Conference Collaboration - Malawicon 2019

We wanted to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers for our regional conference this past week. We asked for the event to be bathed in prayer and it was felt behind every detail.  As with anything, the more one does something; the more one improves.  This was our 2nd year holding the our regional Conference in Malawi and we definitely improved in a number of areas.  In the lead up to the conference we could see that it was going to be amazing.  We felt opposition, but it seemed a lot like a mosquito nipping at our heals.  For example, the night before the conference began, we were bringing our pulpit and other supplies in to prepare the hall.  Upon arriving we saw a large truck removing almost all the chairs.  After questioning the driver, we found out that the government requested the chairs for a political event.  That meant that we would have to rent chairs as an added expense to what we had already paid for the hall.  The problem was that the rental of the hall included the rental of the chairs. Thankfully we had the presence of mind to only make half payment to rent the hall (I’m sure by the Holy Spirit), we used the other half payment to guarantee that the renter of the hall would rent us chairs.  Once he brought us the rented chairs, we released the 2nd half of the payment.  So many of those instances in which God covered us, were so apparent.  In the end, we had over 100 visitors from all over the region and beyond (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Congo, South Africa, England, Hungary, and the United States).  Our Conference was the biggest it has ever been.  Graduation Day had over 700 people in attendance with an amazing 172 graduates of Certificate, Diploma, and Degree courses.  In order to keep the graduates marching and not spend all night, we announced the names as if we were in a boxing match or wrestling match.  By the end, our voices were gone, but it was truly amazing.  As we looked around, we wondered at how all of this has happened and 1 Corinthians 3:6 came to our minds: One sows, one waters, but God brings the increase.  We as missionaries sow seeds of the Gospel; all of you are watering with prayer, love, and support; and this motivates God to bring in the increase.  To see so many of our Malawian graduates, that normally would never have the money to graduate from a Seminary, crossing the stage cheered on by their family, was overwhelming. We also housed and fed our 100+ foreign guests, which naturally could be seen as a burden; but the Fellowship of God’s Church made us not see any heat of details.  Every guest was so gracious without one complaint, we said to ourselves that we are hosting God’s royalty- Kings and Priests Revelation 1:6. 

Mateo one of our Children of Grace Orphan graduated!!!

Preparing to Go. Also in the Conference we had an amazing Ordination time. 5 men were ordained.  3 of them were ordained as a preparation for missions. The other 2 were ordained to take the place of the men leaving.  So we see God’s expansion as we promote the Grace message in the country of Malawi.

Again we ask for your prayers, we have another month left in our Bible College Semester before traveling to Baltimore for another conference.  Please pray as we feel we have found the right piece of land for our church.  We have asked the owners to wait for us to raise the money.  So far we have raised 70% of the land, but we want to be sure it is from God. Our church lawyer has OK’d the land as being legitimate, so we are waiting on God to finish the process. Please also pray as we have begun Bible studies in the Eastern City of Salima under Pr. Matt and Lisa Sliva. Coming up in September they plan to be there every weekend to begin a church.  Pr. Albert has ordained a pastor to take over his church and he plans to move with his family and his other assistant just over the border to pioneer a church and Bible College in Chipata, Zambia.  And we continue to make trips into the northern city of Mzuzu as we have a pastor who will make monthly trips there and put a church in motion. 

Conference Communion - Called out of darkness into His Light - 1 Peter 2 : 9

Thank you for all your prayers for our annual conference it was incredible. For those who don't know, yearly we, as a church, put on an annual conference to graduate our Bible College Students and welcome Pr Scibelli and guests who travel with him. 

This year we had the honor of hosting our brothers and sisters from all Southern African Churches. Usually this regional conference takes place in Zambia,  but was changed to Malawi similarly like the European conference. What was amazing was the amount of visitors who came on such short notice. For many who travelled, they came at great sacrifice since few of them have formal employment. For many, just the ticket is a month or two of income. We had visitors from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Congo, South Africa, China, France and USA. 

It was amazing seeing the Zams and Zims coming in on their big coach buses to hear great messages and have great fellowship. 

There were so many memorable moments, but two that stood out were the leadership meeting before the conference. It was an intimate time of questions and answers with Pr Scibelli. The second was our ordination service. It was so encouraging to see two Malawian leaders become pastors: Pastor Yamikani and Pastor Malrone. These two men have been so faithful and such a help, we were so happy to see them ordained. 

(Pr. Malrone and Pr. Yamikani are the two with matching shirts at right 1Cor 14:40)

Times of fellowship before and around the Malawian conference 

Sometimes life and what comes at us feels overwhelming. This past month was a bit like that for us. And daily, we had and still have two choices: to succumb to our circumstances and the emotions they bring or turn and rest in His Almighty Arms.  He is still faithful; He still covers us with His Grace.

Even though, April is our busiest month here, it became even more so this year with many additions. Thankfully God worked all things together for good.

 We had our biggest conference ever with 93 graduates! With all their family members attending the ceremony, we had over 500 people in attendance, Incredible! It was amazing to think that 4 years ago we began Bible school with a class of about 30 people. 

