The Road To Malawi

February Update

2012-02-04T05:20:00.000-08:00

To all of our family & friends, we made it back to Malawi safe & sound. A two day trip, 27 hours in the air & 3 hours of layover in Atlanta, 17 hours in Johannesburg & then on to Lilongwe, arriving at 1:30PM Malawi time. Worn out, but grateful for the wonderful trip & all of the experiences we enjoyed with our family & good friends at a number of churches, where we got to share about God's work in Malawi. God has been so good to us & we are so happy to be back in our new home of Lilongwe, doing what God has called to do in His name.

There is so much available for us to be involved with in this year of 2012 and we continue to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the fields of Malawi. We have been blessed by a number of people who have expressed an interest & are now seeking the Lord for His direction about coming to Malawi, some short term, others considering long term stays to minister here. So, please join us as we prayed for these wonderful people, so they hear God's voice clearly! We also know a trip of this size takes resources to come half away around the earth, so let's all pray that the necessary funds will be available for them to do so. Where God guides, He provides!!

We will be posting a more detailed report within the next couple of weeks outlining our schedule as we know it as of this time, so you can be praying for specific projects that lay ahead of us. To all of you back home in California & Washington State, Zikomo Kwambiri! May our God watch over & keep you in His loving arms! Keep praying for Malawi, its people & for us, so we can be obedient to His calling.

Jesus is coming back soon, so let's all of us keep moving forward to share with as many people as possible before that glorious day comes upon us. We love & appreciate all of you so much.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-21T20:23:00.000-08:00

We have been back in California now since 11/19/11, enjoying our family & our extended church families in Monterey, Hollister, Santa Cruz, & Visalia where we have been invited to come share about God's ministry in Malawi. We will spending additional time with some our other children & families through Christmas, then back to Monterey/Salinas area for more meetings, then off to Calvary Chapel Forest Hills on 1/1/12, with our friend Pastor Jeff Jones. Then off to Murietta for the Annual Missions Conference from 1/2/12 thru 1/6/12.

Then we are privileged to attend the wedding of our friend, Katie Dinwiddie, our sweet sister whom we met in Malawi when she taught at the African Bible College on Saturday the 7th & then we will be at Flood Church in San Diego on Sunday the 8th to meet our brothers & sisters there along reuniting with our precious "interns" whom we fell in love with while they ministered in Malawi.(Annie, Sarah, Brock & Cameron)

We will be returning to the Monterey/Salinas area to speak at two additional churches and then we will fly to Seattle Washington to spend a week with our daughter Kelly & her family in Arlington, before heading back to our "family" in Malawi.

It has been & continues to be such a blessing to be home with our families & friends. However, we have really experienced some reverse cultural shock being back in the States. Going into grocery stores fully stocked shelves with reasonable prices, & when we went to a Super Wal-Mart, we almost lost it! (lol) We are truly blessed in America beyond measure! Cost of living in Malawi is comparable to the to the Monterey area, Gasoline at $12.00 per gallon, monthly water bill runs as high as $225 per month, Internet at $355.00 per month & the list goes on & on.

But the very outstanding news is that the ministry in Malawi is "exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or imagine", so just to clarify for those reading this blog, we LOVE living & ministering in Malaw! Why, because we are where God has sent us, doing what He has called us to do, & we are experiencing the joy of watching God work in the lives of our brothers & sisters of Malawi. God desires to bless the country & the people of Malawi, & we are witnessing Him doing just that!

Our prayers these past six months has been for the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into the fields of Malawi, which are white unto harvest. Please join us as we continue to pray for this to happen as soon as possible, as we have so much more ministry opportunities than we can possibly handle by ourselves. What a great problem, more ministry than we can handle!

We are overwhelmed for the prayer support and at the faithful financial support we have received over the past three years. Without all of you holding the rope on this side of the ocean for us, we could not do what God has called us to do for His people of Malawi. We praise our Lord Jesus for allowing us to work in His fields, to teach, train, & disciple His saints in Malawi.God bless all of you as we "occupy" until the soon return of our Lord Jesus! We love & appreciate each one of you!!!

Merry Christmas & a wonderful New Year to one & all!

CC African Pastors Conference; CC Cape Town & Aquarium Visit

2011-11-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

Chipolopolo Outreach

2011-11-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

CC African Pastors Conference

2011-11-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

We attended ( Steve Nora & Timothy) the 6th Annual CC Africa Pastors Conference from October 10th through the 14th at Simonstown, South Africa. The speakers this year were Pastors David Guzik of CC Santa Barbara, Jim Gallagher of CC Vero Beach,Fl., Rich Chaffin of CC Laguna Creek, & Phil Pechonis of CC Cornwall, U.K. The theme of the conference was "Faith & Fire", with these outstanding men teaching the entire Book of Daniel. Simply wonderful, in depth studies which all of us attending were very renewed & refocused!

There were 12 African nations represented there, coming from the southern nations of Africa. The worship was great, with teams from five different fellowships sharing in the worship time of the conference, including Gabon,a small nation located on the western coast of Africa.I am always moved as I listen to Native African worship, which is so unique & beautiful!

It is always so rewarding to renew old friendships & meeting new brethren serving in this very large continent of Africa. The fellowship we enjoyed were so sweet, encouraging, & the Lord allowed us to pray for one another in such a special manner, lifting the needs of these different works up to our Lord together. There were prayers of encouragement, words of knowledge, prophesy, & prayers for the continued strengthening of the missionaries & pastors for the work of taking the Gospel to a lost world in Africa.

We have included some photos taken at the conference to give you a flavor of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the joy we experienced together in Christ!

We also had the privilege of being with the Naaktgeboren's in Johannesburg, where we love to visit when ever we can. One of the days we were there, CC Jo'Burg had invited a ministry that ministers to 40 young girls (ages from 10-20), taken out of the child trafficking bondage & are being rehabilitated by this wonderful ministry. CC Jo'Burg provided a day of crafts, swimming, B-B-Q, a film on the life & ministry of Jesus Christ, & Timothy providing Christian Rap music. Following the film, Nora gave a brief message on the love of Jesus Christ for all of us and asked if there was any that would like to receive Jesus as their personal Lord & Savior. To the glory of God, all 40 of these girls indicated they wanted to do so & Nora led them to Jesus Christ in prayer. Just before they left this event, they were presented a package containing a number of feminine items special to young women. It was a special day for us to witness the work of the Holy Spirit in these young girls lives. Please be praying for them as they have come out of the most horrible conditions imaginable.

Chipolopolo Malawi

2011-11-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

WMI and Thirst Quenching Episode #2
Chipolopolo, Malawi
September 26-27-28-29, 2011

On our happy way again to another remote village named, Chipolopolo, it means “bullet” in English. WMI is busy working with the community leaders there and setting up a water purification system. Mr. Kastings Chilopa, a WMI contact, was our cheerful guide into this “tucked away” dusty village, that we would have never found on our own.
The Prado is packed, stacked and stuffed with 8 blessed people, supplies and equipment. We are so thankful that we have such a sturdy vehicle with a strong roof rack and two diesel tanks! God is, as always and ever, so faithful in providing exactly what is needed for these trips to the villages … as a team, we thank Him every day for all the provision and the open doors for the Gospel …. His Good Hand is upon us. May we never take any of this for granted because we are walking in Jesus’ footprints as we follow Him to these obscure places He loves so dearly.

The Jesus DVD

Upon our arrival and the warm welcome by the community and church leaders, we discovered that this village had never had any exposure to the Jesus Film, much less any other kind of visual ministry or teaching/training….excluding the WMI excellent training. A few of the older men had seen the Jesus film in another village many years ago but nothing recent and never in Chipolopolo. Needless to say, excitement ran through the village like wildfire. Several of our team took the megaphone and drove all around the fringes of the village announcing the showing of the film at the soccer (oops, football) field that evening. It is quite a sight to behold as a village spills out on an open field to view the story of Jesus’ life in full color and in their own language, Chichewa. They settled themselves by sitting in the dirt in groups, the children, at least 150 of them, together in front and about 100 youth, adults a little further back. They were attentive and “into” what was being shown about Jesus on the large screen…..from laughing, to being amazed, horrified with the torture and death of Jesus … to cheering His Victory over death. Imagine the impact on that dark starry night, the Gospel coming to life for the first time in Chipolopolo…. felt like we were on Holy ground. As far as we know, from later conversations, and our hearing all the voices praying the sinner’s prayer to receive Christ that night, many souls entered the Kingdom to the praise of His Name and the delight of angels. “Behold I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35 Amen!

A Life That Pleases Him

No one, except our Heavenly Father knows what is happening in the hearts of the people during these outreaches. But, during the four days of teaching The Word, worship, prayer and answering many questions, there was a definite change in the spiritual climate which began that first day with a very reserved attitude…. which is understandable. Presenting the life of Jesus that first night seemed to soften hearts and open ears. Everyday their understanding seemed to increase as demonstrated by their questions and consistent attendance at all the sessions. Several of the men had Bibles and only two of the women carried their own Bible to a small house separate from the Chief’s house where the majority of sessions took place. Two sessions divided the men from the women to address specific gender Titus 2 instruction. Again, facing spiritual resistance as culture and tradition was confronted by the Word of God, spoken in love and full of grace. All of this produced a hunger to grow in their understanding to know their Lord personally and how to live in a way that pleases Him. “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” 2 Cor. 5:9
The men were challenged to tell their wives and children that they loved them and to be kind . That suggestion caused quite a stir and their chattering went on until they were convinced that since God was faithfully communicating His love and kindness for them that they should follow His example and tell their families that they were loved and appreciated by the Husband/Father.… this was a step of faith for them. All the men said that they did this and were happy with the results. This is a good starting point for their families.

The group of women was a different kind of challenge. They were complaining about their husbands … not being the kind of man that they hoped. They scoffed when they were encouraged to pray for their husbands, saying that prayer would not make any difference because they had tried prayer before. After a lively discussion, it was discovered that they were praying “a miss” as in James 4:3. Their admission of lacking faith, wrong attitudes and motives brought them to reconsider their own walk.

As always, there are many requests for Bibles. We tried to buy 25 Bibles before we went to Chipolopolo but found that the recent inventory here in Lilongwe was sold out. We are praying for a new supply and consistent availability. The team will return and bring Bibles with more teaching, as they requested… “Direct my steps by Your Word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:133
The children were with the team every day after school, they were taught Scripture…they had never heard John 3:16 before and memorized it … these are the same children that prayed the prayer to receive Christ during the Jesus Film. Worship, prayer and lots of fun games …. The highlight for them was receiving small bags of Jiggies … this is a huge treat!

We left the village with a strong desire to return and scores of kids running after the Prado waving good bye … they followed us until they could not keep up with us. We are so blessed to be part of what God is doing here in Malawi.
The following is Tim’s report from the prospective of seeing such a huge spiritual vacuum in village life for the youth and children. After all, they are the future for Malawi.

YOUTH MINISTRY – TIMOTHY

The Training of these Youth Ministers hit me a lot as they realized for the first time that we can teach the kids and have all the fun we can have! When we left the village there still will be a void and we can’t afford to live with the thought that those kids are not receiving any proper teachings. Just after Teaching about the importance of Kids and Youth ministry I received many compliments and words that reveal that there is a huge lack of Kids Church in Chipolopolo Village and surrounding. And when invitation was extended to those willing to be trained, six of the Youth came forth and expressed their desire to start leading kids Church in their various churches. I sat with them for the whole three days teaching and instructing them on how they can teach the Kids and youth. The Basic truth about God and Jesus, Bible lesson preparations, memory verses, invitations and some to do's and not to do.

Life Stories from Chorwe Malawi Africa

2011-09-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thirst Quenching Episodes
Chorwe, Malawi
August/September 2011

There is nothing like going on an adventure that has a Godly purpose and direction. Going to this village of Chorwe, where there is a WMI water purification system already being established, being able to meet the community/church leaders to discover there is also a spiritual thirst there. But not knowing exactly how God wanted to work, since His ways are not our ways, we went to Him in prayer. God knows these dear people and what He has in mind for them, pure water for their daily lives and the Water of the Word for their lives in Him. It was discussed together with the community/church leaders and decided that the Jesus Film would be shown one night soon, followed up with evangelistic training using the Chichewa tract, “The Four Spiritual Laws” with an additional four day conference to include teaching/ training Pastors, leaders, women, youth and children.
This brought to mind the passage in John 7:37-38. Jesus on the last day, that great day of the feast, stood and cried out to all who were gathered (Lev.23:37); “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Here were some thirsty people! It was a joy to be warmly invited to return to present the Jesus Film, teach the Scriptures and even asked to please bring Bibles for the Pastors/leaders….they put their names on a list to be sure to receive a Bible when we returned to Chorwe.

Bibles - Chichewa Bibles were given out on the first day of the conference to the 19 men on the original list. These were the Pastors and leaders representing 10 local churches. A total of 25 Bibles were purchased and distributed, so 6 more attendees (5 of them women) who were not present at the first meeting, received a Bible to use during the 4 days. The Bibles were distributed every morning and collected at the end of the day to ensure that there would be Bibles on hand for all the actual teaching and training sessions.
At the end of the conference, all the Bibles were left as a gift to the attendees. There is an enormous need all through Malawi for Bibles in the villages … even many rural pastors do not have a Bible.
Their consistent attendance and promptness was such a blessing, maximizing the time we had together. What joy to see them searching the Bibles for the specific lesson verses, taking pages of notes, paying close attention, sitting on the bare concrete floors for hours, making strides to learn and ask questions. They were drinking from the wells of salvation. “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” Isa. 12:3 “I spread out my hands to You; my soul longs for You like a thirsty land.” What a privilege to be sent to love and serve His very own Malawian treasures.

THE MAN ON HIS KNEES- He came in the building at the end of the morning session just at the lunch break on the third day. Drunk, dirty, in such poor disarray and promptly went down on his knees in front of Pastor Steve and Wisdom, the interrupter, asking, “I need help, I’m a drunkard, I’m drunk now.” The Pastor asked, “Do you really want help or are you just feeling sorry for yourself?” The man took the Pastor’s hands and said, “No, I need help to stop being a drunkard, I need the Lord’s help.”
For the next 15 minutes or so, the Pastor spoke the truth in love to this man (about 50 years old) whose life is being destroyed by his sin. He stated that he realized that he had no power to resist drinking or to change himself. He is separated from his wife who is living in another village. He drank every word of Scripture, every word of compassion and direction with pleading eyes and clutching hands. He never left his knees; he was a man in great despair. The prayer that was offered brought an encounter with the reality of the Lord’s power to do thru him what he cannot do for himself. It was such an incredible experience to witness the man rise from his knees and into the Pastors embrace before he walked out the door with the hope of a new life in Christ. We look forward to following up on him as we will return to Chorwe and because his brother is one of the village Pastors.

THE YOUNG WIFE- She was faithful to attend every session, very pregnant and due at any time as the baby had dropped. Yet, she was sitting on the hard floor along with all the other women, taking notes and participating in the Q & A’s. The last day, she came forward and asked for prayer, as she was leaving the next day for the clinic to wait for the baby’s birth. She was concerned about the birth as her first child was a stillborn, she then had a son and now she is having her third child in three years and fighting anemia. A darling young woman who is 22 yrs. old who is married to a Christian man who is 24 yrs. old. She says with a big smile he is good to her. We prayed with her for a safe delivery, a healthy child and a quick recovery from her anemia. We said good bye, hugged each other and told her that we would see her and her new child when we return.

THE FORGIVEN WIFE- She came forward the first day wanting to pray for God’s forgiveness as she had been unfaithful to her husband during his long absence. She was convicted by the Word and Spirit of God which brought her to His loving arms and courage to face what she had done. She severed the relationship with the other man and returned to her husband, expecting rejection, but found forgiveness instead. She asked that God would give her the love to love her husband and that she would be a good wife for him. She seems to be a very dear, contrite woman (about 40 yrs.) and so thankful for the cleansing blood of Jesus for her freedom to be able to live the life that pleases God.

