Early on in his mission to spread the Gospel message in Peru, Austin Gardner found himself to be in some truly unfortunate predicaments. He arrived in Peru in the middle of a Civil War with ‘The Shining Path’, a terrorist group attempting to overthrow the Peruvian government. As a result, Austin has experienced firsthand the tragedies war can bring. Despite all the hardships that Austin has dealt with, his faith in God continued to grow. Attesting to Austin’s faith in God and the lessons he learned in the early days of his time in Peru, he said:

“Scores and scores of times, God met needs and answered prayers in ways that proved to me He was listening, there, caring, and all-powerful.

 I saw Him help a guy with little to no language ability learn the language well enough to be used of Him. I saw Him meet financial and spiritual needs when I literally had no idea how it would happen or could be done.

The most powerful and number one lesson I learned would be that you must risk it all to train men and women to be all that God has made them to be. Discipleship and multiplication of workers is the key to getting God’s work done anywhere.”

How powerful. Historically, war has broken many men. However, in this case, war only strengthened Austin through his faith in God’s righteousness and his motivation to spread the gospel throughout the world. This can directly be attributed to the grace of God. Truly God’s faithfulness can be seen in the lives of His servants. Living in the grace of our Heavenly Father does not mean he didn’t have to face several challenges head on, however. Speaking to the fears Austin had in Peru, he said:

“I grew up in the country with an outhouse and no running water. I knew nothing of cross-cultural living or church planting. I had hardly ever seen anyone that wasn’t my ethnicity.

Now I found myself in a war-torn foreign country, speaking a foreign language and living a life I had only read about. I was ill-prepared to live there, let alone make a difference.

My nervousness and fear caused me to make friends with young Peruvian men. They spent tons of time with me. In my pride, I could never admit that I was afraid or needed them, but I did. So to cover for me, I made sure to teach them the Bible and godly principles all the time we were together.

They gave me a sense of security in a place outside my comfort zone. I taught them the Bible and practical Christian living.”

Here again, we see God at work in the life of one dedicated to serving Jesus Christ as sharing the gospel. The passion and faith that he had in the gospel carried him into greener pastures and security. Not because he had the money or resources to protect himself in this time of war, but because of his faith in Jesus Christ. Faith and courage are contagious, and when we step out in faith, we find that God meets us there. Speaking to this end, Austin was quoted as saying:

“As all of this was going on, I stumbled on life-on-life discipleship. I was learning how to transfer who I was in Christ to them. I taught them all I knew. I studied every day to stay ahead of them as much as possible.

This turned out to be my greatest lesson. I was accidentally and coincidentally training them to do the ministry. They began to dream of all that they could do with their lives. I helped them do so.”

What an incredible story! Leading men to a life of discipleship and leading them to God’s Kingdom, whom, without meeting Austin, likely would never get the chance to experience the love God has to offer. During times of war, death, and violence, Austin spread the love of Christ, which is truly a testament to his character, and more importantly, the grace and faithfulness of our Heavenly Father.