Barbara

Meet Barbara!

Name:

Barbara Kruger

Age:

She’s not telling… but in our opinion she doesn’t look at day over 35! 

Favorite Color:

Blue

Hobby:

To  REALLY be in the presence of God in the holy of holies, completely overwhelming kind of way.

Barbara in all of her loveliness after Friday Morning Chapel.

What we love about Barbara:

Her genuine desire to everyone in her life experience the presence of Father God, her nurturing “mama hen” personality, and her willingness to do what God asks of her!

Want to see a life truly transformed by the power of the love of Jesus? You need look no further! Barbara is a woman who has not only given her life fully over to Jesus, but who leads the way for others to do the same. There is no person to great or small, in Barbara’s book that is undeserving of the love of Christ! Her testimony is so wonderful and so powerful, we HAD to share it!

Picture the scene-- it’s midweek at The Father’s House Church at our weekly Wednesday night church service. The presence of Holy Spirit is powerful and thick, and people from all sides are worshipping the Lord and experiencing Father God’s embrace in ways they never have before. In the midst of this, you hear explosions of emotion from the left hand side of the church-- Weeping, laughter, deep and powerful intercession. What you find when you look to investigate these noises is a woman completely undeterred by the people or circumstances around her. She is concerned only one thing, getting in and staying in the presence of her Father. This woman, if you haven’t already guessed, is Barbara!

Barbara is not only presently enrolled in our “Core School,” which is the first phase of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship, she is also an active member of The Father’s House Church. She leads a ministry called “Setting the Captives Free,” where she takes teams once a week into the Butte County Jail to speak hope and life into completely hopeless situations. As she shared her heart about jail ministry, Barbara told us,

“I go in and I just love on the girls, and I’m Jesus to them. I tell them about our program and I encourage them and lift them up, and I see their lives change as well as the lives of everyone else around them. I basically see people that are as bound up and broken as I was, and I share Jesus with them and they have a new life.”

Barbara is a force to be reckoned with when there’s a life at stake, and she pours into and loves on those girls in jail tirelessly. In fact, there are many women in Life Recovery Ministries* today because of the relationship Barbara has culminated with them in the jail.

Barbara with some of the ladies from Life Recovery Ministries

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 But Barbara’s life hasn’t always been so full of vivacity.  Quite the contrary, actually, her life used to be the picture of dysfunction. When asked to describe her life prior to her conversion, Barbara was at a loss for words.

“My life was absolute chaos—I never knew when I was going to jail or losing my kids—I was constantly out of my mind, ready to snap—right a the edge of a nervous breakdown all the time.”

            Barbara’s life took a turn for the worst at age 13, when her father was sent to prison. This was too much for her to handle.

“I was always a daddy’s girl.” She told us.

Upon her father’s imprisonment, Barbara ran away from home and began using Methamphetamine.

“That,” she recalled, “Is when the insanity began. Everything was in an uproar—drama all the time!”

            This insanity continued well through Barbara’s teenage years into a large majority of her adult life. Over the years, Barbara had two children, and they were living with her on a ranch where she was staying at the time. She was tired of the dysfunction that was ruining the lives children and herself.

“I prayed to a God I didn’t even know saying ‘Get me out of this!’” Barbara told us. “My actual bottom was when I took my daughter, Shree, to jail with me and I lost my grand daughter and my youngest daughter for the third time to CPS. I knew that Shree was there because she was just following my example. That’s when I knew if I didn’t change my life, my daughter would be going in and out of prison for the rest of her life, just like me and the rest of my family were.”

Barbara continued to say, “To lose your kids in one thing, but to sit in a jail cell with your daughter and know that it’s because of your actions is beyond anything!”

            Once she had resolved to change her life and her jail term had ended, Barbara knew going back to her prior living situation would bring nothing but death to her and her family. “Everyone I knew was using, and if I went back with them, I’d be doing the same thing!” Barbara told us.  So, when she got out of jail, she contacted Danny Harp, who she had met in a recovery program in one of her brief attempts at sobriety, and told him that she’d  had enough. Danny invited Barbara to come to a revival meeting, which she obligingly attended. At this meeting, Danny introduced Barbara to a friend of his, who offered to take Barbara in until she was able to get on her feet.

“I ended up staying there for quite awhile, sleeping on the floor,” Barbara recollected, “I was originally only supposed to stay for three days, but they kept me for nine months!”

