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![[David Gates]](../images/david.jpg)
SUBJECT: Move Faster, Time is Short
AUTHOR: David Gates, his wife Becky, and three of their five children - Katrina, Carlos, and Kristopher, work in a medical aviation program in the jungles of Guyana, South America.
DATE: September 17, 1998
Dear Friends,
Twice during the last two months, God has indicated that we should move THIS year into a new region of Guyana instead of waiting for NEXT year as planned. In both cases, the vital ingredients for moving forward have been supplied without any effort or intent on our part.
The first indicator from God came when I was in Trinidad in August. A young Guyanese college student from Caribbean Union College came to see me, asking for some advice. He lately had been feeling the spirit leading him to return with his family to his home in the interior Northeast region along the Berbice river. By working very hard to support his family, Brian had completed nearly 3 years of college studies on a part-time basis, but now felt driven to take what he had and begin evangelizing his home region. What he didn't know was what to do, and how to do it, so he came to me for ideas. It didn't take long for us to realize that God was providing the strategic element needed to enter this new area, the needed personnel with a home base to work from. He plans to return to Guyana right away to prepare for the construction of a boarding secondary school and put in a runway. In our planning, it had appeared that it would be 12-18 months away before we could consider looking into reaching the Berbice river area. God said "No! begin this year." So we have.
The second event occurred yesterday. A friend and experienced missionary, Dan Peek is an electronics engineer who volunteered to work intensively with me on the TV station installations. While working on getting our two Net98 satellite dishes out of customs this last week, Dan stopped by the Frequency Management Unit (the FMU is equivalent to the FCC in the US) to request some technical clarification on several points in our TV station application form. While there he discovered that they had already received instructions from the Cabinet to proceed with granting us the station license. They had a copy of the letter Winston and I had submitted to the Prime Minister at our interview in August. The large project proposal they had asked me for was not needed any more since approval had already been granted based on our two pages of explanation and signatures from the local residents. Only the technical specifications were outstanding before they issued the permission. Additionally, they stated that they had no problem granting us the use of channel 7 (Dan and I had already ordered by faith the equipment for transmitting on channel 7 due to its special significance and the proximity to the commercial bands which made our equipment cheaper). Until yesterday, we had no confirmation that we would be allowed to transmit on channel 7. AND NOW FOR THE SHOCKER. The gentleman turned to Dan and asked him if we would consider putting in another TV station in another needy area. He mentioned that there was a great need there. He had no way of knowing that I had intended to apply for a TV station in exactly that place, NEXT year. "Not so," said God, "apply for it this year!" The arrival of our new twin engine plane in October will coincide perfectly with the development of these new plans. The name for our new broadcasting organization is, "Three Angels Television Service" (3ATVS) which is member of the "Three Angels Caribbean Network" (3ACN) incorporating all our TV station projects throughout the Caribbean.
Net98 update: The two satellite dishes will be set up this coming week, one at the Smyrna church where Winston James Sr and family are members, and the other in Linden where Winston James Jr is the district pastor. Winston James Jr. reports a tremendous response from the two Net95 video evangelistic series in Linden, so is anxious to work with Net98. The Smyrna church here in Georgetown is having a week of Spiritual Emphasis this week in preparation for the door-to-door visitation of the district by its spirit-filled members. TV spots and materials have been ordered, and a large tent is being put up by the church to handle the expected large numbers of visitors. Please pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on these two small churches as they set the example to other churches in our Conference of what can be done, not by might nor by power, but by God's Spirit.
Jesus is on his way. Can you hear the footsteps?
In His Service,
David Gates
You may send E-mail to David at:
gates@andrews.edu or
GAMAS@solutions2000.net