--The year 2007 was an incredible year for Eternal Concepts. There were also several changes for the organization. Please tell us a little bit about these changes concerning the discipleship training school.

Dave: This was the first year that we solely conducted discipleship seminars overseas. In the past, we had primarily held discipleship schools here in the United States, but a couple of years ago, we felt God leading us in a new direction. This year was the fruit of that new leading. We were in the nations of India, Romania, and Philippines where we held three separate discipleship seminars. It was encouraging to see God work in these students’ lives at profound levels. We saw a hunger for God from some of these students that we hadn’t seen before. We also were able to engage five times as many students in 2007 through the discipleship program than in the previous ten years combined. So it was an exciting and encouraging start to this new beginning.

--There were also several other exciting changes made, one of which was the implementation of several podcasts for Eternal Concepts. Please give us a taste of what our readers can expect from these podcasts.

Dave: The whole idea for the pod casts series came from a former mentor of mine, David Guion. This past spring, I also went to a conference that dealt with a conference on Christ and culture. This conference, called Q, was one of the defining events in my life so far. The whole premise of the conference was to try and understand how, even though we’ve grown numerically in American Christianity, our cultural influence has diminished, especially over the last few decades. This topic of Christ and culture is what these family podcasts are all about. And this is something I am deeply passionate about. They are geared towards helping a person see the fingerprints of God that are all around them, through the cultural artifacts with which we daily interact. I call it exhibiting a kind of earthy spirituality.

We have four distinct and different podcasts.
(1) Faith and Film - deals with cinema;
(2) The Written Word - deals in the literary realm;
(3) Audio Amateurs - highlights other podcasts that are worthy of people’s attention;
(4) Global Goldmines - exposes listeners to a variety of global places that will broaden their perspective on life. We also combine these four separate podcasts programs together in a program we call Christ and Culture. A person can go to our website (www.thinketernalconcepts.org) and listen to these podcasts or you can download them free from I-tunes. Each week there is a new podcast that comes out for each of these programs.

--You and your sister, Renee Barker, have also begun a documentary and podcast project, called The Bottom Line. Can you touch on this project and tell us what it is all about.

Dave: The Bottom Line is a multi-media journey into the heart of Ethical Shopping. Ethical Shopping is the idea that when we shop, we are looking to purchase various products, whether it be food, laundry detergent, clothing, or investments that can concurrently positively impact another person’s life in a far-away place. This past year, we were in Washington D. C. and the United Kingdom conducting interviews that pertain to the Bottom Line. It was amazing to see how God allowed us to intersect with these people’s lives who are making a substantial difference in the arena of Ethical Shopping. Our goal and desire for this project is that personally we would first become the stewards that God has called us to be with our purchasing power. Secondly, we hope to introduce others to this whole issue of ethical shopping and why and how it can affect our global neighbors to the South.

--Donkey Talk is another area in which Eternal Concepts is growing and expanding. What exactly is Donkey Talk and what are your hopes and plans for it?

Dave: Donkey Talk is a text-based daily devotional geared towards university age students, which will also eventually include multi-media elements such as a pod cast and website. There will be a daily devotional that a student can study through. If they want to go deeper, they can utilize the multi-media tools that will be available through the web. It will include things like thematic studies, a hero of the faith for every day of the year, and a passage of scripture where more cultural background is given about those God-inspired words. I am hoping to work at least one day a week in 2008 on this project, so Donkey Talk will be close to having a first draft finished by the year end.

--2008 proves to be another thrilling year for Eternal Concepts. Tell us a little bit about what is in store throughout the various areas for next year.

Dave: Eternal Concepts will begin in two war-torn countries for our discipleship seminars. Both Angola and Sudan have been devastated by massive bloodshed from the past, so we will be working with university students in both of those countries. In Angola, we will be partnering with STM ministries to not only conduct a discipleship seminar, but also to conduct an evangelistic outreach that will coincide with a nationwide outreach that STM will be holding. In Sudan, we will be in the southern part at their main university in Juba. We pray God’s presence will be abundant, as the peace process seems to be very tenuous in that country at this moment.

We will also continue with an annual tour that we are planning in the nation of India. We will go from region to region throughout the country, one per year, holding these discipleship seminars.

In 2008, for The Bottom Line project, we will conduct various interviews stateside, on both coasts. We, also, hope to document some stories on our overseas travels as well.

Our goal for the Christ and Culture family pod cast is to increase the production value and for it to become a place no matter who is listening, that they can engage with cultural artifacts that help them to link Christ and culture together.

One other massive project that is new to us is a humanitarian one, which we will conduct with STM ministries and the organization Quartius Diem. We will be going to a war-torn African country and talking to officials there about hosting a holistic program that addresses both the spiritual and physical needs of the people of that nation. We will be in the planning stages in 2008 for a massive outreach that will take place in 2009 and 2010 within this country. We could use lots of prayer for this venture as we follow God’s direction and heart.

--How can people pray and help Eternal Concepts as the new year begins?

Dave: You can pray for three areas:
(1) For humility as we continue to grow and as God expands our influence, that we would be dependent on Him and recognize that He is the One who sustains all of these projects.
(2) We are an extremely small staff - that we would be able to wisely manage our personal and professional obligations. And that each of us individually would live according to the rhythms of eternity.
(3) Please pray that whatever we do, that God continues to provide the resources and time needed to do all of these projects with excellence that will ultimately bring recognition to His name and fame around the world.

If you would like more information about Eternal Concepts or how you can help this inspiring organization, please call 210-479-0000 or go to www.thinketernalconcepts.org