Nov 23, 2006, Notes From the Hardistys

Greetings to you all from Chicago. Our time in the Buffalo area was such a blessing to us. Both of the conferences went well and we were blessed to hear of what the Lord is doing in other portions of His great vineyard. It was good to have time with George Bristow in Buffalo and to learn of the work the Lord has entrusted into his care in Turkey.

Since arriving in Chicago we had a good meeting in Springfield, about 3 hours south of here. We spent Saturday evening with Floyd and Helen Pierce, who were missionaries to Brazil for over 30 years. It was encouraging to hear what the Lord did through them, and what they are involved in currently.

Over the course of the last couple of months the Lord has laid upon our hearts a burden for those in the mountains north of Manila on the main island of Luzon. As I began showing slides regarding the work of the Lord in the Philippines and shared concerning the mountains and the work that Mike and Bev Smits carried on there for a number of years, I would give out the plea for someone to go up into the mountains with the gospel and to see a new testament assembly planted there. As I continued to plea for someone, or another couple to go, the Lord spoke to my heart saying, Why not you?. So I began to pray and seek His desire in this. One morning about a month ago, I was laying this concern before our Lord and asking Him to make it clear to my heart, if this was indeed His leading. I was quite fearful and concerned about moving up into those remote areas. After prayer, I went inside to read. My daily reading for the morning brought me to Haggai. I read through the two chapters and thoroughly enjoyed it. So I decided to read through it again. As I began to read, these words in Chapter one stood before my eyes as though they were raised from the page, not that they were, but it was as if they were the only words on the page. Go up to the mountains. Then, on the next page, I am with you, says the Lord and My Spirit is with you, do not be afraid I believe the Lord shared those very words with me in answer to my prayer.

Our plan is, in the will of the Lord, to return to Manila for the first year, or perhaps less, and get our visa situations in order. During that time we are praying that the Lord will open up a way for us to learn Igorot, (the language of the mountain people we desire to reach), at a school in the Manila area. It would be good to learn the basics of the language in a school setting. That would give us a good understanding of the grammer and construction of sentences and teach us how to conjugate their verbs. From there we can pick up vocabulary as we go along. Pray with us!! It was difficult to learn Tagalog while in our 30's, but now in our 50's to be learning a new language may prove to be quite a challenge.

From Manila we plan to make frequent trips up to Baguio City, a small city in the mountains that is quite built up and has served as a resort type of area for those wishing to escape the summer heat of the lowlands. We desire to help out the assemblies in that city while continuing to learn the language and then moving up into Baguio. From Baguio we will begin to reach out into the more remote areas with a goal of eventually, Lord willing, moving up into Sagada which is several hours north of Baguio and in a remote area. We covet your prayers for us.

Please Keep Praying - October 18, 2006

This month has been a time of continued challenge and blessing from the hand of our blessed Lord. He continues to teach us much of Himself. These past months have been a sort of wilderness experience for us as the Lord prepares us for whatever it is He has ahead of us. We are learning afresh to look to Him alone. He is so faithful.

A couple of weeks ago we began seeking the Lord’s will as to whether Joyce should travel out to Chicago to be with our daughter Kim for the birth of our granddaughter. As the time drew closer I asked the Lord to make it clear to us whether or not we should purchase the tickets for Joyce’s flight. I asked Joyce how much we had available to use for a ticket. She checked and replied that we had $178.00. I went down to the computer room to check for a flight. The price was $178.00!! We booked the flight. Then a week later some kind soul in the Chicago area, upon learning that I was not coming, sent funds on to us specifically so that I could join Joyce for a couple of days, so that I too could be there for the birth of Abby-Rae. What a blessing, for which we give thanks to our Lord. Abby-Rae was born on October 13th at about 8:30 in the morning. She weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19.5 inches long. She is a beautiful little girl. Her brother Tyler, now almost 2 years old, is still not too sure about this new one around the home. We thank the Lord for the healthy delivery. Both mother and child are doing very well. Joyce will be returning to New Jersey on Thursday the 19th of October. I will be picking her up at Newark international airport and then we will be traveling up from there to Connecticut where I have a couple of meetings over the weekend.

Our time in New England is fast coming to a close. We have two more Sundays here before heading west. I will be speaking at Cheshire Bible Chapel in Connecticut this Sunday and then one final time at Branford Bible Chapel before we head out to the Buffalo area.

We will be staying in Buffalo for about 10 days. I will be speaking at a missionary conference on the first Saturday and at Northgate Bible Chapel in Rochester on the first Lord’s Day of the month. The following week I will be speaking at Blasdell Bible Chapel on Thursday and Sunday evenings and Sunnybrook Bible Chapel on Sunday morning. We would covet your prayers as we continue to travel.

Pray for effective ministry. Pray for safety on the roads. Pray that the Lord would raise up men and women willing to pray!!

KHH

Sep 27, 2006 Notes From the Hardistys

I thought it was time for another update to keep you informed as to our whereabouts and doings these last weeks. We have continued busy speaking in assemblies in the NJ area.

Wednesday night we were at Terrill Road Bible Chapel in New Jersey. They had a dinner for us, then a good missionary centered meeting that followed. We showed the slides and had a good time of interaction. It was such a blessing and encouragement to our hearts. Then on Saturday evening we met with a group of believers in West Nyack NY. The meeting was in the home of one of the believers and there were about 16 families represented with children and all. What a wonderful time of fellowship. We were so welcomed and taken care of. We had refreshments before the meeting and then a meal afterwards. We were able to share with them from the Word and then show some pictures of the work in the Philippines. There were so many good questions afterwards, and the children entered in as readily as the adults both in the study as well as in the questions following the presentation regarding the Philippines.

