Thank you all for your continued prayer and support while we are here in Peru.
God is continuing to do a work in Arequipa with all of the ministries we are involved in.
Medical Clinic
Once again, we had the opportunity to host a group from Pensacola Christian College here in Arequipa. We held a medical clinic at Omega Baptist Church’s facilities. It was a great time and we were able to see plenty of people with so many needs.
We started on a Monday morning and ended on Friday evening. With a group of 30 volunteers from the U.S., and plenty more translators, counselors and helpers from Peru, we were able to give medical attention to 1800 people. Between the medical attention and receiving their prescriptions, we sent them to counseling where we had the opportunity of sharing the Gospel with them. We thank God that there were almost 700 professions of faith during the week.
I want to ask you to pray that we will be able to send workers from the different churches in Arequipa to meet with these people and follow up with the ones that made professions of faith. We are excited that God allowed us to share the Gospel with so many. But it is our desire to see these people that did accept Christ, receive discipleship and grow into mature Christians. We will be handing out their information to different pastors in the city and hopefully we will see some long lasting fruit from this wonderful event.
Youth Ministry
I wanted to ask you to pray for the youth ministry at Omega Baptist Church. It has become one of the most fruitful and fastest growing ministries in the church. I thank God that He is allowing me to head the ministry up, but feel a great responsibility to help these young people reach spiritual maturity. We are studying through the book of Romans right now and God is blessing tremendously. Please pray for a few things with us:
Spiritual growth
Unity
Growth in numbers (We want to see 100 in attendance by April of 2011)
Chloe’s Arrival
Our daughter, Chloe, will come into this world at any time now! The due date is around the 14th of July. Please pray that the delivery will go well and that the doctors will have the necessary wisdom to handle everything correctly.
Also pray that our support will continue to come in, as I am sure that many expenses will increase once she is here to consume formula and the many diapers that are required!
For His Glory,
David and Katie Gardner
Missionaries to Peru
Macedonia World Baptist Missions
Alex has really come a long way and God has definitely been working in his life in great ways since he accepted Christ last year. I thank God for giving me such an awesome privilege of having a part of seeing him grow and also being able to baptize him. Please pray for him as he is growing and starting to bring many of his friends along with him.
this is the second baptism in the church, but the first baptism in the church building. Everyone was excited to see a young man get saved, discipled and baptized all through the church. I can’t tell you how excited I am to just be a small part of what God is doing. I really am humbled and amazed at all that He is doing through us.
Here is the video. Enjoy!
Four years ago today, I was blessed beyond all measure with the perfect woman that God had for me. I know many think that we are still kids, but man, we were really kids back then. I was 20 and Katie was 19 that day!
The past four years of my life have been amazing! We have had great days and bad days. Happy days and sad days. Bright days and dark days. But the most amazing thing about it all is that we have been there beside each other along the whole way. I have never deserved her love or her care, but she has been there. I thank God for a woman that is willing to follow me away from her family and friends, away from her culture and language to another country far away to serve God with me. I am so privileged to have her as my bride.
When my dad asked me why I wanted to marry her, I said “Because we can glorify God more together than we can apart”. Looking back on the past four years of what God has done in our lives through the joys and pains, I can truly say that Katie has made me a better man and we have been able to glorify our Savior much more together than we could apart. I thank God for Katie, and I thank God for having mercy on me in giving me Katie.
We are headed into a new stage in life. Chloe will be here soon and, as everyone under the sun has told me, it will change our lives more than we could ever imagine. I’m so excited about it, because we will be together through the whole process.
Thank you Katie for your love, friendship and support. I couldn’t be who I am without you.
I love you!
Well, I didn’t wake up this morning thinking that it was going to be too unusual, but it turned out to be quite out of the ordinary. I have been asking God to provide a vehicle in some way before Chloe came along. I didn’t really know how he would do it or, get this, even if he would do it. After a few months of waiting and praying, an awesome opportunity presented itself today. A friend of a friend was needing to sell his car for financial purposes, but also wanted a small motorcycle, which I had. After some conversation and negotiations I handed him my motorcycle as part of the payment and I will continue monthly payments to him for about a year.
I know it doesn’t sound like that awesome of a deal, but paying for a car every month is unheard of here. With anyone else I would have had to pay cash up front for the whole thing, which I could not do. I’m just excited that God has provided something for the three of us to ride in once Chloe arrives.
I just need everyone’s help with the following: A Name! What should I name it? Rico Suave? Grover? Antonio Banderas? Blue Steel?
Send in your comments and we will take a vote on it and see which ones we like or which ones are voted for the most. If I only get one comment, I’m naming it something really stupid, so help!
I wanted to thank each of you for praying for today’s services. We had a great time this morning and the place was packed! We didn’t reach our goal, but we still had the biggest Sunday that we have had so far. Our goal for today was 300, but we reached 166 people today.
I know we were a little over half of what our goal was, but God still gave great victories. And the best part of it all was that eight people raised their hands for decisions to accept Christ as their personal Savior! It is very exciting to see that God allowed us to see people start a new life and a new relationship with him.
be praying that these people will not fall through the cracks but will be followed up with discipleship and visitation.
I feel very privileged to be a part of this church. God has shown me so much and I have grown from all the things we are doing there. I ask you to continue to pray for Omega. Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city! We want to see the name of Christ lifted up and glorified through Omega.
