Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Soul Winning in Chilanga

What a great day we had soul winning in the village of Chilanga. Here is a photo of Darcy & Sarah with two of the teens from the Good Samaritan Orphanage. Both orphan girls, Betty on the left and Catherine on the right are good soul winners and translators. They also teach sunday school to children and teens, and both have wonderful spirits! This day over 110 people trusted Christ as their Savior as we had four different teams in this village on this day.
We continue to help national pastors by going to their villages on Saturday, if the villages are close enough to our home base, and do soul winning and handing out gospel tracts and John/Romans to those that get saved. Then on Sunday we go to their churches and preach/teach the Word of God. If the villages are too far away we just visit on Sunday and do the best we can.
On one Sunday we went to the area of Chikwawa, down in the central south of Malawi. We left the highlands of Blantrye and dropped about 2500 feet in elevation to the flat, and really hot area of Nsanje and Chikwawa. We have been in Arizona and Nevada when it was hot, but this was the hottest we have every been. Just sitting in the church building brought steams of water from our bodies! We were happy to travel back home, about 3 hours one way and get back into the 90 degree heat of the highlands.
Malawi is going through some tough times as there is a shortage of electricity, blackouts almost everyday, water, it generally goes off around 10am and comes back on around 2am the next day, petro, we have had no gas for our car in 3 days, and diesel, same problem as petro, either no petroleum products at the pumps, or if a station receives an allotment it is gone within a short time. The Malawi government has not planned well and has instigated some social programs that have drained their foreign exchange. They just don't have the US dollars, Euro's, or British pounds to pay for necessities that need to be brought into the country. Please pray for the situation here as it affects the people out in the villages and towns more that anybody.
In the last month we have been sending out a team of two young teen men and two teen ladies to teach and preach in the village of Chilanga; there is a large Good Samaritan Church in the village, but no pastor. We have also sent our vice president, Andrew Nyenga, to accompany them, add authority and to listen and make sure all things are done decently and in order. The boys have been doing a great job of preaching/teaching and the girls have been teaching the young kids and teens. They are excited about being part of the ministry instead of just being the ministry. We are now making plans about other teams to go and help other churches that need encouragement.
Also we had our first every "Friday Preacher Boy Night" at the Mapanga Orphanage. Seventeen boys and older teens preached and the girls were shouting, clapping and giving great encourangement. We had a great night and we are going to have this on the last Friday of every month.
Please pray for the 80 kids we have at the orphanage as many are now getting older and satan desires to sift them from the fold.
Also please pray for this ministry, our family and this country as every day brings a new bump in the road.
By His Grace & Mercy,
John
Posted by Picasa

Friday, October 23, 2009

Malawi Update

It has been since January of this year since I have typed on our blogsight! Partly due to theives stealing our phone cables, and the rest on just being busy.
We have been very busy this year with ministries in Good Samaritan, soul winning, teaching, preaching and starting new churches. In Oct. of 2008 we start a new church in the village of Bwaila, district of Thyolo; Good Samaritan Bible Baptist Church. We built a crude grass hut type structure and since that time have had church services in it. In September of this year the church members started to mold bricks and burn them. When this was completed we loaded them into a 3 ton lorrie truck; see photo to the left, and trucked them to our church site. We have used dumba mud for mortar and also other natural building materials. Lord willing the roof will be on before the rains begin. The most exciting news is that due to the members of BBC of Bwaila reading and understand God's Word about the "Great Commission", they have been faithful in going out soul winning. Because of this we have also started churches in the villages of Chizinja, Khautuka #1, Khovi, and also Makwasa. In all these villages land has been purchased, and church buildings are underway. Hundreds of souls have been won to the Lord, and His Word is being preached and taught by national pastors in these new churches; To God be the Glory!!
We have also been very busy in a printing ministry that has seen us translate and print:
THE A,B,C'S OF CHRISTIAN GROWTH
ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST; BY PASTOR PAUL CHAPPELL
THE WORD OF GOD ON TRIAL; PASTOR BARNETT
7 STEPS OF JOY
10 PRINCIPALS TO BREAK BAD HABITS
AUTHORITY OVER SATAN
TRAIL OF BLOOD
23 PSALM
LORD'S PRAY
STAYING IN THE CASTLE
UNDER A LOVING COMMAND
WHO AM I
TRAINING FAITHFUL WOMEN; BILL GOTHARD
10 COMMANDMENTS
THE LIFE OF CHRIST
We have given out thousands of books and pamphlets to our church members and others. Our desire is that all saints will be well grounded in the Word of God and have firm Christian foundations.
That is all for tonight! God Bless, and please keep praying for the Fullford Family!!!

Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.
Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

A New Year is Here

God has been so good to us in that with all the difficulties of living in a country abroad, serving in an existing ministry, starting our own church, and trying to show people that God sent His Son down to die on a Cross for their sins, He continues to give us Grace, Peace and Blessings.
I apologize for not updating this blog site since November, but the thieves again hit our area and we have not had phone lines since the 11th of November. We still do not have phones, but I have found an internet cafe' that will allow me to plug in my laptop; Praise God!
Since our last update we have continued to go out soul winning, giving bible studies in the villages and working in the Mapanga Orphanage and Bible College. In the month of November 157 souls trust Jesus as their Savior, and 255 in December. We go to the Ntcheu area and hold bible studies in the villages of Ntambalika, Kaiya, Kambwea and Kapulupu. We have translated and typed the booklet, "Seven Steps to Joy" in Chichawe and are currenting giving them to the national pastors and also using them in our church, Bible Baptist Church of Bwaila. We have translated and are half way done with the large book "The A,B,C's of Christian Growth". Lord willing we will have this done and ready for issue in the next couple of months. We have also translated "God's Word on Trial", "What if the Bible is True?"(a tract specifically for Muslims, we have many Mosques in our area) and are looking at other printed materials to get into the hands of these dear people. We are not satisfied with getting them saved, but we want to see them grow in the Lord!
The rainy season is upon us and many are sick with malaria, flu, colds and just plain crud. We have been spared so far, but Lord willing we will not have to go to any of the local clinics or hospitals. Going to a national health care unit is not an option here. You will come out worst!
Please continue to pray for us, our ministry and health in the days to come.
If you feel so directed by The Holy Ghost, and want to help in the translating and printing of the materials for the nationals, please call our sending church, Bible Baptist Church of Fairbanks Alaska, (907) 452-1407 and speak to Kathy Adams.
May God richly Bless you!!