Arman Missions

May 01, 2012

Lusaka and beyond...

We just wanted to say Thank You for all your thoughts, prayers, and support. April and May are probably some of our fastest months here. April marks our annual conference, which is now the seventh conference we have had. God was so faithful this year with the conference. We had our greatest number of attendees yet with close to 500 attending. Pr. Scibelli led a group from the US including Pr. Ray and Brenda Kosioleck and Craig Awad. Our sister church in Pretoria, South Africa really encouraged us by bringing 22 people by land and air. There was an amazing spirit of unity and joy as we listened to God’s Word. Another miracle that God did was to bring one couple from Malawi to the conference. Clifford and Ruth Kaliwo are brethren that we have been with for the past 2 years of visiting Malawi. Every time we visit they are right there with us and help gather other believers when we have meetings. It was truly the hand of God that made it possible for them to come and see a taste of what God has in store for Malawi. After the conference, both of them told me how they were served and treated as royalty while there were here. I wasn’t surprised because that is what happens when Spirit-filled believers serve…we are part of God’s royal family and treat each other the same. We can really see how God ordains these times of fellowship as foundational times in our lives like He did with the feasts for Israel seen in Leviticus 23.

Team Malawi

Malawi trip. Soon after the conference closed, again we were on our way to Malawi (Pr. Enock Muchindu, Pr. Albert Ntalasha, and I); this time to deal with some errors in our church constitution before it could get approved. We knew when travelling to Malawi it would be during a very sensitive time in their history. For the past year Malawi has struggled with a budget and fuel crisis resulting in shortages of many staple commodities. It all culminated when their president suffered a heart attack and passed away about 3 weeks ago (just before we arrived). We really sensed the prayers of the church, as God gave us favor with government officials in spite of their turmoil. Thanks be to God that there was peace in Malawi as the Vice President was sworn in. Government offices were all functioning and we were able to resubmit our Church Constitution corrected.

Prayer Requests.

-We just continue to ask for your prayers for stability for the country of Malawi and their new leader, Joyce Banda (the second woman president in Africa).

-For submission and approval of our resident permits.

-For protection and provision for our brothers and sisters in Malawi.

-For the right living accommodation of our team and right meeting place for the church

-For the details of moving our family and team to Malawi in November 2012

Pictures from the past few weeks:

An afternoon at the Zoo of Lusaka with the Speedys

Craig Awad with Callia and Poema

Callia's 6th Birthday Party

April 13, 2012

ZAMCON 2012! "We Being Many Are One"

Welcome to Our Annual Zambian Conference

The South African Group

Pr Victor and our girls

Pr Scibelli-Our Conference Guest Speaker

Graduation Night

One Special guest-Pr Manny's brother! Ha!

The Pastoral Choir

Graduating Class of 2012

Our friends from SA!

Pr Scibelli and Craig Awad

Brenda (carrying a sleeping Micah Speedy) and Pr Ray Kosciolek from Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Children's Program!

Team Malawi!

Team Livingstone- Leaving in 2 weeks!

Pr Renaldo and Charity Brown announcing their future plan-the move to Zimbabwe in one year!

Melinda and Noah Speedy!

March 29, 2012

A Day in the Life of Team Zambia

In the next room, I hear the scurrying and pitter-patter of little feet descending from their bunk bed. There is whispering and the movement of toys; I can just barely make out the conversation, most of the time it is about princesses or cooking. We begin our routine with filling the electric kettle to boil water for coffee and sit down at the table with our Bible looking for a Word for the day. Within 20 minutes three families all with young children are converging into one house (Pr. Renaldo and Charity Brown’s).

As we sit down in their living room, we are beginning a journey that takes us around the world. This is not some transcendental, new age idea; but praying for people and faces that we are connected to and know around the world. We are praying for fellow missionaries and church members and bringing them before God. After praying we fire up the DVD player and listen to a recent message from the headquarters of our ministry. It brings encouragement and connection with the pulse of the ministry. Other mornings we listen to an old Bible college class titled with 3 letters that most any Greater Grace Member knows: ABD (Applied Bible Doctrine), a staple of the ministry. As the class finishes, we go over any in’s our outs of the ministry as we are gathering up are children who have been playing in the next room or coloring quietly. “Who needs a visit?” “Can you give Amos a call?” “Has anyone visited Jimmy lately?” These are the kinds of questions we are asking with one kid under our arm and picking crayons up with the other. We all file out of the Brown’s house to our respective homes.

For the Arman House this is the start of school for the day. The school is a bilingual school (French and English) in which Julie and I are the teachers. Bible, English, and Math are the first classes of the day. Then social studies is done at the main post office where we evangelize. What better way to teach the kids about their society, than to win them to the Lord. Lately, we have been doing sketch board (painting and street preaching); and then we try to sell the painting as a joke. The funny thing is that we had one person who seriously made an offer. We told him that the first painting was on the house (we’ll see if he comes back). On most days we come back home and Julie finishes school in French, but at least one day a week we do a family visit. This is especially fun because an unsuspecting church member gets invaded with the whole family. The day ends pretty early in Zambia. Not long after the sun goes down, life in the city grinds to a halt. Usually by 7:00pm we are back at home eating dinner and putting the kids to bed soon after. Depending on the day, mixed into all of this are church services and Bible college classes. A lot of activity is happening but underneath is peace in our heart and a motivation of God’s love. We see how Christ lived and we realize we have His live in us guiding our every step.

Happening in the next few days and next week:
-Our Annual Conference ZAMCON next week on Easter weekend!
-Our Bible College Graduation during that weekend-about 30 students are graduating.
-About 20 South Africans from the Greater Grace Church in Pretoria are driving up next week to be with us.
-Pr Scibelli and a few others from America will also join us for this time!

BREAKING NEWS: Chris had a meeting today with the ambassador to Malawi in Zambia and he was very friendly and supportive on the vision for Malawi with Greater Grace. He was very helpful and offered his help with the registration of the church there. Amazing! We are praying that he will come to our graduation next week!

Fred and Eunece-Friends from the Church

Our Street

Our house- we are in the back house of Pr Renaldo's Plot and house

Outreach in Town- Sketchboard at the main Post Office

On a Visit: Pr Victor and his wife Devote's house- they are from Burundi and have been in the Church here since the beginning. Pr Victor went to our Bible College, graduated and was ordained a few years ago. They are amazing friends.