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
Steve & Nora
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Home Sweet Home
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
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
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Home for the Holidays
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
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
Saturday, October 9, 2010
CC African Pastors Conference
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
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
Sunday, September 26, 2010
6th Week of School of Ministry
We have just completed our sixth week of studying through the Calvary Distinctives book by Pastor Chuck Smith. It has been a wonderful journey with these men as they have learned so much about the Lord, Calvary Chapel Distinctives, and have expanded their horizons where they are ready to take a step of faith to Venture Out to see if our God might be willing to bless their steps of faith! What a joy to witness their transformation, to God be the glory!!
We will be beginning the Basic course of the Inductive Bible Study by Pastor Dan Finfrock sometime early this next week, so please pray that each Pastor will be able to grasp the material and then be able to study & teach using this method in their own church services. They are all a bunch of sponges, soaking in as much as they possibly can, asking all kinds of good questions, and desiring to grow in their knowledge of the Word of God!
We have two weeks before we take off for the African Pastors Conference in Cape Town South Africa, then we will have an additional three weeks to wrap up this first 90 day session with this first 15 Pastors. Then in Feb. 2011, we will continue with the next 15 additional Pastors, covering the same materials we have covered since August with our first group. Please be praying for all of us, as it has been very hard at times, for the men as well as myself. Also be praying for all the speakers at the Pastors Conference & all the attendees!
We have not nothing but trials with our 4 x 4 Pajero vehicle since we purchased it from a private party. It is now back in the garage with a broken rear axle, this after spending almost an additional $7,000 in repairs to keep it running. Suffice to say, we were sold a bill of goods when we made this purchase, with fraud and deceit. We now have a court date on October 8th with a court Mediator to see if we can get some form of satisfaction from the seller. This date with the mediator has take 18 months to arrange on the court agenda, so please be praying for a just verdict to be rendered.
Our health is good, & our joy in the Lord is our strength. We love serving our Lord here in Malawi! There are days when we pray that we could see beyond all the difficulties we face daily, but God..............! We return home to Monterey on November 20th for our annual furlough & we are looking forward to being with our immediate family members as well as our extended church family. Time flies by so fast, so please be praying for us, that we are able to accomplish all that is needed while we are home.
May our Lord Jesus continue to bless & keep you in His loving arms, as we look heavenward for His soon return, but we also need to continue to occupy in & for Him!
Love,
Steve & Nora
We will be beginning the Basic course of the Inductive Bible Study by Pastor Dan Finfrock sometime early this next week, so please pray that each Pastor will be able to grasp the material and then be able to study & teach using this method in their own church services. They are all a bunch of sponges, soaking in as much as they possibly can, asking all kinds of good questions, and desiring to grow in their knowledge of the Word of God!
We have two weeks before we take off for the African Pastors Conference in Cape Town South Africa, then we will have an additional three weeks to wrap up this first 90 day session with this first 15 Pastors. Then in Feb. 2011, we will continue with the next 15 additional Pastors, covering the same materials we have covered since August with our first group. Please be praying for all of us, as it has been very hard at times, for the men as well as myself. Also be praying for all the speakers at the Pastors Conference & all the attendees!
We have not nothing but trials with our 4 x 4 Pajero vehicle since we purchased it from a private party. It is now back in the garage with a broken rear axle, this after spending almost an additional $7,000 in repairs to keep it running. Suffice to say, we were sold a bill of goods when we made this purchase, with fraud and deceit. We now have a court date on October 8th with a court Mediator to see if we can get some form of satisfaction from the seller. This date with the mediator has take 18 months to arrange on the court agenda, so please be praying for a just verdict to be rendered.
Our health is good, & our joy in the Lord is our strength. We love serving our Lord here in Malawi! There are days when we pray that we could see beyond all the difficulties we face daily, but God..............! We return home to Monterey on November 20th for our annual furlough & we are looking forward to being with our immediate family members as well as our extended church family. Time flies by so fast, so please be praying for us, that we are able to accomplish all that is needed while we are home.
May our Lord Jesus continue to bless & keep you in His loving arms, as we look heavenward for His soon return, but we also need to continue to occupy in & for Him!
Love,
Steve & Nora
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