After those nine months, Barbara ended up finding a job, getting her own place, and regaining custody of her youngest daughter, Holly. Barbara’s other daughter, Shree, still continued in her addiction, but as Barbara walked out more and more of her own recovery, Shree eventually followed.

            After serving God for years, a hunger for intimacy with God began to increase more and more inside of Barbara. She had been attending services at The Father’s House church for quite some time, was leading teams into the jails to minister, and was very intrigued by Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship’s “Core School.”   

“I wanted to be complete—wanted to be able to minister without anything holding me back.” Barbara told us.

At first, because of the schedule of her job, (she does taxes at H&R block seasonally) Barbara didn’t think she could do Core School. But when Barbara decided Core School was something she wanted to pursue, she approached her boss and explained the situation to her. (Now mind you, the Core School Barbara was wanting to attend was at the peak of tax season.) Her boss’ response to Barbara’s request of a change of schedule was, “Well, Barbara, I know that you pray, and things happen for people who pray.” With that, Barbara’s schedule was reworked, and Barbara enrolled in Core School.

            When asked what’s changed inside of her since the start of Core School, Barbara says that she’s learned who she is— and she’s “more Jesus” than she’s ever been before.

“I have more self worth that I didn’t have before. I didn’t think I deserved things and now I believe I deserve them! I have a lot of peace—a LOT of peace, and just fullness. In the rest of my time in Core school, I just want to know him more.”

And Barbara’s life now? There’s no way to describe it other than completely and utterly restored! Barbara told us with joy and sincerity in her voice,

“I have everything, I’m serious! I’m so blessed! I’m walking in such a state of blessing right now!”

Her family. Her relationships. Her heart. Her finances. All has been given back to her in a way that only Jesus could have done!

“My life used to be [absolute] INSANITY,” Barbara told us. “But now? God tells me that I’m his beautiful daughter… and you know what? I believe it!”

It is people like Barbara that make our jobs worth it.

Barbara Kruger, Thank you for being you! We love you and we’re so proud of you!

*Life Recovery Ministries is a residential 12-month drug and alcohol treatment facility and is situated in South Oroville as an arm of The Father’s House Church.

Meet Tiffany!

Meet Tiff!

Name:

Tiffany Anderson McCarter

Age:

33

Favorite Food:

“Everything’s my favorite, I just don’t like vegetables,” she wants to make sure everybody knows.  After a fair amount of thought, though, Tiffany decided on the BBQ Chicken Luau pizza from 

Mountain Mikes.

Tiff enjoying some California sunshine!

Favorite Thing to Do:

“Just kick it” with her three sons, Robert, Tavian, and Rajan

OUR favorite thing about Tiffany:

Her heart and passion for South Oroville, or “The Southside” as she lovingly refers to it, her willingness to serve and love, her bubbly and fun-loving personality, as well as her sunny outlook on life in general.

         When deliberations began as to who to spotlight for our next segment of “The Faces of Kingdom Apprenticeship,” it didn’t take long for Tiffany to come to our mind. You see, Tiffany is the picture of what Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship hopes to accomplish and a perfect representation of  what “beauty for ashes” truly means. Tiffany is a strikingly accurate portrayal to the testimony of how much the love of Jesus can change a person.

         Not only does Tiffany attend morning classes and volunteer at The Father’s House Church from 8AM to 5PM, she also manages to hold down a regular job AND is the mother of three teenage boys! Phew! But miraculously, Tiffany rarely gets bogged down or over burdened by these things. When we asked her if sometimes her fast-paced life style ever gets to be too much, she told us very candidly,

         “No! I believe that as long as I keep God at my fore-front, burn out is not in my near future.” 

And you know what? Words like these can be very easily doubted, because they so goes against what we’ve all been taught, but for some reason when Tiffany spoke these words as truth, we couldn’t help but believe her.

Tiffany's two youngest sons, Tavian and Rajan, goofing around

         Whether a person be rich, poor, broken, whole, afflicted, or healthy, Tiffany will pour love them unhinderedly. She loves all people with no inhibition or “cap.” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out, though, that her favorite people to love on are her three sons. Even when we went to visit Tiffany at her place of work, her oldest son, Robert (16), was there with her. It didn’t take long to see that there was a very special relationship between the two of them that supersedes most parent-child relationships. Whether jesting, working, or simply being together, there is a trust and comfort between the two that is quite apparent.

