Church Triumphant

As we told you in our Autumn 2011 newsletter, we have been invited to return to Africa in November and December of this year to represent International Accelerated Missions (IAM) at Bible school graduations, ordinations, and to minister in several churches in Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. We have also been invited to teach at a Bible conference in Kenya. I made the mistake of asking you to pray in November and December for our trip. We need your prayers and your help NOW. The enemy has tried to hinder at every turn to prevent us from having the finances and the reservations in time to get the necessary visas so we can make the trip. We are currently about $3,000 short of what we will need for the airline tickets and the visas both of which cost more than anticipated. As we have prayed, God has confirmed that He is calling us to go because He wants to bless and encourage His children in Africa and He needs willing vessels that He can work through. This trip is not about us. It is about God’s heart for His hurting children in Africa. Please stand in the gap with us that every hindrance will be removed, that we will be able to purchase the right tickets at the right price and get the visas we need in time to make this trip possible. The longer the delay, the more expensive the tickets and visas become. Pray also that we will have all the resources we will need to cover food, lodging, and transportation while we are there in Africa. We know that God is more than able but we need your prayers to win this battle that Jesus Christ may be glorified. Thank You in advance for standing with us. May God bless you abundantly.
GOD LOVES YOU!!!
Rev. Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant
www.churchtriumphant.com
hgard@juno.com

Autumn, 2011

“YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION” Hab. 3:18

The prophet Habakkuk was struggling with conflicting emotions. He loved his nation of Judah but was heartbroken by what he saw. Everywhere he looked was nothing but idolatry, immorality, injustice, indifference, arrogance, oppression, violence, corruption, and rebellion. Why didn’t God do something about it? Then God showed him the coming judgment of destruction and exile. Again he asked why. Habakkuk had a hard time understanding what God was doing but chose to trust Him. He made the decision to rejoice in God regardless of the circumstances around him.

Like Habakkuk, many Christians today are asking God why. Whether it was record breaking rain and snowfall resulting in floods across the northern states, record breaking drought and wildfires across the southern states, or devastating tornados in between, 2011 has been a year of extremes. The economy is in shambles, millions are unemployed, and the government in Washington seems unable to agree on anything. Like Habakkuk, we love our nation but are heartbroken by the suffering, arrogance, corruption, violence, and lawlessness that we see. Like Habakkuk, we want to ask why. We need to learn from his example.

God is not afraid of our asking why. Sometimes He will reveal what He is doing. Other times, He just asks us to trust Him. At all times, the victory comes when we choose to trust in God’s goodness and to rejoice in Him, knowing that God is good – all the time. He is in control – all the time. He is at work to establish righteousness and justice in the Earth. All His ways are perfect. In the midst of wrath, He will always remember mercy (Hab. 3:2). His grace really is always sufficient. As Christians have learned for 2,000 years, when you lose everything but Jesus, you discover that Jesus is all you need. Rejoice in Him.

In the Philippines

We praise God for what He is doing in the Philippines. The ministry there has been through the fire but is moving forward trusting in God alone. Pastor Albert Asang has been working hard to fulfill the vision of reaching the tribal people of Mindanao with the Gospel. In spite of the troubled economy, God’s people have given faithfully to meet the needs. With your help we were able to buy a motorcycle for Pastor Albert to enable him to use his time more effectively as he teaches in our four Bible schools, located in four different tribal areas on Mindanao, one week each month in each location. Because he no longer has to rely on public transportation, he has more time to also visit our churches in remote areas and oversee the establishment of new churches in areas that are being reached for the first time.

Through your generosity, we were able to purchase a large industrial strength chainsaw to build new churches in Tagbena, Tegasa, and Butuan where God blessed us with the opportunity to buy property along the main highway. We were also able to build a new church in a better location in the village of Florida to replace our previous church that was totally destroyed in a mudslide.

One of the challenges we have faced from the beginning of our ministry in the Philippines is the attitude, especially in the lowlands, of looking to the missionary to do everything for the people. But God has given us a breakthrough among the tribal people in this important area. After ten years of teaching the leaders and the people that God is their Source, not America, the people have caught the vision of their responsibility and ownership of the ministry to their own people.

In their love for God, the villagers have added cement floors and block walls to make their churches the most beautiful permanent structures they can imagine. They are taking ownership of the work of the Lord both by beautifying their churches and by preparing themselves for ministry to take this Life giving Gospel to others. The church building in Uraya had grown too small for all the people who are coming to salvation so the Believers themselves have expanded the walls to double the size of their sanctuary. What a joy to see the transforming power of the Gospel at work in their lives because of your willingness to invest in them.

In America

God has continued to bless us and to open doors of ministry unto us here in America. More and more God has been sending us to small churches in neglected places, whether in rural areas or inner cities. There we have been blessed to find that “the Church Triumphant is alive and well”. If you look at the evening news or the latest gossip on the Internet, you may think that the Church in America is losing its influence and has become irrelevant but that is just not true. As the song proclaims “God has always had a people.” As we have been obedient, God has led us to minister to many of His hidden treasures, ordinary people who are in love with an extraordinary God and who serve Him with joy even in difficult circumstances.

