It’s been a bit since I have returned from my last trip, and God has opened many wonderful opportunities for us to serve Him.
I continue to lead a weekly Bible study every Sunday morning in King’s Beach, CA. It’s a small home fellowship, but the group is so loving and desires to go deeper in the Word. It’s been such a blessing to meet with them. We recently finished teaching verse-by-verse through the Book of Acts and have started the Book of Romans. One of the great blessings to me has been when God has called me away, either to teach or share in other churches about the ministry that the Lord has given us, reaching out to the unreached, Bryan, our son, has stepped in to lead the group. It’s such a blessing to be able to trust the Bible study to him, knowing that he cares for the people and is able to teach them the Word faithfully, without error. What a blessing!
To update you on the recent past, I have been invited to share at a number of different churches. A few months ago, Tina and I were in Columbia, TN sharing at Calvary Chapel Columbia. Last month, Tina and I were at the West Coast Pastors’ Conference in Diamond Bar, CA. It was a great opportunity to meet with other pastors and give them a taste of what we, and Saving Grace World Missions, have been doing around the world. A few weeks ago, I was invited to teach at Calvary Chapel Reno Sparks. That church is pastored by a good friend of mine, pastor Phil McKay. It’s the largest Calvary Chapel in Northern Nevada. I was able to teach on the Great Commission given to the disciples and followers of Christ. I was invited to share the Word at Calvary Chapel June Lake on June 23rd. It’s a small church full of dear saints who welcomed the teaching on the purpose of the church. Pastor Damian Martinez and his wife blessed Tina and I with their hospitality.
Immediately after Calvary Chapel June Lake, Tina and I will be flying to Knoxville, TN to meet and share with the pastor there the ministry God has called us to and the open doors that are set before us in the 10/40 window. We’re really looking forward to meeting Pastor Mark Kirk, we’ve heard such good things about him and Calvary Chapel Knoxville.
A day or 2 after we return home, I’ll be heading off to Mexico to co-lead the Calvary School of Missions with my good friend, pastor Tim Pappas. It’s a 6-week school put on by our sending church, Calvary Chapel Saving Grace in Yorba Linda, CA. The school is designed to help direct, inform, and equip young men and women who are feeling a call to full-time missions. It’s taught by Calvary Chapel pastors and missionaries who are serving all over the world. The students are instructed in various topics concerning reaching out to the lost and unreached of the world. Topics being taught include cross-cultural ministry, God’s heart for the nations, the current state of the unreached in the world, cultural immersion, evangelism, discipleship, church planting, and much more. This will be the 6th year for the school, but the 1st year that I have been able to be part of it. The dates are July 6 through August 18. It’s something that I am really looking forward to. For those students who feel called to go deeper in missions training, a Missions Training School is offered as well. It’s a one-year program that prepares each student for the work of the ministry in a foreign field.
Shortly after the Calvary School of Missions wraps up, I will be headed to Thailand to attend a conference there. We will be flying in some of our key leaders from the 10/40 window. It will be a great time of fellowship and encouragement for our leaders who are laboring tirelessly. After the conference, we’re planning on having our own little conference in order to reconnect with all our leaders in one place. It gives us the opportunity to pour into them, encourage, strengthen, support, and hold their hands up. When the conference is finished, our stateside team will be headed in different directions. One of the pastors I’m working with will lead a team to the Middle East. Another to Japan, and I will head back to the 10/40 window to continue to meet with our guys and disciple them. I will be in country for about 2 months before I return home in November.
I would ask you to please be praying.
- Please pray for the teaching opportunities that are ahead of me. That the Lord would be glorified and magnified in the hearts of those listening.
- Pray for the travels ahead of us. That there would be no delays and that we would experience the mercy and favor of God.
- Please pray for the school and the conference. That ears would be open to clearly hear God’s voice, and that hearts would be ready to receive, and lives would be impacted for the glory of God.
- Please pray for our family while Tina and I are away, in Tennessee. Then, while I am away for an extended period, please pray for Tina and the boys. God has blessed us with a close family and it’s always difficult when any member of our family is gone for any length of time. It always creates a void.
- Pray for more opportunities to share in churches what God is doing among the unreached through Saving Grace World Missions and our ministry, which the Lord has entrusted to us..
- And please be praying for our little home fellowship in King’s Beach, that God would bless the teaching of HIs Word and that He would reveal His heart for this little fellowship.
And most importantly, if there is a prayer request that is on your heart, would you please share it with us? We would count it a privilege to do battle in the spiritual realm on your behalf.
Thank you for all your prayers, love, friendship and support. It’s a tremendous privilege for us to partner with you in equipping the saints to take the Gospel where it has literally never gone before. Praise the Lord.
God bless,
Gary and Tina