         But as we said in the beginning, Tiffany’s story is one of RESTORATION, and although she will be the first to tell you her life is better than it’s ever been, it hasn’t always been as “picture perfect” as some may say it is now. When asked to describe the life she used to live, or the way that she used to feel prior to her coming to know God’s love for her, Tiffany was for one of the first times we’ve ever seen at a loss for words.

 “I just don’t know how to sum it up” she said after trying to come up with an answer “except to say that I was lost in the darkness. I was hopeless, and there was always this ‘impending doom’ hanging over me!”

         At a relatively young age, Tiffany was, for lack of a better term, “slapped in the face” by the reality of what people in the world can be capable of.

“I was always in a place where people always loved and cared for me, then [suddenly] in a place where that was no longer the case.”

         On drugs since she was fifteen, Tiffany found herself in a tangle of broken dreams, horrendously abusive relationships, and a miserable hopelessness that she couldn’t make go away no matter how much she tried. Tiffany has said many times that while she was living in this downward spiral, the reason why she didn’t change was because she was never given any kind of ultimatum not to. In her mind she could keep going the way that she was and still be able to keep all the things she loved (her children, relationships, ETC.) as well. Tiffany was cognizant that she was completely unhappy with her situation, but saw no reason to put an end to it.

         Tiffany’s out of control life came to a boiling point one night when the home that Tiffany and her children were living in was raided by the police.

“It was horrible” Tiffany stated. “My kids were all home when the police kicked the door in. They were all crying, ‘Mommy!’”

         Later, after Tiffany was taken to jail for the contraband discovered in her house during the raid, her son Robert made it known to Tiffany that he’d had enough of her dysfunctional behavior.

“He told me, ‘Mom, I’m done with you, I’m stopping all communication with you [until this ends.]’ And I know that he meant it… That was a real turning point in my life, you know!”

         A turning point, it truly was. Not long after, Tiffany began to seek out a drug rehabilitation program in the hopes of getting her life back on track and to gain reconciliation with her children. Tiffany heard of Life Recovery Ministries* through a girl in her pod at jail who had called and gotten an interview right away. That was enough for Tiffany. When asked why she called Life Recovery Ministries (LRM) she told us quite frankly,

         “I called Life Recovery Ministries because I knew they’d answer the phone.”

Tiffany was right! She called the LRM office, they answered, and she was interviewed and accepted to the program in a matter of days. Tiffany was already ready to turn her life around, because she knew if she didn’t she would die. By the time the courts and probation approved Tiffany’s decision to come into LRM, 45 days after her initial acceptance into the program, it was “ON AND CRACKIN!’” (As Tiffany would say.) 

Tiffany (Right) with friends Vicki (Left) and Colleen (Middle)

“What happened in my time in LRM? I found God! Things started making sense and I figured out there was actually a plan for my life! I [suddenly] had a motivation to live differently.”

         The key to this revelation of God and how to find him? Love! As Tiffany shared in the beginning the key to her self destruction and degradation was a complete lack of love from people in her life. As she began to commit herself to the program of Life Recovery Ministries, she began to see the ABUNDANCE of love from people in her life!

“People opened up doors to me because they believed in me, and I started to believe that not only was GOD real, but his love for me was real too!” She went on to say, ““I understand now that God loves me, I love God, and therefore I love others.”

     After Tiffany’s successful graduation from Life Recovery Ministries, she was hungry to know this love in a greater and more powerful way. She knew there was more that God had for her, and didn’t want to miss out on it!

“I had vision in my life [for the first time ever] and I wanted to be a part of something! I saw the lives of the directors of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship and I knew their vision lined up with mine. That was all it took to convince me!”

     Tiffany spoke at great length of the things she has learned and the ways that she has grown in her time affiliated with Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship. In trying to “edit down” exactly what she said as she shared her heart, we decided her heart would be conveyed more accurately with a direct quote. Here it is.

(In answer to the question “What have you learned in your time with Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship?”)

“I’ve been given the keys to the kingdom. God’s been THRASHING me with his love lately. And He’s given me a humongous heart for Him. As I push into the ‘safety net’ He has me in, He continues to teach me how to give my all!

He’s restoring EVERYTHING… I mean, there’s still some things that are in the process, but every major thing I thought I lost he’s brought back to me! It’s so awesome!

 I change every day, it seems like, more and more! I get to be a part of something that’s way bigger than myself and not only that, but I get to lead others in the process as well!”

