Fruit, Faithfulness and Future
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It’s been a while now that I’ve been back in the states, and I wanted to report to you on what God has done since my last update.
As you know, I was in the 10/40 window for the two months of March and April. It is my great pleasure to report that God met me and our team of pastors in the most wonderful way imaginable.
To start, God spoke to my heart that what He wanted for this trip was for me to focus on the “Roles and Responsibilities of the Pastor.” So that was the focus of the teaching and discipleship of the entire trip. I was accompanied by 3 other pastors and brothers that joined me during various parts of the trip. In 5 of the 6 areas we went, we spent 5-8 hours, nearly every day, teaching and going deep into the Pastoral Epistle that Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus.
I also spent a lot of time just ministering to, encouraging, and fellowshipping with our guys on the ground. One of the guys, who lives in a state that is highly persecuted, said to me, “You coming here to visit the work, is a dream come true for me.” Each one of our guys are doing such amazing work, sharing Christ’s love and the truth of the Gospel in areas of severe persecution and where darkness prevails. Yet in great darkness, a small flame shines even brighter.
God also allowed us to teach 2 conferences and take part in the graduation ceremony at one of our schools. I love it how God shows up in unexpected ways. Passing out the diplomas and praying over the graduates was an honor afforded me that was completely unforeseen.
The fruit from this trip was greater than I ever expected. It may have been the most fruitful trip I’ve ever been on. During our studies and conferences, we talked about deep theological topics, but looked at them in the light of practicality, while holding fast the truth of God’s Word without any compromise. The most common remark I was hearing was during our studies was, “I’ve never heard that before” or “I’ve never seen that before.” It’s always a great joy to open God’s Word, teach it and share it with others, in a way that excites them and encourages them to take it where it’s never gone before, and then to share it with passion.
Our ministry is to equip these men and women for the work of the ministry, in areas that we as Westerners could never ever dream of going. My encouragement to our workers was to do the work of the ministry and to stay true to the word of God, in spite of threats of persecution. Fear is a tactic of the enemy to keep us silent.
In doing all that I do, one of my greatest joys is to connect with kids and to show them that God, and the Word of God, is not boring, it’s not unrelatable or only for adults. So I spend a lot of time reaching out to the kids, interacting with them, playing games, just being one of them, all the while teaching the truth of God’s Word to them. It’s blessing to just be with them.
While we were in country, there was a national holiday. The entire country takes off work and participates in this demonic celebration. We were aware of it, but didn’t think much of it. But on that day, the other brother and I wanted to meet some of our workers for lunch. To our surprise, when we went down stairs to exit the building, the front door was chained and locked; and there were no employee of the hotel in the building. It was just the two of us.
After a few hours we did find a way to exit the building. We were so thankful to the Lord that there was no fire or other emergency. Can you imagine that happening in the states? It’s a different world out there past our boarders.
God wildly blessed the trip, He was incredibly faithful to all of us on the trip, in that none of us experienced any sickness, which has not been the case in the past. He even protected us from harm. But what about the future?
Well, this June, I will be one of the leaders taking a group of young people, who are feeling a call to missions, to Mexico for our Calvary School of Missions. It’s the 6 week introduction to our Missions Training School held at Calvary Chapel Saving Grace in Yorba Linda, CA. During these 6 weeks, we have workers come in, or Zoom in, from all over the world. We do a lot of class room instruction, with 2-3 outreaches or “church take overs” ever week. The highlight of the trip is the Church Planting Conference at Calvary Chapel Rosarito, as well as going into the mountains and spending time with an unreached tribe in Mexico. I’m very excited to be part of it again this year.
I’m sure that there are other groups preparing young people for the mission field, but our program is unique in that it is the only one, that I know of at least, that is preparing young people to dedicate their lives to Christ and carry the Gospel to the 3.5 billion people who are the unreached of the world. It’s very special. It’s one of a kind.
There is also a new work that is about to takeoff. I can’t share any of the details with you now, but please be praying. But know this, when I’m able to let you know what is about to happen, it’ll blow your way. All glory to God!
By the grace of God, God is opening a great and mighty door for us to do what I never imagined would be possible, it’s BIG! I’m so overwhelmed that God would allow me to be part of it. Please keep it in prayer and I will share with you what it is as soon as I can.
Finally, if you’re not part of my field updates, please email me and I’ll send you a link to download Signal and join. Signal is a much more secure platform, which allows me to share, in greater detail, pictures, places and things I can’t share in these regular updates. It’s all in an effort to protect our workers in these hostile countries, as well as protecting the ministry. So please, drop me an email and let me know if you want to join “Gary’s Field Updates” and we’ll get you connected.
As always, I am only able to do what I do, in large part, because of your prayers and support. Please keep praying, and let us know how I can be praying from you.
Thank you again, for you friendship, prayers, love and support. Together we are making a difference in the World for Jesus Christ our King.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
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Literally Staggering
The time has come to return to the 10/40 Window. The statistics are literally staggering.
