Steve & Nora
Sunday, September 26, 2010
6th Week of School of Ministry
We have just completed our sixth week of studying through the Calvary Distinctives book by Pastor Chuck Smith. It has been a wonderful journey with these men as they have learned so much about the Lord, Calvary Chapel Distinctives, and have expanded their horizons where they are ready to take a step of faith to Venture Out to see if our God might be willing to bless their steps of faith! What a joy to witness their transformation, to God be the glory!!
We will be beginning the Basic course of the Inductive Bible Study by Pastor Dan Finfrock sometime early this next week, so please pray that each Pastor will be able to grasp the material and then be able to study & teach using this method in their own church services. They are all a bunch of sponges, soaking in as much as they possibly can, asking all kinds of good questions, and desiring to grow in their knowledge of the Word of God!
We have two weeks before we take off for the African Pastors Conference in Cape Town South Africa, then we will have an additional three weeks to wrap up this first 90 day session with this first 15 Pastors. Then in Feb. 2011, we will continue with the next 15 additional Pastors, covering the same materials we have covered since August with our first group. Please be praying for all of us, as it has been very hard at times, for the men as well as myself. Also be praying for all the speakers at the Pastors Conference & all the attendees!
We have not nothing but trials with our 4 x 4 Pajero vehicle since we purchased it from a private party. It is now back in the garage with a broken rear axle, this after spending almost an additional $7,000 in repairs to keep it running. Suffice to say, we were sold a bill of goods when we made this purchase, with fraud and deceit. We now have a court date on October 8th with a court Mediator to see if we can get some form of satisfaction from the seller. This date with the mediator has take 18 months to arrange on the court agenda, so please be praying for a just verdict to be rendered.
Our health is good, & our joy in the Lord is our strength. We love serving our Lord here in Malawi! There are days when we pray that we could see beyond all the difficulties we face daily, but God..............! We return home to Monterey on November 20th for our annual furlough & we are looking forward to being with our immediate family members as well as our extended church family. Time flies by so fast, so please be praying for us, that we are able to accomplish all that is needed while we are home.
May our Lord Jesus continue to bless & keep you in His loving arms, as we look heavenward for His soon return, but we also need to continue to occupy in & for Him!
Love,
Steve & Nora
We will be beginning the Basic course of the Inductive Bible Study by Pastor Dan Finfrock sometime early this next week, so please pray that each Pastor will be able to grasp the material and then be able to study & teach using this method in their own church services. They are all a bunch of sponges, soaking in as much as they possibly can, asking all kinds of good questions, and desiring to grow in their knowledge of the Word of God!
We have two weeks before we take off for the African Pastors Conference in Cape Town South Africa, then we will have an additional three weeks to wrap up this first 90 day session with this first 15 Pastors. Then in Feb. 2011, we will continue with the next 15 additional Pastors, covering the same materials we have covered since August with our first group. Please be praying for all of us, as it has been very hard at times, for the men as well as myself. Also be praying for all the speakers at the Pastors Conference & all the attendees!
We have not nothing but trials with our 4 x 4 Pajero vehicle since we purchased it from a private party. It is now back in the garage with a broken rear axle, this after spending almost an additional $7,000 in repairs to keep it running. Suffice to say, we were sold a bill of goods when we made this purchase, with fraud and deceit. We now have a court date on October 8th with a court Mediator to see if we can get some form of satisfaction from the seller. This date with the mediator has take 18 months to arrange on the court agenda, so please be praying for a just verdict to be rendered.
Our health is good, & our joy in the Lord is our strength. We love serving our Lord here in Malawi! There are days when we pray that we could see beyond all the difficulties we face daily, but God..............! We return home to Monterey on November 20th for our annual furlough & we are looking forward to being with our immediate family members as well as our extended church family. Time flies by so fast, so please be praying for us, that we are able to accomplish all that is needed while we are home.
May our Lord Jesus continue to bless & keep you in His loving arms, as we look heavenward for His soon return, but we also need to continue to occupy in & for Him!
Love,
Steve & Nora
Saturday, September 18, 2010
5th Week of School of Ministry
We have just concluded our 5th week of classes & completed the first 11 Chapters of Calvary Distinctives. It has been both awesome, & also very challenging! But, the bottom line is that we have made wonderful progress, they are excited about they are learning, & the Holy Spirit presence is very obvious to us all! We begin Chapter 12 this coming week, "Ventures of Faith", which I am sure is going to be an eye opener for most of them!
