As the associational missionary for the Carey Baptist Association, Chuck Barrett’s goal is to serve a healthy association of churches as they love and serve God.
“I want to know the pastors, ministry leaders and church folks well enough to earn their trust, which opens the door to service. What that service looks like may vary from congregation to congregation. I just need to be knowledgeable, flexible and available,” he said.
Barrett came to Carey Baptist Association in July 2019. He and his wife, Alicia, previously served with the International Mission Board (IMB) for 22 years.
They were finishing a five-year term in Perth, Australia, when the Voluntary Retirement Initiative with the IMB was offered. A variety of events led them to the knowledge that God was working for them not to return to the “field.”
The couple was scheduled to be the Missionaries in Residence (MRI) at Ouachita Baptist University in 2016.
After the year of serving as Missionaries in Residence (MRI) at Ouachita Baptist University, Barrett joined the maintenance crew on campus and served a year there when he was approached by a pest control firm. He was employed there for one year when he saw Carey Baptist Association was searching for a missionary to serve.
“I have found Carey to be a wonderful fit in ministry which I find very fulfilling as well,” Barrett said.
Barrett said Carey Baptist Association, which comprises all of Dallas and much of Ouachita and a portion of Calhoun counties, has a rich heritage of impacting the world for Jesus. Carey is the home of men that many in the state will know, men like Bud Fray, as well as Bill and Tom Elliff.
“These men not only encouraged my spiritual journey, they opened up much of the work done by the IMB in Sub-Saharan Africa where Alicia and I served for 16 years. I get to pay it back, and I am honored,” Barrett said.
In terms of ministries, Barrett said Carey Baptist Association has one of the most well-run church camps in all of Arkansas. Additionally, like many other Associations, he said they cooperate with a local Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) and Crisis Pregnancy Center. He said they were recently blessed with a church plant in their association in Carthage and pastored by Nicholas Walker.
“I am blessed to be in Carey Association,” Barrett said.
For more about the Carey Baptist Association, click here.