Steve & Nora

Steve & Nora

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Important Update


7-6-13

To all our faithful prayer warriors & supporters:
We have now migrated the Road to Malawi blog to the Ruth’s Shawl webpage.  All past and future posts will now be available at
http://www.ruthsshawl.org/category/updates/
If you are currently on our emailing list, we will add your email address to the blog so that you will automatically receive an email containing the newest blog post.  Blog updates are posted approximately once a month.  If you have not received email updates and would like to, please click the “Follow” button at the bottom right corner of the Ruth’s Shawl web page and enter your email address.
The migration to the Ruth’s Shawl web page to host our blog is a reflection of the recent merger of the two ministries so that now Malawi Outreach is an entity of Ruth’s Shawl, Inc.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
Thank you all so very much for your love, prayers, & financial support! The ministry of Malawi Outreach has not changed at all,  just operating in the USA & Malawi as an entity of Ruth’s Shawl, Inc. as a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation & as a International Registered Non Government Organization in Malawi, Africa.
In Him,
Pastor Steve & Nora Braselton
Malawi Outreach Ministries

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Update Report May 2013


It is hard to believe how fast time is rushing by all of us! Life is real; good times, bad times, even the ugly times, but God............. We have been experiencing the pangs of spiritual warfare, in so many different venues, but at the same time, we have been experiencing some fantastic victories that blow our minds! We recently made visits to three separate villages:

1.Village #1 in Ntchisi District - Where we visited with the teacher who is running the Adult Literacy Classes in the village for Ruth's Shawl, who is doing such a wonderful job with 19 women, most of which are widows,who could not read or write. Now, five of these women can read & write in Chichewa, with the others coming along so very well. Our teacher anticipates that most of these women will be able to read & write, with a few of the older women will be struggling, but making slow progress.

We were also able to view a Bible Study of about 150 women in the local church building have a Bible study, using the "Proclaimer", provided by the Christian company, Faith Comes By Hearing, which we supplied to this village(s). They have fourteen stations of small churches spread out over a number of miles, at a week at a time & then they return the unit back to the main church location, along with a report of what they have studied, what were the main salient points, what was the application aspect of what they have studied, & how many attended each study. They are doing a incredible job with the teachings we have provided, the additional tools we have been able to leave for them, & taking full advantage of all that God has provided for them to grow in their knowledge of the Word of God!

2.Village # 2 in the Ntchisi District - Where we have been on several visits previously, to get an update on how they are progressing with that which has been provided to them in regards to the teachings, & other Biblical materials that was given to them to see them grow.

We were so blessed to see & hear their testimonies such as:

* One leader in the community testified that he had not been attending church regularly, was smoking & drinking heavily. After our last week long outreach, hearing the teachings, he became convicted in his heart & as a result, has given up smoking, drinking & is now attending church each week. He went on to say that his life, his attitude, & his outlook on life has been radically changed!!!

* The main leader in the village, testified that his heart had been so touched because of the tools that had been provided to them, he related to the hoe (Khasu) the farmers used in their farming is a valuble too. He compared it to the spiritual tools they now possess are to be used to till the soil for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now the whole village has benefitted and is growing together, Water Missions International has provide them with clean potable water & the lord has now provided the Living Water. He also shared that when we were there the last time & distributed Bibles, one of the receipiants was the oldest man in that area and he recentlt pass away. When they found him, he was holding his Bible to his chest. He was so thrilled he had his own Bible, even at this last stage of his life here on earth.

*Another younger man, who spoke surprisingly good English, that he also was a leader in the village & as a result of the outreaches we had provided, he too learned that the things of God that he learned through the teachings, he has begun to attend church regularly, studying the Word of God, learning what he needs to stop if he desires to grow closer to his God.

*One of the women leaders also spoke about of how she & the other women in the village are growing in their understanding of the Bible, because they now have their own Bibles to study.


*We were also able to do eye exams & distribute 25 sets of reading glasses to the Pastors & village leaders in attendance.+
 


* We discussed their desire to have an Adult Literacy Class set up in this area, which they were emphactically in favor of doing so.

Village #3 in Ntchisi District - Met with the Headmaster of the Government School in this village along with one of the women leaders to set a date for us to come to a week long outreach in June. We discussed the need for people in their village for reading glasses as well as the possibility of establishing Adult Literacy Classes for those who cannot read or write. In both cases, they were eager to have both of these tools to made available to them. We will give you a report of how God blessed on our next Update Report

On May 22nd, Judith Canner from Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay & her parents, Jim & Alicia of Pennsylvania arrived in Lilongwe. Jim & Alicia will be with us for about three weeks & Judith will be here until July 1st. We have had them keeping busy and we leave for Zambia for three days before we return to do two local outreaches near Lilongwe. Saturday, June 1st, is Nora's Birthday and we are having a fun night, including a UNO party with our Home Fellowship group and Birthday celebration. Then on June 3rd, we will doing a week long outreach to another remote village.

