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.

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.

Vision India Photos

Here is a link to some photos from my trip to India. I will post some stories of the trip as I am able. Enjoy.

https://plus.google.com/photos/108706225526463464309/albums/5712659720221098241

Vision India Prayer Letter

It all started at a football game. I was sitting next to a friend of mine, Darrell, when out of left field he said, "You and I should take a mission trip to India."

Being a seasoned churchgoer, I mustered up my most spiritual answer, "Yeah, sure. I'll pray about that." Of course I was really thinking: "I don't want to go to India. I never have and I never will. I'm just saying I'll pray about it in the hope that you’ll forget about it by the next time I see you." But, as usual, God was several steps ahead of me in the process.  During the next 48 hours He orchestrated a series of events that not only confirmed my call to India, but also changed my heart toward the people and the mission field there. You can read the full story at my blog, truckstoptheologian.blogspot.com, under the Vision India 2012 post.

I cannot ignore the fire that God has kindled in my heart for the people and land of India. I believe He is calling me to go and see the work He is doing there already, and to show us how we, the community of believers in Phoenix, can be used to further that work.

Darrell and I are going to India for the first two weeks of February 2012. We will be visiting several ministries throughout southern India. From city churches to rural churches in Hindu villages, orphanages, leper homes, and school ministries.  We will even be visiting an orphanage that is raising girls who were rescued from infanticide because the parents wanted a boy.

We desperately need and cherish your prayer support. India is saturated with millions of false gods and idols; behind each is a demonic spirit. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we do not war against flesh and blood but against "spiritual forces of wickedness." King David said in 1 Samuel 17:47, "The battle is the Lord's." We trust the Lord will protect us as you lift us up in prayer.

Would you please commit to pray for us as we go? There are several specific things that you can join us in praying for: 1) We have a great deal of preparation to do before we leave in terms of logistics, packing and communications with host ministries. 2) Please pray that we receive the funds we need for the trip. 3) Pray for the people the Lord will put in our path while we are there. 4) For our health and safety. And 5) Pray that the Spirit will give us clarity as to the nature and extent of our future involvement with the ministries we encounter.

The Lord has called us to step out in faith, so here we go. I look forward to sharing with you how God uses us, and you, on this trip.

God Bless,

Brian Gandy

briang@calvaryphx.com

602-284-4193

 

Vision India 2012

I have been asked to explain my interest in India, so I will try to put forth a brief summary of what God has done in my heart for this country I've never had a desire to visit. I know you have your doubts, because brevity has never been one of my strong suits, but I'll give it a shot although I make no promises about the length.

It started in October 2010. My beloved sister, Karen, was just a few weeks from finishing her battle with cancer. I was working at the church for just three months and I was feeling as if I was walking through mud. Karen was doing progressively worse and she could take a turn at any time. It was as if we were on a death watch.

Denice and I went to our great-nephew's high school football game. His uncle on his mother's side, Darrell, was at the game. Darrell had just returned from a business trip to India. We talked for a while about his business and how it was going in India. When we were concluding our conversation and I was about to go sit with Denice, Darrell said, "You and I ought to go on a mission trip to India sometime!"

"Yeah! Sure! Let's pray about that." Those were the words that came out of my mouth because it seemed like the spiritual thing to say. But what was going on inside my head was, "I ain't going to India! It is dirty! I have never had a desire to go to India and I don't plan on ever going. I'll tell him I'll pray about it and he will forget all about it by the next time we talk."

That was Friday and Saturday was a new day. Saturday evening Denice and I were at a banquet for a ministry here in the Phoenix area. While the speaker was giving his message, the Lord told me to ask a friend at the next table if he would be interested in going on the mission trip to India with us. "WHAT! I don't even want to go to India!"

"Just ask him," the Lord replied.

"Lord, he's not going to want to go! He's a contractor and he has laid off everybody but himself!"

"Just ask him," was the gentle encouragement from the Lord.

"Lord, he has young children and India is not the safest place for Christians! He is not going to want to go!"

"Just ask him."

So I asked him. He smiled real big and said, "Yeah, let's pray about it!" He had a ring of authenticity in his voice that I had lacked in mine the evening before.

Sunday afternoon I was in the atrium at the church doing a little straightening up before the evening service. The only thing going on was some guitar lessons so there were very few people around. An Indian woman, named Elizabeth, came up and introduced herself. I asked where she was from and she replied she was from India. I told her I didn't know exactly what the Lord was doing but He may be calling me to go on a mission trip to India. She told me that she and her husband would be praying for me. Her smile was radiant.

That evening, during the worship time following the teaching, I was sitting next to Pastor Randy, the man who has mentored me for the past 15 years. He had his Bible opened. Pastor Mark came and talked to him and the next thing I knew, Pastor Mark was on the platform saying that Pastor Randy had a word from the Lord for us.

Psalm 40:1-3
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.

As Pastor Randy read these words my soul was stirred. A pit of distruction- Karen is about to die; Out of the miry clay- I felt as I had been walking through mud; Set my feet on a rock,put a new song in my mouth, and many will trust the Lord.

"Lord, are you telling me that if I go to India you will put my feet on a rock, put a new song in my mouth, and many will put their trust in you? That is a stretch! I'm reading a lot into that. I'm going to need more confirmation than that, Lord!" Pastor Randy came back and sat next to me. A couple of songs later he leaned over to me and said, "That was for you."

That was the confirmation I needed. God had used a series of seemingly unrelated events over a 48 hour period to change my heart towards India. I having been seeking His will from that day forward as to what He is wanting to do with me in India. I could use your prayers. I am totally relying on God to supply the financing for Darrell and I to go to India in February. We estimate we will need about $5000 each for our airfare to and from India, traveling while there, meals, lodging, and money to bless the ministries we visit. Thank you for putting up with my lack of brevity and I pray I have given you a peak into my heart and what the Lord is wanting to do with us. Again, I covet your prayer.