For example, as I write this update, there is approximately 8.09 billion people in the world. It’s estimated that 42% of the worlds population, or 3.45 billion people have never heard the name of Jesus. The 10/40 Window is often called “The Resistant Belt” and includes the majority of the world’s Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists
More than half of the world’s population and people groups live in the 10/40 Window. The 10/40 Window is also infamous for having the greatest population of unreached people and unreached people groups. That means they have no access to the Gospel, that means they have no access to a Bible, there’s no Christian presence, no church or believer who could even share the Gospel with them. I believe Christ died for these people and they have the right to hear the Gospel at least once in their life in order to make a decision for Christ.
As I write this update, there has been 270,000 people born today, over 20.2 million people born this year. 126,000 deaths today, and over 9.5 million people have died this year. We’re just 2 months into 2025. That’s more than 1.1 million people dying each week, and the overwhelming majority of them don’t know Jesus. Again, nearly half of them have never had a chance to receive Him as their Savior before stepping into eternity to be forever separated from Him.
As if that’s not bad enough, the statistics don’t stop there. More than 70% of the world’s evangelistic witness is focused on the world’s historically Christian countries. Most of the churches in the west retain over 90% of God’s resources for itself. That means that 90% of all giving in the west is directed towards staff salaries, buildings, and educational materials for people who are already in the Kingdom.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with paid staff, buildings to meet in or preparing a comfortable place for believers. My point is that there are so many people who need to hear about the salvation that is found in Christ alone and still haven’t heard. They are born, live their lives, they die and then go to hell without ever hearing that Christ died for their sins. It’s something that haunts me. And I believe it is something that breaks the Lord’s heart.
The unreached are unreached because they’re hard to reach. It takes time and money, and it’s a long term investment. Great returns aren’t seen instantly. Truth be told a great harvest among the unreached may not not even be realized for decades.
I believe that God has given His church a command to go in to all the world to make disciples. It’s not a valid excuse to say, “But Lord, we didn’t go because they’re hard to reach.”
I want to be like David, who was a man after God’s heart, a man that was obedient, who would do all of God’s will. At the end of my life, I want to stand before the Lord and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant…”
These are the things that stir me to do what I do. They are the things that God has placed upon my heart to direct me into His call for my life.
God has opened an amazing door for me to oversee the teaching at our CBI’s (Calvary Bible Institutes) in the 10/40 Window. And He has given me the opportunity to go for extended periods of time to teach, disciple and encourage our guys on the ground. To encourage them to go where we could never go, to take the Gospel to those who have never ever heard. It’s a great privilege to have the opportunities that I currently have. But we need to make the most of them while we have them.
I have a great deal of travel planned for 2025. I have 4 extended trips planned this year. To start, I’ll be flying out March 3rd for a 2 1/2 month trip. Please keep this trip in your prayers as I will be leading a small team of pastors and faithful servants to the 10/40 window. Pray that God’s Spirit would move mightily on the hearts of the people who will be attending the Bible studies. Pray for our national pastors as we come alongside of them to further equip, encourage and strengthen them for the work ahead.
We will be holding a 2 day youth conference in the north. We will also hold another 3 day conference and graduation at one of our CBI’s, which happens to be in an area that we have not been able to visit in the past 6 years due to heavy persecution. I love doing conferences because the results are always wonderful. It’s a time of equipping our guys for the harvest that’s ahead.
We will be going to an area never visited before by SGWM staff. We’ll be going there to witness the work that’s going on there and to encourage our workers.
After that, we will be headed to another area where a new work has started about a year ago. It’s a work that God has really been blessing and it’s a great joy for me to go there and spend time with our national worker there. It’s always a fruitful time of fellowship and growth, while seeing all that the Lord is doing.
Then we will be flying on to an area where SGWM has recently completed construction on a new facility that houses one of our CBI’s. We will be teaching block classes through one of the books of the Bible and doing a week long discipleship meeting with former graduates. We will be focusing on what it means to be a pastor.
Finally we will head out for a few weeks to spend time with a newly married couple. They are also engaged in a new-ish work. Our time there will be spent on discipleship, coming alongside them to encourage and strengthen them in the ministry God has called them too. This is a couple I dearly love and I expect it to be a time of great refreshing for all of us.
The over arching theme that God has placed on my heart for this trip is the importance of God’s Word and serving Him faithfully, in the way He would have us serve Him.
As I leave the 10/40 Window, I will stop over in Germany for a short stay. I will be visiting many people who were in our church, Calvary Chapel Ansbach, when we lived in Leutershausen. It will be a blessed time of reconnecting and catching up with them.
I’ve really been looking forward to this trip since I started planning it some 4-5 months ago.
Again, I’d ask you to be praying for us as we go. Pray for God’s mercy, His grace, as well as His presence to lead and guide as we engage in this great work among the unreached, for His glory.
Please pray that God would bless each and everyday with a greater blessing than He blessed the day before.
As always, I’m incredibly humbled by your willingness to stand with us in this ministry through your prayers. Thank you for your friendship, love, prayers and support. We’re a team. Tina and I happen to be the spearhead and all of you are the shaft. Both are equally important to accomplish its purpose.
Thank you again for your prayers.
God bless,
Gary
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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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