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.
Frustration with believers Part 1
Omega Building
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.
Our Generation Summit
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.
October Prayer Letter
Dear Pastors and Praying Friends,
It is so exciting to see all the great things that are happening here in Arequipa! We are getting established here with Language School and in the ministry.
One of the most exciting things that has happened in my personal life is that God has allowed me to lead my first soul as a full time missionary here on the field. Alex is a young man that I met a couple of months ago. We started spending a lot of time together and many opportunities came up to answer questions and speak of the Gospel.
I offered to buy him a Bible and start discipleship lessons. He took my offer and we started with the most important lesson: Salvation. That night he went home and accepted Christ as his personal Savior. There has been a great change in his life and he has been reading through his Bible extremely fast.
Please pray for him to be a good testimony to his friends and coworkers. He has already started impacting them with the change they have seen in his life.
God is doing great things at Omega Baptist (the new church plant)! We are seeing a great growth in the life of our people. We are currently going through the book of Acts and seeing how a true biblical church functioned. God is knitting our hearts together through this message series as we see the theme of unity so prominent in the book of Acts.
We will soon be moving to our new location in the middle of the city. Please pray with us about this. We need $10,000.00 for different set up costs, like chairs, audio, paint, etc. This is an extremely important need that I ask you to pray about helping us with.
We just concluded our 11th Annual Pastor’s Conference. It was a very exciting time and we saw many pastors encouraged and helped through the morning workshops and the evening services. My father and pastor, Austin Gardner, was our guest speaker and did an awesome job throughout the whole week. The theme was “Para Su Gloria” (For His Glory). One of the most encouraging things to see was the 100 person choir that was organized! So many people from so many different backgrounds coming together as the redeemed to worship the King of Glory! God truly used unworthy people to bring glory and honor to his name.
Thank you so much for all that you do to keep us here on the mission field. God is doing a great work here, and I have never been more excited about serving Him. These are exciting times we are living in.
For His Glory,
David and Katie Gardner
Missionaries to Peru
Macedonia World Baptist Missions
Chris and Andria Gardner are going to be in the States for twenty days in some missions conferences, etc. God is doing a lot of great things here with the new church plant and the Bible College here. He will be in the US from Nov. 4th through the 24th. Here is their schedule:
November 4-Wednesday evening
November 5 Booked
November 8-Sunday AM
November 8 Sunday PM
November 11 Wednesday evening
November 14-17 Booked
November 18 Wednesday evening
November 22 Sunday AM
November 22 Sunday PM
They will also have time on non normal service days to preach or present the work. The Peru Bible College and Omega Baptist Church are very worthy of your support. You will be blessed to hear all that God is doing.
You can contact Chris here: gardner@uttermost.net or by phone @: 770-456-5620
Omega Location
Please be praying for our opportunities to rent a building that is in a great place right next to one of the biggest colleges in Arequipa. The price for the rent is extremely cheap for the space and the area that it is located in. There have just been some disconnects between the landlord and ourselves and we are trying to get all of that worked out. The landlord is an elderly woman that is confusing us with some other people that have been interested in the building. I think the question of the day was when she asked “how are you guys going to start a night club and a church in the same building?”. Anyway, just pray that things go well from now on.