She was also asking for prayer for God to open a door for her to use her gift of singing to glorify Him somehow. She knew one of the consequences of her sin (it was public, not much is hidden in the villages as they live so close to each other), was that she cannot belong to the church choir. It was a joy to remind her that every time she sings,no matter where she is, in her house, her garden or walking down the road; that she can glorify God...to the audience of one! We encouraged her to let Him decide what doors to open in the meantime; not to be impatient. She smiled …and stayed for the whole 4 days.

It is the hope that these short episodes, mere snapshots in the lives of these whomsoever’s, bring glory to the Lord and an increased knowledge of His intimate compassion and love for all who are thirsty.

Chorwe Conference Photo's

2011-09-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Malawi Outreach to Chorwe

2011-09-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

9-11-11

Here are some selected photos taken at the Chorwe Conference in the north of Malawi. The conference took place from September 5-8th. We had ten churches represented:
1. Roman Catholic 6. Zion Church
2. Presbyterian 7. Abraham Church
3. Peace Ministries 8. Last Church
4. Emmanuel Church 9. Church of Christ
5. Baptist 10. Apostolic Glory

We were totally blessed as we witnessed the Holy Spirit at work and the people being blessed as they received their Bibles, taking copious notes as the teaching was taking place, & to see the joy of all in attendance in learning more about the Bible & their Jesus! We can only pray that these photos can reflect, at least in part, what we enjoyed during this 4 day conference.

Pastors, Elders, church leaders, women's ministry, Youth leaders, Children Ministry Leaders, & widow's ministry. We had four of our Malawian team with us in this ministry; Timothy, Wisdom, Ephrida & Edward from Life Ministries. This was a team effort in every way and God anointed each area of ministry. Thank you for all of your faithful prayers that allowed us to go under the power of the Holy Spirit. To Him be the glory!

If you want to view all the 200 photos, go to FB CCSOM Malawi.

Malawi Outreach to Chorwe

2011-09-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos taken in the village of Chorwe, north of Lilongwe, where we did our initial phase of ministry. These are in the church building with pastors & leaders along with photos of Life Ministries, sharing the Jesus Film that night. We will going back to this village on Monday the 5th through the 8th, where ministry will be conducted to the following:

1. Pastors, Elders, & church leaders by Steve
2. Women's Ministry by Nora
3. Youth Leaders Ministry by Timothy Kailedzi
4. Children's Ministry by Wisdom Sosola
5. Additional training by Life Ministries ( Campus Crusade For Christ)

Water Missions International is already conducting training & installation of their water purification system to provide clean, potable water supply to the villages in this area.

More photos to follow following the conference. Please be praying for the Holy Spirit to anoint all the teaching & that the people will have ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to all of us.

2011-09-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

2011-08-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

Praise Report

2011-08-12T00:09:00.000-07:00

We wanted to let all of you know, God has answered our prayers. Shortly after requesting prayer for a 4 x 4 vehicle, the Lord super-naturally provided exactly what we had prayed for & as His nature, even more than we were willing to ask for! (Ephesians 3:20) A week later we were able to sell the small Fun Cargo car for more than we paid for it 15 months ago. God is able and we are celebrating His faithfulness & His kindness towards us & the ministry here in Malawi!

It is a 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser, purchased from a British couple who were returning to the U.K. following their tour here in Malawi. We took the vehicle to a Christian managed garage & had them check it from bumper to bumper. We received a good report, but we were still $1800 short in the funds needed to complete the transaction. So, we have used some of our personal resources to finalize the transaction, with the full assurance the Lord will provide!

We are so blessed to have this vehicle, as we leave today for one of the new villages where a 4 x 4 is mandatory to be able to reach. God is good all the time!!!!!!!!!!!! Please continue to pray for us & the country of Malawi. There is still a lot of tension here & the people of Malawi need all our prayers! Thank all of you who have made the Toyota purchase a reality and remember us in your prayers.

In Him,

Steve & Nora

Prayer Needs

2011-08-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

Please be praying for us this week as we venture out to two new villages, Kasungu & Chorwe. In Kasungu, a two hour drive from Lilongwe, we will be doing a Pastors Conference on August26th-28th, so we are traveling there tomorrow to give a briefing to the lead Pastors, check out the facilities where we will using for this conference, & going through all the logistics. Friday,in the village of Chorwe, we begin a new program in association with our Christian brothers of Water Mission International who provide water purification systems to remote villages who have no existing clean water available to them. So, our joint effort is this, we provide the "Living Water" to these villages & WMI provides the physical water that is so desperately needed. This program that begins this week will run over the next two months in order to allow our team to minister a broad based ministry to the whole of the community. Here is the type of ministry we will be offering:

* Children's Outreach, using the newly arrived Puppet ministry, which has been donated by some dear friends in California. Followed by the showing of the Jesus Movie to all the community that evening,which is being shown by the local staff of Campus Crusade for Christ working in cooperation with us.
* Meeting with all Christian Pastors of the community, to outline what we will be offering in the Pastors Conference. Then setting the date for said conference, determining how many we should expect to be attending.
* Marriage Seminar conducted by Steve & Nora
* Women's Seminar conducted by Nora.
* Parenting Seminar presented by Steve & Nora
* Ministry focused on widows & orphans presented by Nora.
* Ongoing Children's ministry conducted by Timothy Kailedzi.

This model, if proven to be a viable & workable, will become the model we can use over the next two years in cooperation with Water Missions International & CCC. Each ministry doing what God has called them to do, allowing the villages to have a much broader ministry provided to them & allowing the three ministries to augment & support each other by demonstrating how different Christian organizations can compliment & encourage one another.

So, we covet your prayers in these matters, as well as to ask all of you to continue to pray for Malawi, as it deals with the current economic conditions that currently exist in this beautiful country. In addition, please pray that we are able to locate fuel for our vehicle(s), as there is an acute shortage of all types of gasoline & diesel. God bless you all for loving us & participating in the ministry in Malawi with your prayers & support. May God be the glory in all we attempt to do in His name.

In Him,

Steve & Nora

July 23, 2011 Prayer needs Update

2011-07-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS. We have been invited to take the School of Ministry into remote villages to train village Pastors in the Inductive Bible Study Method. These Pastors have little or no Biblical training and are anxious to be taught how to study and teach the Word of God. Each village has been visited by us and interviews were conducted with all of the church leaders.

We clarified to them that we are here in Malawi to teach, train & disciple those who are willing to be faithful men, who earnestly desire to learn and then pass on what they have learned to others. It is so much less expensive for us to go to them, than to bring all of them to our home site here in Lilongwe. We will be setting up key villages which are centrally located for the maximum number of Pastors to get to easily. Although these key villages will be fairly easy for the Pastors to get to, it will not be so easy for us.

The villages are two to three hours away from where we live, and getting to them requires a reliable 4X4 vehicle. In order to get to these villages, we need to travel some distance on a paved one-lane highway and then turn off onto a series of dirt roads which have basically been destroyed in the past rainy season. This is very rough terrain and it's practically impossible to travel over without a 4X4 vehicle.

Consequently, we are praying about the purchase of a reliable 4x4 vehicle and are looking at a Toyota or Nissan 4X4. Both of these makes are reliable and are easy to get serviced here as well as obtain parts for, when necessary.

We have sold the Pajero (Praise the Lord!) and we will be selling the Toyota Fun Cargo (our interim 2wd vehicle for getting around town). These funds, coupled with a gift of $1,000 from a dear saint, should amount to approximately $10,000 which is earmarked for the purchase of this new (used) vehicle. Depending upon the year & condition of the vehicle, we are estimating the cost will be in the $14,000 to $17,000 range.

We know that the Lord will use this vehicle in helping us to further the preaching of the Gospel here in Malawi. Not only will I be teaching the Pastors the Inductive Bible Study Method, but two Malawian men who will accompany us will do the translating for me as well as minister to the children in these villages. They will be teaching the village children Bible lessons, utilizing the Jesus Video movie along with a complete puppet ministry, which was recently donated. Nora will be teaching the wives of these pastors as well.

Thank you for joining us as we pray about these exciting new opportunities to serve the Lord in Malawi and also for the additional funds which are needed to purchase a reliable 4x4 vehicle so that we can effectively do so.

We so appreciate the prayers of the saints! As the Scripture reveals, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16b NKJ)

In Him,

Steve & Nora Braselton

CC School of Ministry - www.theroadtomalawi.blogspot.com

and

Ruth's Shawl Ministry - www.ruthsshawl.org
Lilongwe Malawi Africa

Pray For Malawi

2011-07-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Malawi is in the throes of a very difficult scene of protests, riots, burning of cars houses, & businesses, people have been killed & many others hurt badly. Please pray that those who are using violence to stop immediately & that the Gov't leadership will listen & negotiate with the opposition so that peace may be returned to "The Warm Heart of Africa!"

Pray - Pray - Pray!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Surprise Visit

2011-07-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

As most missionaries well know, being away from home & our family is the hardest part of serving our Lord, being far away from all that we are familiar & comfortable with in life. But our Lord is so sweet to give us some of those "God moments", only He can orchestrate. This week we were blessed to have a surprise visit from a long time friend, Trace Thurlby,whom we have not seen or visited with in seven years since he & his family moved from Monterey. Trace came to Malawi to do some work with the Non-Profit organization, Global Orphan Project,who he is he is now associated with on a full time basis. This ministry ministers to orphans worldwide.(www.theglobalorphanproject.org)

Here are some photo's we took when he arrived at the Kamazu International Airport in Lilongwe Malawi. Along with Trace, the other couple is Peter & Emma from Salima,about a two hour drive from Lilongwe, located on Lake Malawi. They run the orphanage here in Malawi. We so enjoyed getting to spend some time with Trace as well as with Peter & Emma, & who knows what God has in mind putting us together in such a beautiful manner.

Thank you Lord for those precious times of surprises, that allow us to see your hand in bringing people together in such a beautiful way!

Mphonde Water Mission Project Launching

2011-06-25T03:18:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken at the Mphonde Village, about 1 hour out of Lilongwe. The occasion was the launching of the Water Missions International water purification system for the seven villages in this area. Clean potable water will be provided to about 1000 people, who up to this point, either obtained water from the one bore hole manual pump or the creek near by for all the residents of these villages.

With the cooperation of Water Missions (WMI), World Relief, & Calvary Chapel School of Ministry, along with the local Chiefs, church leaders, & citizens of these villages, working together to bring a sense of mutual cooperation, have seen the work of the Holy Spirit to bring this project to bear.

The photos shown are at the Mphonde Village where the meeting was held in the local Catholic Church Building. Typical scenes of village children, current bore hole pump, as well as participants in the launching who included:

Sandress Msiska - Country Director for World Relief Malawi
Nixon Simyiza - Water Missions International in Malawi
Timothy Kailedzi - Children's Director for Ruth's Shawl Ministry as translator
Steedson Chisale - World Relief Community Development in Mphonde
Steve Braselton - Calvary Chapel School of Ministry in Malawi

The people shown inside the church facility were church & community leaders who have worked to bring this project into fruition.

Mphonde Water Mission Project Launching

2011-06-25T03:14:00.000-07:00

Malawi Outreach Update Report

2011-06-11T03:51:00.000-07:00

A lot of activity has been happening since our last update. We have had a team from Tent Makers Ministry, led by Bill & Susan Weibel who minister in South Africa along with three young adults from the USA, & they were here for eight days of ministry. We ministered to the Ruth’s Shawl widows & orphans in Area 44, along with outreaches to Nsambeta Primary School that has 4880 students; to two separate college campuses; teaching & training of our team that minster to the Bible Clubs in the schools. We also took one day to take a field trip to a village named Dedza, where the famous Malawian Pottery factory/showroom are located, then on to Mua Mission, where we were able to get a guided tour on the history of the three major tribes in Malawi; then we drove on to Lake Malawi, the eighth largest fresh water lake in the world, where the team were able to relax on the beach, swim, sunbathe, and have an enjoyable lunch.
We were later contacted by Neal Pirolo of Emmaus Road Ministry, to see if we would be interested in participating in a week long Pastors Conference in the north of Malawi. Since we had never met the organizing Pastor before, we drove up to his center in Kande, Malawi, a five hour trip to get there. The organizing Pastor gave us a history of their ministry, along with the Pastors who will be attending. We discussed the subject matter he felt was needed by this group of Pastors. We had a quick lunch and drove back in five hours to Lilongwe.

We have also have begun a weekly Bible Study here in our residence with the staff of Water Missions International (WMI) each Monday morning. WMI is a Christian based firm out of South Carolina, who are in Malawi to provide clean potable water to remote villages that do not have good clean water to drink or wash in their respective villages. They target villages of 1-5 thousand people to provide potable water source for drinking, bathing, cooking, & etc. But first, as a prerequisite, they want to present the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Living Water, before they donate the physical water system to the villages. That is where we come in, so we conduct the spiritual aspect to each village with the full cooperation of the local churches.
We have also become very involved with a local church named Flood Church and we are very blessed to be a part of the fellowship of believers. We hold a weekly Growth Group (Home Fellowship) in our home and attend a weekly Prayer Meeting that is held each week to pray for the church & the community of Lilongwe. We have also begun a Pre-Marital Counseling for a couple in the church fellowship. Flood church is pastored by a young Malawian named, Sean Kampondeni, and he is a wonderful teacher of the whole counsel of God. He received his training from the Flood Church out of San Diego, Ca. where he received his ordination. The church is a vibrant group of people that is made up of about 65% Malawians & 35% of azundgu’s (White People). The worship is a mixture of Malawian & English contemporary Christian music. The church has a strong vision & commitment to reach the young adults in Lilongwe. They do outreaches where these young adults hang out, with music, testimonies, and sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We love being a part of this wonderful fellowship, and as I shared earlier, Pastor Sean is an excellent teacher of the Word of God.
This past Wednesday, I was asked to teach at the African Bible College at their Devotion Service, attended by all the students & faculty staff. This was a very exciting opportunity & the response from both the students & faculty was so very encouraging.
We have been also working with several hospital & medical clinics in Lilongwe & in very remote villages that are Missionary run facilities, which have so many needs. Things like medications of all types, surgical supplies & equipment are in such short supply! Any contributions or suggestions where to go to inquire about these types of donations would be greatly appreciated & are so vitally needed.

Another area is in the Primary School where we minister each Friday, there is a “Special Needs” class that is so woefully needful of any & all supplies as well as teaching materials. This class has 12 severely handicapped children, being taught by a wonderful woman teacher who is teaching these students with hardly any help or adequate materials or assistance. Any assistance would mean so much to these young children & their Christian teacher.

Please forgive this somewhat long report, but we had so much to tell all of you about and believe me, I have left a lot out of this report. We love & appreciate each one of you who pray for the ministry here in Malawi, for your financial assistance for the ministry, and for your love you continue to shower upon us. We have stated many times before, but we desire to always remember, we could not do what God has called us to minister without each of you. So we say, Zikomo Kwambiri, to one & all. We truly do recognize that it is a team effort, us here in Malawi and all of you wherever you are located in this world we temporarily occupy. This world is not our home, and Jesus Christ is coming back for us real soon, we may not know the day & time of His return, but until that glorious day, let’s be about His agenda together, at home, & all over this earth!

2011-04-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

April 10, 2011

It has been a crazy two months since we arrived back in Lilongwe after our annual furlough! Getting back into life in Malawi, things like not having fuel for our car, no electricity for extended periods of time, Internet being extremely non-dependable, finding out we have bats living in our ceiling, and being told we have at least two feet of bat dung sitting in our ceiling panels, our hot water going completely off in the kitchen & bathroom, a power surge occurring shortly after our arrival, knocking out our complete security system, all our power cords to our laptops,our sensor for our outside lighting which comes on automatically at night, and yesterday, during a heavy rain storm, we lost two large trees in our own yard, which by the grace of God, fell away from the house. Other than these things, all is normal! Welcome back to Malawi!!!!

