"THE ETERNAL GOD IS THY REFUGE, AND UNDERNEATH ARE
THE EVERLASTING ARMS"
Deut. 33:27
As we reach the end of a summer where large regions of the world have
struggled with record breaking drought while other regions have been besieged by
killer floods, we can stand on God’s promise that He is our refuge and we can
lean on His everlasting arms.
"On the Road Again"
We found comfort in those everlasting arms as we spent most of July and
August on the road traveling across America, ministering in churches and sharing
God’s heart for the nations. Everywhere we went, we found God’s people
facing greater challenges than ever before. God is doing a refining work among
His people, preparing them for the coming revival. He is drawing His Church
closer to His heart so that we can catch His heart for the lost.
We faced more than a few challenges ourselves, especially in the area of
transportation. Our old Ford Tempo kept overheating in spite of a new radiator,
then a new water pump. Finally it blew a head gasket just driving across town.
We had to borrow a car, then rent a car to get to scheduled meetings in
California. Finally we purchased an old Ford Escort for $750 to get to meetings
in Idaho and Colorado. It got us to our meetings in Idaho before throwing a rod
a week after we bought it. A mechanic gave us an old Chrysler New Yorker which
lasted for 800+ miles before the on board computer malfunctioned less than 24
hours later, leaving us stranded in Casper, Wyoming.
God was our refuge, bringing Believers from Greeley and then Denver, Colorado
to our rescue, enabling us to minister in the churches we had scheduled and then
getting us safely to Omaha, Nebraska. There in Omaha, God opened up many
opportunities to minister, including a radio interview. Then He blessed us with
a "like new" ’92 Pontiac van which we were able to buy for 10% of
its retail value! Truly God blessed us in the midst of our struggles.
Victory in Romania
Although we knew that God was telling us that it was time to leave Romania
because He had a new assignment for us, it took a major step of faith to pack
our bags and leave in June, 2001. We had to trust that God would keep the work
in Romania safe in His everlasting arms. We also had to trust that our Romanian
Director Gheorghe Catana and his wife Doina would be able to carry the full
weight of leadership. We recently had opportunity to meet with them when they
came to America to attend their daughter’s wedding. Their testimony was one of
overcoming victory as they were forced to lean hard on the everlasting arms of
God.
The presidential elections in Romania in 2000 brought a "former"
communist government leadership back into power. It is not surprising that
Pastor Catana would be a primary target for harassment since he has started or
helped to start 22 Christian schools in Romania since the Revolution 12 years
ago. As he leaned on the everlasting arms, the school year became a record of
victory after victory as God gave him just the right words and plans to defeat
every challenge of the enemy. When they could not discredit Pastor Catana, they
went after his wife who serves as Director at the Music Academy in Timisoara.
Not only could they find no evidence of wrong doing or incompetence of any kind
but the students from her school took first place in every category at every
national competition this past school year! God vindicates His own.
Victory in the Philippines
God’s hand of blessing has continued to be upon the work in Mindanao. We
have been given 10 acres of land outside of Tagum City on which to build our
Bible school to provide advanced training for church planters. We are able to
build a Bible school with classroom, dormitories, and agricultural projects to
make it self supporting for about $3,500. Through the goodness of God and your
faithful giving, the Bible school near Tagum City in Davao del Norte is already
under construction and money has already been provided for a second Bible school
in South Cotabato province. The students in the Bible schools come from eight
different tribes. A third Bible school is also beginning in Agusan province.
These Bible schools are being staffed and directed by our full time workers
who graduated from the Bible school we taught in 2001-2002. Now our graduates
are training others just as we trained them. While some of our graduates are
staffing the Bible schools, others are providing training for pastors in remote
areas who are unable to leave their villages to get the training they need. So
our graduates are bringing the training to them. Other graduates are going into
the remote areas training the tribal people in literacy and agricultural skills
as we seek to help the work become self-supporting.
