Gratefulness

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

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)

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!

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

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

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

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.