We began almost immediately to get back into the swing of daily & weekly ministry, with the ministry of Ruth's Shawl to the widows & orphans, weekly Bible Clubs at the Primary School, outreaches to the outlining villages, outreaches to local colleges in Lilongwe with our church, wrapping up the final details of the four community Special Chicken & Sewing Projects that have been started last May, waiting for clear direction from the Lord on the restart of the School of Ministry and choosing the participants for the next semester has kept us very busy.

We also were blessed by a team from Tent Makers Ministry, Bill & Susan Weibel who minister in South Africa, along with three short term missionaries, Joe, Aurel, & Jenn from Pennsylvania, interns with Tent Makers. We enjoyed the whole week of ministry with them, their fellowship, and their love of Jesus Christ which was expressed so clearly to all. They left on April 5th and we are now back into our regular routine and at the same time trying to get some much needed rest!

We have not sold our Mitsubishi Pajero as of this moment, but we had a man come today who seems very interested in purchasing. Please pray that the Lord will allow this sale to consummate in order that we can purchase a Mini-Bus that we need so badly for transporting all our people back & forth to the villages & outreaches. We also are need of some additional money to add on to what has already been raised to purchase the vehicle we need.

We are always in need of supplies for internal usage as well as the needs represented in the villages. The pastors attending the School of Ministry (SOM) are very poor, so transportation costs, food costs, medical cost assistance, & some financial assistance for their families while they are attending classes is another need.

So, one can easily see, the need of financial aid is a key component to maintain & expand the open door ministry opportunities that are available to us, right now! If Jesus is returning for His bride soon, and I firmly believe He is coming soon, then we all need to extend ourselves as God has called us to do, so we can reach as many as possible for the kingdom before He returns! We have had several individuals indicate their desire to come to Malawi & use their God given talents here ministering to the people of Malawi. We can only say, Praise His Holy Name! But not all can come to Malawi, but God can use us in so many different ways to accomplish His will. Let's all of us pray for wisdom according to James 1:5.

Thank all of you who pray for us and for the work here in Malawi. Without all of your prayers, the work here cannot grow and for those of you who give of your finances sacrificially, know that this work cannot happen without you generosity. We give our Lord Jesus all the praise, honor & glory for what He is doing in & through the ministry of Malawi Outreach Ministries!!

May the Lord bless you all and surround you in His loving arms, & may the Holy Spirit that dwells within us be allowed to "guide us into all truth". We love and appreciate all of you.

In Him,

Steve & Nora

2011-02-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

Malawian Church Pot Luck on Vision Day!

Back To Malawi

2011-02-14T23:18:00.000-08:00

After 8 weeks of being back in the States, speaking at a number of churches, visiting family & friends, taking care of medical visits & check ups, attending the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference, wrapping as many loose ends as possible, we headed back to Malawi on January 17th. Flew from S.F. to Atlanta; then Atlanta to Johannesburg South Africa where Pastor Chad & Heather picked us & we spent three days recovering from our travels. We were so tired when we arrived in Jo'Burg, we slept for 36 hours straight through from Tuesday night to Thursday morning! Wow, were we worn out or what!!

We arrived back "home" in Lilongwe on 1-21-11 & have spent the last three weeks getting geared up again with all the things here so we can get the School of Ministry started again, Nora has been with the Widows & Orphans in Area 44,& getting back in the swing of things at our church fellowship activities.

As we look forward at what is before us in 2011, we would ask for your prayers:

1. Sale of our current vehicle as soon as possible.
2. Purchase of a newer 4x4 vehicle for usage in remote village outreaches.
3. Wisdom the student enrollment for the School of Ministry.
4. Prayer for the success of the four Micro-Business projects currently being operated in two locations in association with Water Missions International.( Chicken Farming & Sewing Projects)
5. Prayer for Ruth's Shawl activities with widows & orphans (www.Ruthsshawl.org)
6. Prayer for continue good health.
7. Prayer for continued financial provision for current & future ministry activities.

God has opened so many doors for us & we are so very grateful for His goodness to us. Please also pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send more laborers, as the fields are white unto harvest. There are so many opportunities than we can possibly handle, we need the people God has ordained to come join His work here.

Thank you for your love, prayers, & support! We truly appreciate all of them!! May our Lord Jesus continue to bless & keep you in His loving arms.

In Him,

Steve & Nora

Happy New Year

2011-01-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

We are already well into the first half of January 2011 & we are wrapping up our furlough time back in the States as we leave on Monday January 17th to head back to Malawi! Our time with our children, grandchildren & great grand children has been so wonderful along with our visit with our extended church family. We were able also to attend the Missions Conference in Southern California, which was outstanding! God has been so gracious to us & we are so very blessed by all we have been able to experience while being home!

But, it is time to head back to Lilongwe to begin our third year of service to the nation & people of Malawi, we thank our Lord for allowing us the privilege of being used in His desire to bless Malawi! We love the nation, its people, & the ministry God has called us to do in His name!! We have been able to speak in several different churches while being in California to share what God is doing in Malawi & the things we see He desires to do in 2011. We have been so warmly received by all & those in attendance seem genuinely excited about the ministry in Malawi!

So, here are a few items you can be praying for us as we wind down here in Monterey:
1. Pray for traveling mercies for us as we travel from S.F. to Atlanta; Atlanta to Johannesburg South Africa & then on to Malawi.
2. That our jet lag will not not last long, as we hit the road to the villages on 1-22-11.
3. Pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send laborer's into the Malawi Mission fields!
4. That we are able to sell our Mitsubishi Pajero quickly so we may purchase a newer & more reliable vehicle to use in the village ministries.
5. That there will be additional teams coming in 2011 on short term mission trips to bless the people of Malawi (Medical teams, construction teams, Puppet Ministry teams, Biblical teaching teams, & any other team who wants to serve in any capacity!!)
6. That God will supply the needed financial resources to accommodate all He desires to do in Malawi for 2011.
7. That we are able to stay close to the Holy Spirit so we may hear His voice to know what, when & where we are to minister.
8. Whatever the Holy Spirit puts on your heart to pray for us about!!!!!!!

Continue to occupy, be about His calling in your lives, & keep looking up as our redemption draws near! Jesus is coming back soon, so lets be His instruments, soft, pliable, & very flexible in His hands! May our Lord bless you all "real good" in 2011 & you be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, then be obedient to His calling!

We love & appreciate you all!

In Him,

Steve & Nora

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T18:22:00.000-08:00

12-22-10

To all of our love ones:

Nora & I want to take this moment just before we all celebrate the birth of our precious Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ, to express our sincere appreciation to all of you for your prayers & financial support! The work in Malawi we are involved with is what God is accomplishing and His desire to pour out His blessings upon that country & all its people! As all of you are aware, we are in the States now with our family & friends here in America on our annual furlough. We have been totally blessed with our time home, & all the opportunities we have been privileged to share in many churches about what the Lord is doing in Malawi.

We have had the pleasure of being with our son Tom & his family during Thanksgiving week, then up to Vacaville near Sacramento with our daughter Natalie & her family ;last week.This week we are in Seattle, Washington with our daughter Kelly & her family to celebrate Christmas together! PTL!!!! Then we return to California to share a few days with our daughter Erin & her family in Yosemite through January 1st, then back to Salinas to share with our good friends Pastor Ben & Joni Sobels at Cypress Community Church on January 2, 2011. Then we leave early on Monday to attend the Annual Calvary Chapel Missions Conference in Murrieta Ca. from the 3-6th. We return to Salinas on the 9th & we will try to get some rest before we head back to Malawi on the 17th.

We recognize full well, we cannot do what the Lord has called us to do in Malawi, without all of your love, prayers, & support! We do not take this support lightly or for granted! We want to say,"Zikomo Kwambiri" (Thank you very much!) to each one of you from the bottom of our hearts!. May our Lord continue to bless & keep you in His loving arms as we keep looking up as Jesus is coming back soon! In the meantime, He commanded us to occupy until He does come back, so keep listening for the Holy Spirit's sweet voice and be obedient to His calling in your lives! (Ephesians 3:20)

Merry Christmas & a very Happy New Year!

In Him,

Steve & Nora Braselton

Special Event on Malawi December 11, 2010

2010-11-29T17:45:00.000-08:00

Home Sweet Home

2010-11-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

We arrived in San Francisco on Saturday November 20th after 32 hours of traveling! Tired, but so looking forward to seeing our family and our extended church family.Our first stop after leaving the airport in S.F. was at a In & Out Burger, oh what a treat!!!! Then on to Salinas, Ca. to the condo which has been so graciously provided to us by Bob & Sharon Treat. A warm shower and then to bed, oh so tired!

The following day we had the privilege of sharing at Calvary Chapel Salinas with Pastor Don Scott as our host. What a warm & encouraging greeting we received by all in attendance. Thank you CC Salinas, one & all, we so very much appreciate you!

Yesterday, we ran errands and today more errands to take care of before Thursday arrives for Thanksgiving with our son Tom & his family. It is also our grandson's Birthday,Ty,who will be 30 on the 25th and another of our grandson's, Jaeden, who turns 18 on the 26th.We have missed our family so much and we are so glad we get to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas at home!

We have a very full schedule while we are here on furlough as we have the blessed opportunity to share each week-end at different churches about what God is accomplishing in Malawi. We are truly humbled by the number of churches who are allowing us to share with the fellowship's. We are also taking time with each of our children(4) & their families that include 13 grandchildren & 4 great grandchildren. We are truly blessed beyond measure!!

We will also be attending the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference in Murrieta Ca. the first week of January. This conference has missionaries from all over the world congregating together once a year & it is always a blessing to a part of with all the different saints serving in foreign lands!

Then we will be heading back to Malawi on January 17th to resume what God has called us to be doing for His kingdom. We want to wish all of you a most wonderful Thanksgiving and a blessed Christmas. As well, to thank each of you for your love, prayers, & support. We could not do what God has called us to do without each of you! You are a part of all that is accomplished by the Lord in Malawi as we are all a team, being obedient to His calling.

As our brethren say in Malawi, Zikomo Kwambiri! We love & appreciate you all. May the Lord bless & keep you close to Himself!

Agape,

Steve & Nora

Home for the Holidays

2010-11-14T04:01:00.000-08:00

Nora & I will be leaving Lilongwe Malawi on November 19th and going home for the holidays with our family & friends! This has been a rather pressure pack year for us, with a number of opportunities to trust our Lord through difficult circumstances, and at the same time a very gratifying year.

But, as we head back to the States, we so look forward to being with our children,(4) grandchildren(13) & great-grandchildren (4) along with our extended church family as well. We will have the opportunity to be sharing in a few churches while we are home, sharing about what God has accomplished here in Malawi in 2010 and what we look forward to what can & might be happening in 2011, God willing.

We would ask that you pray for us that we will be able to spend quality time with all our family, special time with our friends, get some needed rest, and generally just enjoy our time being home. I believe that the hardest part of being involved as missionaries is our time away from our family & friends. We miss not seeing the grandchildren growing up, missing their special events, birthdays, and etc. So, as you think of us, pray that Jesus will bless our time home and anoint our sharing time about what our Lord is doing and what we believe He wants to do in Malawi in 2011.

Thank you all for your prayers, love, and support over the past two years while we have been serving Jesus in Malawi. As we have stated many times before, we cannot do what the Lord has called us to do without you! So, from the bottom of hearts, we say to each of you,

Zikomo Kwambiri! (Thank you very much in the Chichewa language)

Steve & Nora

CC African Pastors Conference

2010-10-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

We head off to South Africa tomorrow (10-10-10) to attend the Pastors Conference for all the CC's in the continent of Africa. Barry & Teri Stagner of CC Tustin, Phil Pechonis from England, Joey Buran of CC Costa Mesa, Rob Dingman, Michael & Golden leading worship, & some guy named Steve Braselton will be sharing also about the work of God in Malawi.

Please pray that all goes well at the conference, that all the speakers will be anointed, and that all those attending will be blessed & encouraged! We are then taking a few days (Saturday & Sunday) following the conference to see more of Cape Town and then on Monday morning flying to Johannesburg to spend three days with Chad & Heather Naakenborgen, Pastor & family of CC Johannesburg South African, whom we love dearly. And on Thursday morning we fly back to Lilongwe, getting "home" at 12:15PM and start preparing for the next three weeks wrap up of the School of Ministry for 2010.

On November 19th, we load up our clothes again to head back to Monterey/Salinas for our furlough just in time for Thanksgiving celebration with part of our family. We will be home through the Christmas holidays, then in early January will attend the annual Missions Conference at Murrieta before we head back to Malawi.

This has been a year of great joys as well as some unpleasant difficulties, but our God...... We rejoice that Jesus has been faithful as usual, has never wavered in His desire to bless the people of Malawi, and we have witnessed some unbelievable miracles He has bestowed upon this land & its people. We are blessed beyond words that He has allowed us to be a part of what He is accomplishing here in Malawi! And each of you that have prayed, written words of encouragement to us, and those whom the Lord has directed to support all this financially, we say Zikomo Kambiri! (Thank you so very much) Without all of you, we would not be able to be here to try to be obedient to His calling on our lives!

Please continue to pray for us for the work yet to be done in 2010, as well as looking to the future and what He wants to do in 2011 here in Malawi. We would humbly ask that you prayerfully consider, through prayer, what financial support He might desire for you to be involved with the Malawi Outreach Ministry in 2011. It is His work and we are looking to Him to supply all our needs, so our trust is in Him to work all these matters out according to His perfect will.

May Jesus richly bless and keep all of you close to Himself as we continue to look up, for our redemption is drawing very near!!

Love,

Steve & Nora
Malawi Outreach Ministry

2010-09-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

6th Week of School of Ministry

2010-09-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

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

5th Week of School of Ministry

2010-09-18T02:33:00.000-07:00

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

School of Ministry - 4th Week

2010-09-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

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!

Week 3 of School of Ministry

2010-09-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

2010-08-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

2010-08-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Calvary Chapel School of Ministry Lilongwe Malawi

2010-08-28T03:10:00.001-07:00

We are so blessed with the way the school has begun. Our first week started 8-16-10 and we just concluded the second week on 8-28-10. We have 15 Pastors from a variety of village churches with many of them located in very remote areas. All of them have come prepared to study & learn, they are doing all of their required written exams, they are participating very well in class sessions, taking copious notes, asking great questions, & performing well above my original expectations. All but a couple of them have never attended any higher education schooling, & all of them have never attended any Bible Colleges or Schools dealing with Ministry.

So as you can probably deduce, we are all so very excited about the Lord is accomplishing to & through these men who have very wonderful, teachable hearts & minds! All we can add is, that we need all of your prayers that all of us, the men & myself, will continue to apply ourselves so we finish as well as we have started!

I am adding a few pictures above so you can get a glimpse of the men in the class setting,which is in our Living Room in our rented house, in the area where they sleep & eat, taking their breaks in the yard,Carmella Cuva giving eye exams for reading glasses, praise & worship time, one of the Pastors given a daily devotion & one photo of their food ready to be served. These men attending are all so very enjoyable individuals, who love the Lord & are committed to learning about they need to know about what it means to be a CC Pastor & how to study the Bible to teach, not preach, the whole counsel of God by teaching Book by Book, Chapter by Chapter & Verse by Verse.

We have completed six chapters of the Calvary Distinctives & God willing, we will be able to wrap up the book in the next two to three weeks weeks. But, as we go through each chapter, I am encouraging them to ask questions relative to the text we are studying, & as it pertains to the issues they are having to deal with in their villages. So, we will see what happens in the next three weeks. Then we will begin the Inductive Bible Study course written by Dan Finfrock , of Intensive Care Ministries.