The tribal people are extremely poor and the effort to become self-supporting
has been a difficult struggle. But through every trial, underneath have been God’s
everlasting arms. When the situation has become desperate, God has always come
through, providing the finances in just the right amount exactly when it has
been needed. Snd He has done it through you! Thank you for your obedience. Your
giving and your prayers have made all of this possible.
The Challenge
We are facing a major challenge in the days ahead. The rice crop in the
mountains will be ready to harvest in October. We really need to have our own
truck to transport the rice to market in the cities or much of the profits will
be lost to independent truck drivers who charge exorbitant prices to transport
produce to the lowlands and to greedy merchants who pay deflated prices for the
tribal rice then resell it at a huge profit. With our own truck, we can
transport the produce to market for 20% of what we would have to pay someone
else. We can then provide jobs for Believers in the city selling the produce
directly to the public. Not only can the truck be used to haul produce, it can
also be used as a platform for preaching the Gospel and to transport
evangelistic teams. As we continue to build churches in the mountains, the
leftover wood from the construction projects can also be transported down the
mountain and sold to the bakeries in the city because they still use wood
burning ovens to bake bread.
Open Doors of Opportunity
The number of tribal chieftains who have opened their areas for the Gospel to
come in has doubled from 15 to 30! They are opening the door for us as they see
our genuine love and concern for the tribal people. At a recent tribal gathering
in the mountains, Pastor Lito Agyam, one of our graduates who leads our church
planting outreach was given the opportunity to share the Gospel with nearly
1,000 people.
Another door of opportunity opened when a young couple from a branch of the
Ata tribe decided they wanted to have a Christian wedding ceremony. So they went
to the head chieftain over their area to ask his permission, knowing he had
never allowed any outsiders to come into his territory. The chieftain agreed and
went looking for someone willing to come to their village to perform a Christian
wedding. He was turned down by several churches because it was against their
rules to perform a wedding for someone from outside their congregation. Then
someone told him about a tribal pastor, Allan Asang, the President of Church
Triumphant Ministries in the Philippines. Pastor Allan changed his schedule so
he could perform the wedding and used it as an opportunity to teach about the
one true God, the Biblical view of marriage, and God’s plan of salvation.
Afterwards the chieftain told how the message touched his heart and he committed
to taking Allan to all the villages in his region so Allan can present this
Gospel to all the 15,000 people in his tribal group who will be hearing the
Gospel for the very first time!
Why Do We Have Such Favor?
God is giving us such favor with the tribal leaders because we are reaching
out with the love of Jesus Christ, making a genuine effort to meet the real
needs of the people. We are bringing them the truth of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ which sets them free from generations of demonic bondage. We are also
teaching them how to grow crops so they can feed themselves without foraging in
the jungle and can even have produce left over to sell to others as a source of
income. We are bringing in teachers so they and their children can learn to read
and write.
Join Us in Making a Difference
You can help us to walk through these open doors. We need those who will
sponsor a teacher for $100 a month so they can bring literacy and/or
agricultural skills to the mountains. Most of all we need $10,000 to buy this
large flat bed truck with removable sides to get the produce down the mountain
to the marketplace. Once the farmers are able to sell their produce, they will
be able to finance the ongoing work on Mindanao. The tribal people have a heart
to give. They are willing to work hard. They know the darkness God has delivered
them from. They just need someone to give them the tools to get started. Over
3,000 souls have come to Christ through Church Triumphant since this outreach
began in 2000 with just eight people who had a burden to reach the mountain
tribal people of Mindanao with the Gospel. We feel privileged to be a part of
what God is doing in this hour. We want to give you the opportunity to be a part
of it as well. Join us in reaching the unreached people of Mindanao. If just 100
people would commit to giving an extra $100 between now and Christmas, we could
buy this truck which will unlock the door to provision for these hurting people.
Help them to do what they are not yet able to do for themselves. Your prayers
and financial gifts are impacting nations for the glory of God. Thank you for
making an eternal difference in people’s lives.
| 