 Soon after the Malawian Conference (Malacon), we brought a team of 18 people to our neighboring Zambia, to visit our Greater Grace Churches there for their annual conference (Zamcon). What was particularly unique was that 5 of our team were students from the Bible College. It was great for them to see the fellowship and life we have together that goes beyond time and borders. They also had a record number of people filling the hall and had 95 graduates from Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. It was wonderful to see over 100 Zimbabweans travel to Zambia. Some came to graduate and some just to cheer the graduates on. Great fellowship coupled with a number of fresh messages from Pr. Scibelli, we all returned very encouraged.

Zamcon2017

Now that we are all recovered and somehow rested from all our travels, we are just asking for more prayers. I go to Uganda for the wedding of our beloved Pr. Albert this coming week end. We are so excited for him as he has travelled to Uganda to meet his bride! By the Grace of God , they will  return to Malawi together to set up their home. Prayers for travelling and for Pr. Albert & Mclean would be greatly coveted. 

Zamcon 2017

 As you may or may not know, just before the conference in Malawi, I got Malaria for the first time in my 20 years of travelling back and forth to Africa. I can definitely say that I underestimated it. I wasn’t prepared for the full body aches, the severe headaches, and horrible fever (the top of my hands and the bottoms of my feet  had a fever). Thank God there is good medicine for it here in Malawi and the clinic I went to was well qualified to treat me. In the spirit of sharing in marriage, Julie also caught Malaria also for the first time. Like the soldier she is, she traveled to Zambia for the conference and spent the half of it in bed at the hotel. By God’s grace, the medicine kicked in and she was able to make it for the second half of the conference.

Thank you for your prayers, especially for our children. God is protecting them greatly in every way, along with us. God bless you.

Resting in Grace

                                                        Pr Scibelli is here - Our Missions Director

New Conference and Graduation Hall

GG Bible College Malawi 93 graduates

And a dear friend Juliette, from the church in Montpellier, France, spend 2 weeks with us. She came to stay with our family and had a real "african experience" with no water for 5 days ha! I am so thankful that she was able to come and spend time with us and with the church! 

With our church Ladies

Eating Malawian Food: Nsima (Maise), Mkani (Pumpkin leaves) and Chicken 

Prosper and Juliette 

Year of 2nds

Year of 2nds

As we begin our journey back to Baltimore we are thankful at what God has done over the past year.

- Birth and health of our new son. Noah was born in October and we returned with the whole family in November. To think that a 1month old could travel over 5000 miles is a miracle. Praise be to God that he and our family have our health. We don't take for granted God's covering.

- Our 2nd Baptism. We had 18 baptisms of church members in December along with a church picnic and volleyball. Just a simple thing like volleyball with people who love God and walk in the Spirit can be such a uniting experience.

- 2nd Marriage of a key leader. Around Christmas we did our 2nd wedding in the church. It was so beautiful and such a help to this couple which is a key part in our men's and women's discipleship.

- Move into our new location. As a church and Bible College we have always struggled to fit everyone in the premises we have rented, often having students looking in from outside while others were seated on mats on the floor. We found a new hall that seats 250 which we now rent for the church and Bible College. Although we finished the year with about 180 students will have some room to grow (which we will in the coming semester).

-2nd Graduation and Trip to Zambia. This is really the climax of our year. We had 50 graduates( 20 Diplomas, and 30 Certificates) with Pr Scibelli as our Graduation and Conference speaker and Pr Adam Speedy also visiting. Then 30 members of our church jumped on a 12 hour bus to Lusaka, Zambia for their annual conference.

- Start of "Grace Moments" national radio program. Across from my parents and the Slivas home there is an office of one of the national radio stations. When a friend visited us last year, he encouraged us to inquire what it would take to be on that station given its scope and convenience. We thought we could never be able to afford it as a church, but we asked in faith. It turned out that it wasn't as much as we thought and after we negotiated the price, God put it on a companies heart to support the whole program for the next year. Now we are on live radio every Tuesday in a prime time slot 7-7:30pm reaching the whole country with the message of Grace receiving texts and questions from different parts of the country.

- Opening of our 2nd church. In the Western part of our city is an area which is very open. Pr Albert had been doing a Bible Study there for the past year and about 20% of our members are from there. This past May, Pr Albert started the church there and already has been getting 20-25 people coming.

Thank You for all your Love, Thoughts, Prayers, and Support. Although Malawi may be one of the poorest countries in Africa, they are Strong in Hunger for the Word of God and for bringing it to the rest of the country.

Pray for Us in Detail this Summer:

- Leaders leading. With us returning to Baltimore and Pr Albert in the New Church, we have Commissioned 4 men to speak the main messages and 8 others to do introductions. These are our future Malawian leaders. They will be leading the church and doing the outreaches. Its an exciting time as we see God raising up great people.

- 2 by 2. Jesus sent them 2 by 2 also Noah called them 2 by 2. We have 5 teams going to the 5 major cities in Malawi: Salima, Kasungu, Mzuzu, Blantyre, and Mchinji. Each team of 2 will go for about 2weeks to 10 days evangelizing and doing Bible studies promoting the radio show and future churches and making contacts which we will visit in the coming year. Bless You,

The Arman Family