This past Lord's day we were priviledged to worship together with the saints meeting unto the name of the Lord in Brooklyn, at Evergreen Gospel Chapel. It is a bi-lingual meeting and I spoke through a translator following the breaking of bread, then also was able to teach the English Sunday School Class. They had a dinner following for us and our friends as well. It was such an encouragment to see our brothers and sisters from Pine Bush Bible camp again where we had spent a few summers working at their inner city week.

We have a meeting this evening in Hamilton NJ (Sept. 27th) and then on Sunday we will be traveling up to Connecticut where we will be having meetings each Sunday during the month of October.

Thanks so much for your prayers. Please keep praying as the Lord prepares our hearts and minds for our return to the Philippines. He is teaching us much these weeks! Ken and Joyce

August 29, 2006 Notes from the Hardistys

Greetings to all,

Just a short update on our travels. We are still at CMML in NJ and very much enjoying the time here. We have had several Sunday and midweek meetings which keeps us busy. Several of the meetings are a good hour and a half drive each way which makes it interesting at night. This Sunday we return to Silverton in South Jersey for their morning and evening services. We are covering Melchizedec the type and antitype, as well as the four warnings in the book of Hebrews. The ministry thus far has been well received. Thank you for praying.

We shared the other night out of the book of Song of Solomon concentrating on our intimacy with our beloved. I had an elderly saint come up to me after the meeting to say: "I am ashamed to say, that for 20 years I have thought I was living alone...but I have never been alone...He has been with me, thank you for reminding me" It is seeing the Lord working in hearts like that that make it all worth while.

We were able to take a couple of days and visit Connecticut last week. We mainly came up to see my sister Laurie who is quite sick. Please keep her in your prayers. It also gave us an opportunity to visit with our Rachel. It was nice to see a couple others from the assembly at Branford as well.

Thank you all for your prayers for us. Please continue to pray!!! We plan, in the will of the Lord, to make another trip up to Connecticut the Tuesday after labor day, for a couple of nights. Pray for traveling mercies from our blessed Lord as we travel on these busy roads.

I had the opportunity to help Phil and Mary Parsons move into the house at CMML this past weekend. It was good to have time to talk to Phil about the "goings on" in the Philippines. I am much encouraged and confident that the Lord is opening the way for us. It was good to talk to someone who has just come home and get the up to date info on housing, cars etc....

Lord bless you all for His pleasure,

Ken

Aug 14, 2006 Notes from the Hardistys

Greetings to all. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and ministry in Chambersburg PA. The Lord had opened up an opportunity for us to spend time with Jim and Jean LaValley who were missionaries in the Philippines from the late 60 until the mid 80s. It was good to visit with them and we were much encouraged. We were privileged to speak at the assembly they attend in Harrisburg PA at their Wednesday night prayer meeting. Then we spent the weekend in Chambersburg with Dr. and Mrs. Underwood, transplants from Birmingham Alabama, so we very much enjoyed a weekend of fine southern hospitality. On the Lord's day we had the opportunity to speak at the assembly in Chambersburg on the subject of Ruth, then in the evening we spoke at the assembly at Greenwood Hills Conference Center.

The following day we travelled over to NJ and are currently staying at CMML and speaking to the various assemblies in NJ and NY. We had a delightful conference in White Plains one friday evening, it was hard to be so close to home and not be able to drive the extra hour to New Haven. We have had a busy schedule these last weeks since arriving at CMML, and are so thankful to the Lord for the many doors of opportunity He has opened to us to share from the word, and of our burden for the work in the Philippines.

Thank you all for your prayers. We will try to keep you updated a bit better in the days to come. Access to a computer link up have not always been available, so we have fallen a bit behind on our updates. We continue to see the Lord's hand at work, and are more confident than ever, that we are following His direction for this stage of our lives. Keep praying as we have a long way yet to go....

July 15, 2006 Notes From the Hardistys

Greeting to all from Chicago. We arrived in Chicago in early July and
have been staying at the missionary guest homes in Glen Ellyn. It has
been such a blessing to have a place to hang our hats while in this
area. We spoke last Sunday at Palos Hills Christian Assembly both
morning and evening. It was so good to see the saints there once
again. Joyce and I were both in fellowship at Palos for several years
when we lived in Oak Park back in the early 70s.

This Lord's day and next we will be speaking four times at Warrenville
Bible Chapel where our daughter Kim and Larry are in fellowship. It is
such a warm assembly and very much like Branford Bible Chapel in
Connecticut that we are always made to feel right at home.

On the 26th of this month we will be heading out for Harrisburg PA for
a mid week meeting there, then staying on until the Lord's Day when I
have been given the opportunity by the Lord to speak in Chambersburg in the morning and at Greenwood Hills assembly in the evening. The following Monday we will be heading off for an extended stay at CMML in New Jersey.

Thank you for all your prayers. It was so refreshing to be able to attend a reunion of Faith Academy last Saturday. Then to be able to spend time with Dave and Shelly Johnson from the Philippines on that same weekend. The Lord used both those times to confirm to our hearts His calling to return to that land.