Dear Partner,

What a fruitful month October has been. During the first full week of the month there was the annual “Prayer & Power Conference” at the Family Prayer Center. Pastor Dave Roberson did most of the meetings and they were wonderfully anointed. In addition, Tim Stemple, Jim Martin, Alan Taylor, and I ministered at some of the meetings. Hundreds of “family” members came from all over the country … and from all over the world. Some I was well acquainted with. Some I met for the first time.

This conference seemed especially filled with many young people … in their twenties and thirties. It is so good to see the "next" generation coming to be trained by us old war horses. (I think Alan Taylor was the youngest of those who ministered from the pulpit, but even he has been in ministry for twenty years.) Hopefully, those young people will learn from our experience (both the good and the bad) so that their lives will be even more fruitful than ours has been. Pastor Dave often says, "Show us your dust." Every generation should not have to reinvent the wheel. They should quickly learn from us what it took decades to learn … and then far exceed our labors for the kingdom.

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with a young minister, only 41 years old, who had recently gone through a very difficult time. Yes, he had made a few mistakes, and the enemy came roaring in to maximize the destruction that resulted from those mistakes. This young minister is of an excellent character and was feeling guilty that his mistakes, even though they were made with the best of intentions, had allowed a crack in the door that allowed the enemy to bring some destruction to his church. I assured him there are no ministers anywhere who have not also made mistakes from time to time … including me!

When I asked him how old he was and he said, “I am 41 years old” I told him he was looking at the situation all wrong. I reminded him Sue and I were 45 years old the first day we ever attended the Prayer Center. We were older than him by four years before we ever began hearing the life-changing message that is taught by Pastor Dave Roberson. At age 41 this young minister has already assimilated that message for many years and is a qualified teacher of it himself. I said, “Think of what you already know that we did not know at your age. Not only what you know from the Word of God, but what you have learned from all of your experience in ministry during these past years. Even the mistakes have taught you many things. The enemy is trying to keep your focus looking backward toward your failures. But the truth is … your ministry isn’t behind you. Your whole ministry is AHEAD of you.”

Now here is the thing. I am headed toward my 62nd birthday and … that same thing applies to me. My body may be getting older but my spirit man is not. Yes, I can tell my body has changed a lot from when I was in my forties, but my spirit man has not aged at all. On the inside, I still feel like a vigorous young man just NOW launching out to reach the world for the Kingdom of God. I don't feel like I am near the end of my ministry, but rather than I have barely begun. Paul said,

Cor 4:16   For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

By the time you receive this letter I will be ministering in South Korea again. This will be my fifth ministry trip there. Part of the time I will be ministering in a Conference that is open to the public. That Conference lasts several days and culminates with a Pastor's Conference where they are free to ask me any questions they have for a period of several hours. The last time I did one of those Pastor's Conference, many of them had traveled for days over great distances in order to attend. What an honor it is to impart any wisdom the Lord has given me over the years to these servants of God.

In addition to those meetings, I will also have the opportunity to minister many services at the Missionary Training Center operated by Pastors Jinho & Soonae Kim. This training center is different than many bible colleges. This one is specifically designed for people who intend to be full time missionaries in foreign lands for the rest of their lives. These people are serious about the gospel. Most of them are quite young. It is another opportunity for me to sow knowledge and wisdom into the "next" generation that will carry the gospel on their shoulders to a lost and dying world.

Many of the previous graduates I have taught before at this same training center are already serving as missionaries now. Some of them have to keep their true purpose a secret from the authorities in the countries where they minister because it is illegal to openly seek to make converts to Christianity there. So they have a "front job" as a teacher, a doctor, etc., but quietly they are constantly sharing the precious gospel of Jesus Christ with person after person. Many conduct secret bible studies in their homes so the new converts can grow in faith. They risk arrest and imprisonment if they are discovered. What a privilege it is for me to be able to impart any knowledge or wisdom that will help them in their labor of love for the Lamb. Sue and I especially ask you to pray concerning these meetings in Korea this month. I leave the USA on Saturday, October 18th and return on Saturday, November 1st.

Sue and I love you and appreciate you. We thank God for your generous and giving heart. God bless you!

Your friend and co-laborer,

Gary Carpenter

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