Well Betty and I arrived first in London this morning at about 8 AM London time. Then we arrived in Malaga, Spain at 4 pm Spanish time and were met by our friends, Tyler and Gretchen Masters. From there we traveled to Algeciras, Spain where we took the ferry across the Mediterranean to the city of Tanger, Morocco where some more of our friends live.
It has been a wonderful time of fellowship and seeing already the things that God is doing. We met a young Moroccan pastor who gave a beautiful testimony of salvation. We saw another friend, Keith Shumaker, from Burkina Faso who is here visiting. The internet connection is horrible but I hope to stay in touch with you. I know that God is going to bless each of you and I ask you to be praying for our friends here who are trying to get the gospel of Jesus Christ to a people who have never heard the truth about Him. They may know His name but have no idea who He really is or what He could do in their lives.
I will write more tomorrow from another city after Betty and I get some sleep after traveling for well over 24 hours.
Well, I apoligize for not updating ya’ll recently but we’ve all been extremely busy and this trip has been very exciting.
We’ve had some amazing (tourist) opportunities like going to the third largest Mosque in the world, ride camels, and go to Berber markets. To see the mosque was very emotional. As many as 120,000 Moroccans go to the mosque to pray at one time. Please pray that God would call more laborers to this area of the world.
Over the last several days we have had time to make contacts, build relationships, and begin to share the message of Christ with several Moroccans. I ask that you PLEASE PRAY for them by name: Elkia, Hisham, Whorda, Adnan, Khalid (3 by this name), Mohammed (3 by this name), Yesin, Marwan (2 by this name), Loubna, Paoula, Fatima, Zohra, Rajae, Najat, Amal, Zainab, Hicham, Younes. Please pray that God would give us a door of utterance with these people and others. Most of them are Moslems but are willing to talk and even be friends. Also please pray that God would touch their hearts and that they would have the faith and boldness to turn to the truth.
Betty and I are sitting in the Atlanta airport on our way to Morocco via London then on to Malaga, Spain, and then finally to Morocco to visit our friends there. I will have a good chance to speak and teach to the different missionaries and students on multiple occasions and so unlike some might think this is not a vacation trip however I guess in many ways my whole life is like a vacation.
Can you imagine working a job that is so much fun to you that you can’t believe that you are getting paid for it. That is how I feel about the ministry. Over all these years many have told me how much they admired me and even felt sorry for me being a missionary but maybe I better tell you that the most exciting life in the world is the life of serving Jesus Christ.
I loved being a missionary and I love being a pastor. Can you imagine pastoring a church where God allows you a church like Vision Baptist. Can you imagine getting to stand and teach and preach the greatest message that the world has ever seen. Well that is the privilege that I enjoy nearly every day of my life.
Well enough of praising God for what He is doing in my life and to ask you to pray for us as we travel and preach and teach. I will try to post regular updates here on the blog so I hope that you will be able to be with us. Comment on some of the postings to let me know that you are reading and following all that God will be doing.
I am not sure if you know that you are allowed to comment but I want you to feel free to comment on things you see on the blog here. If you have a question that you want to ask or comment to make please feel free to click on the word comments even though it says 0. You will then simply register and you can make comments that will be posted on the article once they have been moderated. Also if you would rather you can always email me your questions directly at gardner@bcwe.org. I would really enjoy hearing from you.
I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be the pastor of Vision Baptist Church. I thank God for His rich blessings on my life and on the ministry of our church. I look forward to hearing from you.
Hearing from you while I am on the trip to Morocco and Ireland would be tremendous.
Well today was Redemption Sunday in several ways. God has really been blessing our church and I do not know how to thank Him enough for what He is doing. Today God allowed us to see a man accept Jesus Christ as His personal Saviour in the service. He is 36 years old. I had preached on Redemption and when he prayed he ended his prayer saying Lord I want to be redeemed. I don’t believe that you can beat that. Another thing about his testimony is that he Laotian and was a Buddist priest when he was 16 years old. He left the false gods to serve the one and only true and living God today.
This week 4 of our juniors accepted Christ in the camp that was held at Lighthouse Baptist Church. God has just opened the doors and allowed us to see Him save several recently. God is so good–all the time!
Tonight was our international service and we sang and had special music in both languages–English and Spanish. It is such a beautiful blessing to have all of us together singing and praising God from many different nationalities. I thank God for all the many nationalities involved in the special service tonight.