God is not finished with America. He is moving and blessing and transforming lives through His people who love Him enough to obey Him. We have great hope in Christ who is building His Church in America. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of what He is doing in this nation. We would love to come and minister in your church as well.

Back to Africa

We are praising God for the opportunity to make a return trip to Africa in November and December of this year. We have been invited by IAM (International Accelerated Missions) to once again represent them at an IAM Bible school graduation, this time in the nation of Togo in West Africa. This trip we will be going for approximately three weeks. During that time we will be speaking at two graduations, two ordination services, and in church services and IAM Bible schools in Togo, Benin, and Nigeria as well as teaching a Bible seminar in Kenya, East Africa.

We are excited about this opportunity to minister to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ in Africa but we cannot do it without your help. It will cost about $6,000 for airfare, food, lodging, and transportation. The Believers we will be ministering to are extremely poor and unable to help with the costs for our stay. Yet we know that there is no lack in God’s economy. He is more than able to supply the need through His faithful children around the world. Most of all we need your prayers for God’s hand of protection, provision, and guidance that God will bring everything together according to His perfect will and timing. If God speaks to your heart to give financially to help make this trip a reality, please send your gift designated “Africa” and it will be used for that purpose. Please prayerfully consider what God would have you to do to help make this Africa trip possible. We know that we cannot go without your help.

We especially ask for your prayers during the months of November and December, 2011, before, during, and after our trip that everything will come together according to God’s perfect will and that we will have great favor with the governments involved in getting the necessary visas and travel documents and crossing the borders. Pray that we may be a great blessing to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ everywhere we go and that Jesus Christ will be honored and gloried in all things.

Thank you so much for your prayers and thank you that you are such an important part of this ministry. Nothing that has been accomplished would have been possible without you. May God bless you abundantly for your faithfulness to Him.

In His harvest fields,
Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant

Please be praying for our dear friend and Sister in Christ, Mary Asang, the mother of our Philippines Director and wife of Pastor Tony Asang who leads our discipleship program with the tribal chieftains. God has touched and healed her many times in the past in answer to your prayers. This evening she is back in the hospital in ICU and the doctors are threatening to send her home without any treatment unless the family buys her prescription drugs and pays the lab fees in advance. By God’s grace, we were able to send the money for the medicines. Please pray that God will do a complete healing work in her body and also that He will provide the resources to fully cover the doctor and hospital bills.

Please be praying also for our good friend Mick Anderson here in Omaha. He went to the hospital with severe pain that turned out to be kidney stones. When they did the CAT scan, the doctors discovered that, in addition to kidney stones in both kidneys, he has an aneurysm on his aorta. Please pray for a total and complete healing for him as well. Jesus is the Great Physician. There is nothing too hard for Him. Blessings!
GOD LOVES YOU!!!
Rev. Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant
www.churchtriumphant.com
hgard@juno.com

On Friday, we told you of how God has answered your prayers for healing for Tony & Mary Asang and for provision for a church property in Butuan. We also asked for your continued prayers for a total healing and deliverance for our dear sister in Christ Darlene Bolen in Dallas, Texas. God has also answered that prayer but not in the way we expected or hoped. Late Friday night, He took Darlene home to be with Him. Darlene was both the most fearful and most courageous woman of God we ever met. A simple police check point in a foreign country could send her into a panic yet she never let it stop her from obeying God even when He sent her to some of the most dangerous places on Earth. Through your prayers over the past few weeks, God totally delivered her from a lifetime of fear and even delivered her from the pain of terminal cancer in response to prayer. He gave her the sweet joy of His presence and His peace that passes all understanding filled her home. What an awesome faithful God we serve!!

Please remember her husband Phil and their sons Preston and Nick during this difficult time. Pray also that God will move through the circumstances to bring Nick back to Himself and also restore his broken marriage and family.
GOD LOVES YOU!!!
Rev. Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant
www.churchtriumphant.com
hgard@juno.com

We want to thank you for your faithfulness in prayer. Our God is indeed an awesome God! On July 14, we asked you to pray for our Philippine Director’s mother Mary Asang who was hospitalized in ICU and also to pray for a property in Butuan for a church that we could purchase for $700. A week later, we let you know that Mary was home from the hospital and ask you to also be praying for our dear friend Darlene Bolen in Dallas who was also hospitalized in critical condition. God has heard and is answering your prayers. Mary Asang and her husband Pastor Tony Asang who was also sick are both doing much better. God is continuing to strengthen them daily. Darlene is also home from the hospital but needs our continued prayers for a total healing.

