Bittersweet!

Well, this is it. My last day in the office at Calvary Community Church. I will be teaching a couple of classes on Sunday but this is my last day working in the office. I will clean out my office on Sunday and Monday but I am taking this day in and treasuring it in my heart.

I have often said, "If your Christian life doesn't feel like a free fall most of the time, you are probably not doing it right."

Right now I feel like I am in a free fall. But the thing the Lord has taught me along the way is that He is faithful. I can trust Him to catch me. He consistently calls me to step out of my comfort zone so I have to rely on Him. When He originally called me into full-time ministry I told Him He would have to show up BIG because without Him I would fall flat on my face.

I still feel that way. If Jesus doesn't show up BIG I will fall flat on my face. That is just the place I want to be...dependent upon Jesus.

I will miss working with the staff of Calvary on a daily basis but I am glad I am not leaving the fellowship of my Calvary family. You have all been a blessing to me in more ways than you will ever know.

The ministry the Lord is leading me into is a continuation of what you all have poured into me over the last 5 years I have been on full-time staff, 4 1/2 years I volunteered in the front office, and the last 22 years Denice and I have been attending Calvary.

Please continue to pray for us as we follow the Lord as we commit to pray for you. We love you all from the bottom of our heart.

Stepping Out Of The Boat

When Jesus called Peter to step out of the boat Peter responded by stepping out of the boat. Jesus didn't call Peter to understand how he was going to walk on water, He just called Peter to step out.

Jesus has called us to trust Him and step out of the boat. I have had had the privilege of being trained for ministry at Calvary Community Church as a volunteer and full time minister for the past 9 years. I will be leaving the full time pastoral staff at Calvary on May 31, 2015.

If you have heard my heart over the past 4 1/2 years it will not be any surprise to you that the Lord has captured my heart for the people and land of India. I have been invited to join the staff of Global Training Network to go train pastors in the majority world. My primary focus will be South Asia.

What I mean by the term "Majority World" is the parts of the world where people do not have access to colleges and seminaries to get theological training; mainly Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It has been reported that 80% of the pastors in the majority world have little to no training.

What I will be doing is traveling to South Asia 4-6 times per year. I am being purposely vague do to the persecution and spiritual warfare that is present in these areas.

I will still be around Calvary when I am not traveling to the mission field or working on raising our support. We would greatly appreciate your prayer as we raise support and go do the work God has called us to. I am including information below as to how you can be a part of our ministry as we seek to build the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Prayer Points:

• Health
• Safety
• Financial Support
• I would like to take the first trip in July and August.
• I know this is a tall order but the Lord is not just a God of the small stuff.

Here are the ways you could be a part of our financial support team.

You could send a check to:

Global Training Network

7558 W. Thunderbird Rd.

Ste. 1, P.M.B. 449 

Peoria, AZ 85381 

Please put #481 on the memo portion of the check and not our name.

You could visit our support page by clicking on our name:

Brian & Denice Gandy and choosing from the single gift, monthly recurring gift, and the annual recurring gift options.

The least expensive way to give (other than a check) is with the EFT (Electric Funds Transfer) option.

Or you could scan the QR Code with your phone to go directly to our support page.

Thank you for your love, prayer, and support.

Brian & Denice Gandy

Stories From The Road - Seeking The Blessing

Stories From The Road

I have been asked to write down some of the stories from being a truck driver for 25 years. This is the first of these stories. I will post more as I can remember them and I have time to write them down.

Seeking The Blessing

I had a habit of taking my Bible into restaurants to read while my meal was being prepared as well as while I was eating. One evening I stopped at a restaurant that had some extra space around back where I could park my truck and avoid truck stop food. I can’t remember exactly where the diner was located. It was either in rural Missouri or Iowa.

When I entered the café there were only two tables occupied. The waitress walked me past the first occupied table and seated me next to the table where two couples were engaged in a deep conversation. One couple was older and the other was a young couple.

Just before I finished my dinner and time in the Word I overheard the younger couple say the name of a town that I had heard of before, Baborigame. I have friends who had been translating the Bible, at that time, for 20 years into the language of the Tepehuan Indians. Baborigame is a small village high up in the mountains outside Chihuahua, Mexico.

I gathered my things to leave and as I passed their table I paused for a few seconds as I debated whether to interrupt their conversation or not. I finally asked for their forgiveness as I broke into their discussion. I asked them if I had heard them correctly and they all looked very surprised when I said, “Baborigame.” I told them of my friends, Kevin and Wendy Case, who had been serving the Lord in this tiny village for so long. I asked if they were praying about going and serving with the team there with New Tribes Missions. The younger couple said they were praying about it. I let them know I would be praying for them and I left.

Several years went by when I was attending a mission conference where Kevin and Wendy were being featured, telling the congregation of their work in Mexico. Kevin came up to me and said he needed to talk to me. We went out for lunch after the service and he asked if I remembered the incident at the little restaurant with the two couples. I did not remember encounter until he started recounting to me what had happened. He told me that the younger couple was asking her parents for their blessing to go to the mission field where they felt the Lord was calling them.

Her parents were against them going to Mexico. They felt their daughter and son-in-law were too young and were misinterpreting whatever it was the Lord was doing in their lives. Kevin told me that when I spoke up they were forced to realize that God was at work. The older couple came to see how many things God had to arrange to accomplish this divine appointment.

1. Truck driver from Phoenix at that particular restaurant at that time.

2. Truck driver knew one of the couples on the Baborigame team.

3. Truck driver actually remembered the name of the village although he had never been there.

4. Waitress sat truck driver close enough to overhear their conversation.

5. You could probably see more God workings than I have noted here.

Kevin said that her parents figured if God had orchestrated everything needed to put me there at the same time as the blessing was being sought that He must have the whole thing under control. Therefore, they gave the young people their blessing. Kevin said that that couple had joined them in translating the scripture in Baborigame.

I knew God had called me into ministry, yet I was getting very anxious about still being out on the road. I thought I was out there not being of any use the kingdom of Christ. The Lord used this to illustrate to me that He was in control and I was right where He wanted me.  Just think of the blessings I would have missed out on if I would have been impatient and tried to do what God had called me to do but in my timing rather than his. I pray I never get running ahead of the Lord and bypass the divine appointments He has ordained for me.