Pastor Austin Gardner interviews, Missionary David Gardner, concerning his life as a young person being called into ministry after having been raised on the mission field as well as his life in ministry today.
- David’s Introduction
- Just spent a year on furlough
- Leaving March 15, 2019 for our next full term
- Hoping see more churches started and more work done
- How did God confirm to you that you should be a missionary?
- I was around 10 or 11 when I surrendered during a special service where the Lord really got a hold of my heart
- When I was 18 or 19, I was living in America and working for a businessman and didn’t really have direction
- It was when Pastor Gardner called me and said that he was moving back to the States that the opportunity came
- There were three things that I saw that God used to call me back to Peru
- Desire – I wanted to go back
- Opportunity – there was a need for me in the ministry in Peru
- Ability – I already knew the culture, language, and was familiar with the ministry there in Peru
- How many kids do you have
- Three
- Chloe
- Allie
- James
- How did God lead your wife toward missions?
- She went to one of the first camps that we held.
- She had just been saved at 15
- She told the Lord that she would do anything but be a missionary
- She went to that camp, God called her to be a missionary, and she surrendered
- What in your childhood prepared you to be a missionary
- Growing up on the mission field
- What prepared Katie?
- She grew up in a godly home
- She was involved in church and in ministry
- When I met her she was involved in the Rock of Ages ministry
- People used to say that she would never move farther than across the street from her parent’s house because she loved to be at home
- But she married me and now lives over 3,000 miles away from home
- How did her family react to her being a missionary?
- I met her when I was 19, and she was 18
- We got married less than a year later
- They knew that I was going to be a missionary
- They were very supportive of all of it
- What has been the most encouraging book in your life?
- A Tale of Three Kings
- The Master Plan for World Evangelism
- I try to read through both of these once a year or every now and then
- Cat and Dog Theology really changed the way I viewed my relationship with God
- If you could start over, what would you do differently?
- I would try to read more
- I would try to listen more
- Most people further along in life wish that they had listened more when they were younger
- But God was really good to me to let me grow up the way that I did which really prepared me
- What misconceptions have you had to overcome as an adult missionary?
- One is that you think that you’re always going to be successful
- I thought that I could have learned from mistakes of others as a young person and that I wouldn’t make those same mistakes as an adult
- When you go into ministry, you’re going to get hammered by Satan
- Don’t think that it won’t happen to you!
- What is something funny that’s happened to you in ministry?
- In Peru, won a kid named Alex to the Lord
- We were doing discipleship together one day and he was asking about what missionary work looked like
- I told him that you have to learn to eat the food no matter what
- His mom was making a cow leg salad, and he knew that I didn’t like it
- He told his mom to give me a huge portion so that I’d be forced to eat it
- What is the hardest thin that you’ve had to go through
- Seeing your people fall into sin
- Just recently, the guy that I left Omega (our church) to fell into adultery
- Just three weeks before I found that out, I told a few people that there are three people who I would trust with my life, and he was one of them
- We’ve got several marriages struggling in our church, and I think the failure in leadership has something to do with it
- What part of being a missionary do you enjoy the most?
- One, teaching the Bible
- Seeing people’s lives changed
- Because you’re so great or good, but because the Bible changes them
- Two, training men
- You see guys whose parents said would never amount to anything, and you can see them do great things for God
- It’s exciting to see people who never had much of a chance be really used by God
- One, teaching the Bible
- What is a funny cross-cultural mishap that you’ve made?
- What advice would you give to someone who is headed to cross-cultural ministry?
- You need to learn to be a servant
- You need to read Cross Cultural Servanthood by Dwayne Elmer several times
- Not everyone is out to take advantage of you
- Not everyone is out for your money!
- Jesus served absolutely everyone regardless of the intention.
- You need to learn to not act like the typical, egotistical, know-it-all American
- Who is one of your missionary heroes from the past?
- The story that most impacted me as a kid was John and Betty Stam in China
- They were faced with the decision to deny Christ or be beheaded
- They chose to be beheaded
- What is your most treasured memory of while you’ve been in the ministry?
- During that really hard time we were talking about early, I was just totally out of energy and didn’t even have the will to put one foot in front of the other
- I remember praying and telling God that I couldn’t do it anymore and that I needed His help
- It literally felt like He gave me the strength
- That day and that week, every meeting that I had, I was totally exhausted, but every time the meeting would start, I would feel this burst of energy
- The truth of the Lord being my strength has totally new meaning for me now
- Any special people or groups in your field that have blessed you?
- When all of this was going on, Jason Holt came to just be with me
- He laughed when I laughed and cried when I cried
- He wasn’t there to lead or guide me, though I sought that sometimes, but he really just wanted to be there for me
- What do you do to stay encouraged through trials in your life?
- I’ve learned to live in the Psalms
- Spend time in the Psalms
- Katie and I will read Psalms together before we go to bed
- Any trouble that you deal with in life you can find in the Psalms
- What are some things that concern you about heading back to the field?
- God has allowed us to take our nephew Wyatt into our family
- His life is totally going to change, so I’m praying that God is really going to help him and be with him
- I’m also really praying about starting another church with one of the young men from Omega
- Aren’t you working on getting some property for Omega?
- Yes
- Omega is in one of the most central areas of the city, so land is very expensive
- We would expect to spend anywhere from $250,000 to $300,000 for it
- Just recently an opportunity came up for us to possibly purchase the land of another church
- I’m praying that God would allow us to obtain a piece of property on this next term.
- The size of the property is only about 3,000 sq. ft.
- Take a minute and say whatever you’d like to say
- Pray for us as we return to Peru
- Pray that more people would be called to go to the mission field
- The opportunity to do a work in Latin America is just wide open
- As a team, we are praying for a hundred people to surrender to be missionaries to Latin America
- Closing Remarks
- You can reach David at Peru Ministry on Facebook and peruministry.com