The men are so thrilled about having all these materials in Chichewa language, as 94% do not read or write in English. It has been somewhat expensive to have these books translated, but oh, so worth the expense!! We will be needing to translate additional books in the near future, & each book to date we have had translated is costing between $550 to $670 USD. So, if anyone has a heart to donate to this endeavor, please send your contributions to Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay located at 3001 Monterey-Salinas Hwy., Monterey, Ca. 93940 & attach a note (Not on Check) that the gift is for the Malawi School of Ministry. At year end, CCMB will send you a tax receipt for your donation.

We still have 15 additional Pastors who will be in the next 12 week course, starting in February 2011. So, also be praying for this next group of Pastors, that they will be mentally and spiritually prepare to begin in the same attitude as the first group.

Also, please be praying with all of us about the Lord providing a vehicle to carry up to 24 passengers. This vehicle will be used by Calvary Chapel Lilongwe, the School of Ministry, & by Ruth's Shawl Ministry, with the widows & orphans. We are having to make multiple trips with the current vehicle which can carry 7 passengers, but we have regular needs of 20+ each week. The price of petrol is $8.50 a gallon when converted from liters as sold here. Ephesians 3:20 is a prayer verse. Zikomo Kambiri. (Thank you very much in English)

God bless you all & please continue to be praying for the School , the Pastors attending, as well as for me that the Holy Spirit will truly be our teacher.

Additional Photos from Leadership Conference

2010-08-14T05:06:00.000-07:00

Leadership Conference CC Lilongwe July 2010

2010-08-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Ngala Bay July 2010

2010-08-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sunset in Malawi

2010-08-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

August 3, 2010 Update

2010-08-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been a blast with a team from Glennview Baptist out of North Carolina led by Pastor Brad Wright along with Casey & Cathy were here for a week. We had outreaches to the Ruth Shawl widows & orphans in Area 44; Nsambeta School;Church services at Pastor Joseph Kazembe's church in Area 24; Training Seminar with 15 young men & women ministering in the Public School System along with trips to ABC Medical Clinic & to Lake Malawi. Great job and a great big thank you to this wonderful team. You always have a home here in Lilongwe, so ya'll come back real soon!

We then said hello to Pastor Demitri Nikiforos & Walter Kohrs from CC Cape Town South Africa along with Jason Simpson & the team od ten from Northshore Christian Fellowship from Hawaii. A week long Pastors Conference was held at CC Lilongwe with over two hundred participants attending; ministry to the youth in Mtslizia Village, outreaches to several outlining villages; a trip to Lake Malawi with Children of The Nations School & Orphanage; and a little sight seeing was accomplished also.

The South African team left today and the Hawaii team is coming over tonight following an village outreach for dinner, so we are expecting of night of good food & great fellowship! The team has an additional outreach tomorrow and then pack up to leave for home on Friday. Just a tremendous thank you to all of these wonderful servants of God who have ministered their hearts out to the people of Malawi!

We are expecting Carmella & Micah Cuva to arrive on 8-13-10 and will be with us until 8-24-10, so we will be doing Medical Outreaches in villages as well as ministering the widows & orphans. Carmella is also bringing with her a kit where we are able to give Eye examinations & fit up to 150 sets of reading glasses for those in need. PTL!!!!!!!

Then 8-16-10, we are starting the School of Ministry with 15 Pastors attending for a 12 week semester course, so please be praying for these Pastors that they will be able to attend without worrying about their respective fellowships, that they will be able to apply themselves fully to their studies, and that there will be great comprehension of the material being offered!

Also be praying for the CC African Pastors Conference being held in Cape Town South Africa from October 11-16th, that all the scheduled speakers will be able to come and that all the pastors will be able to have the finances to be able to attend. For Pastor Demitri & his staff as they organize the entire event!

Thank you for your prayers, financial support, and all the encouragement being offered in our behalf. We truly appreciate all of you so much!

In Him,

Steve & Nora

Malawi Outreach Update July 31, 2010

2010-07-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a couple of months since we last posted here on our blog, as we have been incurring some major spiritual warfare battles! We thought we were all ready to begin the School of Ministry on May 3rd, only to find out on the evening of May 2nd that we were not going to be able to begin as planned. We have been trying to work out all the problems at hand, and we are delighted to be able to now report that these obstacles appear to have been removed.

We have had 30 very disappointed Pastors, who have been waiting anxiously for this training and we had our final briefing on April 14th, distributed all the paperwork needed for them to complete, answered all their questions, and we all left with joyful anticipation of the start of the School of Ministry on May 3rd as outlined. However, our common enemy raised his ugly head and caused some further delays in the start of this most needed training. But the Word of God says in James Chapter 4:7,"Therefore submit to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you." So, that is what we have done, we drew near to God and He drew near to us!

Due to the delays we have experienced, the start of the School of Ministry cannot now to begin until August 16th due to the facts we have had visiting teams coming throughout July and continuing through the first half of August, which we will be hosting, and coordinating the ministry outreaches & ministering with these teams. So,God willing, we will see the beginning of the Malawi School of Ministry start August 16, 2010. Please be praying for all the visiting teams, their ministry opportunities, and of course, the School of Ministry. The teams coming are from Hawaii, North Carolina, and California.

These are exciting times ahead of us and the opportunity to minister in so many different venues is very encouraging, filled with great expectation of what the Lord is going to accomplish the next few months ahead of us! Ministry to children, Jesus Video Outreaches, Leadership Conference to Pastors, Training of young adults to better prepare them as they minister in the Public Schools, and some medical outreaches, just to name a few.

We have felt at times like what Paul the Apostle wrote about in 2 Corinthians 4: 7-9, but we are experiencing the reality of 2 Corinthians 4:17-18. So, please join with us in the joy of what God has accomplished and pray that we will continue to be able to minister as He gives us strength and wisdom to do so. Thank you for all your faithful prayers and support for this ministry and for Nora & myself personally. We sincerely appreciate each one of you as you stand in the gap for us . We will keep you updated as we progress ahead during these very busy next few months.

2010-04-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Malawi Outreach Update – April 2010

We have been on a rollercoaster since our last update. But, we have good news, in spite of Government regulations that has caused us to reconfigure the School of Ministry location, we are happy to report after much prayer that the school will begin its first session on May 3rd with the initial 15 Pastors in attendance. The second session following will be with the next group of Pastors.

So, here is what we have concluded that the Lord has shown us to do. Since we have already rented a house here in Lilongwe where Nora & I reside, that is on a large lot, we have decided to hold classes here at our home. In addition to the main house, it has guest quarters with three rooms large enough to house up to 10-12 men along with bathroom facilities. The living room in the house is quite large and we have very little furniture, so it is easily converted into a good size classroom. We have hired a cook to do all the cooking, Malawian style. We will also have to provide bedding for them, blankets, etc., as they cannot afford an extra blanket to bring with them from home. This will provide an environment where we are all together during the day for regular classes, and then allow for evening discussions, fellowship and worship. They will also have the opportunity to ask questions and receive personal prayer & attention, which they would not receive otherwise on a regular school campus.

The class schedule for the School of Ministry is Monday through Thursday. The Pastors will return to their homes and churches for Friday through Sunday and return back to Lilongwe on Monday ready to begin the new week of school. The main expense will be transportation and food costs along with some initial front end purchases for bedding and supplies. So, we met with the first set of Pastors this last Thursday, 15 in all, and they are all set to begin classes on May 3rd. Please be praying that they will be able to get everything arranged so they can make this commitment to attend class without financial hardships to their families & the church Body. The level of poverty with these village Pastors forces them to trust God as they leave their families & churches to place the high priority & value on what the Lord is doing for them to provide this School of Ministry to increase their knowledge of the Lord and His Word!

To all of you who have contributed financially to specifically assist these Pastors who can obtain additional training, please know that every dollar is being spent to maximize the benefit of those who will be attending classes. To all of you who are contributing to the Malawi Outreach Ministry, also know we are doing all we can to stretch every dollar, so that these men can receive this teaching & training, that they may be discipled and become mature disciplers themselves in their respective village churches.

And needless to say, all of us need to be praying for the success of this very important outreach, as the depth of teaching in Malawi is so shallow, and we have the opportunity to make a significant impact in this extremely poor country. The people of Malawi need to know so much more about the Lord Jesus and the Holy Word of God! Thank you for partnering with us and holding the rope on your end, so that these men can grow in their knowledge of God’s Word and make a dramatic difference in the depth of knowledge within their churches, their communities, and in their country!

May our Lord bless you for your participation in the Malawi Outreach Ministry, you are making a difference in peoples lives today and for eternity. There are always additional unexpected expense needs that arise daily, so if the Lord puts it on your heart to make additional financial gifting, rest assured it will be put to good use for the kingdom of God.

In Him,

Steve & Nora
Matthew 25:40

Malawi Outreah Update for March 2010

2010-02-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

Two months of 2010 are already behind us, and it seems as though January 1st was only last week. How times flies, and yet, we are all given the same 24 hours a day to accomplish that which our Lord has given us to do. How we spend the time is the difference between satisfaction, or, possibly dissatisfaction over regretting our failures. With all that is happening in the world today; earthquakes, tsunamis, disease, pestilence, societies falling apart as a result of godlessness and sin, can the return of our Lord be far away?

Personally, I believe Jesus will be coming back in my lifetime and it could be at any minute! But, He said “occupy until He returns.” So, let us all be aware of the signs of the times and “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:42) Let us all be sober minded as we are about the Lord’s work, wherever we are serving Him!

We are rapidly gearing up for the start of the Calvary Chapel School of Ministry, now scheduled to begin March 15th, with four different centers located in strategic locations in central and southern Malawi. We will be rotating the classes from month to month to each center, until such time as the good Lord provides us the funding to build a centralized location in Lilongwe. We are truly excited about the beginning of the school which is so desperately needed in order to properly train these pastors! So, please be holding this up in prayer, and be also praying for traveling mercies for our travels to each of these centers and for the pastors attending. That they will be able to fully give of themselves to this opportunity to learn and be trained, so that they can be the shepherds of their flocks that God has called them to be! The raining season has been very heavy this year and all the so called roads of Malawi are nothing more than mud tracks which have been basically destroyed by the rain. This makes it very hard to get to the villages and times extremely dangerous, so please be praying for us!

Nora & I are doing well, our health is very good, and we are staying extremely busy as we are involved in a number of different activities. Our prayer requests are:

1. Prayer for the start of the School of Ministry and all the attending pastors.
2. Successful Mediation results on our vehicle suit.
3. More laborers for the work here in Malawi.
4. Additional funding for the various needed ministry projects.
5. Prayer for the spiritual warfare being waged against us and the ministry here.

God bless you all and keep looking up, our redemption draws near. (Luke 21:25-28)

Love,

Steve & Nora

Back in Malawi

2010-02-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed our visit back to the states with our family and extended church family, it was a glorious time and we cherish every moment and every event we were blessed to attend. And as always, to be able to share about our beloved Malawi was such a privilege!

We arrived back in Malawi on January 21st and we have been running to catch up ever since. just before we left Malawi in November, we rented a house in Lilongwe, and now we are scurrying to get it furnished. After 50 years of marriage, raising 4 children, moving a number of times over that period of tome, and we find ourselves starting all over again fro scratch with nothing in hand and a four bedroom house to fully furnish!!!!!

In addition, our vehicle has been in the repair shop for the past 4 days, costing us again more money to put into a money pit, and it has been raining almost everyday which makes it hard to be in the villages! Welcome to Malawi!!!! "In this life you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!"

All kidding aside, we are so happy to be back "home" in Lilongwe, we love our house, and the fellowship at CC Lilongwe continues to do well. Praise the Lord! We are scheduled to begin our School of Ministry on March 1st, so please be praying for us as there is yet much to do before we begin!

Prayer needs are many, but here are a few for your prayer closet:

1. Furnishing the house
2. A new vehicle that is dependable
3. A good start for the School of Ministry.
4. Continued growth at CC Lilongwe in the Word of God.
5. That our discipling of young men in our fellowdhip will bear much fruit.
6. For more laborers.

God bless all of you for your faithful prayers & support. There are so many people who need so much just to survive daily life, so please be praying for the Lord to open the windows of heaven to pour out upon this land & the people of Malawi.

In Him,

Steve & Nora

2010-01-13T12:34:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

We have been back in the States now for about 7 weeks & we have been on a very busy schedule! We have enjoyed every minute of our time back home, but at the same time we are eager to get back to Malawi to continue the work the Lord has started in 2009!

On December 12th, our Care Team put on a special event at Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay where we were to share the work in Malawi with over 200 faithful saints who came on a windy, rainy day, to share in our joy! They also had put together a "Silent Auction" with again over 100 items donated to raise funds to allow for the Malawian Pastors to attend the School of Ministry starting in March of 2010. We are delighted to share that all the funds have been raised to allow the Pastors to attend for six months of training & discipleship! Praise His Holy Name!!!!! Thank all of you who participated and have given to this very important work!

We also have visited several churches who have expressed an interest in the work in Malawi, attended the annual Calvary Chapel Missions Conference at the Bible College located in Murrita, Ca. which was absolutely outstandingly good!! We were & continue to be amazed at what the Lord is doing all over this earth! Great speakers, fantastic Workshops, and wonderful fellowship with old friends & making many new friendships!! We also have been able to spend such precious & quality time with all of our children & their families. (13 Grandchildren & 3 3/4 Great Grandchildren)

Following the Conference we were able to visit our close friends(family), Rich & Pam Boyer and all their children & grandchildren! Then we were ablt to spend some quiet time in Pismo Beach and then we visited another close family to us, Paul & Teri Sisemore & their family as well as attend church service at Paul's church," At The Cross" in Shell Beach; a wonderful Fellowship and a warm group of people!

We then came back to Monterey to have a special meeting with our Care Team, a fantastic dinner by Bob & Mary Cuva, and great time of fellowship had by all!! Care Team, we love each one of you and greatly appreciate you for all you do for the Lord and the people of Malawi! We flew up to Seattle on Tuesday to visit our daughter Kelly and her family in Arlington, Washington. We will be here until Saturday and we fly to San Jose, then drive to Monterey to attend the Donors Meeting for Ruth's Shawl Ministry whom Nora is the Program Manager in Malawi. We will attend church service at Calvary Chapel in Monterey on Sunday, then drive to S.F. that night and leave for Malawi on Monday the 18th.

Please be praying for a safe & enjoyable flight back and that all that we have been able to accomplish while we were here will bear much fruit for the future! Pray for our Malawian Pastors as they begining their training, and that our Lord will continue to provide all the necessary funding to complete the Training & Discipleship School Building, which is only a shell at this point. That we will be able to complete the legal battle regarding the vehicle we purchased in Malawi, and that there will many teams coming to Malawi from the States & elsewhere, to serve & work with all the Malawian people!

Nora & I are so aware that where the Lord guides, He also provides! Our dependence is upon Jesus and we realize that He is provider. Please accept our sincere gratefulness for your prayers, your love, & financial support! Know that we are all a team, & that together we can be obedient to our Lord to " to go & make diciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:18-20)

May the Lord bless & keep you close to Him in all aspects of your lives! Remember, Jesus is coming back soon, so let Jesus catch us busy about His work & Kingdom until that day!

In Him,

Steve & Nora

2009-12-29T12:53:00.000-08:00

We pray all of you had a wonderful Christ filled Christmas with family & friends! And we want to wish you all a very Happy New Year as we look forward to what the Lord has for us in 2010!

