It’s Not Hyperbole or Exaggeration

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After a 6 week trip in Mexico with Calvary School of Missions, I headed to Thailand for the Calvary Chapel Asian Conference. I was in Thailand for 2 1/2 weeks before I flew out to South Asia for another 6 week stay. Now I’ve been back for a week, and I’m jumping right back into discipling our pastors, workers and students in the 10/40 window via zoom.

I’ve been thinking through all that God did while I was abroad, and it’s not in any way hyperbole, or an exaggeration, to say that God did exceedingly abundantly above anything I could have asked or imagined.

My trip started with arriving early for the conference in Chiang Mai in order to welcome our Saving Grace workers who were flying in from all over the world. We had teams fly in from the Middle East, South Asia, Pakistan, North Africa, Canada, the Philippines and Japan. I was able to meet and encourage our teams serving in various places, as well as meeting friends that I haven’t seen in 30 years. I was also able to meet and make new friends, and encourage them to run the race that is set before them.

After the Asian Conference finished up, we held our own Saving Grace conference for our 50 plus workers in attendance.

From Thailand, I flew with a small team to our target country in the 10/40 window. We traveled south to north, spending a week in each location. Our goal was to support, disciple, encourage and care for our pastors, missionaries and students in country. We taught in the churches and schools in each location we visited, held a couple of small conferences, and we visited new works where churches are being planted.

As I said, God did many many great things, too many to recount to you here. But some of the greatest highlights of the trip occurred in the second half. After the majority of the team returned home, Jim and I continued on for 3 weeks.

In one of the locations where a new work is beginning, we visited an orphanage. I had visited this orphanage 6 months ago on my last trip. I was so encouraged to find that the girls, ages 8 to 14, remembered me and were very happy to see me again. We had a great time playing a few games, and then I taught them about the love that God has for them. Prior to the study, I discovered that these girls had never been given an invitation to receive Christ. So I gave them a chance to respond to God’s love at the close of the study, and each and everyone of them expressed a desire to give their life to Christ.

After the orphanage, we went to a nearby village for a Bible study with a couple families. The families were encouraged in the Word and exhorted to continue in the grace of the Lord and to share the love of Christ with others. It was a wonderful time of fellowship.

Our next stop was back to the city where we held a Bible study with a group of college students that are the seed of the new church plant in that area. This is a group of girls that are hungry for the Word and are praying that God will do a great work in their city.

Afterwards, Jim and I headed north. I have a special place in my heart for our guys in the north. They’re bold in their witness, they’re thinking outside of the box in order to get the Gospel out to the unreached, and they’re engaged in radical ministry.

I get updates on a regular basis of pastors being arrested, beaten, and in some cases, killed for their faith. My friend in the picture, I’ll call him Paul, is not afraid of the persecution in his state. He has said to me, “Gary, Christ laid down His life for me, I can lay down my life for Him.” He’s pastoring 3 churches, raising up others to share Christ, and has plans to travel to each of the 99 districts in his state, in order to share the free gift of salvation that is offered to anyone who will place their faith in Jesus and His finished work upon the cross.

While in the north we held a mini conference. I don’t think I’ve ever seen God move more powerfully. All those who attended the 2 day conference has faced and is facing persecution.

The theme of the conference was “Our call and responsibility to share Christ with those who are unreached in this country.” The focus was on our call as Christians, love as the basis for the ministry and the necessity of faith in the ministry.

Each of those in attendance told me privately that the Lord had spoken powerfully to them through the teaching. They left encouraged and strengthened for the work ahead. All praise and glory to God!

I also visited our construction projects while in the country. We’re currently building a school, a couple of churches, and praying about future projects. So I visited each of the sites to evaluate the progress. By this time next year we will have a new school that will house at least 20 students. We’ll also have completed two new church buildings where Sunday and mid-week Bible studies will be held, teaching through the entire Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book. Praise the Lord!

But the greatest thing that God did, in my view, was on a Sunday morning. I taught at Paul’s church from the Book of Habakkuk. I taught on what’s needed to see answered prayer.

The picture to the left shows just half of those in attendance, there is another room full of believers.

There was a new family in attendance that day. After the study, later in the day, they called Paul and said they wanted to give their lives to Christ. They went home with the Word of God and it spoke to them in such a way that they knew they had to do something about it. So they called Paul and they surrendered to the work of the Holy Spirit, receiving Jesus as their Savior.

Praise the Lord that the Gospel is still the power of God for salvation for everyone who is willing to confess their sins and place their faith in Christ.

Please be praying:

  • First of all, praise the Lord for all that He is doing among the unreached. Thank Him for allowing you to be part of what He is doing through your prayers. Your prayers make a difference. And thank Him for His Word, which will never be chained.
  • Pray for those pastors and believers in the 10/40 window that I am engaged with. Pray that they will grow in their knowledge of the Word, be bold witnesses to their friends, neighbors and countrymen, and that they will stand strong in the face of persecution.
  • Please pray for the schools that we have in country. The schools are focused on equipping and raising up men to take the Gospel where it has literally never gone before.
  • Pray for my travels in 2025. I’m asking the Lord for wisdom as I pray about multiple trips to the 10/40 window, each of these trips will be approximately 7-10 weeks in duration. I’m also praying about a trip to Japan. The purpose of these trips is always to support, disciple, encourage and care for our pastors, workers, missionaries and students in country.
  • Also, pray for God’s leading and direction. It’s on my heart to return to Mexico to take part in the Calvary School of Missions, in July 2025. Calvary School of Missions, in case you don’t know, is a Bible school for those who feel called to long term missions. There is nothing like it, that I know of, in the Calvary movement.
  • Please pray for God’s continued provision for these trips.
  • Please continue to pray for our family, for Tina and our boys when I am gone. Unfortunately, it’s harder for Tina to travel on these extended trips, but she plays an important role in the ministry through discipling and encouraging the ladies in country through FaceTime and WhatsApp.
  • And please pray for more opportunities to share in churches, here in the states, about “The Great Commission” and what God is doing among the 3.5 billion people who are considered unreached. If you think your church would like an encouraging teaching on God’s heart for the unreached, please contact me directly.

As always, we’re so honored and very thankful for your partnership in the work that God has entrusted to us. It’s such a wonderful privilege to work among the unreached of the world. In a very real sense, we would not be able to do what we do without your prayers and financial support. Never loose sight of the fact that the fruit that comes out of these trips is also added to your account. So thank you again for your participation, friendship, prayers, love and support.

God bless,

Gary and Tina


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