Then we begin our journey through the Inductive Bible Study by Dan Finfrock of Intensive Care Ministries. I can hardly wait to see how these men will be able to assimilate the study material, which they all need so desperately! We have not found one church in all of Lilongwe who teaches systematically through the whole Bible, Book by Book, Chapter by Chapter, & verse by verse, not one! The style of teaching across the board here in Malawi is, Preaching, & so there are so many weird doctrines being dumped upon so many beautiful Malawian Christians, it is so gut wrenching!!!
Please be praying for all 15 of our CC Pastors, that they will be able to grasp a hold of the new material they will be studying, being able to assimilate it & then be able to start teaching it to their fellowships. Also be praying for the upcoming CC All African Pastors Conference being held in Cape Town South Africa from October 11th to 15th. There are a number of speakers, Barry & Terry Stagner of CC Tustin, Ca. Joey Buran, from CC Costa Mesa, Phil Pechonis, from a CC in England, Michael & Golden Preciado, & I will also be sharing a little at the conference. Pray for the anointing of all those sharing, as well as , all the attendees, so we are all able to hear what the Spirit of God has to say to us all!
Check out what is currently happening with the widow & orphan ministry here in Lilongwe with Nora & Timothy at www.ruthsshawl.org it is very exciting to see all that God is working in this ministry!
God bless you all for your love, prayer, & support! We love & appreciate you all. Remember to be praying for Nora & I, as we will be returning home to Monterey for our furlough on November 19th, for the holidays & then the CC Missions Conference the first week of January, 2011. Can you believe it will 2011 this soon? Wow, and remember, Jesus is coming for His bride soon, very soon! Let's be ready and for Him to find us doing His work on earth until that wonderful, glorious day!!!!!!!!!
In Him,
Steve & Nora
Then we begin our journey through the Inductive Bible Study by Dan Finfrock of Intensive Care Ministries. I can hardly wait to see how these men will be able to assimilate the study material, which they all need so desperately! We have not found one church in all of Lilongwe who teaches systematically through the whole Bible, Book by Book, Chapter by Chapter, & verse by verse, not one! The style of teaching across the board here in Malawi is, Preaching, & so there are so many weird doctrines being dumped upon so many beautiful Malawian Christians, it is so gut wrenching!!!
Please be praying for all 15 of our CC Pastors, that they will be able to grasp a hold of the new material they will be studying, being able to assimilate it & then be able to start teaching it to their fellowships. Also be praying for the upcoming CC All African Pastors Conference being held in Cape Town South Africa from October 11th to 15th. There are a number of speakers, Barry & Terry Stagner of CC Tustin, Ca. Joey Buran, from CC Costa Mesa, Phil Pechonis, from a CC in England, Michael & Golden Preciado, & I will also be sharing a little at the conference. Pray for the anointing of all those sharing, as well as , all the attendees, so we are all able to hear what the Spirit of God has to say to us all!
Check out what is currently happening with the widow & orphan ministry here in Lilongwe with Nora & Timothy at www.ruthsshawl.org it is very exciting to see all that God is working in this ministry!
God bless you all for your love, prayer, & support! We love & appreciate you all. Remember to be praying for Nora & I, as we will be returning home to Monterey for our furlough on November 19th, for the holidays & then the CC Missions Conference the first week of January, 2011. Can you believe it will 2011 this soon? Wow, and remember, Jesus is coming for His bride soon, very soon! Let's be ready and for Him to find us doing His work on earth until that wonderful, glorious day!!!!!!!!!
In Him,
Steve & Nora
Sunday, September 12, 2010
School of Ministry - 4th Week
We have just concluded our 4th week of classes, and we have covered 8 Chapters of the Calvary Distinctives. It has been both painstaking at times, as all these Pastors have never been afforded any training in many of the subjects being covered! But it has also been so rewarding seeing the lights go on as they grasp a hold of the subjects being shared!
Please continue to pray for all of us as we continue our journey on to complete this study. Tomorrow we begin Chapter 9, "Having Begun in The Spirit", a very important subject for all these Pastors to understand & be willing to apply in their respective ministries. They are truly getting a firm grip & a much better understanding of all the chapter subjects to date. We want this to continue & improve! Oh Lord Jesus, let your Holy Spirit continue to fall upon this place & these men in a mighty way!
I have put a lot of work upon these men, both in class study as well as doing their homework each night to be prepared for the class discussions for the next day. Something they have not had to deal with in a long time, or maybe never in some cases. They are handling it well and the class discussions are a large part of the activity for each day, and they ask a lot of good questions. Their questions & answers are a good indicator of what they are dealing with in their village churches, so we are scratching where they are itching!
Please also be praying for the Lord to supply more of the tools, we use as a matter of daily practice and take for granted, for them as they have no resources to assist them. It would be a true blessing for them to have some additional basic tools to make use of in their ministry.