Nora & I have been blessed to have time with three of our children and their families and we look forward in January to having some quality time with our daughter Kelly & her family in Washington State. We were also blessed with the special Silent Auction event held 12/12/09 at Calvary Chapel in Monterey that raised sufficient money to allow our 30 Pastors in Malawi to be able to attend the Training & Discipleship School in 2010! PTL!!!! Thank you to all who participated & especially our Care Team who put the whole event together!! You all are awesome fellow servants & the brethren in Malawi will be so blessed at your endeavors in their behalf!

We will be attending the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference from January 4-7th, then up to Washington, and returning to Monterey on the 16th and leaving for Malawi on January 18th. In the meantime, we will be sharing at Calvary Chapel Monterey on this Wednesday night at 6:30 PM and at Calvary Chapel in Salinas on Sunday January 3rd. So, if anyone is in either of these two areas, come fellowship with us!

We are loving our time with our family and friends, but at the same time we are already looking forward to returning to our new "home" in Malawi. Please continue to pray for us as we wrap up our time here and that our Lord will supply all of our financial needs for 2010! He has always been faithful to do so, but we need to keep knocking, seeking, & asking!

Thanks to all our faithful supporters in 2009 and we pray you will continue to stand with us in 2010, for there is yet much land yet to be occupied! There are many different needs to assist the Malawian churches & their congregations, and if anyone desires to have more details, please contact us at www.snb1959@gmail.com or at this blog spot address and we will get back to you.

May our Lord Jesus bless & keep you close to Himself and always remember to look up, for our redemption draws nigh! We love and appreciate each one of you so much!

In Him,

Steve & Nora

Personal Update Report

2009-12-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

To all of our Family, Friends, and Supporters:

This Saturday, December 12th, from 2-5PM, at Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay, Nora & I will be sharing with all in attendance about what God has accomplished this year in Malawi and what we sense our Lord desires to accomplish in 2010! We will have photo's, video, music, and lots of stories to share about life in Malawi.

Please come join us for an afternoon of great fellowship, reports of God's mercy & grace, and there will be lots of items for you to choose from on a Silent Auction of items donated to raise funds for the Pastoral Training & Discipleship School in Lilongwe that will begin in March 2010 which will allow itinerent Pastors to be trained in expository teaching of God's Word.

If you are unable to attend, we will be DVD'ing the event and if you request a copy of one, we will be happy to send you one. Prayerfully, we hope to being able to see you there and to greet you personally and warmly! Thank you for your prayers & support, as we could not be available to serve in Malawi without you!

May our Lord Jesus richly bless you this Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and King, Jesus The Christ!!!!!!

Love,

Steve & Nora

2009-11-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

Malawi Outreach Report
November 14, 2009

We are wrapping up our first 10 months of ministry here in Malawi as we head home to California for the holidays. We have been blessed beyond measure and we have come to love Malawi and its people! God has sent us here to be a blessing and a help to our brethren of Malawi, and with God’s leading us by His Holy Spirit, we have seen His power in strengthening us in our weakness. However, we would say without hesitation, we have learned so much from our brothers & sisters, that it has been a mutual admiration relationship!

God is opening up His arms to Malawi and desires to have His Holy Spirit to be poured out upon His people. We have found that the people of Malawi are eager to learn more & more about our Lord Jesus and His Holy Word! They are hard workers, fast learners, all they need is for the Body of Christ to come along side of them to assist them to become completely self sufficient in their walk with Jesus and to become financially able to care for themselves and their families.

So, as Nora & I head home to be with our family to give thanks to our Lord for our well being and to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus, we are also well aware that we need to share this story with as many people and churches as we can while we are home. We have a video presentation about the ministry here in Malawi and we would love to come to your church to share and answer any questions you may have of us & of Malawi. So that if the Lord speaks to your heart to be involved in prayer, or in financial contributions, we will be able to inform you properly! If you prefer, we can send you the video which will briefly inform you about the many aspects of the ministry opportunities available in Malawi.

We just concluded a 10 day Medical Outreach, where we conducted seven (7) Clinics in six (6) days, allowing our team of four nurses and one Medical Doctor to have some rest in between. They were able to examine, consult, and disbursed medications to all, estimated to about one thousand patients. We owe a great amount of gratitude to Laura Bomarito, Laurel Fuge, Santos Ramirez, Teresa Anaya, and Dr. James High of the African Bible College Medical Clinic! We thank you, one in all for your selfless service to our Lord and to the most needy people in outlining villages, where there is little to no medical & health facilities. May our Lord bless all you do in His name, both now and until He returns!

We also were blessed to attend the Calvary Chapel All African Pastors Conference in Cape Town in October. We were overjoyed at the growth of the number of God’s people serving in Africa since we first attended this Conference in 2007. The speakers were outstanding, the fellowship sweet, and the new people we were able to meet was very gratifying as well as the joy of renewing many friendships! God is so good!!!

Please be praying for safe travel for us, a wonderful time with our family, and that the Lord will open many doors for us to walk through for His kingdom. Thank you all for your love, prayers, and financial support during 2009 and we ask you to pray what the Lord would have you do in 2010 for the work in Malawi.

May our Lord bless you all and we so look forward to seeing as many of you as possible when we are back!

Malawi Outreach Update

2009-10-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

Malawi Outreach Update
October 2009

Since our last report, Nora & I have been on a very busy schedule. We attended our 50th High School Reunion in El Paso, Texas which was attended by more than 100 of our former classmates. What a wonderful experience we were able to enjoy, great fellowship, many laughs, tons of memories recalled, and festivities over a six day period. It started with a formal presentation by the Mayor and the City Council to the 1959 Burges High School Graduation Class for their outstanding achievement since graduation, to their City and to the world. This was followed by a large parade with about 50 members of our class, riding in classic 50’s vehicles, marching bands, the football team, cheerleaders, floats and Fire Trucks. On Friday, we attended the Home Coming Game where the former (old) football players were presented jerseys with our old numbers, names on back and a special insignia on the front left shoulder. We were with the team before the game in the locker room, participated as the team was led in the Lord’s Prayer, and went out with the team to the playing field, notice I did not say we ran out with the team, and at Half Time, introduced each of the remaining players who were able to be there. Festivities at the hotel went on for several days, looking at old photos, sharing old memories, laughing our heads off at some of the stunts we did, renewing old friendships with some of the people we have not seen in 50 years! We also cherished our time staying with a couple we have not only have known for over 50 years, but whom we consider lifetime friends, Alroy & Helen Eddings. They opened their home, their hearts, and were the greatest hosts ever!! One of the more gratifying moments of the whole event was when we all gathered to pray for a number of our classmates who were sick or suffering some serious life threatening illnesses. Everyone there joined in to the prayer circle, and we all participated by individually praying. It was truly a Holy Spirit moment, and it gave us all the awareness of how many of us had come to know Jesus Christ as our personal Lord, & Savior since High school! Following all this, the big event was Saturday night at the dinner where we enjoyed special music from the 50’s, prizes for a number of different areas, we won three of them including coming the farthest to participate! We were blessed by having the organizing committee to provide our airfare & arranged our lodging to allow us come to be a part of this fabulous event. Thank you Class of ’59! On Sunday morning, as we joined together for a farewell brunch, I was asked to conduct a church service there at the hotel, which was such a blessing for all of us that attended. We were also able to share about the work in Malawi with a number of the attendees and we were warmly received by all, and have been greatly encouraged by the expressions of interest! To put our experience there into one word, “Wonderful”!

We were also able to spend some precious time with my sister and her family. Ate lots of “good” Mexican food, juicy Texas steaks and spare ribs, and spending quality time remembering funny stories about our parents, and just enjoying being with one another. Please be praying for my sister, Sandy Dalton, as she has a heart condition, and she recently fell, and broke her arm. When they administered her with anesthesia, it caused her heart to stop! She was revived, but is now required to sleep with oxygen each night, and I am naturally concerned for her. It was also a treat to visit with our nephews & nieces, whom are now grown, married and with their own families. It seemed like yesterday that they all were small children, and at times, seemingly strange to now to have fellowship with them as adults! All in all, it was a fantastic trip in so many respects and we praise God for allowing and providing for us to have gone and participated in all of it!

Since returning back to Malawi, we have been running daily to try to catch up after being gone for almost three weeks. We suffered the worst jet lag ever upon arriving in Malawi, taking almost 10 days to begin to feel “normal” once more, then getting back in the swing of daily life, preparing teaching lessons for Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. Ruth’s Shawl ministry held an outreach on October 3rd geared to the children of Area 44, where they ministered to the widows & orphans, to about 5,000 children. To find out all the details and see photos from the event, go to www.ruthsshawl.org.

This week ahead of us is preparing for the CC African Pastors Conference being held in Cape Town South Africa which will run from October 12th – 16th. Pastor Tom and his wife Caroline will be attending along with Nora & me. This will be the first time Caroline has been out of Malawi and her first airplane trip. She is both excited, and apprehensive about the upcoming adventure. Please pray for us as we prepare to go, that the Lord will use this time and opportunity to be a blessing to all we get to meet and with whom we will be able to establish new relationships. We are also working with a Christian firm out of North Carolina, Water Missions International, who provides clean water purification systems to needy Third World Countries who do not have adequate clean water capabilities available to many of their people located in remote areas, where 80% of the population of Malawi live. They have been looking for Church participation to partner with them to insure that adequate follow up with the equipment to make sure that it continues to function properly after the installation and training of the local leaders of the village along with the approval and support of the local Chiefs. Their mission statement is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Living Water, before they share the value of the clean water system. We have had several months of working with this group and we feel we will be participating with them in their first official project in Malawi in the village of Mphonde, where we have planted one of our Calvary Chapel’s. After months of exploring the merits of us being involved with this endeavor in this one village, we are about to agree to perform the needed follow up by the local church leaders, with full participation by the villagers who are being benefited by this endeavor. We are excited about the possibilities of the assistance being offered by Water Missions to the very needy people of Malawi.

Upon our return from The Pastors Conference, we will get ready to host the Medical Team arriving from Monterey California for a two week medical outreach to a number of the outlying villages in and around Lilongwe. Following this outreach, we will be preparing to return to the States for our furlough to visit our family over the holidays, and to share with churches, and our Prayer and Donor Support Team’s, about the wonderful work God has accomplished through everyone’s participation in our Lord’s desire to bless the people of Malawi. As well as to share about the exciting opportunities that exists for 2010 and beyond. We are so looking forward to being back with family and friends in California, but at the same time knowing we will be missing our friends while we are away from Malawi. We have become quite attached to our new friends and fellow servants here, knowing God has ordained us to be ministering in Malawi with them to disciple and teach the understanding of the Word of God and to strengthen the churches knowledge, “equipping the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12)

We love and appreciation all of you for your prayers and support. Nora & I are so grateful for the privilege of serving our Lord and for the honor of representing each of you to our brothers and sisters of Malawi. May our Lord Jesus continue to lead, guide and direct us, as we listen for His desires for the people of Malawi. (Romans 12:1-2)

2009-09-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Malawi Outreach Update Report
August 27, 2009

Since our last report in July, we have been really been very busy with a number of different ministry activities:

July 17th – We met Pastor Luka of Calvary Chapel in Area 44. It is extremely difficult to drive to these remote villages, but we are becoming more familiar & comfortable venturing out on our own without a Malawian brother going with us. These villages are unchartered and very difficult to reach.

July 20th – We got word today that our six month ordeal to get our two year Immigration Work Permit had ended, we are finally approved! PTL !!!!

July 22nd – We have been doing some preliminary work with a Christian group out of North Carolina, Water Missions International, who design & install water purification systems in disaster sights worldwide and are in Malawi to find remote villages without any fresh, clean, water sources in order to install their water purification units. We are seeking to determine if we as CC want to take on the task of being sure the systems are properly maintained & repaired as needed. We would only be involved where we currently have church plants or where we will be planting new churches. They had an extra generator which they have donated to CC Lilongwe to be used to provide power for the church as we do not have electricity there. We are so grateful for their generosity & we have put it to good use already!

July 23rd – We made arrangements to go to Pastor Luka’s home & meet his family & church leadership. We met in a three room house with no electricity, no running water, with a outdoor bathroom and the house needing a lot of deferred maintenance & repairs. But the joy of this family & the church leadership was so encouraging to us & caused us to reflect how so very much God has blessed us all in America! They have so little & yet they are full of the joy of the Lord! This church plant was started in late 2008 with 18 people, & they currently have 48 adults with lots of children. They rent a school room at the local Primary School to hold their church services.

July 24th – Celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary. We were blessed by a group from a local Pharmacy who came to our place of residence to deliver 50 roses to Nora & I for our anniversary. How very sweet and extremely thoughtful!

July 26th – A team from North Shore Christian Fellowship in Hawaii arrived for a two week short term mission outreach, working with us & Children of The Nations ministry, who provide a feeding program, assistance with the education of the orphans in several different orphanages in Malawi. A multi church Baptism took place while Pastor Jason & his team were here, that included 45 saints being baptized. There were 5 outreaches to village ministries where the worship & evangelism team accompanied the team to share the gospel and show the Jesus DVD movie to these communities. There were thousands of people in attendance and hundreds coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. This team also blessed the church with a new sound system for the church along with several other much needed items for the ministry. They were a total blessing to us and all the people they ministered to in their ministry efforts! A great big THANK YOU to all six members of NSCF, we love you all!

August 4th – We accompanied the staff from Water Missions Int’l to the village of Mphonde along with an active participant donor & his wife from Wyoming to inspect the different chosen sites chosen to potentially install the water systems. We then all attended a meeting at the Baptist Seminary of Lilongwe where the Citizens Development Network , made up of over 100 pastors from all over Malawi, where the guest from Wyoming spoke. Later that night, we attended a dinner hosted by Water Missions Int’l, where the group of attendees were from NGO’s or ministries already working all over Malawi, who in one form or another are, or could be in the water projects of Water Missions Int’l.

August 5th – Nora & I traveled to the City of Blantyre, which is a four hour trip south of Lilongwe, to have our passports stamped with the official work permit stamp which authorizes us to work in Malawi for a minimum of two years before we have to reapply. PTL !!

August 6th – Returned from Blantyre in time to host a farewell dinner for the team from Hawaii before they departed for home. A wonderful recap for all of us for what God had done over the past two weeks, a time of worship, and a time to pray & praise our Lord for what He had accomplished!

August 14-16th – The first ever CC Women’s Conference was held with 125 ladies from 13 of the CC’s fellowships in the area. The report we received from the women in attendance was that the Holy Spirit was very much in attendance and He had blessed them so much and they were so excited!

August 29th – A Marriage Seminar is scheduled for 8-29-09 at CC Lilongwe to be conducted by Nora & Myself with an all day Saturday event, from 9AM to 5PM and then a joint renewal of vows for all the attendees to be held in front of the whole church body at the Sunday morning service.

We are so grateful to our Lord who has allowed us to serve here in Malawi! He has accomplished so much since we arrived on February 9th, and yet we also know there is so much yet to be done which we cannot do unless He guides and directs us as well provides for all that can be done here to encourage and teach those who are so eager to learn!

Nora & I leave for Texas on September 4th and we do plead for your prayers for us as we share about the work here in Malawi. We return on September 19th and I begin to prepare for the first Men’s Conference to be held on September 26-27th. I have also been asked by the Pastoral Group, Citizens Development Network, to travel to Blantyre to speak to their group in the southern part of the country.

Then we will have the Calvary Chapel All African Pastors Conference in Cape Town South Africa from October 12-16th to attend and we need your prayers as we need for the Lord to assist us & Pastor Tom financially, so we can attend.

Following the Pastors Conference, we have the medical team from Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay arriving for a two week outreach. We are really excited about their return as their gifts are so needed here as poverty prevents most Malawians from getting the medical attention they so desperately need!

Then Nora & I start to prepare to wrap up all the loose ends so we can return to Monterey for the holidays with our family and for us to share with all who want to hear about the work and needs of Malawi.

