90°, 94% Humidity, 4 Days, No Shower
Is there a sacrifice too great that will make serving the Lord not worth the trouble?
From the bottom of my heart, I will loudly proclaim, “No! There is no sacrifice too great in order to bring glory to our Savior!”
Serving the Lord is described as a high privilege in Scripture, emphasizing honor and joy rather than burden, with examples like Paul's willingness to spend and be spent for others despite the challenges.
As you know, I was part of the group leading the 2026 Calvary School of Missions in Mexico. We had 14 students and 5 leaders go down in Mexico for 6 weeks. Words can not begin to describe what a blessing it was. God poured out His Spirit in remarkable ways. Thank you for praying.
The upper picture is before we left for Mexico, while the lower picture is after the 6 weeks in Mexico. What you can’t see is the heart change that took place in everyone pictured. God radically touched each heart for missions and His glory.
You might be thinking, “Okay, praise God! But what has that to do with the title ‘90°, 94% humidity, 4 days, no shower’?”
I’m glad you asked.
The School of Missions started with 3 1/2 weeks of classroom learning. The students were taught The Purpose of the Church, they learned about how culture affects missions, they were instructed on the importance of partner communication, there was a lot of time devoted to praying for the nations, and they learned about church planting from church planters. I had the opportunity to teach on the reality of missions and the temptation to quit in the face of hardships and trials.
(Below this newsletter is a short video recapping our first few weeks in Mexico. After reading this update, please take a minute to watch the video to get a taste of CSOM 2026 )
So after the classroom teaching and doing 2 to 4 outreaches each week, we flew to Mazatlán to connect with Calvary Maranantha.
When we arrived, we immediately jumped into helping them with their VBS. Calvary Maranantha is such a sweet church. It was such a joy to support them in reaching out to their community.
You need to understand, we stayed at the church sleeping on air mattresses on the floor of the children’s ministry rooms. Well, during our stay, one night we woke to thunder that seemed to go on for ever, heavy rains, and water flooding into the church around 3 AM.
One of the great things about this trip was that the team never complained. They just got to work. With water flooding the streets and coming into the church, and if that wasn’t enough there was no power, the team woke early and got to work cleaning up in preparation for the mid week service. Because the power was out we planned on doing the mid week serve outside in the flooded courtyard.
After almost the entire day of cleaning up in 90° temperatures with 94% humidity, the students never complained, and a few them were really sick.
After the clean-up was complete, the power came back on and we set up the church to have the mid-week service inside instead of in the courtyard. As the student began thinking about showers we learned there was no water.
I was asked to teach that night on the gifts of wisdom, discernment, and mercy.
The Lord really blessed the teaching. Afterwards, many people told me that the Lord ministered to them in a significant way.
The next day we took an 8-hour ride, packed into two vans, and headed up the mountain to the unreached tribe. All I can say is, it was great!
Up on the mountain, we played with the kids and shared Bible stories with them.
We had a medical clinic and walked around to every house and invited the families to church.
Again, this team was so great. They shared Christ every opportunity they had. While inviting the families to church, if the family had not accepted Christ on previous trips, this team shared the Gospel with them and many were led to Christ.
At our Sunday morning church service, one of the student who speaks fluent Spanish, shared on How Great Our God Is. It was a packed house. They all heard the Gospel and a few who had never expressed faith in Jesus received Christ as their Savior for the first time.
I’d like to share with you some of what our students had to say about their experience at this year’s Calvary School of Missions.
Abby F. writes, “We sat on a mountain that overlooked the entire village. As we gazed at the beauty of God’s creation, the pastor spoke about vision and the need for it as God’s people. That we basically need the Lord to burden our hearts for something and that is vision that only the Lord can give. In our time of worship, I began to weep; the Lord brought to my mind all of the people who are silently crying for help. Everyone is longing for hope, but how will they know that hope unless we tell them? I felt the Lord tenderly telling me, through my tears, that no one weeps for the lost like He does…that there are very few who share His heart for the lost. In the midst of my sadness and overwhelming despair, the Lord reminded me of when Israel was heading down to Egypt to see his son Joseph and stay with him in Egypt. On the journey down, the Lord says to Israel, “I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again...” Genesis 46:4 ESV”
Jayden K. writes, “To reach the tribe, we took an 8-hour van ride up into the hills of Nayarit and set up camp in tents among the Cora people. The next few days we spent every moment preparing for outreaches or ministering directly to the people, who only spoke Spanish or Cora. Our theme for the weekend was “one more.” One more person. One more soul. One more salvation. God’s heart aches for just one more and so should mine. I was so blessed to hike up into the hills of the tribe and go house to house with a group of us to invite people to our services and, most importantly, to evangelize. For my group, every person we shared with either made professions of faith or they were the result of previous work in this area and had already been saved.”
She continues, “I am continually gripped by the desire to see people like the Cora reached with the Gospel and discipled in the ways of Jesus. That is the purpose of the church. That is the call of each and every Christian - maybe to go, maybe not, but undeniably to care. To be moved to action. Remember, there is no plan B. God can use anything and anyone, but He has chosen us to declare His Name to the nations. He has chosen us to be His ambassadors and that implies action. Are we really ambassadors if we never go and tell?”
We spent 4 days without showers, in 90° temperatures with 94% humidity; we went from sleeping in beds, to sleeping on air mattresses on the floor, to sleeping on the ground, and not a single complaint. Instead, hearts were touched by the Lord, having an urgency to share Christ with those who have never heard.
I believe the lives of our students were altered and spoiled for ordinary life. I can’t wait to continue to see them grow and see what God will do in and through each of them.
PRAYER REQUESTS
I would ask you to please continue in prayer for these students.
Pray that they would have ears to hear, open hearts, and the courage to follow the Lord’s call upon their lives.
Please continue to pray for the work in the 10/40 window.
I have booked my tickets and I will be leaving September 29th.
Please pray for our times of discipleship, for the conference we’ll be hosting, as well as the times of teaching in the villages, churches, and Bible college.
Please continue to pray for our online part-time night school.
We started the school October 17th with a foundations class. This gives believers who are new to the faith some understanding of what we believe and why we believe the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. The school officially starts August 31st.
We were asking the Lord to bring 25 students. To God’s praise and glory we have 35 applicants who want to commit to the two-year trimester program.
Pray that the classes would be a blessing and encouragement to those students, and that we would be able to equip them for the work of the ministry
Please continue to pray for our health.
I saw the neurosurgeon again today and will receive, in the coming days, another injection in my back. Prayerfully the Lord will touch my back or use the injections to stay off the recommended back surgery. I’m trusting and resting in the Lord, but at the same time the Lord says, “ask.” I know prayer works, so please pray.
Please pray for Tina and the family while I am away.
Please pray for God’s continued provision for us as we seek to serve Him, by serving His people here in the States and abroad.
I am so very thankful for your participation in what God has called us to do. Without a doubt, much of what I’ve been free to do is a direct result of your friendship, faithful prayers, enduring love and generous support. Together we are making a difference in the world for our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
I would ask you to do one other thing for us. Would you consider sharing our updates with trusted brothers and sister in the body of Christ who may be interested in hearing about the things we’re doing for the kingdom?
I can’t say it enough, Tina and I truly appreciate your partnership and prayers. It means the world to us.
God bless,
Gary and Tina
Click below to watch the 2026 CSOM video
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