How we praise and thank God for His faithfulness and how we thank you for your prayers on our behalf. God was truly with us as we traveled across America in August sharing the vision God has given us for the work on Mindanao. Indeed there were many adversaries blocking our path - injury, accident, and mechanical problems too numerous to mention - yet God brought us through each one and blessed in every service. We returned to California Labor Day weekend and felt an urgency to return to the Philippines as quickly as possible. So we got our airline tickets and visas and left for Mindanao a week later - on Monday night, September 10! We arrived safely in Manila, totally unaware of the terrible tragedy that had happened while we were in the air.
What we discovered when we arrived in Mindanao explained why we had faced such hindrances on the way. Never have we experienced such open doors! We immediately began finalizing plans for the Bible school. Classes have already begun in Tagum City where we are training twelve full time workers as well as others eager to be involved in ministry. They are already going to their six teaching points to teach others what they have just been taught. We have two tribal chiefs coming for training so they can teach their people about the God of the Bible.
The first week here we met a chief from the Ata tribe. He just received Christ as Savior and was baptized the first week in September. He had come to ask us to send workers to every village under his authority to bring them the Gospel and turn them from their idolatry. There is currently only one church in existence in this tribe. Several of our students are from this tribe! God is raising up the laborers for this harvest field.
The mayor of a city on the edge of this tribal area was so excited to hear of our Bible school, he has offered us the use of his official government car if we will go to the villages in his area to plant churches. Another mayor of a village in the Ata tribe has offered to give us free land if we will come to her village to plant a church.
In another remote area, four of our full time workers traveled 6 1/2 hours by motorcycle to a tribal village where the mayor called the entire village together to hear the Gospel and to receive the desperately needed food and clothing that we were able to send there with your help. Seven of the villagers received Christ as Savior and were baptized. A new church is being planted in that village for the first time because of your faithful giving.
But God is not just opening doors in the remote areas and among unreached tribes. The mayor here in Tagum City has asked us to develop an evangelistic outreach to the street children in his city. We had 75 children come to our first meeting last Saturday, led by some of our students. There are 100 children in a neighboring city that are also waiting for someone to come teach them about God.
There are only two things preventing us from walking through all these open doors - a lack of trained workers and a lack of financial resources to facilitate the work. We are busy training the workers right now. Will you help provide the finances and the prayer support to get the job done? We need at least three motorcycles to transport workers to these remote areas where public transportation does not go. We need money to buy Bibles. At one teaching point, we have 24 students (including some from the Ata tribe) but only three Bibles among them. We are still lacking support for some of the full time workers. We have a young Christian lady with a degree in education who feels called of God to go to the Ata tribe to teach literacy but she needs someone to support her financially. Will you help us walk through these open doors and bring the Word of Life to those who are still walking in darkness?
Since the recent tragedy in America, President Bush has called for a world wide war on terrorism. In Mindanao, a group of Muslim extremists linked to Osama Bin Ladan are trying to exert their control over the hearts and minds of the tribal people. We feel the most effective way to fight this terrorist threat is to deliver the people from this murderous lie and bring them to the eternal Truth found only in Christ Jesus. We sincerely believe we must invest all we can at this moment to establish God's dominion and authority over this region. It is a spiritual battle, not just a military one. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. As we establish God's Kingdom here in Mindanao, we are helping to pull down strongholds of Muslim extremism and setting the captive free.
Will you help us? Will you reach out with the prayer and resources we need to accomplish the task? $100 will buy 20 Bibles. $150 a month will pay a teacher's salary to set up a Christian teaching center to bring literacy to a tribal area where there are no schools. $2,500 will buy a motorcycle for a church planter to be able to reach a remote mountain village that has yet to hear the Gospel for the very first time. A gift in any amount will help us provide a hot meal for starving street children.
Make a difference in this world. Bring the message of God's love to these tribal peoples. Don't let the voice of hatred and violence be the only voice they hear. God bless you abundantly.
In His harvest fields,
Howard & Barbara Gard