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We are so excited about what God is doing in the Philippines! Instead of
sending out a normal newsletter, we wanted to send you the enclosed brochure
that tells the whole story. Read it through and share it with your friends.
Additional copies are available upon request.
It is not often that God gives people an opportunity like this to impact an
entire people group with the Gospel. The need is great and the time is short.
The eternal implications are staggering, especially when you consider the
Philippines’ strategic location in Asia. It is an important key for reaching
all of Asia with the Gospel. Please read this brochure prayerfully and then do
whatever God lays on your heart to do. Together we can change the destiny of
nations.
In His service,
Howard & Barbara Gard
COVENANT PARTNERSHIPS
Church Triumphant Ministries, Inc.
Of the Philippines
A Brief History
Church Triumphant Ministries, Inc. is an indigenous outreach to the mountain
tribal peoples of southern Mindanao in the Philippines. It is a fellowship
of tribal pastors and workers committed to the common goal of providing training
for tribal workers who have a burden to plant churches among their peoples and
neighboring tribes who are unreached with the Gospel. The official
languages of the Philippines are English and Filipino (based on Tagalog) so all
the Bible schools require a competency test in English. The problem is
that these tribal peoples live in remote areas where the schools only go to
fourth grade or don’t exist at all. Therefore these people do not know
enough English to be accepted at existing Bible schools. Church Triumphant
Ministries was established to meet that need by providing Bible school training
in the Cebuano language (the principal language spoken on Mindanao) for those
who have a burden to become church planters but don’t know enough English to
pass a traditional entrance test.
The Vision
The vision of Church Triumphant Ministries is to bring quality Bible school
training to those who need it most in a language they can understand so they can
take the Gospel to tribal people who are still waiting to hear the Good News for
the first time. Howard and Barbara Gard, veteran missionaries from
America, will be training a ministry team of twelve people with proven
leadership ability and a heart to reach out and train others. The Gards
will be using an intensive Bible training program that has proven successful in
equipping church planters around the world. The leadership team will study
under the Gards for three days a week and then spend three days a week traveling
in pairs to six teaching points in six different tribal areas where they will
teach what they have been taught to others who will then go forth as church
planters among the Dibabawon, T’bole, Manobo Ata, B’laan, Mansaka, and
Mandaya tribes. As of August 1, 2001 there are already 150 students
enrolled at the six teaching points. The ministry team has been chosen and
are eager to begin. The materials are translated and ready to be printed.
The only thing lacking to begin this outreach is the finances necessary to get
it off the ground. That is why we need covenant partners.
Projected Costs
The goal of Church Triumphant Ministries is to become a self supporting
indigenous work. To this end small tracts of land have been purchased in
each of the six tribal areas. These tracts of land will be used to grow
rice, corn, or vegetables. Because our students come from some of the most
economically depressed areas of the Philippines, they cannot afford to pay
tuition to support the school. Instead they will work the land and grow
the crops. When the produce is sold, the profits will be used to pay the
expenses for the twelve full time workers on the leadership team and to expand
the ministry into other areas. Two of the pastors on the leadership team
are trained in the field of agriculture. In addition to teaching the Bible
courses, they will also train the rest of the team and the students in modern
agriculture and animal husbandry so that the students can learn to be self
supporting and their home villages will benefit from learning improved farming
techniques.
The problem comes from how to provide for these twelve full time workers from
the time that they begin training until the time the farm produce is ready for
market, a space of six months. That is where covenant partnerships step
in. A covenant partner is a church or individual who agrees to support one
or more of these twelve leadership team members with $200 a month for a period
of six months. This $200 will supply the leader with enough money to
provide food, clothing, and shelter for his family and himself as well as
provide for transportation between the Bible school in Tagum City and his
teaching point in a tribal area. The covenant partner will receive monthly
updates on “his” or “her” ministry partner, including their name, a
photo, a brief biographical sketch, and specific prayer needs. If someone
wants to continue supporting their ministry partner with a larger amount or for
a period of time longer than the six months, that would be possible but we are
only asking for a six month commitment.
To Get Involved
If you would like to adopt one or more of these full time workers, please
contact Church Triumphant at the address, phone number, or website listed below.
We look forward to helping you become a covenant partner with someone who is
impacting an entire tribe with the Gospel. If you do not feel that you can
commit to $200 a month for six months but you would like to help, a gift of any
amount will be received with joy and thanksgiving to cover the additional needs
of the Bible school, the churches being planted, and the tribal pastors as those
needs arise.
Together we can reach this region which is 40% Muslim and cause it to become
a testimony to the redeeming power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ who is
not willing that any should perish, not even those living in remote areas at the
ends of the Earth.
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