I will be sure to post some pictures up very soon.
Philipians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Hands down, the most exciting thing that I have been able to witness and be a part of here in Peru is the transformation of lives! I’ve never seen anything like it and it thrills me!
I was talking to “Chorri” (Alex) today after he had visited one of his lost friends. He explained to me that his friends had asked him about all of this Christian “stuff” that he was doing now and he was able to share a little bit of his testimony with his friends. In the beginning he had mentioned to me several times that he didn’t know what to answer people when they kept bombarding him with so many questions about God, christianity and church. But now, he is able to share, in a very limited way, his testimony!
Later in the evening, he came over to my house and we started going through discipleship. The lesson said to look up a verse in 2 Timothy. All of the sudden I hear Chorri saying it out loud “Galatians, Ephesians, Philipians, Colossians, Thesalonians aaaand Timothy.” He had already memorized a great portion of the books of the Bible without me even telling him to or teaching him!
I have only taught him to “love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” and the Holy Spirit has taken care of the rest.
The wonderful thing about a person being saved, is that I don’t have to play the Holy Spirit in his life! I don’t have to tell him what to do or what not to do! I don’t have to make him adjust to my definition of a good Christian! The Holy Spirit works the work!!!! How great is that? All I have to do is teach the word of God, teach him to love God and mentor him in the things of God. I am completely amazed at the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s word. I am more convinced now than ever that His word is alive. It IS sharper than any two edged sword.
All of that to say this: Discipler, don’t force your disciple into growing. We would all find it odd to see a three year old toddler walking around in an adult sized suit. Let God perform the good work he begun. Guide them in love, bring them along in the love of their Savior. Christian, let God perform the good work he begun. Stop trying to change yourself. Stop trying to make yourself better. Let Him make you better, let Him change you, let His word penetrate the deepest part of your soul and find everything in you that needs to change, and let Him remove the things that you don’t need, the sins that you hold onto and let it all be replaced with the wonderful, abounding, never ending love of your heavenly Father and THOU SHALT GROW!
Now that I have finally been allowed back into my blog by the wonderful people at Wordpress, I would like to update all of you on a huge event that we are planning for Sunday. Inauguration Sunday!
Please be praying this huge event. We are praying that it will be the biggest event we have had yet at Omega! Our highest attendance was around 135 people (if I’m not mistaken). But, we want to get up to 300 on Sunday. We have passed out over 8,000 flyers throughout the city, we have rented inflatable slides for the kids from the neighborhood and a whole lot more. We are trying to do all that we can and leave the results up to God. I’m not asking you for money, so it’s okay! Don’t panic! I just want you to pray with us that many will come be part of the service and hear the gospel of Jesus. Thanks in advance for all of your prayers!
One of the most frustrating events that has transpired since arriving here In Peru has not been the language (obviously) or the culture (even though I have had my bit of culture shock) or even the massive groups that come down to Peru with every question under the sun concerning Peru. Where are we going next? As if they would have an idea when I tell them Paucarpata or something. Don’t get me wrong, I love having groups, but it is frustrating to hear those questions 24/7.
The most frustrating time for me has been caused by one person alone. I have stayed awake at night asking myself what I am doing wrong. I find myself constantly praying for this person, asking God to do a work In his life.
If you have seen my Twitter or Facebook status you have seen updates about a young man that accepted Christ a few weeks ago. Sadly, things have taken a turn for the worse with him. He started out very well, reading his Bible, growing, attending church, asking tons of questions and showing fruit of his salvation. But now, things are different. Things started getting busy at work and soccer tournaments started taking up his weekends and he has no time for church, his Bible or most importantly God.
I’ll try to explain what I see in his life in the next few posts, and it might help you see the same happening in someone you know or even yourself. I don’t know what I am doing, but I am asking the Lord for wisdom concerning this situation.
Thanks for reading.
Praise God! Yesterday we had a meeting with the landlord of the building we are trying to rent for the new church plant (Omega Baptist). We were able to negotiate everything and should be signing a contract on Monday. With all the excitement of a new church building we also have the need for our startup fund ($10,000). The church has already given some of that, but we are still far from our goal. Please pray with me that God would raise that money for the church. There are so many plans and dreams for the church but we need God in the middle of it all. He will glorify His name through all of this. Stick around to watch or even join in and be a part of it.
I will post some pictures and video soon. Stay tuned.
Vision Baptist Church of Alpharetta will be hosting a winter retreat from December 31-January 2 in Pigeon Forge TN.
The Our Generation Summit is an annual gathering of Christians with a heart for world missions. Pastors and missionaries, teachers and students, businessmen and families join for three days to learn how to better fulfill their role in reaching the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“With His work of redemption complete, Jesus had one final message to His followers before His acension: All authority is mine. My last command to my church is that you go to the ends of the earth and preach the Gospel” says Austin Gardner, veteran missionary and pastor of Vision, “People often wonder what is the point of a church. This is it.”
Speakers at the event will include pastors and missionaries from around the world, who will be teaching classes on subjects such as media in missions, cultural adaptation, history of missions, and many more.
Located once again at the beautiful Music Road Hotel in the center of action-packed Pigeon Forge, the OG Summit provides a fantastic venue for any church or youth group seeking an easy-to-organize winter retreat filled with excitement and passion for Christ.
Discounts are available for early and group registration. For more information, visit www.ogsummit.info, or call (770) 456-5881.