One more thing, Ruth’s Shawl Ministry to widows & orphans, now has their new Web-site up and running at www.ruthsshawl.org and we would encourage all of you to check it out, it really is well done and is very informative of the ministry here in Malawi. This ministry is also part of the work Nora is doing here in Malawi besides ministering at the church; Nora is the Program Manager of Ruth’s Shawl work in Malawi.

Please be praying for all these events and ministry activities, for your prayers are the ministry to allow us to do what the Lord has called us to do. We so appreciate all of you, your faithful prayers and financial support. There are so many needs in Malawi and we really need to know, with the clarity of the Holy Spirit, what projects and people groups we are to be involved in and with whom. With God’s leading, coupled with all our prayers, we will have the wisdom and understanding we are seeking according to James 1:5.

“The Lord bless and keep you; make His face to shine upon you; and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you; and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24)

Gratefulness

2009-07-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

To all of our family & friends:

To each of you who have taken the time to write Nora & I congratulating us on our 50th Wedding Anniversary, we wanted to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratefulness for your thoughtfulness and kind expressions to us. We realize that being able to celebrate a 50th anniversary is in today's society a real milestone, but we also fully understand it has been the grace of God and His mercy that has allowed us to be where we are as a couple. We give Him all the glory and we are so thankful for His goodness towards us over these many years.

We have four wonderful children; 12 grandchildren; and 3 great-grandchildren, with one more on the way! Praise His Holy Name! He has chosen us to be His own, made a place for us with Him for eternity, and has allowed us to work with His people these past 30 years in our respective ministries. Now He has sent us to minister to our brothers and sisters in Malawi, a brand new season for us, for which we are so grateful for the blessing to do so!

So many expressions of amazement to us from people here in Malawi have been such a blessing, as most of those are from people who are not even close to 50 years of age, and cannot imagine being married that long! A dear and precious friend came with 50 roses and presented them to us along with his entire staff to celebrate our anniversary. Our room is full of long stem red and white roses. What a joy it is for us to be here in Malawi at this time of our lives and to have already made so many new friends. You can rejoice with us that our 2 year Work Permit has been approved and we are now waiting for the Immigration Dept. notification to pay our fees and officially stamp our Passports!

Thank you for all your prayers, it has been a six month process with many challanges and many opportunities to trust our Lord! But it has been a journey to date that we are delighted to have been able to travel upon as He has led us all the way! Please continue to pray for Malawi and for us. God is blessing Malawi and there is so much more He desires to do which can be accomplished through the prayers of the saints of God. "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16b) God bless you!

Steve & Nora

2009-07-11T02:07:00.000-07:00

Malawi Outreach Update Report

July 7, 2009

To all of our family & friends:

Since our last update report of June 11^th, we have been busy with a number of varied projects:

- We have finished the Book of Ephesians on Sunday mornings at CC

Lilongwe. We have begun the Book of Colossians.

- We are continuing the Book of Joshua at Wednesday night service

and we will begin Chapter 9 this week.

- Nora has begun a wonderful program of teaching the women of the

fellowship how to cook foods from different parts of the world. To

date it has been Mexican; Italian; & Israeli. They have loved it!

- Attendance has increased to 125-150 each Wednesday night.

- Bibles from the gift given previously allowed us to purchase 300 Bibles & we have begun distribution to the 29 CC Fellowships.

- Additional gift from CC Siegen Germany has allowed us to purchase 100 more Bibles.

- Jesus Video (DVD) was shown in the village in area 18B with over 700 people in attendance. We took the worship team & the borrowed sound equipment, prayed for the sick, & preached the gospel. A great outreach!

- We have also had reports from Chintheche, a large village in the north of Malawi where the Jesus movie in Chichewa was shown at the local video establishment where the people of the village go to play any videos they may get. Once the movie started, 400-450 people gathered together to watch the entire movie. At the conclusion, people were weeping, asking for prayers, confessing sin, repenting and generally seeking the Lord for their lives. We need to plant a new church in the area to nurture these new believers in the faith in Jesus.

- A team from Colorado just concluded a two week visit, ministering in several villages with Children of the Nations while two Pastors conducted a seminar on HIV/AIDS found in the church today. This was held at CC Lilongwe with Pastors and leadership from CC Lilongwe and several local churches including at least 9 Pastors from Calvary Chapel’s in the general Lilongwe area.

- We are eagerly awaiting a team coming from CC Hawaii due here on July 25^th. They will be here for two weeks with their schedule full visiting villages, orphanages, & Jesus Video outreaches.

- Leadership changes within CC Lilongwe have recently taken place by Pastor Tom Mambo to strengthen the core group in order to prepare for future growth.

- July 4^th celebration took place at the American Ambassadors residence with 300-400 in attendance. It was a fun afternoon with the opportunity to meet a number of fellow Americans serving in Malawi. We were privileged to meet our Ambassador, Peter Bodde, as well as several staff members from the African Bible College.

- The ministry to women has been one of the highlights for me (Nora) because I personally love to share God’s Word and teach women how to apply, in practical ways, what they are learning. It is such a joy to see in their eyes and smiles that that are ”getting it !” The difficulty of working thru a translator and the added time that it takes has become time for me to pray all thru the study and lean hard and completely on the Lord to keep His Promise…that His Word will go forth and accomplish what He intends and will not return to Him void….God has blessed me with His great love for the women and children. I use every moment to teach, to share, to minister and to love ….I am buying up every opportunity to declare the greatness of our God and the Truth in His Word to any one who will listen. I love to interact with the street people, the children, the women, the widows and people in their places of work. I also love the one on one conversations and that have taught me so much about speaking the truth in love. It is so wonderful to see that “Love Never Fails”. Thank you for all that your prayers are accomplishing here in Malawi !

Prayer Requests

- Our two year Temporary Work Permit application has been approved at committee level, but the new incoming Minister of Home Affairs has to sign off before it becomes official. We have had to spend approximately $1,000 in fees, getting 30 day extensions so we would not be deported. This has been going on for almost 4 months, but when it is signed off by the minister, we have to come up with $2200.00 for these permits, just to be able to stay here to serve the people of Malawi. Please pray for this matter to be finalized, including the additional fees.

- Our vehicle situation is also not resolved. Please pray that it can be resolved soon!

- That our medical team, originally scheduled for September, has been rescheduled for late October, to allow for more participants to be able to come on the mission trip. Please pray for all the details involved to make this ministry to be a huge success!

- Two Laptop computers for CC Lilongwe.

- Sound Equipment and soundboard for CC Lilongwe.

- Additional items needed for the Jesus Video outreaches. (Generator; screen, Cables, Portable speakers; micro-phones, &etc.)

- Children Ministry curriculum & educational toys, art supplies, music, Veggie Tales DVD’s, soccer balls, jump ropes, etc.

- Additional funds to finish the school rooms for the CC Pastoral Training & Discipleship School located on the church property. We need to put in the floors, windows, door, and purchase work desks for the students. It has been estimated to cost $2,500.00 to complete these two rooms.

- Our upcoming trip back to El Paso, Texas to participate in the 50^th Year Reunion of our High School, and so we may be able to share about the ministry in Malawi. We are very much honored to be asked to come to a part of this celebration and the generosity of the Committee to cover the costs to make this possible. Otherwise, we would not be able to attend.

- Nora & I are celebrating our 50^th Wedding Anniversary on July 24^th and this will be our first anniversary away from our family & friends in America. Please pray that we will be able to fully enjoy this milestone anniversary without feeling the loss of not being with all of you!

We continue to marvel at the goodness of our Lord as He leads us to the path we are to walk upon. Your prayers and support are so vital to us in order to allow us to do the work God has called us to do here in Malawi. We all work together as a team, all holding onto the same rope, and following the leading of the Holy Spirit as He directs each of us! As we have said on several occasions, we cannot adequately express our heartfelt appreciation to each of you who continue to pray and support us in so many ways!

“May our Lord bless and keep you; make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)

2009-06-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

To all of our friends & family:

We send greetings from Lilongwe, Malawi Africa. Nora & I are both well and very happy to be here in Malawi, serving along side Pastor Tom Mambo of Calvary Chapel Lilongwe and working with many precious saints of the fellowship. We are seeing such wonderful growth within the fellowship in the knowledge of the Word of God and their acceptance of the Inductive Bible Study style of the” Azungu” (White) Pastor. I have been teaching on both Sunday morning in the Book of Ephesians & Wednesday night in the Book of Joshua and we are seeing the Body growing spiritually as well as numerically. The mid-week service on Wednesday night is also a Pot Luck night, where we get the opportunity to break bread or more accurately, Nsima, their national food staple. Pastor Tom has recently initiated an International Food series where other foods are introduced to the attendees. Last week. Nora and a group of women spent from 1PM to 6PM cooking Mexican food that Nora was teaching them how to prepare. Burritos, Pinto Beans, Guacamole and sopapillas for desert was the food fare of the night. I wish you could have seen the experience as they tasted food they have never tasted before and the expressions of their faces of delight! There was so much food prepared we thought we would have lots left over, but to our surprise, everything was eaten, and I mean everything! What a delightful evening of feeding on the Word of God, then experiencing a brand new style and taste of food by all except by Nora & I. This week, the Country of Choice is Italy, so pasta & sauce served over polenta (Italian nsima), cheese bread, and a salad with Italian dressing will be served. Desert will be Malawian sweet potato with hot tea. Based upon the response of last week where we had over 100 in attendance, we anticipate an equal or larger group again this week where we will be studying Joshua 6: 15-27, where we see the results of believing God and being obedient to His calling, even when we do not fully see the logic of doing as we have been instructed. This is what faith is all about!

There have been a number of things that have occurred since our last update report:

A generous monetary contribution from a family in Monterey California that has allowed us to purchase about 300 Bibles to be distributed to the 29 church plants in villages around Lilongwe and in outlining areas.
We have had a new DVD Projector donated along with the Jesus Video in Chichewa language which allows us to make evangelistic outreaches to outlining and remote villages.
Miraculous conversion using the Jesus Video at the Lodge where we are staying. While Nora & I were conducting a meeting with a Christian brother, we set up our laptop computer with the Jesus video so his 22 year brother could be occupied while we met. Half way through the video, his brother called us over to explain he had never heard the gospel message truly shared before, and that his life would never be the same again! Hallelujah!!!!!!!
We enjoyed entertaining a Christian couple from Idaho who accompanied us to visit Calvary Chapel Lilongwe and Faith Christian School, a Primary & Secondary school located and operated by CC Lilongwe. This family is related to a friend of ours who lives & works here in Lilongwe who wanted to see rural Malawi village life, where most of the population of Malawi lives instead just of all the tourist locations.
Pastor Tom is in the process of selecting a new leadership team to help to lead the fellowship into a larger posture in the village of Mtsiliza, a village of over 30,000 people, and in the greater Lilongwe area. Training of these selected people will begin soon.
Several evangelistic outreaches within the Mtsiliza area have gone very well with large participation from the Body of CCL and have resulted in a good number of new people attending Sunday morning services.
Nora has begun a Bible Study series with the women of CCL and was the guest teacher this past Saturday at a group meeting of six different churches that meet together once a month. There were 65 women in attendance, Nora was very well received, and has been invited to speak to their group again next month.

There are several items of prayer needs:

Finalization of obtaining our Work Permits by the Immigration Office. They have approved, but awaiting the installation of the new Director as the result of the National Elections of May 19th so he can sign off.
That our Lord would resolve our vehicle situation so that legal action will not have to be decided by the courts.
That we will be able to establish a working arrangement with a local Pharmacy to accommodate the medicine needs for the medical teams who come to serve here in Malawi.
We have been invited to come to El Paso, Texas to be a part of the 50th Year High School Class Reunion celebration in September and we will be able to share about the Malawi Outreach Ministry. In addition to our sharing at the event, we hope to also sharing at churches in El Paso about the ministry here in Malawi. Please pray for wisdom in accepting this invitation as well as rearranging some of our scheduled activities to allow us to attend.
Please pray for us as we have been invited to the American Ambassadors home/compound along with numerous other Americans living and working here in Lilongwe to celebrate the 4th of July. We want to represent the Lord well as we share about the work the Lord has us involved with here in Malawi. We are confident there will a number of unsaved people attending and we desire to be used of God as the Holy Spirit leads.

Since there are no real entertainment locations for us to make use of, so we have been renting movies to watch on our laptop back at our room at the Lodge. One of the movies we truly enjoyed and want to highly recommend to all of you is a National Geographic production of the plight and genocide of the Lost Boys of Sudan, entitled “God Grew Tired of Us”. This is a documentary of the genocide that has been going on for a number of years in the Sudan, concerning the goal and objective of the Moslem world of northern Sudan, attempting to eliminate the Christian population of the Southern Sudan. It is both heart wrenching, and at the same time heart warming to see what can be done when caring people are willing to get involved and help those who are being persecuted and murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ. Being here in Africa has allowed Nora & me to see first hand what poverty, prejudice, and tribal conflicts can produce without the opportunity to have a good understanding of the truth of the Bible and to share the whole counsel of God. The fields are white unto harvest, but the laborers are few!

We cannot possible thank you enough for all those who are praying for and supporting us in so many different ways! So, please accept this very inadequate attempt to express our sincere appreciation and to say to each one of you that we all share in this endeavor to be a blessing to the people of Malawi! We can only request that you continue to pray for us and the work here, for it is only through the faithful prayers of the saints that our Lord will respond to, so He may complete the work He desires to accomplish through the prayers of the saints!!!

God bless you all, and remember Jesus is coming back soon for His bride (us), so let us be about His work and agenda.

Love,

Steve & Nora

Elections in Malawi are over!

2009-05-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Malawi:

The national elections have just concluded and the incumbent has been re-elected to a new 5 year term. Mr. Bingu, a devote Catholic, who has attempted to break away from the old way of the politics and make headway in bringing real progress to his country in the past 5 years, has received a landside vote of confidence by the people of Malawi. It is viewed by all the people whom we have contact with much enthusiasm and hope for the future of this country and its people. Thank you for all of you who have been praying for a peaceful election process, as it has gone without any major problems. Now pray that God will bless this country and its beautiful people so their lives may continue to improve with many more opportunities for education and employment opportunities.

In April we welcomed a medical outreach team from CC Monterey and we are now preparing for a team from a Calvary Chapel in Hawaii this July for two weeks and then a medical team from California in September for an additional two week outreach. We have been blessed to meet and establish a potential working arrangement with a Christian based company out of the states to bring clean water system to remote village areas who are without a safe water source. This outreach is conducted in conjunction with local churches in order that the gospel is an intregal part of the water ministry. This provides an exciting opportunity for us to share the gospel and where we have church plants in or near these locations. All of the outreaches have the priority of teaching the Word, working with local village Christian native leaders and keeping a follow up program to disciple and encourage them on a on going basis.

Our work with CC Lilongwe continues as we have implemented a leadership training program, and continue to teach the Word inductively at Sunday and Wednesday services. The fellowship is very appreciative of the Bibles that have been provided to follow along with the teachings as many do not own their own Bibles. The DVD Projector that has been provided along with the Jesus Video has allowed the evangelism team the tools to reach out to the outling villages. We are still in need of a portable screen, sound system, and a new and larger generator to be able to reach out to larger audiences. Only 4% of all of Malawi have electricity, so a generator is a must! CC Lilongwe has Wednesday night services in the light of candles due to lack of electricity. We continue to pray for the power company to extend the elctrical power lines to reach the area where CC Lilongwe is located.

We have found so many areas of need since we have been here, so placing the priority of the things we desire to accomplish are seen in a new light and the phrase, "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken" has come into full appreciation by us. We covet your prayers and invite any of you that have a heart to serve in a place that has very few laborers to join us, short term or long term. The fields are white unto harvest, but the laborers are few.

Thank you again for your prayers and support as we depend upon all of us working together to accomplish what our Lord desires to do here in Malawi.