We have several additional teams due to be arriving in July, August, September, & two teams in October. We are truly blessed of God who has answered our cry to send laborers to the fields that are white unto harvest here in Malawi. We also have just harvested our maize crop and we have ended with 185 bags of 50KG each (110 lbs.)already bagged and we will be harvesting our peanuts (called ground nuts here)next week, so our Lord has blessed the work of the hands of our Malawian farmers! God is so good!

Just wanted to give you all a brief update and to ask you to continue to pray for all the teams coming to be used of God for His glory and that we can be a total blessing to those we are ptivileged to serve and minister to with the love of God.




Saturday, April 13, 2013

Exciting times in Malawi

Well, as usual, there is much to praise our Lord for as we have seen Him go before us time after time, as He leads, guides & directs our steps to fulfill His desires to bless the country of Malawi. We have been working fervently for over three years to obtain the final approval of the Malawian Congoma & NGO Boards. These agencies are the two official groups that any foreign entity who come to Malawi must be approved by in order to legally minister in this country. So, as of this moment, we are in possession of both Certificates from these agencies and we are now officially registered and are in full compliance with the Malaian Government! PTL !!!! In addition, we were able to obtain our required Malawi Revenue Agaency TPIN number (Tax I.D.#. Wow, trying to get these approvals is a lot different here than in the States!! But, to God be the glory!

During the month of March, we have been able to do an outreach to a village in the Ntchisi District, about 2 1/2 hours out in a remote area to do a review of what this village has done with those things we had previously shared with them. We were overjoyed at hearing the different praise reports from the men & women of the village as well as the Head Chief & other village leaders(See photos) That were truly excited to share with us the things they had learned & put into application. Marriages restored, people sharing about now attending church with their spouses which was not the case before we came & shared the Gospel with them. And one of the strongest praise reports was the reaction of all the people who were able to view the Jesus Film we had shown on our last visit! They expressed they had no idea how Jesus lived much like they do today, walking everywhere, seeing cooking being done on open fires outdoors, that Jesus dressed very plainly, how He loved the people of that day, His healing miracles & most of all how brutal His death was on the cross! They asked that we be sure to bring it back to be shown again, so more of the surrounding villagers may come to see this powerful depiction of the life, ministry,death,resurrection, & ascension of our Lord Jesus!

On the Saturday before Easter Sunday, March 30th, we & our ministry team went to the Grace of God Orphanage to minster to the children in this orphanage. Timothy ministered to them in Chichewa the real meaning of Easter as to what & whom we celebrate. Then the team occupied the group in games, so much fun, & then we were able to provide them all with snacks & a Malawian drink called SOBO which is a Orange concentrate you mixed with water, & it is so tasty! It is not sold in the States, but it should be! Following all these activities, we were able to set up the equipment to show the Jesus Film. We went from a crowd of about 40 people to well over 300 people, as the people surrounding this orphanage began coming to see the movie. At the end of the film in the Chichewa language. At the end of the film, there is a presentation of the gospel & how to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord & Savior. At least 80% of all in attendance stood & recited the sinners prayer! Praise His Holy Name & tahnk you Holf Spirit for drawing all these new saints into your Kingdom!!!!!

Nora, myself & all of our team will be traveling on Monday, the 15th, to a remote vilalge to continue to build upon the foundation that has already been laid out, to witness the power of the Holy Spirit doing His work in the minds & hearts of His beloved people of Malawi. We have embarked upon having our Malawian team to do much of the teaching that will be given on our 5 day outreach. The people of our team are men &women whom we have worked with, trained, & discipled, to put them in a position to be able to teach their own people in the people's native tongue without the necessity of a translator. We are so proud of our team, for their love for Jesus Christ, their faithfulness over the past three years to be sharing their time & love on multiple outreaches, as we have ministered together in so many villages over the past three years, & to now see them stepping up to accept more responsibility in their journey & development in & with the Lord!

Our proposed building project of the Ruth's Shawl Pavilion Training Center is moving forward. When we were back in the States in December & January, we were blessed with a financial gift from a family to give us a jump start on this much needed Center in order to expand the number of people we can then teach, train & disciple in the years ahead of us before the Lord returns for us all! This project is estimated to take 18 months of construction time and the financial resourses needed are so far beyond our capacities, but God has asked us to believe that He is able to do this, so when it is built & in operaton, there will be no one who can take credit for it other than God Himself! (Ephesians 3:20) So, what can each of us do to be a part of God's desire to bless the people of Malawi? First of all, pray, for without prayer, nothing will happened! We need to seek His face & hear His voice, to listen quitely, then obey what He tells us to do. Secondly, take on this vision with excitement in order to share with others what God wants to do in this endeavor, word of mouth from a friend or family member is the very best means of communicating this project. Thirdly, if you are aware of companies, corporations, & Charities that invest in projects of this nature, please make contact with them to tell the story. If there is interest, we will be delighted to provide a full overview of the project including a computer generated slide presentation depicting the Center as it is designed to look like at completion.