Last week we ministered in a small community church in rural Missouri. In response to your prayers, God touched their hearts and they gave sacrificially, enabling us to send the $700 to Mindanao to purchase the property in Butuan! We are so grateful to God for His faithfulness and so grateful to you for your willingness to stand in the gap that the Kingdom of God may be established among the tribal people of Mindanao. Thank you again for your prayers. May God bless you abundantly!
GOD LOVES YOU!!!
Rev. Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant
www.churchtriumphant.com
hgard@juno.com

Thank you so much for your prayers for Mary Asang, our Philippines Director’s mother who was in the hospital in ICU. Jesus has touched her with His healing power and she is back home, still weak but doing much better. When we sent out the earlier prayer request, we received word back that our dear friend Darlene Bolen is also in the hospital. Darlene ministered with us in the Philippines and has served God effectively on many mission fields. She is in critical need of healing and deliverance from enemy attack. Please stand with us in prayer for total healing for both Mary and Darlene, that Jesus Christ will be glorified in and through them. Blessings!
GOD LOVES YOU!!!
Rev. Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant
www.churchtriumphant.com
hgard@juno.com

Please continue to lift up Mary Asang, our Philippines Director’s Mother, in your prayers. As we told you earlier, she chose not to go to Manila for further tests and to consult with a specialist. Instead she wanted to be at home with her family and trust in the Lord to heal her or take her home to be with Him. Her condition has deteriorated badly and she is back in the hospital in ICU. We know that nothing is too hard for our Jesus. He is still able to heal her and raise her up to continue her lifetime of service unto Him. If her work on Earth is done, He is also well able to take her safely home to be with Him forever. Please cover her with prayer that God will accomplish His purposes and Jesus Christ will be exalted and glorified. Pray also for her family that they will be strengthened in the Lord during this critical time. Pray also that all her medical bills will be provided for. Please pray also for our co-worker Darlene Bolen who ministered so effectively with us on Mindanao. She just returned home after a week in the hospital in Dallas, TX. She is battling cancer. Pray for a complete healing.

As we told you on June 15, God has opened a door of opportunity for us to purchase land in Butuan in northern Mindanao that already has a house on the property that is perfect for a church to be established. We need $700 to purchase the property. The owner wants to sell it to us because he knows we will use it for a church but he will sell it to someone else if we cannot raise the funds we need. Please join us in praying that God will meet the need according to His perfect plan. Blessings!!

GOD LOVES YOU!!!
Rev. Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant
www.churchtriumphant.com
hgard@juno.com

Thank you so much for your prayers for our grandson Ryan who broke his arm. Friday morning our daughter Beverly took him to see the orthopedic surgeon. When they unwrapped the elastic bandage and removed the temporary splints that were put on in the emergency room late Saturday night, they discovered Ryan’s skin had been pinched between the splints and was rubbed until it blistered. The skin was also rubbed off on the back of his arm. So the doctor had to put pressure directly on the break to hold it in place while the nurse soaked sterile gauze with lidocaine to apply to the blisters & broken skin and more sterile gauze with neosporin on the site of the local anesthetic before applying a cast. When they x-rayed the arm afterwards, they found that the pressure of holding the arm had eased the broken bone into much closer alignment than it had before. No surgery required! God is able to take even the bad things and use them for His glory. Thank you again for your prayers.
GOD LOVES YOU!!!
Rev. Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant
www.churchtriumphant.com
hgard@juno.com

Please be praying for our grandson Ryan Slovick who is 11. Ryan was playing around with a friend Saturday evening when he broke his left arm. (He is left handed.) Because he only broke one of the bones in his forearm, the doctor was unable to reset it manually so the broken ends are not properly aligned. He has an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Friday. We are praying that God will bring the bones into alignment so they can heal naturally. If not, Ryan will have to have surgery to line up the broken ends so his arm can heal properly. Thank you in advance for your prayers. Blessings!!
GOD LOVES YOU!!!
Rev. Howard & Barbara Gard
Church Triumphant
www.churchtriumphant.com
hgard@juno.com

Thank you for your continued prayers for Pastor Tony & Mary Asang. Mary’s condition grew worse and she had to be hospitalized. God answered your prayers and raised up a dear Brother in Christ who gave generously to cover her medical expenses and also medical care for Tony. Mary is now home from the hospital but has no desire to travel to Manila for further tests or treatment. Instead she is trusting God to complete His healing work in her body. Please continue to lift both Tony & Mary Asang to the Lord for a total healing. Also please be praying for their son Pastor Albert, our Philippines Director, who has injured his foot and is unable to walk on it until the pain and swelling go down.

We also ask your prayers for an opportunity to plant a new church in the town of Butuan in northern Mindanao. There is a piece of property including a house that we can purchase for $700 that would be a perfect location for a church. A pioneering pastor is already reaching out to the neighborhood and souls are responding to the Gospel. Please pray that the funds will come in quickly to take advantage of this open door of ministry. We thank you in advance for your prayers. Blessings!
Howard & Barbara Gard