Blessed Sunday

2009-04-26T10:44:00.001-07:00

Hi from Lilongwe Malawi Africa!

We enjoyed a great Sunday Service at CC Lilongwe this morning, finishing chapter 2 of the Book of Ephesians, that our salvation is by grace through faith, brought near by His blood, that Christ is our peace, that the middle wall of separation has been torn down , but as believers we all now one body in Christ, and that Christ is our cornerstone and that we all are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

A number of new visitors and a growing number of people enjoying the IBS method of teaching and learning the heart of the scripture and how it pertains to each believer and involves our daily life in Christ!

Malawi is a beautiful country and has so many wonderful people, who are eager to learn more about the Bible and their savior. Please pray for us as we move forward for the new Pastoral Training & Discipleship School and the Evangelistic Outreaches using the new DVD Projector and taking the Jesus Video in the Chichawa language to very remote villages. The new semester for the primary & secondary school begins tomorrow with over 500 students at CC Lilongwe School, so please pray for the students be well taught and they are able to pay their fees for each student attending. Poverty is so bad, it is always unsure who will be able to attend and there are so many other young people who would love to attend, but have no money to pay for their schooling.

Nora & my health is good, we are very happy serving here and we covet your prayers and support. God is laying out His Spirit upon this land and we have the honor & privilege of being a part of God's work here in Malawi. We love you all and appreciate your prayers, love, and support. Without all of you, we could accomplish very little. But with God and each of you, we can be led by the Holy Spirit to accomplish His will here in this wonderful country, and with its people, who are hungering for the Word of God and thirsting for direction for their lives.

God bless you all,

Steve & Nora

Happy Resurrection Day

2009-04-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

Hello again from Lilongwe Malawi Africa. It is a beautiful day here, as we sit here on the konde looking out on the beautiful garden area, meditating upon the grace & mercy of God towards all of us. Tomorrow we will celebrate with Christians all over the face of the earth, the marvelous, fantastic, unbelievable, miracle of the Resurrection of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!!!! And HE did it all for each one of us as HE suffered the shame of crucifixion, for the joy that was set before HIM, us!! (Hebrews 12:2) We will be spending eternity attempting to thank HIM for His death & HIS resurrection, for without the resurrection, we would have no hope. The tomb is empty and HE is risen!! HE sits at the right hand of the Father praying & interceding for us right now, and everyday, that we will not grow weary in well doing and grow faint, for in due season we will reap our reward! HE is risen - Risen indeed!!

Laura Bomarito & Laurel (Lulu) Fuge just concluded a two week medical outreach to many of the villages, ministering to every kind of sickness, diseases, skin conditions, Malaria, Aids/HIV, and the list goes on! They were so welcomed by the village people, for they have no resources to go to a clinic or hospital. Both Laura & Lulu left Malawi with a totally different heart & understanding of the people & living conditions found here in a extremely poor country with a 60% unemployment rate, 90% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, only 6% of the country enjoys the luxury of electricity, & with little hope that any of these things will ever improve! Where the daily goal of the average citizen is to stay alive one more day and the average current life span of a woman in Malawi is 37 years. Most of us have no concept of what hardship really means in day to day life & to be deprived of most basic necessities of life.

But GOD......... HE loves the people of Malawi and desires to see them come to a good understanding of who HE is, how much HE loves them & how He wants to bless them. God wants see them turn from idol worship, ancestor worship, the name it & claim it false doctrine pervading this country, & all other false doctrines & religions found here in Malawi! It has become so much clearer why God has sent Nora & I here, to train & mentor pastors & leaders and we are both blessed that HE has called two older people to come here, but HE is able to use anyone, young or older, who is willing to walk by faith, to trust HIM as HE ministers through us, and to be obedient to HIS calling, even when we do not understand! God is good all the time!!

The things needed to accomplish what God has ordained for Malawi are:

1. Prayers of the saints

2. Called & trained dedicated people ready to lay down their lives to serve others in these last days

3. Finances - Opportunities to invest in furthering the gospel in Malawi;
Support for village Pastors in training;
( Salvation is free, ministry can be expensive)

If you have any leading of the Lord that HE is calling you to serve HIM in a new and dynamic way, God can use you mightily in Malawi! If HE is not calling you to come, but possibly HE is urging you to be generous in giving, within your means, then be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit. There is so much that can be done and the time is growing short before our Lord returns soon for HIS church.

Please pray for us and the work here in Malawi. Both Nora & I love the country & its people, but they need our help to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to so many lost souls. Does God desire your participation? Only you and God can determine that, but please be willing to ask HIM!!

Happy Resurrection Day to you all and celebrate HIM with joy, as HE is coming back for us real soon!!!!!

update #3 from malawi

2009-03-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Since our last posting, both Nora & I have come down with an intestinal bacteria infection, which has laid us both up since Friday March 13th. We are much better now with just fatigue and lack of energy. Our eating capacity has been very low, which does not help us to regain our strength, so we are asking all to be praying for us to recover quickly and totally.

The work of the ministry has continue despite our lack of participation. Additional Bibles have been purchased and in the process of being distributed to needy churches within the Calvary Chapel family of churches. Lack of Bibles is a critical shortage here and all help in this arena would be a great blessing. Bibles can be purchased here in Malawi from the Bible Society of Malawi at $7.75 per Bible.

We are need of Pastor Support of the Pastors attending the Pastoral Training & Discipleship School here in Lilongwe. A monthly support of $50.00 per month per Pastor will allow them to concentrate on training and pay for a lot of their monthly needs to keep their family together. Currently we have 20 Pastors who are need of this support. If you have a leading to help in this way, all donations can be directed to Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay at 3001 Monterey-Salinas Highway, Monterey, Ca. 93940. Telephone number is (831) 649-1158 and mark your contribution as Malawi Outreach.

We have a solid group of Pastors to work with and are eager to be trained and then be ready to train others, so the work of spreading the Gospel can be expanded greatly through-out Malawi. Our primary lack is funding in order to allow this to come into fruition. I realize that this smacks of solicitation, but for the Gospel sake here in Malawi, I am willing to take this risk.

Thank you for all of your prayers, love & support. We serve in Malawi at the request of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.

Update from Malawi

2009-03-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

Praise His Holy Name!

Since we last posted to our blog, there has been so much happening here in Malawi. Pastor Demitri from CC Cape Town and Pastor Mike from CC Parrl South Africa arrived from South Africa on March 2nd and began a Pastor's Conferencewhich ran from March 3 - 8th here at CC Lilongwe Malawi Africa. There were 125 Pastor's & church Elders from all over Central Malawi Many of them traveling 3-4 days to be here for the conference. They were all housed in the empty school rooms with cement floors, no running water and no cooking facilities other than open fires outside. They ate together and fellowship together until all hours of the night singing praise songs unto the Lord for the blessings of being involved & included in the conference.

The people of Malawi are some of the most loving, caring, warm, and nurturing people anyone will likely find anywhere in the world. "The Warm Heart of Africa" is how Malawi is referred to throughout Africa. The people we have ministered to are very teachable and they grasp the teaching concepts very well. They are eager to learn and grow in their depth of understanding of the Word of God and how to apply it to their daily lives!

There was also some 12 local people who attended church this past Sunday who gave their lives to the Lord for the first time. God's Spirit is working and we all sense the moving of the Holy Spirit the whole week. Pastor;s Demitri & Mike left on Monday afternoon back to their respective home churches, but expressing the strong desire to return to Malawi soon with others to assist in expanding God's work here in Malawi! Thanks Demitri & Mike for a job well done and we look forward to your soon return.

On March 25th, we have two nurses from CC Monterey Bay coming to Malawi for a two week mission work using their gifts in medical training to help with the many sick & diseased men, women, & children here in Lilongwe and surrounding areas. There are so many needs here that it is hard to verbalize all of them. People are so poor and everything here is so expensive. It is a daily battle to just to keep food on the table to feed your family, much less take good care of medical needs that we all have wherever we live. Walking is the main mode of transportation, as people are out by 5:30 am to start walking to their jobs and places of employment, if they have any employment? Unemployment is 60% here in Malawi, so street vendors are everywhere selling just about anything they can get their hands on to sell!

We will be now beginning laying the structure foundation of the new Pastoral Training & Discipleship School, deciding on final issues like curriculum, days people are available to come and who we will begin with as to number of students. Exciting days ahead, but the enemy is really ticked and throwing the kitchen sink at us, so please be praying for us and the people of Malawi as we continue the march of following our Lord for the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout Malawi. Their current knowledge of the scripture is quite shallow, but they are eager to learn, and our enemy does not want us to succeed in helping them to grow.

Prayer needs:

1. Physical strength for us as the heat has drained us somewhat.
2. Wisdom in establishing the school for pastors.
3. Monetary assistance for these pastors so they can give themselves fully to the work of the Lord. ( $50.00 per month supports a Pastor, wife & family of 4 children)
4. A four wheeled vehicle to be able to visit the outlying villages where roads as we know them do not exist.
5. Pastor Tom is retiring from his full time job so he can devote full time to the ministry of the church, Grade School, Secondary School, and being a pastor to the younger pastors.
6. Continued good health for Nora & I both.

That's all for now, please keep us all in your prayers and we appreciate all of you for your love, prayers and support.

In HIM,

Steve & Nora

Praising God for HIS goodness & faithfulness

2009-03-01T07:16:00.000-08:00

With God all things are possible in HIM! We have been able within two days to settle our housing situation and found a automobile to purchase that fits into our budget. God is good all the time and HIS Word tells us that HE is good to those that wait upon HIM. We have been in Malawi since 2-9-09 and have been looking everyday for housing & a car that we could afford. After looking at so many different ones, it became very tiresome indeed!

So, today as we attended CC Lilongwe, we were able to share our blessings with them in regard to our faithful heavenly Father and how HE always provides where HE guides. I began a series of teaching on Sunday mornings in the Book of Ephesians and on Wednesday nights will be doing a series out of Joshua as soon as the pastors Seminar is concluded on March 9th, being led by Pastor Demitri of CC Cape Town South Africa & Pastor Mike Portland of Paarl, South Africa.

There is a clear move of God here in Malawi and we as the Church of God can be a part of it in our prayers, our giving, and in our active participation in listening to what our Lord has to say to each of us individually. Nora & I are truly blessed to be here and watch the Holy Spirit work among His people, stirring them up to love and good works.

There is so much that can be done, so if you have any leadings from the Lord about coming to Malawi, for either short term or long term missions work, please contact us. You will be blessed. Please continue your prayers for us and we remain,

In HIM,

Steve & Nora

Update # 2 from Malawi

2009-02-24T03:35:00.000-08:00

12-24-09

We have been going everyday, attempting to find a house to rent and a vehicle to purchase and to date no success! Everything here is so expensive and everyone and everything moves at a much slower pace than we are accustomed to in the U.S. We have been out to visit outlining villages churches, outreaches in the village where Pastor Tom's church is located which has about 30,000 people, have had the blessing of teaching on three occasions, and just basically busy. The raining season is here and it has been raining a lot, but that has not stop what we are doing. A team from Cape Town South Africa led by Pastor Demitri will arrive on Monday and there will be a week long pastors seminar put on at CC Lilongwe. We have a team arriving March 28th from Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay, and another team from Germany in may, and a team from CC Wahiawa Hawaii in July.

Somewhere in between, I will begin the Pastoral Training & Discipleship School and Nora has assumed the leadership of the Women's Ministry and will be starting her training of the women at the same time. There is so much God is doing here and we are so blessed to be here. The people of Malawi are wonderful people, so eager to learn and very teachable.

The paryer needs we have are:

1. House to rent.
2. Car to purchase.
3. Pastor Seminar next week.
4. Getting more organized and in step with the leaders here.
5. God's annoiting on both Nora & I so we can be used by God as HE directs.
6. CC Lilongwe is in vital need of a used 4 wheeled drive vehicle to able to go out to outlining
villages.

More update later, keep us all in your prayers. Both Nora & I are well and very happy to be here.

Love,

Steve & Nora

Update from Steve & Nora

2009-02-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

2-13-09

To all of our loved ones:

Nora & I arrived at the airport from South Africa on 2/9, greeted by Pastor Tom & members of his congregation. As we came out of customs, they broke out in songs of praise for us arriving to join them. That was followed by lots of hugs from everyone, & then we loaded a bus to drive to their church location. They sang the entire trip (30 minutes); you cannot envision the beautiful sounds they are able to make without any instrumentation. Absolutely marvelous and I know that it must have been pleasing to our Lords ears!! It sure was for Nora & I, as we made our way back into Lilongwe proper.

Their church facility is in the middle of their village, and it is able to seat over 200 people. Pastor Tom indicates it is full every Sunday & Wednesday for the services. There are several buildings on the property that house a Christian School, from K through 8 and also a High School 9-12. These buildings are very simple structures, but functional for their purposes. It is also where the Pastoral Training & Discipleship School will be located. We will be sending lots of pictures soon.

Pastor Tom is so organized as well as excited about what God seems to be preparing us all for in expanding the ministry into many parts of Malawi. Their needs are many, but they make use of what they have and do not let their lack from stopping them from sharing the gospel wherever they can get to, to do so. Pastor Tom and a group of other Pastors have planted 29 small little churches through out the surrounding areas. We will be updating what their needs are specifically, so if anyone who may be interested and able, might want to contribute towards. Lack of Bibles is a major issue. Any gifts toward any specific need can be handled through CCMB with a note attached stating what area of ministry their gift is to be directed. Please know all designated gifts are used only for that purpose and not used for general expenses. Getting to these places is very difficult and gasoline is roughly $10.00 per gallon. The necessity for a good 4 wheel drive or comparable vehicle is a real & current need to be able to travel in difficult terrain. Their roads are primarily very rough dirt roads and it is the rainy season right now, which starts in November & runs through March. Efficient/safe transportation is high on the prayer list in or out of the rainy season.

I taught this past Wednesday night at their mid-week service, followed up by Nora & I having dinner with all the fellowship. They are such a gracious people, full of the love of God! Our goal is to get to know them well as soon as possible, for in Africa, not much can be accomplished without first establishing a good relationship with the people. They are so ready to be taught in the depth of the Word, and Pastor Tom is so open to having that done in his fellowship.

The team from South Africa, led by Pastor Demitri from Cape Town, along with several other Pastors are coming to do a four day Pastor Seminar in early March. In addition, Laura Bomarito and Laurel Fuge will be arriving on March 28th and will stay for two weeks, using their medical skills within the church at CC Lilongwe as well other places. We are so blessed and excited about their upcoming trip, & they are taking their shots right now and have already purchased their airline tickets. PTL !!! We have also had some others tell us they might be coming in April and others in June.

So as one can see, God is not wasting any time getting more people involved in giving away the gifts they have been given by the Lord, to share with those who have so little. Both Nora & I are so extremely blessed that HE has allowed us to come & serve here in Malawi. After being picked up at the airport, we drove to Pastor Tom’s church facility, where we met yet additional people from the church, and both Nora & I had the opportunity to share with them through an interpreter, and to see their joy in their faces is a sight we will never forget!

We were then driven to Annie’s Lodge where we will be staying for a while until we have housing, which we hope & pray God will provide for us at a rental rate we can afford. We want a home where we can put up teams coming to minister here, so please pray that God will show us where and how! Later that evening a couple we met in 2007 while in Lilongwe invited us to their home for dinner. They are a Belgium family, Christophe & Sabine Horvath, along with three beautiful children, Jonas, Lila & Katayana. They are a most gracious and hospitable family. We were truly blessed by the whole day of events; God is truly blessing us and showing us we are just where HE wants us to be for this season.

Today (2/10) we are resting, praying and studying for tomorrow night at CC Lilongwe. We are at peace with our Lord and with each other, ready to begin in earnest this new chapter of our lives & ministry. Our entire trip over to both South Africa and now Malawi has gone without a problem. All of our bags were there when we arrived at each location, although one of them has been ruined due to hard handling, but we have not lost any of our belongings. Quite different than in our last trip here when our bag with all of our valuables was stolen in Johannesburg.

