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!
Steve & Nora
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Week 3 of School of Ministry
We have just completed our third week of classes and the 15 Pastors continue to do very well in their studies & class participation. We have completed 7 Chapters of Calvary Distinctives & have embarked well on Chapter 8," The Rapture of The Church". These fine men have never studied about this subject because they have never had anyone teach them & they have avoided teaching on the subject as a consequence. I only wish all of you could be here to see the excitement & joy they are experiencing as they have developed a much better understanding through this process to date! At the same time, they are facing some culture & traditionally struggles as they deal with these Biblical truths! Please pray for them in this Spiritual battle!
Each of these 15 Pastors are here to learn & to grow in their knowledge of their Lord & His Word. It is a privilege to watch what the Holy Spirit is doing in these men! Please continue to pray for them as well as for myself that the Holy Spirit will lead, guide, & direct us so we are teaching & learning what He wants us all to learn!
Pray also for their families while they are absent from their homes & from their fellowships up to two weeks at a time. They have the option to go home early Friday afternoon or to stay here over the weekend. Most of them stay here for two weeks and go home on the third weekend. All but 5 have gone home this weekend & they return Monday morning in time for class.
There are so many needs & these men have so little. Just some basic tools that they could use which we have in abundance in the US would be such an asset to them to be able to minister to their flocks. Join us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to meet their needs, to be able to reach the unsaved in Malawi!
I will be adding some more photos as well as some video clips in our next post. Thank you all for caring & praying, God is listening, but we need to continue to knock, seek, and ask! May the Lord bless & keep you all in His care!
Each of these 15 Pastors are here to learn & to grow in their knowledge of their Lord & His Word. It is a privilege to watch what the Holy Spirit is doing in these men! Please continue to pray for them as well as for myself that the Holy Spirit will lead, guide, & direct us so we are teaching & learning what He wants us all to learn!
Pray also for their families while they are absent from their homes & from their fellowships up to two weeks at a time. They have the option to go home early Friday afternoon or to stay here over the weekend. Most of them stay here for two weeks and go home on the third weekend. All but 5 have gone home this weekend & they return Monday morning in time for class.
There are so many needs & these men have so little. Just some basic tools that they could use which we have in abundance in the US would be such an asset to them to be able to minister to their flocks. Join us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to meet their needs, to be able to reach the unsaved in Malawi!
I will be adding some more photos as well as some video clips in our next post. Thank you all for caring & praying, God is listening, but we need to continue to knock, seek, and ask! May the Lord bless & keep you all in His care!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Calvary Chapel School of Ministry Lilongwe Malawi
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.
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.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
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