Exie and Pam Barber

Senior Pastors

Detailed Biography

Exie E Barber was born on February 23, 1955, into an Assembly of God minister’s family. He served as the president of his church’s youth group from age thirteen until graduation from high school and was the teacher for the church’s teen class for most of that time. He put college on hold, after graduating valedictorian from Wallace County High School in Sharon Springs, Kansas. This resulted when he accepted a temporary position on staff of the Mabel Althoff Home for Boys (a Teen Challenge boys home located in Germantown, PA). He remained there from June of 1973 until October 1975, during which time he obtained his License to preach through the Kansas District Council of the Assemblies of God by taking courses through Berean School of the Bible. He resigned his position in the fall of 1975 and was married to Pamela Kay Jester on December 20, 1975.

     Pamela Kay Jester was born on June 7, 1954 ... also into an Assembly of God minister’s family. She began working with the children in the church when she was a teenager. She traveled from Delight, Arkansas, in the Summer of 1974 to Gila Bend, Arizona, to serve with Missionary Mattie Patillo as an intern missionary to the Papago Indians – now known as the Tohono O'Odham which means "Desert People". She served there for one and a half years before she was married to Exie Barber.

     The Barbers accepted the pastorate of the Harvestime Assembly of God in WaKeeney, Kansas, where they served together from September of 1976 through June of 1987. During this time Exie served as the Section Three Youth Representative and then as the Section Three Men’s
Representative, and Pam served as the Section Three Missionettes Representative for the Kansas District Assemblies of God. In 1978, Exie was ordained as a minister of the Assemblies of God and during the final years of their time in WaKeeney, Exie enrolled in a Bachelor of Career Arts
Degree program offered as an off campus program through the Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas.

     It was also during the time in Wakeeney, that Pam began to hold Children’s Crusades for churches and camps. Pam is a ventriloquist and uses a large vent doll along with other puppets, object lessons, visual aide stories, and drama to teach the children about Jesus and living a Christian life. She is firmly committed to the belief that children can experience a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This commitment has grown out of her personal experience as a child and from watching God work in the lives of children everywhere she has been--both as a pastor's wife and as a children's evangelist. But, the greatest thing that happened in WaKeeney was the birth of their two daughters ... Lanitha Kay on March 15, 1977, and Sabrina Dalene on December 14, 1980.

     The Barbers moved to Springfield, Missouri, in the spring of 1987 where Exie finished up his BCA Degree program on August 21, 1987. He then enrolled in the Assemblies of God
Theological Seminary in Springfield, from which he graduated April 26, 1989, with a Masters of Arts in Christian Education. During this time, Exie supported his family by working the graveyard shift as a student casual at the Springfield Post Office from July, 1987, through June, 1988, and then as an orderly in the total care unit of Maranatha Nursing Home in Springfield from July, 1988, until May, 1989. Pam also obtained a Clerk/Typist Diploma from the Rutledge Business College of Springfield during this time and served as the Missionettes director for the Park Crest Assembly of God church.

     The Barbers then moved to Ellsworth, Kansas, where they have served as the senior pastors of the Assembly of God of Ellsworth since June of 1989. Pam has continued working with children and has held crusades in California, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Illinois. In April of 1994, she traveled to Sierra Leone, Africa, to teach adults on working with children and to conduct crusades in the capital city of Freetown. She also has continued working with Missionettes, serving for a total of fourteen years as a sectional representative, first in section three and then in section four. She then accepted the position of Kansas District Missionettes Coordinator, representing over 3000 girls across the state of Kansas, and served in that position for a total of twelve years until she resigned in 2005. As the Missionettes Coordinator, Pam lead two separate missions trips to Telgusagapa, Honduras, to help Missionary Becky Hoshaw in outreach to the children of
Honduras and to conduct a Missionettes Retreat for Honduras. Pam has also assisted in leading the ladies of Kansas on missions trips to Romania and Jamaica, and directed the Kansas team of twenty-five women this past March of 2007 to Mazatlan.

     During the time in Ellsworth, Exie has written a total of forty-five different lessons for Radiant Life Adult Curriculum (the National Assemblies of God Sunday School Curriculum).
He also served as Section Three Youth Representative for Kansas District Council Assemblies of God for several years and has Served as Section Three Presbyter for Kansas District Council Assemblies of God since the summer of 2002. In addition to this, Exie has ministered on a regular basis within the walls of the Ellsworth Correctional Facility through Bible Studies.

     Lanitha was married to Patrick Tanton following the second year of college and graduated from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, in the spring of 1999. She and her husband now have two children and are living in Lufkin, Texas, where Patrick serves as an associate pastor with an emphasis on young adults and connectivity within the Lufkin Assembly of God church.

     Sabrina graduated from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, in the spring of 2003 and was married to Joshua Yancey. She and her husband have one child, and Sabrina is expecting their second child in July of 2008. They still live in Springfield, and Joshua is a manager for AT&T and serves Oak Grove Assembly in Springfield as the Young Adult Pastor.