OUR SHORT STORY
John
Barrow is the founder of A Better Way Ministries, Pastor, and a father of four.
I was stay at home mom with four kids, homeschooling, and helping
my husband run a local business. John and I met on March 16, 2009 through
a mutual friend....We had no idea how that meeting would change our lives.
I
made him our Ezekiel Toaster Pancakes, presented what I had learned about
baking from freshly milled wheat, and fed him breakfast that morning. I
honestly had no idea what God was doing with me, I just knew I had to be
obedient to the Lord and show this man what I had learned the past few years.
I fully expected that to be the first and last time I would ever meet
John Barrow. I was mistaken.
After much prayer and God really opening doors and giving us His unmistakable blessing, A Better Way Bread was born.
OUR MISSION
The Bible
says that "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God." (Luke 4:4) That is why we at A Better
Way Bread strive to use only the freshest ingredients to make
our physical bread, but we also strive to pray over every batch of dough that
is kneaded. Our bread is made by the hands of men who have incorporated
Luke 4:4 into their own lives as well as invested their effort and passion into
bringing this to you. The men in our ministry come broken, but Jesus
tells us, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness." (II Cor. 12:9) So in our weakness we are
actually strongest because we draw our strength from Him and Him
alone. By faith and through the mercy of Christ, our men
have CHOSEN to overcome their own giants and submit their lives to God.
A Better Way
Bread brings to you not only a physically sustaining bread by using all parts of
the wheat, but with this comes the hope that you will allow Him to use all
the parts of yourself, especially the spiritual. Jesus Christ said,
"I am the bread of life and the he who comes to me shall never
hunger." (John 6:35) May the bread that you have in your hands
satisfy your physical needs but may it also satisfy your spirit as you realize
that you are eating something that has been bathed in prayer. So you see,
this is so much more than bread....
My name is Danny Brooks, born in Atlanta, GA, but grew up here in the small town of Turin, Ga. I grew up like many of us in a Christian home. I had a small family, myself, mom and dad and my two brothers. I grew up with a very loving family.
I was a good lad, did well in school and always loved to play music. In my later teen years I won the Eagle Scout award and a number of others. I went to college after high school and was introduced to drugs and alcohol on my 18th birthday. It just goes to show you that addiction doesn’t care who you are. The devil’s job is to steal, kill, and destroy.
The more I did drugs, the lower my G.P.A. got and eventually I had to leave college. The years following college I began working in the restaurant business and found a new love, but alcohol and drugs became a close friend as well. I became an accomplished cook, very close to chef status. But drugs had become my main dish and soon jail was my dining room.
When you have God in your life, through family and community, prayer can change things and that’s what I needed. The Lord delivered me while I was in jail and I have never looked back since. I was worried that I would never be able to work in the food business again because of the nature of the “bar and grill” world, but the Lord saw it fit to make a better way to bless me in the food business with A Better Way Bread bakery. A Better Way Bread has given this former addict a new drive and life to continue pursuing my passion in the food business. I enjoy making healthy food and pastries for people and ministering through taste, just like King David said in Psalm 34:8 “ O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”
Jesse Marsh, Marketing & Baking
My Vitals: Jesse Marsh, 28 years old, born and raised in Coweta County.
I began to experiment with drugs and alcohol while in high school. My drinking and drug use was limited to parties and weekend events until I went off to college. This was the first time I began to actively seek out the alcohol and drugs every day until it was a common place routine. I drifted for the next five years in and out of several colleges. In this process I managed to get an associates’ degree in Science from Gordon College, but never decided to take my life to the next level. My spirituality was non-existent, and drinking began to rule my life. Drug use was a non factor, as I tended to stay away from harder drugs. Drinking, however, became an everyday affair. I developed full blown alcoholism by the time I was 22 years old, and was financially unstable, was flying in and out of employment, continued to have legal troubles, and was my life was in utter disarray. By the time I was 27, I had racked up three DUIs and knew that I needed some help. I knew about A Better Way through a friend and had considered entering prior, but this time I knew that there was no use in prolonging getting some real help. My life had become unmanageable, I knew it, my family knew it, and God knew it. Today, as I prepare to graduate I can look back on my experience with this ministry and really see just how well God was able to begin to orchestrate His vision for my life. When I came in there was only the moving company, so needless to say when the baking first began at the farm it took me completely by surprise. Working with Leia, Danny, and JK, the surprises and blessings kept coming and we quickly realized that God had a plan for not only our lives, but a plan to prosper us as well. The prospering has come in the form of hard work, dedication, humility, and patience mostly, but as the year begins I can- not help but be exuberantly optimistic about where this journey will take us. I enjoy our healthy bread, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and most importantly now building healthy relationships.
