Jan 10, 2007 Notes from the Hardistys

Greetings to you all once again in that name which is above every name, the name of our blessed savior the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf. He, by His grace, has brought us safely into South Carolina where we will be staying for about a week. We left Chicago on January 15th and traveled to West Virginia for the weekend. What a beautiful trip through the mountains. We arrrived in Hinton West Virginia, nestled into those beautiful mountains, on Saturday the 16th and were greeted warmly by Harry Pilkington who has lived and served the Lord in that area since the early 60s. We learned in our discussions with him that the Lord, by His wonderful grace, used that small assembly to send out over 50 men into His service full time over the years. That is quite remarkable, and stands as a testimony to the faithfulness of the Lord and to the faithfulness of His bondservants. We were privileged to share from the Word of the Lord on the Lord's day there, both morning and evening. We much enjoyed our time and the warmth of their hospitality to us.

We left the Hinton on Monday to head for South Carolina. The continuing trip through the mountains was absolutely breathtaking. We arrived in Lancaster SC late in the afternoon and will be staying with Joyce's brother Dale and his wife Lois for a week or so. The Lord in His grace, has provided opportunities for us to share in the assembly in Winston Salem on Wednesday night, then in Charlotte NC on the Lord's day both in the morning and evening. Then we have a Wednesday night meeting in Greenville SC where we will have opportunity to visit with our good friends Joe and Romona Marquez, mssionaries to Paraguay. Then we are off to Georgia for a missionary conference in Augusta on Saturday and to speak at the assembly on the Lord's day as well. The following week we have a meeting at Lake Lannier Bible Chapel north of Atlanta, on Tuesday. On Wednesday we will have opportunity to share of the work in the Philippines in Lincolnton GA, before heading down to Florida, for a meeting at Park of the Palms on Thursday. So we have a rather busy schedule ahead of us, so please keep us in your prayers.

Dec 22, 2006 Notes from the Hardistys

Thank you all for praying for the believers in the areas devastated by the last series of typhoons which past through the Philippines . Relief efforts are underway. Continue to pray as the assemblies seek to rebuild their buildings and the saints begin to rebuild their lives. May the Lord use this time of “testing” to build endurance in their lives for His glory. Join with me in praying that this will also open up opportunities for the spread of the gospel and the growth of the kingdom.

Thank you all for your prayers for us over the past couple of weeks. My sister Laurie entered the presence of the Lord on December 12^th. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her. We are thankful that the Lord allowed us to be there for her funeral.

We have now returned to Chicago after a week in Connecticut and 11 days in Wisconsin . It is hard to know where “home” is at this point. Seems we are waking up in a different bed each morning. But we are pleased to now be in Chicago for the next couple of weeks. The family will all be here for Christmas. Abby and Daniel will be driving down from Dubuque on Christmas Eve, Rachel flies in on Friday the 22^nd, and Kim and Larry and family are just a short drive away in Aurora . So it will be nice to be together one last time before heading overseas.

We leave Chicago on January 5^th for West Virginia , North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia and Florida . We will hang our hats in Florida for the month of February. Keep us in your prayers as we travel.

Assembly Believers Need Prayer - Dec 2006 - Typhoon

The following is an excerpt of an email from Rose Brooks received on Dec 14, 2006.

We have five assemblies in Albay on the east coast of Luzon, where two super typhoon hit recently. Actually we have hed four strong typhoons in past few weeks all going through central Luzon.

All the five chapels were blown away leaving only some cement walls. Almost all believers' homes were blown off leaving only cement floors and posts. Being mostly farmers, all their crops were flattened or uprooted by very strong winds and buried by mud from overflowing rivers. One member died from a heart attack during all this.

All in all more than 200 believers in the five congregations are now homeless and without livelihood for 3 to 6 months.

Two fulltime workers from Luzon are making a fact-finding trip and bringing initial gifts. A second trip will be made shortly after this.

Sagada Area

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Pictures of Sagada/Mountain Province Area

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