me and for those who were just interested in learning more about my last DTS trip! It went amazing! I was so surprised at the turnout, as I mostly received RSVPs from those people who weren't able to attend, so I was excited to see about 30+ people show up!!! I just talked with Jana (who went to DTS with me ) a little bit about what we did and what we will be doing now that this it's over. For me this wasn't just a one-time missions trip, but it was the beginning of a lifetime of doing God's work! After DTS was over I knew that I wasn't able to go back to just doing nothing and living as a 'lukewarm' Christian, I knew that God want me to return to SF and serve Him!!! So I am and I'M SO EXCITED about it! It's hard being in the middle of just returning from something great and leaving in a couple of months to something even greater, but what do I do in the mean time? I don't just want to sit around and wait to leave to be able to serve God, I want to do it now...in my own town! That's why I'm trying to be a "big sister" to a young lady and maybe put together some bag lunches and hand those out to the homeless in Gilroy and sharing God's love with them!

Well that's my plan- to return to SF and staff..... I'M SO HAPPY!!!! This is what I'm doing in the mean time and also trying to raise support ....for I can't leave in June until I know for sure I'm taken care of financially for TWO YEARS!!!!
If you are interested making a commitment in supporting me monthly- or perhaps a one-time gift- then please let me know as soon as possible!

There are three ways you can do this:

1. You can send the money to me, for I have a second bank account just for my YWAM funds.
2. Send the monthly support to MHBC offices, for I will be having an account with them again and every month they will send me the money at the base. This way it's tax-deductible, too.
3. You can get have it taken out of your bank account automatically on a monthly basis~let me know if you choose this way of supporting me so I can send you the paperwork!

Please also remember me in your prayers! Not only will I need funds to make this possible, but prayers for protection, for the kids participating in Missions Adventures, and the ability to witness effectively to the street people of the Tenderloin- that they may be receptive to Gods Word and love- and have their lives changed forever by the power of Jesus Christ!

As I go out and make disciples of all nations....in this case in San Francisco!
LOVE ALWAYZS, Carrianne

BACK at home.....home sweet home......

HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!
It's been almost a month since being back in Morgan hill and home.
Let me first thank you ALL for your prayers and support.
My time in SF was amazing and so overwhelming at the same time. OVERSEAS: wow what a time i had. Thailand was wonderful. I LOVE THE PEOPLE there. They are sooo happy to see 'white' people. lol. We stayed next to the Thailand YWAM base in Bangkok which is where the campus students stay, kinda like dorm rooms for the christian boys and girls. It's called BJD!We stayed in Thailand for a whole month, which felt like only a week because the time flew by. We did so many different ministry's along side from hanging with the Thais at BJD, wow what a experience it was!!!Our ministry's contained of going to the slums and playing with the kids, going to the worlds biggest sex places in Bangkok and sharing God with the boy's and girl's prostitutes and just showing them that they too are Gods children and we care about them for who they are. WE also had 'open minstry' where we just prayed or asked God what He wanted us to do that day.We also had days off which were spent at fun places in Thailand such as the ALLIGATOR farm, where we rode elephants , held baby tigers and fed the alligators. !!!! So exciting. heheh!!!!
Vietnam:
Very different from Thailand, alot of the people there frown apon Westerners and only remember the war when they see white people , so they were not always nice or welcoming. That was mostly in Hanoi though and when we visited other places like Da-nang they were much nicer to us. ALL in all, we had a blast! Our ministry there contained of ALOT of silent prayer walks and silly things such as secretly planting scriptures and whatnot. We mostly just showed God's love by loving the people there! We had to wear our bibles and any other christian things on us at ALL TIMES!!!! At the hotels we stay at they tend to go though our stuff and could turn us in if they find all 20 of us with bibles and chirtian things everywhere! It ended up being a very good trip. We got to visit some underground churchs and youth groups. (:
I also got to spend my 21'st birthday there, my team made me feel very special that day (: Even a couple people from the underground church got to come and join me for dinner!

MY trip was very great and we got to plant some seeds there, I cant wait to see what God is going to do through those seeds(:
It was hard leaving the Thais and even harder when the time came to say good bye to my team mates a week after we got back to AMERICA! Tears and much LONG hugs came after the graduation in SF! I DID IT! I finished my DTS and it was amazing. God has showed me so much!!!! HOW HE LOVES!!!!!!

PLEASE still...heheh keep me in your prayers , I am hoping to return back to SF and staff there for a two year commitment. I need to keep raising money and keep TRUSTING in God!
Thanks again for everything,
CArrianne

we're back...

well, not quite yet, but soon! less than a day, in fact!
this site was temporarily shut down for safety purposes while carrianne was in vietnam. now she is in thailand and soon to be leaving for san francisco. i am hoping that you have been following her through the temporary blog i set up, but if not, you can go there now to get all the newsletters i received and posted since they first left for south east asia. when carrianne comes home later this week, im certain she will update this blog with posts and pictures galore! can't wait!
in Jesus-
christine