“LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO”
Ps. 107:2
As we see the hand of God bringing redemption to those who have been living
in the shadow of death, we have no choice but to praise and glorify His holy
name. Jesus is alive and well. He has conquered death and the power
of His glorious resurrection is available to us today.
Victory in the Face of the Enemy
The war in Iraq was swift and sure as the “Coalition of the Willing”
liberated the Iraqi people from a brutal dictatorship and opened the door for
the truth of God’s Word and the love of God’s faithful servants to be seen
in the land. In the Philippines the battle against the Muslim and
communist rebels continues to rage and violence is everywhere on Mindanao.
But that has not stopped the hunger for God in the hearts of His people.
We planned to cancel the anniversary celebration and pastors’ conference in
March because the mayor and the police chief in Tagum City said it wasn’t safe
to have large gatherings. But the pastors came anyway. They gathered
together to seek the face of God because they were desperate for a fresh touch
from Him. They were not disappointed. The Holy Spirit met with them
in a powerful way and they returned home to their villages refreshed and
renewed.
Because of the great danger a children’s camp was out of the question and
we were prepared to cancel the youth camp as well. Again, the young people
said, “No, we must come together to seek God in this hour.” The mayor
of Kapalong gave us free use of the city recreational facilities so we could
have a more secure location rather than out in the open. 320 young people
came, about half as many as last year. During the week, 60 of them gave
their lives to Christ and were baptized. Many committed to prepare for
full time ministry as church planters. Once again, the presence of God
filled the makeshift sanctuary and all the young people and their leaders
returned home filled with a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit with hearts on
fire for Him.
Our Greatest Challenge
The work on Mindanao faced its greatest challenge so far as two armed men
showed up at Pastor Allan Asang’s house during the youth camp. They had
been sent to kill him and to kidnap Howard and Barbara Gard and hold them for
ransom. But because of your prayers for our protection they failed in
their mission. Allan was at the youth camp and we had stayed in America as
the Holy Spirit had warned us not to come to Mindanao until He gave the word.
The men returned a few days later, bursting through the door with guns at the
ready. Again, Allan was not there. He had gone with his family to
his brother’s house to celebrate his nephew’s birthday. Faced with the
clear and present danger, we sent out email alerts and gathered the intercessors
for prevailing prayer to know what God’s battle plan would be. Over and
over, the Holy Spirit quickened the promises of protection found in His Word.
He gave an assurance that He had the situation under control. How
reassuring to know that God’s Word is true and we can dwell securely under the
shadow of the Almighty.
Deliverance
When God speaks, all creation must obey. A few days later, the leaders
of a group that works in the tribal areas contacted Pastor Allan. They
wanted Allan to come alone to a meeting with them in Davao City, a major city an
hour away from Allan’s home. Davao City was where the airport was bombed
earlier this year. This group had been working in the tribal areas seeking
to “preserve their primitive culture”. In other words, they were
keeping the tribal people in spiritual darkness and economic poverty so they
could be exploited for financial gain. When the tribal chieftains turned
to Christ and entered into covenant with God and with Church Triumphant, these
people lost their source of income. They were determined to win it back by
killing Allan and stopping the spread of Christianity among the tribes.
Realizing that the enemy had been unmasked, Allan emailed us for advice.
We felt a check in our spirits and told him absolutely not. We told him
not to go alone and not to meet them on their terms. We said to make them
come to him on his terms. We told him to take control of the situation. So
he did. He met with them in Tagum City in the presence of a tribal
chieftain and two tribal elders. The leaders admitted to sending the two
men to kill Allan and his family and to kidnap the American missionaries.
They told him that they would leave them alone and allow Allan to continue his
work in the tribal areas if he would give them $2,000 and not report them to the
police. They demanded the $2,000 protection money or they would kill him
and his family and kidnap the missionaries when they came back.
Again Allan emailed us for advice. We reminded him that he was under
God’s protection. They would have already killed him if they could but
God had stopped them. If he paid them $2,000, they would only come back
next month demanding more. We reminded him that it was foolish to pay the
Devil to get his permission to do God’s work. To do so would give Satan
power and authority over his life.
Allan and his family decided to stand in faith and believe God to move in
their behalf. They organized a week of 24 hour a day intercessory prayer
for their protection. At the end of the week, Allan got a phone call from
a stranger who said he was one of the gunmen. He refused to give his name
but told Allan not to be afraid and not to pay the $2,000 protection money.
He said that he had learned of the good work Allan was doing in the mountains.
He now realized that Allan was helping the tribal people and he would not follow
orders to kill him and his family. Praise God for His divine intervention
to protect His children and to turn the heart of this hired killer.
God’s Word is true and we really can trust Him with our very lives!
We Still Need Your Help
God is moving and blessing in a powerful way. He is raising up more
laborers to be trained for the harvest. We appreciate everyone who has
already committed to help sponsor a Bible school student for this coming term at
$50 a month for six months. We are grateful for all those who have stood
in the gap to build a village church for $200. More sponsors are needed.
The students are willing to come. The people in the mountains are eager
for someone who will come bring them the Gospel and establish a church in their
midst. For $500 you can train a pastor, build a church, and bring an
entire village to Christ in the mountains of Mindanao.
These tribal people have been worshipping many different gods for
generations. But all of these “gods” had one thing in common.
They had testified to the people that there was another God, a Creator God, who
is more powerful than they are. They told the people that one day this
Creator God would send a representative to tell them how they can come to Him
and worship Him. When we heard that, Howard asked God, “Why would these
demons tell the people about You?” God simply said, “Because I commanded
them to. They had no choice”.
So when our church planting team comes to a village, all the people gather
around to hear. The chieftain either goes with the team or has already
told the head man of the village that he was sending the team to bring them news
of the Creator God. The villagers sit on the ground in rapt attention for
five to six hours as our team presents the Gospel of salvation through the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We tell them that Jesus wants to reconcile them
to the Creator God if they will repent and turn from worshipping other gods.
This is a message they have waited all their lives to hear. The entire
village will repent and be baptized that very afternoon. We then leave
behind a trained worker to stay there to pastor them and teach them God’s
Word.
We are training those workers from among the tribal people themselves.
They already understand the language and the culture and are prepared for the
daily hardships of village life. The churches we are planting start off
self-supporting from the beginning because we are teaching the people how to
grow their own food and how to tithe. The tithe supports the pastor once
he is already trained. The people do not yet have the resources to support
the Bible school. The thing we still lack is the $50 a month for six
months to feed and house the workers while they are attending the Bible schools
and to provide a meager salary for the teachers. Will you help us to meet
this exciting challenge? God has opened the door to reach about 900,000
tribal people with the Good News of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
They have been waiting all their lives for someone to come and bring them this
Good News. How much longer will they have to wait?
A Message from the President
Hi, this is Howard. As usual, Barbara has written the newsletter and
she has done a good job. But I wanted to share with you the urgency of the
hour. I want you to hear my heart. I want you to do something extra
over the next ten months. This is a “kairos” moment (God’s appointed
time) for the Philippines. God has set everything in place. I need
you to stand with me in prayer and in sacrificial giving. $500 trains a
pastor, builds a church, and wins a village for Christ. My greatest
concern is that we will not be able to meet this challenge and move fast enough.
I really believe we need to prepare at least 300 pastors, build 300 churches,
and win 300 villages to Christ in the next ten months. Some of you may be
able to write a check for $500 up front. Others may only be able to give
$50 a month for the next ten months. All of you can pray and then do what
God puts into your heart to do. Please help me reach these precious people
with the love of God.
| 
