Austin Gardner

Miguel Murillo is a missionary with Vision Baptist Missions International. He lives and serves in Arequipa, Peru. God has greatly used him for many years. Today is his birthday. I want to ask you to join me in praying for him and wishing him a great day today.

Happy Birthday. Feliz Cumpleaños y Que Dios te bendiga. We love you.

What Matters Most? from Andrew Pearson on Vimeo.

source

You may be surprised by the statistics.

There are about 200 million non-churched people in America, making America one of the four largest “unchurched” nations in the world.
Each year about 3,500 churches close their doors permanently.
Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining.
One American denomination recently found that 80% of its converts came to Christ in churches less than two years old.

Cliques are a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially: one held together by common interests, views, or purposes, according to Webster’s Dictionary!

We never want to be guilty of having cliques as Christians or as members of Vision. It is very easy to relax and fall into the trap of hanging with your friends and people that you know.

When we do this new people come and think that we are not friendly. After all they come in, no one really has time to talk to them because everyone already has established friends.

We are wrong when we allow that to happen.

I hope you do have friends. I hope you have people to talk to and that you like being with them but we come to church to serve God and our neighbors.

I want to ask you to think of how others are feeling. I want to ask you to make an effort to step out of your comfort zone and go meet new people.

When you see someone that is new, stop your conversation with your long time friend, run to the other person and begin a conversation.

You might say that you do not know what to talk about but I think you can learn. We can ask questions. We can get them talking about themselves. We can learn their name. We can show genuine interest in them.

They may be new, they may not have found a niche to fit into, they may feel strange at church. Will you help and be friend to them.

Will you make it a rule to not talk to your friends until you have talked to the new people. Help them fit in. Help them know that they are loved.

Invite them to go with you after church. Talk to them. Make sure they are included in everything you are doing.

You will be blessed. God will be honored. And new people will really think that we care.

Just a note to every missionary, pastor, and Christian worker. Breath mints are not expensive but can sure make a difference. No one ever knows how their breath smells but others do. Nothing can hinder what you are trying to do more than putting off people by the way your breath smells.

Do not hinder your sweet message of friendship and the good news of salvation with bad breath. People shouldn’t have to put up with your bad breath to hear your good message.

I suggest buying a box of mints that are small and not sticky. You can stick them in your pocket and then just pop them in your mouth when you get the chance. I try to always have them with me. I load my pockets every day and then proceed out to my work.

You say you do not think your breath stinks but you might not know. So take some precautions.

Dear Pastors and Praying Friends,

I hope all of you had a great Christmas season with your family and loved ones. This was our first Christmas here in Peru as a family and it was definitely different, for Katie especially. Since we are on the other side of the equator we are in the summer season during Christmas which pretty much throws the “white Christmas” out the window.

God is really blessing here and we are seeing some major growth happening in our new church plant (Omega Baptist). We are still in the beginning stages of the church but God is blessing in tremendous ways.

We moved into the new church building in November ’09 and in December we were able to start Sunday School. This has been a major tool for growth. Since the church is young, everyone was given an empty Sunday School room and asked to fill it. On our second sunday we had an attendance of 97 in church. It was amazing to see God work and see His people excited about the new classes.

There are a few people that I would like to ask you to pray for that I have been, either, discipling or witnessing to:

Alex:
Alex is one of the first young men that I was able to come in contact with when we arrived here. I began to spend time with him, and after a while of explaining the Gospel of Christ to him, he accepted Christ as his Savior. He is now growing in tremendous ways and seeing God work in his life in a personal way. He just told me yesterday how he has never felt better and he is really taking his spiritual life seriously. He said: “My desires are changing! When people ask me if I want to drink, I don’t want to anymore! I don’t want to smoke anymore or anything!” Pray that he will continue to grow and draw closer to God

Pablo:
Pablo is a friend that Alex introduced me to. He accepted Christ as his personal Savior a couple of months ago, but has started to fall and not be as involved with me or discipleship as he used to. He has seen a change in his life, but he is still tied to his old life and falls to the pressures of the old Pablo. Pray that he will realize who he is in Christ and serve him completely.

