A History
In the 1970s, Norm and Joan received a book from a friend in California. They didn’t remember the title or author of that book, but written inside was a quote from Fundamentals of the Everlasting Gospel by E.H. Sequeira, of the Ethiopian Union.
Norm and Joan working together.
Norm said that, from that short quote, a light bulb went on in his mind, and they wanted a copy of the book but didn’t know how to reach the author. In 1987, they attended meetings at Andrews University and heard someone mention that “Jack” was there. They introduced themselves and asked how to receive his books. They took the few copies he had, shared them with friends, and kept in touch. They wanted more, but were told they were out of print.
Norm aligning pages for trimming.
Finally, in 1990, they persuaded Jack to let them print his books. They started with equipment in their home and the first printing of 2,000 Dynamics of the Everlasting Gospel sold out in three months. The next printing of 3,000 went in another three months.
Since then, they have printed more than 42,000 books and made 3,000 copies of tape albums. The most popular books were Dynamics of the Everlasting Gospel, Romans, Gospel in a Nutshell, and The Cross of Christ. Favorite tapes included Romans, The Cross of Christ, The Holy Spirit, 27 Fundamentals, and Gospel in a Nutshell.
Norm supervising Joan.
They willingly contributed 12 years to this ministry, involving countless hours of untiring dedication. They went through VW automobiles and covered around 500,000 miles distributing and mailing materials.
What makes this special couple’s contribution even more amazing is that Joan became totally blind by the fall of 1996. They attributed this to possible chemical poisoning when formaldehyde may have destroyed her optic nerves. But to see Joan at work, patiently transcribing one sentence at a time, one would never have guessed that she was blind. Special software, “Outspoken,” aided her transcriptions of Pastor Jack’s sermon tapes on their Macintosh computer.
Norm placing book on spiral binding machine.
Norm used his expertise and equipment to edit, proof, print, cut, bind, advertise, and market the products. They say that their greatest joy experienced over the years has been the enthusiastic response to Pastor Jack’s books. So many people have shared their stories of the joy, peace, and assurance received from studying the books and listening to the tapes.
It was only after they had well passed their three-score years and ten that they felt the need to pass the work on to others. After JackSequeira.org began in 1996, the books the Barkers printed were sold through the website. Over time, those books were all transferred to the website.
Their lives have been such a blessing to so many others.
Love, prayers, and a heart full of thanks,