While in Mexico, we were part of a middle-class to upper-middle-class ministry. The church had lawyers, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, and business people. We loved that church and its people. Our language school and the missionaries there encouraged me to consider starting a similar ministry in Peru.

Upon arriving in Lima, we were with the Pace family for a few days. They had a ministry of the same level or even higher. Again I felt like maybe that was what I should do when we arrived in Arequipa.

When we arrived in Arequipa, Peru, based on what I had been taught, we rented a house in a nice neighborhood, Cayma. I intended to start a church among the middle to upper class like I had seen done successfully in Lima and Queretaro.

The first few weeks in Peru were used to set up our house, get to know the city, and pray over where God would have us work. I had the privilege of preaching at a stewardship conference in those first weeks. I was so excited to see that my Spanish worked in Peru. 

 A missionary had started a church in Hunter. He wanted me to consider taking the church while he was on furlough. This church at that time was in a lower-class neighborhood. The young people in Hunter seldom gave their addresses to their friends in other parts of the city. They preferred to use a cousin's house, not to admit they lived in Hunter.

Hunter was not yet a district but belonged to Socabaya. The mayor of Socabaya was gunned down at a rally held in Hunter just weeks before we would end up taking the church there. 

I didn't want to take over a church while another man was on furlough, but at that time, there were only three independent churches in Arequipa, and all were very small. I wrote a letter, snail mail, to my field director to get advice. It would be nearly two months before I got an answer. My field director told me not to take over that church. It was too late.

I talked with the missionary and told him that I would take over the church if I could keep it if it grew. The church met in one room that cost $4 US back then. The attendance counting children and all was tiny. The adult Sunday School met in a double cab pickup. 

I asked what if the church were to grow and I would have become their pastor. Would he allow me to stay at the church and him simply go and start somewhere else? He agreed, so in April, Betty and I took our family and began serving at the Hunter Baptist Church.

It was the wildest ride of our life. It was on the completely opposite side of the city from where we lived. In 1988, there were very few cars on the road and very few taxis. 

Remember, we had no vehicle. I had yet to buy even the Honda 185. Getting to church and home again was very difficult and time-consuming. We would send one of the children to the street to wait for a taxi to go by. They might stand out there for an hour and nothing. 

Then coming home was even worse—no taxis, especially in a lower-class neighborhood. Soon I bought the motorcycle. With it, I could take one of the kids, usually Chris, out to another area, and we would find a taxi. Then the taxi would return to the Hunter church and take the family home.

Thank God He eventually opened the doors for us to buy the Nissan double cab pickup. Finally, getting to and from church, going to the market, grocery shopping, etc., was quite comfortable. 

Imagine me driving a motorcycle with Betty on the back or one of the kids holding onto baskets and bags of groceries. It was a hectic time in our lives, for sure. 

Looking back, I never wanted to serve in a place like Hunter. I had been taught to go to the more wealthy, and they could pay the church expenses, etc. God moved differently in our lives. He put us in Hunter. Hunter would become the most beautiful place and the most fantastic church, I think, I have ever worked in or with.

Betty and I would load up and go to church. There were six in our family. The other missionary had left, and most of the people that came with him didn't return at first. We struggled to get to ten in attendance, counting our six. 

It broke my heart. I would work hard and do all I could, and no one would come. Finally, we hit ten on a Sunday morning in a few weeks. Betty said well, I guess you are happy now. I was delighted but didn't want to stay with ten or only four non-Gardners. 

A member of the church let us have the children's Sunday school class in his living room about 4 or 5 doors up from the church. Slowly God began to work, and within the first year, we had about 60 in attendance. We were still meeting in that one $4 US room. 

God gave us some young men in their late teens that started coming. I was praying that God would give me a young preacher to become the pastor. I begged God, worked as hard as possible, and found nothing or no one interested in the first year. 

We were having Sunday school and AM church, then Sunday PM church. We met on Thursday night for our midweek service, set up by the previous missionary. We had a youth meeting on Friday night. And then, I started meeting with any interested every Tuesday and Wednesday night. Still, I needed help finding someone interested in ministry or training. 

All that was about to change drastically is a story for another chapter. I just know that God was at work in Hunter. It was God that took me there. It was God that built the church. It was God and all God.

I will share another story about how no one would get saved in another story till a Peruvian came and preached an evangelistic meeting with me. The numbers had grown, but I could not see people getting saved or anyone interested in preparing for leadership.

Now I tell these stories to illustrate truths that might help a young missionary. So consider the following with me, please.

Lesson One

Let God guide you along the way. You will make mistakes. You will stumble, but God is at work and will help you. He may need to let us figure out what we do not know to become teachable before Him.

Lesson Two

God uses all of us in different ways. I do not believe I would have fit well in the middle to upper-class church and ministry. God significantly used the people I mentioned, but He uses all of us differently. It is not a one size fits all ministry.

Lesson Three

Know that God is going to meet your needs. He may take His time to show our utter need of Him, but He always takes care of us. A great missionary once said that where God guides, God provides. Another has said God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.

Lesson Four

Many times the work is slow getting started. Do not get frustrated. It takes time to give birth to a baby. It is a lot of work. Much of the work is unseen by others even though felt by those doing the work. Do not be discouraged because your results are not what you wanted or expected. Just keep learning and working.

Lesson Five

It takes a miracle to find someone to train to be in ministry. They have to be found, evangelized, baptized, become faithful to church, show genuine interest in the things of God, and finally surrender their lives to do God's will. Ask God. Wait on God. Don't give up.