Fernando:
Fernando is also one of Alex’s friends that has been coming around more often. He has yet to come to church or hear the gospel completely, but we are working on him. God is opening so many doors with him and the rest of Alex’s friends. Pray that more opportunities will be presented to share the gospel and that his heart would be ready to hear.

Thank you so much for praying for us, God has been so good to us in allowing us to just be a small part in his redemptive mission. People are being saved and changed. We are grateful to be a part of it.

For His Glory,

David and Katie Gardner
Missionaries to Peru
Macedonia World Baptist Missions

We finished the Summit in Tennessee on January 2, 2010. It was a great meeting.

We held our first meeting in our new location on January 3, 2010 and it was cold inside the building.

Zach and Whitney Elrod became our first new members of the year on January 3, 2010.

We held a blessing service for missionaries Travis and Teri Snode, members of our church, serving in Northern Ireland.

Stephen and Ashlee Underwood became new members on January 7, 2010.

Spanish Pastor Ronald Tubillas celebrated his birthday on January 8, 2010.

Our missionary Keith Shumaker celebrated his birthday in Burkina Faso on January 8, 2010.

Little Pamela Hallasi died on January 12, 2010. She was the daughter of Pastor Wilber Hallasi in Peru. We had prayed for her for months.

January 12, 2010 a horrible earthquake shook Haiti killing thousands. We began to take up offerings to help.

January 13, 2010 Ethan Howeth again went in for surgery to get his leg lengthened.

Pastor Trent Cornwell celebrated his birthday on January 15, 2010.

David Lundy and I made a trip to Burkina Faso to preach and visit with missionary Keith Shumaker from January 18-26, 2010. While in Burkina Faso we were able to help Vicente and Gabriela Garcia get cell phones and a motorcycle. We are working on getting them air conditioning.

Our young people participated in the Annual Consumed Teen Revival with Victory Baptist Church and Corinth Baptist Church both of Loganville, Georgia on January 27-29, 2010.

Jonathan and Heather Marks became new members on January 28, 2010.

Our missionary Mindy Bush celebrated her birthday on January 28, 2010 in La Plata, Argentina

Fellowship Baptist Church, Pastor Tom Hatley, in Maryville, Tennessee donated a 66 passenger bus to our church.

Wade and Kathy Williams along with Heather Trojhan became members on January 31, 2010.

Missionary Renzo on his way to North Africa celebrated his birthday on January 31, 2010.

So God gave us 9 new members in the month of January. Our attendance climbed to an average of over 125 in Sunday School and 140 in the AM service.

We are praying that God will let us see more people saved. We are asking God to allow us to pay off our credit card debt in the next couple of months which will leave Vision completely debt free. I am asking God to increase our faith promise mission’s offering. I am asking God to help us get some construction done in the new building.

Thank you for all you do. I thought you might like a summary of all that God has done. The days go by so quickly and you lose count of all that He is doing.

Here are the links to get you started reading

group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=274164381151&ref=nf

or first chapter:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=274164381151&topic=11966

or you can post in the comment section below what I already wrote here for the first chapter and do the same each day if you do not use facebook.

Today we start reading the book of Acts together. Betty and I will read it together as a family. I have already read the first chapter again today and so will read it again with Betty later. I will be sharing here and on facebook with all that have it what God is showing me.

You can join the group on face book here.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=274164381151

Today I want you to consider with me

Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

Notice that Jesus did before He taught! That is so simple and so obvious but if we tell the truth many people talk but do not walk. They tell others what they ought to do but they do not do.

The old saying when I was a boy was, do as I say not as I do!

I hope that we can take from this verse that we will begin living it before we teach our children, our Sunday School class or others!

Did your “heart stir you up”?

And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it: Exodus 36:2.

No one can explain it. It is different with everyone, but something happened. You knew it then and even in the worst of times you will need to remember it. When it gets tough and the Devil is on your back you are going to need to remember this. You didn’t choose it. He chose you. He put the unnatural but spiritual desire in your heart. He put a “necessity on you.” He put the “woe on you.” He “stirred up your heart.” Don’t let anyone or anything rob you of that. Don’t let yourself, a “friend”, or the Devil try to explain it away. It is the most precious gift we have in our personal ministry and walk with God. He called me!