I want to thank each and every one of you for being such a great support team for us as missionaries in Peru.  God has been so good to us and we are thankful for all that he has done.  We have been traveling and speaking in different churches and telling people about the ministry there.  God has been doing some amazing things in Peru over the last few months.  Pastor Miguel Murillo is now teaching classes for some of the pastors on Mondays.  God is using him and other men of God in training the younger men how to do what God has called them to. 

We also had a Youth Camp where a lot of the churches got together to have a week of spending time in the Word of God, in prayer and in worship.  We had over 150 young people come during this time and we saw many young people come to Christ and many called to ministry.  Young people even traveled from different countries to be a part of the camp.  It was amazing to hear of all the great things that God did during this time with the young people.  If you would like to know more about the camp look at David’s prayer letter that comes with this one.

We have now moved to Acworth, GA.  We are thankful for the help of one of our churches.  They are helping us with the monthly expenses so that we can have a nice house in this area.  It is really nice to have a house with space for the kids to be kids.  They like that part as well.  

Now to the Joshua news.  The doctor’s just let us know that Joshua’s soft palate is going to need an operation within the next 6 months or so.  His soft palate is not long enough, so if left unattended, he will have difficulties speaking correctly in the future.    They have told us that once this operation is done that they will need to verify that it is right by doing regular speech therapy.  If you know anything about me you know that this is the farthest thing from my heart.  We will be in the states for another year.  I will be making multiple trips this year to Peru but will not be able to move down there permanently until this year is over.  I ask you to pray for us that God will lead every step of the way and that we will know exactly when we can get back.  As you can understand, we must continue working in Peru but we also must continue taking care of our son.  Right now Joshua is doing speech therapy once every 14 days and we are learning tons of stuff to try and help him to grow in his speaking ability.

I would also like to encourage you to look at our new website.  Our other site will continue to work and will host things, but we will have a centralized site for the team of people that are working in Peru together.  Those being Jeremy Hall, David Gardner and myself.  We are hoping to keep the ministries like the Bible College, TV station and Christian school up to date on there.  Please check it out. www.peruministry.com 

We thank you for being amazing supporters and for allowing us to continue ministering in Peru.  Thanks for praying for us and for supporting us to make this possible.  I still have some dates open if you would like us to come by and share about all that God is doing in Peru.  Please email me at chrisandandria@mac.com or call me at 678-646-4692.  

Yours for Souls,

Chris, Andria, Jacob, Hannah, Andrew and Joshua Gardner

Chris]]>Valentines Dayhttp://www.uttermost.net/home-page/2012/2/15/valentines-day.htmlChris Gardner2012-02-15T02:56:57ZWe had a great Valentines day today with the family. 17 years ago for Valentines day life was a little different. I was scheduled to preach at a Valentines banquet. To make a long story short, I was set up on a blind date that would totally rock my world. I am so thankful for Clay McNeese setting us up and allowing me to meet the woman that God made for me. Today we dragged 4 kids with us to go out and eat at Andria's favorite restaurant. All I can say is God has been so good to me and I am thankful for the family he has given me. I am privileged to be married to my best friend and confidant and any time I get to spend with her is amazing. I thank the Lord for one more year that he has given us together. Chris]]>LBC future roof.http://www.uttermost.net/home-page/2012/2/13/lbc-future-roof.htmlChris Gardner2012-02-13T12:57:57ZHere are the plans for the future roof for the church for Pastor Juan Pacheco and Lighthouse Baptist Church.  We are so thankful for Oakland Heights Baptist Church that gave the money to get everything started.  We are now in the final stretch.  Pray that God will continue to provide for what is lacking to wrap the building up.  Thanks for being a part of our lives and for following all that we do.  

See the full gallery on Posterous

Chris]]>Another BLOW!!!http://www.uttermost.net/home-page/2012/1/26/another-blow.htmlChris Gardner2012-01-26T18:53:07ZWow, Andria went to the speech therapist the other day. He sat down with us for over an hour and tried to evaluate where Joshua was at. It is crazy to think that at the age of 13 months that they can tell all that they can about a child's future speech. The doctor said that we would need an X-ray and some other tests to confirm but that he saw hundreds of children and that he was pretty sure that the soft palate (the one that dictates how and if you are able to speak) would have to be operated on to elongate it. He said that would happen about 6 months down the road and then they would need about 6 months after that to be evaluating and making sure that it was ok. If it is operated on and worked through then he should have no problems but if we don't do what they recommend now then it could get even more complicated. This means that we will have to be in the states for at least one more year. Pray for us as we are really wanting to be back in Peru but for now this is where we are. I am studying through the book of Philippians right now and I can tell you that it is amazing how God has used it in my life to help me grow and realize that rejoicing through this time will help me to grow and fulfill God's purpose in our lives. Pray for us as we will be here for one more year. Chris]]>Team Camp in Peruhttp://www.uttermost.net/home-page/2012/1/24/team-camp-in-peru.htmlChris Gardner2012-01-24T14:43:46ZThese are some pictures that Edgar Galdos one of the pastors from Omega Baptist Church in Arequipa sent me.  From what I understand they had over 150 people at the camp.  People came from all over.  We even had some come from Chile.  It is exciting to work with a team of people that have a desire to see the world reached with the gospel.  We all understand that a key part of that being possible is having young people saved and trained for ministry.  Here are some pictures.  From what I understand they did a great job and many decisions were made.

See the full gallery on Posterous