Tiffany is currently enrolled in our “Core School In Action” Program, phase 2 of the Apprenticeship, and we can attest one hundred percent that Tiffany lives a life of ABSOLUTE restoration. She is a living breathing testimony to Jesus’ words, “He who has been forgiven much loves much.” Tiffany loves much! She used to live a life where there was no hope, nothing worth setting her sight to, nothing worth living for—Now Tiffany dreams of seeing the love of Christ transform South Oroville, and see hope come to the community through Jesus!

As her interview came to a close, Tiffany said,

“If it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone!”

And we are so proud that it DID happen to her, because our lives are truly blessed and enriched through the life of Tiffany.

**Life Recovery Ministries is a residential 12-month drug and alcohol treatment facility and is situated in South Oroville as an arm of The Father’s House Church.

Meet Daniel!

Daniel Guererro

Age:

53--but would like us all to know 

he will be turning 54 in September. :)

Nicknames: 

"Shorty," "Smiley," and "Moses"

  

What we love about Daniel: 

We LOVE Daniel's consistent smile, joyful demeanor, his outgoing-ness (Yes, we like it so much we invented a new word for it!), and his arroz con pollo!  

Daniel is amongst our newest group of graduates from our Core School in Action (CIA) program. (First full year of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship) Since his graduation, Daniel has moved into full time ministry-- heading up The Father House Church's kitchen ministry, which feeds sometimes up to 100 people a day. In addition to cooking some awesome, home-cooked meals for the hungry people in the ministry of The Father's House, Daniel also is a big player in the church's "Visiting In Person" department. Daniel and the V.I.P team go weekly to hospitals, homeless camps, and homes of children, youth, and adults in need of encouragement or support. And already, Daniel is seeing things change because of their effort. 


     "I prayed for a woman with heart problems the other day when we went to
visit at the hospital." Daniel told us, "At the time she was just sleeping,but I figured I'd just pray anyways. Later that day, she was released from the hospital." As if that wasn't cool enough, Daniel went on to say, "That's what it's all about, you know? Giving it [God's love] away!"

As he shared his testimony, it quickly became very apparent that giving ANYTHING away, let alone love, was something that Daniel had never been able to do prior to his coming to know Jesus.  

     As he told us, "I used to be the worst taker there was. I would take a  
     person and manipulate them into whatever I wanted from them." 

As a child, he began dabbling with "small crimes" such as stealing four-track and eight-track tapes ("Make sure you put in the part about the four-tracks and the eight-tracks" Daniel insisted during his interview. "That way people will know how old I actually am!") but those crimes didn't stay "small" for long and turned quickly into drug use, violence, crime, a series of dysfunctional relationships, and all around hopelessness. 

"I was in a tailspin," Daniel recounted.

This tailspin and cycle of destructive behavior continued to spin faster and faster until Daniel could no longer take it. One morning, Daniel awoke and the first words out of his mouth were  

"God, I'm tired and I can't do this anymore!"  

As he took his dog for a walk in the streets of South Oroville, Daniel passed The Father's House Church office. He had never seen it before, but somehow knew that God was leading him there. He went into the office, interviewed for Life Recovery Ministries, (A 12-month residential rehabilitation program) was accepted into the program, and moved into a house by the end of the day!
Daniel recollects, "I was ready for a change!" And, boy, was he ready! Daniel quickly became a "star" of Life Recovery Ministries (LRM), and the rapid change occurring in him was obvious to everyone in Daniel's life. As the graduation of LRM drew nearer, Daniel knew there was more that God had for him.  

"I wanted to know God's heart, not just with my mind, and not just with my mouth." Daniel told us. It became clear to him (and us too) that Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship was an obvious next step-- so Daniel applied for the program, was accepted, and has been growing and changing through understanding God's powerful love for Daniel ever since! 

As Daniel tried to put into words what he's received during his time in Kingdom Awakening apprenticeship, He says very candidly, "Walking the path isn't always easy, but I'm learning [more and more everyday] how to stand in the truth-- and I'm this through the understanding of 'Greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world." He went on to tell us, "with the war in my mind, sometimes I don't make the right choice... But I want to get to the place where I choose right all the time."

Daniel is a man worth following. He is a leader as well as a friend to many, and the legacy of his life is one that will continually inspire and encourage. He may have been "the biggest taker there was," as he told us, but now anyone will tell you Daniel has learned the value of giving his life away and continues to serve selflessly and love unconditionally! 

Daniel Guererro! You're our hero!