Today our attendance was 89 in Sunday School, 115 in the AM service and 82 in the evening service. Though it is summer time God is still blessing our attendance. Well another month has ended and here are our numbers as monthly averages; Sunday School 99, AM 125, PM 89. God has really blessed and I thank each of you for your very hard work.
Well Mark and Amy Coffey are celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary. They are happy and blessed of God. I thank God for the opportunity to work with them here in our church. I have known Amy since she was a baby and I have known Mark since his early teen years. Mark and I have worked together now for years. When it was time to start the church I think that we both knew that we would be in this together. He has been there with me now for years step for step and i could never tell you how much I appreciate him.
He works behind the scenes. Whatever you see me do that seems to have been a blessing and a success the majority of that is due to Mark’s hard work. He plans my schedule. He sees to it that I am ready. He is a man of God and a great friend.
Our church is blessed to have him on our church staff as the Administrative Pastor. He has been greatly used of God up until now but his best days are yet to come. I have no idea of all the ways that we are going to see God use him.
Thank you Mark and Amy for being our friends. Thank you for your hard work and sacrifice. Thank you for your giving spirit. Thank you for the way that you can handle pressure and keep going. I want you to know today that I love you and admire you.
Amy, thank you for always being so giving of your time and your husband. Thank you for all of your sacrifice. Thank you for the wonderful lessons you teach the young ladies. Thank you for your desire to be used of God and to have a husband that is used of God. We love you very much and are very proud of you.
Thank you both from the bottom of my heart and thank you on behalf of Vision Baptist Church.
Please pray for all our missionary kids as you read this but especially pray for Jacob. Thank you so much.
There have been at least 48 children in Peru die with pneumonia this year. As you in the states are getting into the summer months, we on the other side of the equator are getting into winter. No heating and air in the houses have made this winter a very difficult one. The thermometers in some places in Peru have gotten down to -4 degrees. There have been over 7000 cases of pneumonia in Peru this year.
Well it should be 7001 now. Jacob, was told that he had asthma but after taking treatments for a couple of days still couldn’t sleep, he would cough all through the night. We just left the house at 9:30 pm and took him to the emergency room. Peru is a beautiful place when it comes to emergency rooms, we don’t fill out papers for 4 hours normally, we actually take it like an emergency and get to taking care of the patient. We were out of there and back home at midnight. We had a doctors appointment and an xray and a nebulizer treatment and an IV put in him. Not bad for 2 1/2 hours. The doctor says that he has Bronchial Spasms right now, the beggining stages of pneumonia and Asthma. Needless to say he isn’t a happy camper.
The doctor let him go home but we have to go to the hospital 3 times a day for antibiotics for the first 3 days and then they will evaluate how he is doing. Pray for him that he gets better pretty quickly, trying to keep him down is going to be a chore.
The carrot, egg, and a cup of coffee. Something to think about and share; A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee…
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?” Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
It’s easier to build a child than repair an adult. This is so true. May we all be like COFFEE.
Jeff Bush is one of our missionaries. He is a great man with a great family. Jeff has been diagnosed for sure now with rheumatoid arthritis. Things should have been caught in time to manage the disease. Jeff is on medication. I want to ask you to be praying for him and his family. This is not an easy problem to have but I know that God has great plans for his life.
Jeff and Mindy, we here at Vision Baptist Church love you.
Well I know that several missionaries and pastor friends read this blog on occasion and so I wanted to ask you to be in prayer with me about a very special need. Years ago I started a youth congress in Peru every year. At first it was real small and met in the first church that I started. Brother Tony Howeth would come and preach it for me. We had several hundred the first year with just a few from outside the city of Arequipa but each year it got bigger and bigger. More and more came from outside the city and even outside the country.
I had always given them a place to stay and their food bill while they were there with us. Today around 1200 usually come to the congress and it costs around $6,000. It is a wonderful time. Our youth pastor, Trent Cornwell, will be going down to preach this year.
The problem is that I am no longer in Peru. I no longer have a network of churches and missionaries to help with the congress. It all falls on Chris and the fellows that are still in Peru and I am not sure how much each of them are able to help. Needless to say Chris is over a barrel.
I wanted to ask you to be praying with me that all the funds could be raised and that God would just work a miracle in providing the money. If you are interested in helping you can send your offering to
Macedonia World Baptist Missions
P.O. Box 519
Braselton, GA 30517
and mark it for the Peru Youth Congress–Chris Gardner.
I know that God can meet the need and that He will continue to do great things. Thank you for praying with me about this.