Oh, we have a wonderful story to share. When we were here in 2007, the manager of Annie’s Lodge, who is a Christian brother, attended all of our sessions we held there and was full of questions on each session. He shared with us that his heart was to be a full time minister of the gospel. So we prayed over him and asked God, if it was HIS will, to grant Joel the desires of his heart. Well, we just learned that he is now a full time minister, traveling all over Malawi as an evangelist and teacher! God is so good, praise HIS Holy name! We will be meeting with Joel in person on 2/13 to get up to date with he, his family and his ministry. His prayer for us in 2007 was that we would return to Malawi to teach his people, as he was so encouraged through our teachings. And lo and behold, here we are!

Thank you for your prayers and support, we have seen so many answers already. Continue to pray for open doors and receptive hearts as we move forward. God bless each one of you and we remain,

In HIM,

Steve & Nora Braselton

Arrival In Africa

2009-02-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Well, after flying 27 hours, we arrived safely in South Africa. We are currently staying with Pastor Chad & his family of CC Johannesburg. They are great hosts and we have truly enjoyed our time of resting & fellowship. They got back at about the same time we did after their two month furlough in CA.

We will be leaving for Malawi in a few days and start our new life & ministry in Lilongwe. Both Nora & I are in good health and excellent spirit, looking forward to complete our trip to Malawi.

Please be praying for us to find a home to rent, a good deal on a purchase of an automobile, and our ability to get settled quickly in our new surroundings. That we will be well received by all and that God would help us to find favor with the people, so we can move quickly & smoothly in the areas of ministry. For the Pastor Seminar to be held March 4-7th in Lilongwe as Pastor Tom Mambo hosting the seminar, with Pastor Dimitri of CC Cape Town South Africa as well as other South African pastors including Pastor Chad doing the teaching.

Continue your prayers for us & all our brothers & sisters in Southern Africa as we reach out to the needs God has shown us. That we follow closely HIS directions and not get side tracked with other needs revealed to us. That we stay on course with HIM & HIS agenda, not ours! We love you all and you are in our prayers. More to follow as we proceed on The Road to Malawi.

Steve & Nora

Dovojana

2009-01-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well, the day has arrived as we leave tonight for S.F. to spend the night & then to the airport at 6am to check-in & are scheduled to depart at 8:30 am on Tuesday. We fly to Minneapolis-St.Paul, then to Amsterdam, & then on to Jo-Burg South Africa.
(27hours flying time) We will stay with Pastor Chad & Heather for a few days to rest before flying on to Malawi.

We enjoyed our last Sunday for a while at CCMB with Pastor Nate and the fellowship. It was one of those bittersweet days, joy in receiving all the love & prayers of the saints we so love, but very difficult in saying "Dovojana" (Till we meet again") to all of our love ones! Nora & I have been blessed to serve at CCMB these past 29 years at CCMB & having the privilege knowing so many wonderful people. We too shall miss all of you so very much, but GOD.....

Once we arrive in Malawi, we will bring all of you up to date on the trip and what we have gleaned from the Lord in HIS direction for the immediate future as well as all of our prayer needs. In the interim, please be praying for a safe trip, good health, and that our Lord will be speaking to both of us as we travel! Also be praying for the widows & orphans of area 44 in Lilongwe & Pastor Tom of CC Lilongwe as they prepare for our arrival & the start of the new Pastoral Training & Discipleship School.

May our Lord bless you & keep you, may HE lift up HIS countenance upon you & give you HIS peace. We love all of you and appreciate all your love & support so very much!!!!

Time is short before departure

2009-01-13T20:15:00.000-08:00

We have just recently returned from the International Missions Conference at the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, Ca. It was a wonderful conference, great speakers, wonderful fellowship and the ability to meet new friends & co-laborers.The food wasn't bad either, good job Bible College staff!

There are just 14 days left before we get on that airplane to head to South Africa first before heading on to Malawi Africa. There is yet so much to get done before we leave, but God.... HE never lets us down as long as we are cooperating with HIM. Last night at CCMB's Missions Prayer Meeting, we were blessed by the people whom we love so deeply, were able to express their hearts toward Nora & myself. It was as sweet and as encouraging as it possibly could have been for us!! Thank you all who are praying for us as well as those who are helping in our financial support, who likewise are praying for us. God has demonstrated HIS love towards us in each of you and both Nora & I want to express our sincere love & appreciation to all of you!!!!

The next two weeks before departure will be consumed by DE-junking our house, cleaning out the loft & garage, moving much of personal belongings into a storage unit and helping our son Tom & his family move into our home in order for them top assume the care responsibilities of Nora's mom while we are away. We are so blessed to have such a great family who look out for one another in times such as these.

Our current plans are to go to South Africa, first to meet with several of the pastors in South Africa, who have expressed a desire to come with teams to Malawi to assist us & the national pastors to grow stronger in the Lord and to plant more churches in Malawi with strong leadership, fully trained to be shepherds to their flocks so they are ready for the work of the ministry. Then by early February, we will be in Malawi, working with Pastor Tom Mambo of CC Lilongwe and all his leaders.

Current prayer requests are as follows:

1.Getting the Embassy of the Republic of Malawi do complete our extended stay visa's on time so we can depart on schedule.
2. Sale of our two auto's - 2006 Ford 500 & 2002 Ford Explorer Sports Trac
3. Sale of our Newport Beach Villa's Timeshare weeks.
4. Complete all that is necessary around our home before we leave.

Thank you all for your love & support, we both appreciate it more than you could ever imagine.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

We hope & pray that all of you enjoyed a glorious Christmas celebrating our Lord's Birth with family & friends. We are already 3 days into 2009,with much to do that we are aware of, and so much more we have no idea what the Lord holds for us. But lets all remember, we cannot redo yesterday, tomorrow is never promised for any of us, so today let us be about HIM in all we do, for today is all we have to be obedient to HIS calling!

Nora & I leave for the Missions Conference in So. Calif. from January 5 to 8th and then visiting other churches and ministries there before heading back home to wrap all the last minute details before we leave for Malawi on January 26th. Time is growing short, but with God's help we will get all done before we leave.

Have received three e-mails from from Malawi concerning our anticipated arrival, expressing their joy in our soon arrival! God is so good to us, preparing the way for us, setting up new friends and co-laborers for the gospel of Jesus Christ, We are truly blessed!!

Our prayer needs are many, but are a few:

1.Missions Conference
2.Finalize support raising activities
3.Ability to wrap up all last minute details
4.Sale of two auto's & our Timeshare in Newport Beach
5.Safe & enjoyable 27 hour flight to Africa.

We want all of you to know how much we appreciate you and love your prayer & financial support. We will be attempting to keep you informed on this blog, over the next 23 days before we depart as well as when we arrive in Africa.

May our Lord continue to bless all of you as you serve HIM, we remain,

In HIM,

Steve & Nora

Merry Christmas

2008-12-20T22:02:00.000-08:00

Nora & I want to wish all of you a very Christ filled holiday celebration of our dear Saviors birth with your family & friends. As we all know, "Jesus is the reason for this season"! It is HIM we celebrate and the gift HE has provided to all of us who have accepted Jesus as our personal Lord & Savior.To HIM be the glory, both now, and forever!

We have been experiencing some wonderful opportunities this past week as we have seen Jesus continue to be faithful to us over & over again in so many different wonderful ways.Today, we were blessed to attend the wedding ceremony of a precious couple from our fellowship at CCMB, Jeremiah Cheatum and Angela Park who have been in our fellowship for about 2 - 3 years. We have seen our Lord bring them together to become one flesh in Jesus Christ and they made their covenant with each other for the rest of their lives to love & cherish each other, forsaking all others,& making Jesus Christ the center of their lives and marriage. The ceremony was absolutely outstanding, a most beautiful bride and a very handsome groom, but most of all seeing first hand their love for each other and their total commitment to Jesus Christ. My good friend and former Senior Pastor, Bill Holdridge, performed the ceremony and as usual did a masterful presentation of the sanctity of a marriage commitment, as they made their vows before God and the witnesses in attendance.

New news, we have now booked our flight to Africa and will be leaving from San Francisco on Monday January 26, 2009, flying to South Africa to visit our friends and fellow colleagues there, before traveling on to Malawi.The time is rapidly passing us by, with the holidays before us, then to the Missions Conference at the CC Bible College, visiting additional churches and friends in Southern California before returning to Monterey to wrap up the last of the details necessary to allow us to depart on 1-26-09.

Our fund raising is going well as we are approximately 75% completed for 2009, so please keep praying for God's provision for us. We desire to focus entirely on the ministry duties prior to departure. We are also waiting for the Malawi Embassy in Washington D.C. to respond to our inquiry regarding obtaining all the required documentation to allow us to obtain an extended multiple entry visa's. As Americans, we are allow to go and stay up to six months without any visa, but our plans are for us to live there and to come home every 12-18 months over the next 3-5 years, so this presents a different need for the visa's.

We wish to thank each of you who have already given sacrificially to our ministry efforts for Malawi, words cannot possibly express properly how much your love & support has meant to us as we have stepped out in faith to follow HIS call on our lives! You are are a vital part of this work to be done in Malawi,as you hold the rope on this side of the world as we become your eyes, hands, legs,& ears, as we listen to God's sweet voice as to what HE desires us to do upon our arrival. We think we have a handle, but we also know we know very little, so we desire to be led by HIS Holy Spirit in all we attempt to accomplish in HIS name.

May our Lord bless you all real good and always remember, HE is God and we are not!! Let us be the Ephesians 3:20 Christians who truly believe HIM to do "exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask, think, or imagine, by the spirit that dwells in us."

Steve & Nora

Update as of 12-9-08

2008-12-09T19:02:00.000-08:00

It has been a very full two weeks since we last updated all of you, and there is still so much be be accomplished. Our support continues to come in and we are about 74% funded at this time and our goal is to be fully funded by 12-20-08. So please continue to pray for us in this arena as well as getting all the rest of the details accomplished before 1-15-09.

Nora & I both have been extremely blessed by the warm responses we have received, both from those at our local church(CCMB), as well as many other churches we have had the honor of sharing about our ministry to Malawi Africa. God is just blowing our minds as HE opens doors no man can open and HE keeps reassuring us that we are in the center of HIS will! God is so good to us and we truly are blessed by all of HIS people.

The Compassion Pregnancy of the Monterey Peninsula, where Nora has served the past 25years, gave her a going away celebration this past week. It was so good to see and fellowship with so many people who have served at the CPC over the past years as well as those serving today. It seems to very hard to realize that Nora will not be an active part of this ministry since she has been involved since its inception.... but God! Thank you Debbie Jones, Terrie Bennett, and the entire volunteer staff for your love and support all these many years. We will miss you a lot, but plan on keeping in touch by e-mail & skype.

We want to wish all of you a very blessed Merry Christ mas and an extremely Happy New Year. We will be in our prayers and please keep us in yours.

Steve & Nora Braselton

Steve & Nora's Malawi Video

2008-11-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

How To Be involved

2008-11-28T00:23:00.000-08:00

The work in Malawi Africa is an on-going ministry that will not be completed in our lifetime, but we all can be a part of what our Lord desires to accomplish to bless the saints there in a poverty stricken society. Each day there are so many people dying out of starvation, Aids/HIV. Malaria, lack of clothing, proper health care, education, and find themselves dealing with hopelessness due to no apparent hope for the future.

We can do our part by reaching out to assist in the process of sharing God's love to them, teaching more in depth the work of God with & to local Pastors & church leaders, so they may instruct their fellowships for the work of the ministry, along with meeting some of the physical needs of daily living necessities like food, blankets, wood to cook with and in some cases, providing a literacy program to widows and orphans who find themselves without the ability to compete in the limited business market place found in so many villages and communities
If you would like more information on specifics, please contact us at http://www.roadtomalawi.blogspot.com/ or snb097@aol.com and our telephone numbers are (831) 422-8579 & (831) 277-2244. These telephone numbers are good through January 2009 as we will departing for Malawi. Your love gifts and all tax deductible donations can be forwarded to Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay located at 3001 Monterey-Salinas Highway, Monterey, Ca. 93940 with a notation funds are for the Malawi Outreach. The telephone number at Calvary Chapel is (831) 649-1158

We also have a short video presentation (2 minutes 12 seconds) that can be viewed on www.GodTube.com for those who would like to see a brief overview of our ministry in & around Lilongwe, Malawi Africa.Thank you for your prayers & financial support as we team together to reach more for the kingdom of God.

On the road update from San Diego, Ca.

2008-11-20T11:57:00.000-08:00

11-20-08

Nora & I have been on the road this whole week visiting churches & friends. From Salinas, Ca. to Riverside with Pastor Jeff Lassiegne of Harvest Fellowship; to Costa Mesa Ca. with Pastor Brian Broderson of CC Costa Mesa & our dear friends the Boyer's; to El Cajon, Ca. with Craig Caster of Family Support Foundation; to Mission Valley Fellowship with Pastor Skip Joannes; to Horizon Fellowship with Pastor Mickey. We also had the joy of being with our nephew Ross Grano & his family in Rancho Bernardo, Ca.

We leave today to attempt to visit with Dan Finfrock of Intensive Care Ministries in Redlands along with our very good friends Clarence & Nylinda Taylor. Then to CC Modesto and following going home for Nora to attend the Ruth's Shawl retreat for the their Board of Directors. Please continue to hold us in prayer as we prepare for our departure to Malawi by mid- January.

11-6-08 update

2008-11-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

Nora & I just wanted to take a few moments to update where we are on our preparations to leave for Malawi. We have been busily getting our support letters ready to be sent out to family & friends, getting this blog spot location up & running, as well as visiting a number of churches sharing about the Malawi Outreach Ministry to raise prayer & financial support. We have been truly blessed by the reception we have been receiving and the encouragement that we are on the right track as we follow the Holy Spirit's leading.

With the holidays just around the corner, and time seems to be rapidly fleeting by us, please continue to pray that the Lord will give the time & energy to complete all that needs to be done before we depart in mid- January 2009. We are still attempting to sell both of our vehicles and our Timeshare in Newport Beach, Ca. along with wrapping up all the details with visa's, what do we take with us, and of course, having our son Tom & his family moving into our home so they are able to take over the care of Nora's 90 year old mother. I never fully realized all that is involved in making a transition such as this!

With that being stated, we are both getting more excited about this new chapter in our lives, and we cannot wait until we are on the ground in Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa. Our brothers & sisters in Malawi are likewise excited about our arrival and are eager to be able to get started in the Pastoral Training & Discipleship School along with continuing the work already in place working with the widows & orphans in area 44.

We will be trying to keep this blog more current over the next few weeks, so all of you can be praying for us with specific prayer requests. If any of you have any thoughts, suggestions, or revelations from the Lord, plaese contact us on this blog spot or call us at (831) 422-8579 and our e-mail address is snb097@aol.com May our Lord bless you all as you serve HIM.

Steve & Nora

Welcome

2008-10-29T21:46:00.001-07:00

We are still working on getting things set up for this blog, but as I know that Pastor Steve is giving out this address I thought I should go ahead and post the first entry. The purpose of this blog is to provide a convenient way of keeping everyone updated on what is going on with Steve and Nora and their call to Malawi. At this time they are planning on leaving mid January.

Please do keep them in your prayers. Here are a few things you can pray about:
1. Getting things in order for leaving - so much to do!
2. Finances - God's provision of needed financial support
3. Good health
4. Sale of Condo
3. Safety as they travel visiting Calvary Chapel's
4. Preparation of Steve and Nora for the ministry in the culture of Malawi
5. Prepare the hearts in Malawi for the training

In Christ,
Laurie Bliss