Well, I have done it again, trying to share too much information in one setting. So, I will close for now, thanking each & everyone of you for your ongoing prayers, love, & finacial support. Without each of you, there is no ministry! In Chichewa we would say, Zikomo Kwambiri to you for your faithfulness! (Thank you very much is the translation) Hope you enjoy the photos!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Donations



Just a reminder to all of our precious financial supporters of the CC School of Ministry (Malawi Outreach), please begin to mail all donations & your checks payable to Ruth's Shawl and mail to Ruth's Shawl address at 1172 South Main St Box #354 in Salinas, Ca. 93901. As of January 1, 2013, Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay is no longer the receiving location of all donations due to tax laws pertaining to receiving funds for a non-employee.

We have, therefore, have joined under the Ruth's Shawl Non-Profit 501(c)3 corporation in the USA & under Ruth's Shawl legal status under the NGO Board, the Government agency here in Malawi. Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay is still our sending church & continues to support the ministry here in prayer as well as their continued financial support. This change of combining both ministries in reality has changed nothing, as we have always operated as a team ministry, using two different names in order to clarify the focus of each ministry.

To those of you who sent your gifts in Febraury to CCMB, they have forwarded these to us at Ruth's Shawl and they have been recorded accordingly. You will also recieve your Year-End Tax Dedutible Receipts from Ruth's Shawl for all gifts/donations for 2013 & beyond.

Thank you for your prayers & your financial giving, as we have said many times before, it is because of your faithfulness we are able to continue to minister here in Malawi as our Lord directs us to do! Here is what you are supporting, changing lives in the least, the lost and the last! So, we say a big, Zikomo Kwambiri to you all!!!!!



3-11-13

Friday, March 1, 2013

Malawi 2013


We arrived back in Malawi on February 7th, after spending 10 full & busy weeks in the States. Up & down all of California, Texas, & Washington State. 12 churches, 2 High Schools, 2 Elementary Schools, several Home Fellowships; numerous doctor appointments, and best of all, spent some very precious time with each of our four grown children, our 13 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren, what a total blessing it has all been! We are so truly blessed of God and we are eternally grateful for His goodness towards us!!



We experienced some of the warmest greetings ever in each church and other venues where we shared this year , about what God has & is doing in Malawi Africa! People received us with open hearts & made us feel as a part of their respected church fellowships! They rejoiced with us in the reports of God's goodness which He is showering on Malawi & its people, and many people have expressed a genuine desire to come to Malawi to serve & see the work here in peron! This is something we are very excited about and we look forward to their arrival someday soon, prayerfully in 2013 and beyond.



We also wanted to take this opportunity to express our sincere & heart felt thanks for the generous outpouring of financial gifts, given for the work of the ministry here in Malawi from those churches we were privileged to share with, as well as our faithful donor base that have stood with us these past four years. There are not words that can adequately describe how grateful & blessed, both Nora & I are, with your faith in Jesus & your trust you have expressed in us! All we can do is to say thank you Jesus & Zikomo Kwambiri to each of you! Our promise to each of you is this, we will keep on keeping on until the Lord returns for us all or until He decides to take us (Nora & I) to be with Himself! We absolutely love serving our Lord here in Malawi, because we know, experiencially, this is where He has sent us to serve Him.


Some exciting good news is that all the crops that were plaanted on the newly acquired 8.13 acres in early December are almost ready to be harvested come late March & mid April. The crops are maize, ground nuts,(Peanuts) pumpkins,& sweet potatoes. It looks like all of these crops are going to result in a bumper harvest! PTL!!!! We also met with the architectual firm again this week and we are moving forward with plans to seeing the fence around the property to be going up after the harvest. This fence in its total footage will be approximately 1 mile in length in order to fence in the total acreage.



Our schedule for village outreaches will begin in March, with a number of new villages, as well follow up with those where we conducted our seminars last year. We have already conducted a Pastors & wives Conference for a local Baptist Church here in Lilongwe on 2/15 & 16th and I have been asked to start a weekly Bible study on a new T.V. station beginning operational viewing in July. We will begin a new weekly mentoring gathering of the young men & women of Flood Church very soon as well. We have also been requested by a local Pastor & its church leadership to consider conducting several different Seminars for their three churches in 2013.



So, all in all, 2013 has begun with a clear path of what is before us as of this moment in time and we understand that we must keep a close abiding fellowship with our Lord so we only follow His directions! We earnestly seek your continued prayers, love, & support for Malawi and for us persoanlly, that the Lord will keep us healthy & strong, so we can teach, train & disciple the people whom God has entrusted into our care!