So the bottom line of this report is that we are progressing very well, yet, there is so much yet ahead of us to accomplish. But our God is faithful and He desires to see these men grow further in their knowledge of Him and His Word!
Nora & I are also doing well, staying very busy and enjoying all our Lord is accomplishing both in the School of Ministry and the ministry to the Ruth's Shawl widows and orphans in Area 44. For an update on the activities of Ruth's Shawl, go to ruthsshawl.org for that information. You will be blessed to see more details of God's work in this area of ministry.
God bless you all and many thanks for your prayers & support. God is good, all the time!
Please continue to pray for all of us as we continue our journey on to complete this study. Tomorrow we begin Chapter 9, "Having Begun in The Spirit", a very important subject for all these Pastors to understand & be willing to apply in their respective ministries. They are truly getting a firm grip & a much better understanding of all the chapter subjects to date. We want this to continue & improve! Oh Lord Jesus, let your Holy Spirit continue to fall upon this place & these men in a mighty way!
I have put a lot of work upon these men, both in class study as well as doing their homework each night to be prepared for the class discussions for the next day. Something they have not had to deal with in a long time, or maybe never in some cases. They are handling it well and the class discussions are a large part of the activity for each day, and they ask a lot of good questions. Their questions & answers are a good indicator of what they are dealing with in their village churches, so we are scratching where they are itching!
Please also be praying for the Lord to supply more of the tools, we use as a matter of daily practice and take for granted, for them as they have no resources to assist them. It would be a true blessing for them to have some additional basic tools to make use of in their ministry.
So the bottom line of this report is that we are progressing very well, yet, there is so much yet ahead of us to accomplish. But our God is faithful and He desires to see these men grow further in their knowledge of Him and His Word!
Nora & I are also doing well, staying very busy and enjoying all our Lord is accomplishing both in the School of Ministry and the ministry to the Ruth's Shawl widows and orphans in Area 44. For an update on the activities of Ruth's Shawl, go to ruthsshawl.org for that information. You will be blessed to see more details of God's work in this area of ministry.
God bless you all and many thanks for your prayers & support. God is good, all the time!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Week 3 of School of Ministry
We have just completed our third week of classes and the 15 Pastors continue to do very well in their studies & class participation. We have completed 7 Chapters of Calvary Distinctives & have embarked well on Chapter 8," The Rapture of The Church". These fine men have never studied about this subject because they have never had anyone teach them & they have avoided teaching on the subject as a consequence. I only wish all of you could be here to see the excitement & joy they are experiencing as they have developed a much better understanding through this process to date! At the same time, they are facing some culture & traditionally struggles as they deal with these Biblical truths! Please pray for them in this Spiritual battle!
Each of these 15 Pastors are here to learn & to grow in their knowledge of their Lord & His Word. It is a privilege to watch what the Holy Spirit is doing in these men! Please continue to pray for them as well as for myself that the Holy Spirit will lead, guide, & direct us so we are teaching & learning what He wants us all to learn!
Pray also for their families while they are absent from their homes & from their fellowships up to two weeks at a time. They have the option to go home early Friday afternoon or to stay here over the weekend. Most of them stay here for two weeks and go home on the third weekend. All but 5 have gone home this weekend & they return Monday morning in time for class.
There are so many needs & these men have so little. Just some basic tools that they could use which we have in abundance in the US would be such an asset to them to be able to minister to their flocks. Join us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to meet their needs, to be able to reach the unsaved in Malawi!
I will be adding some more photos as well as some video clips in our next post. Thank you all for caring & praying, God is listening, but we need to continue to knock, seek, and ask! May the Lord bless & keep you all in His care!
Each of these 15 Pastors are here to learn & to grow in their knowledge of their Lord & His Word. It is a privilege to watch what the Holy Spirit is doing in these men! Please continue to pray for them as well as for myself that the Holy Spirit will lead, guide, & direct us so we are teaching & learning what He wants us all to learn!
Pray also for their families while they are absent from their homes & from their fellowships up to two weeks at a time. They have the option to go home early Friday afternoon or to stay here over the weekend. Most of them stay here for two weeks and go home on the third weekend. All but 5 have gone home this weekend & they return Monday morning in time for class.
There are so many needs & these men have so little. Just some basic tools that they could use which we have in abundance in the US would be such an asset to them to be able to minister to their flocks. Join us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to meet their needs, to be able to reach the unsaved in Malawi!
I will be adding some more photos as well as some video clips in our next post. Thank you all for caring & praying, God is listening, but we need to continue to knock, seek, and ask! May the Lord bless & keep you all in His care!
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