Charles & Sheila Miller: 2012

Prayer Letter

It is such a pleasure to send this prayer letter along, to see the Njuli church being used in such a good way exceeds all my prayers, to see ministries work together for the preaching/teaching of the Gospel is what the great commission(Mar 16:15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. is all about. John and his family is worth of our prayers and support. That is why I like to stay with them when I go to Malawi, lots of work, lots of fun and lots of love, I’ll save you a place on the plane when I next go. Bro. Chuck

John & Darcy Fullford
Serving in Malawi, Africa
Bible Baptist Africa Ministries
Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

Dear Fellow Laborers in Christ,
Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me. Philemon 11
As we enter into the end of the year, I sometimes wonder if God the Son would make the above statement to God the Father about us. There was a day when we were alienated and enemies of the Lord, (unprofitable) but by His Blood hath He reconciled us to Him! (Col. 1:21) Lord willing we all will be found profitable by our work to get the Gospel out to a lost and dying world.
We entered into these last two months of the year with much to do. There were churches needing help, the Bible Institute to finish, lessons to be translated into Chichewa, and one of the most important task at hand, the King James English Bible being translated into the Chichewa language.
God has been so good in that we now have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua completed translated. We are currently working on Judges, and Lord willing we will be done with that book at the end of the month.
Many people are involved with this project, Simon the initial translator, Pastor Shadrick Mwachande, Pastor Adrew Dzimbiri and Rackson Kaiwe the second line of translators who check the typed books three different times for spelling, and correct wording. One of the main blessings of this project is Elizabeth our daughter. She spends days typing hand written translation into documents that the second line of translators can check and edit.
She then goes back the three times and edits this document before it is deemed correct. You might say that typing is easy, but typing a foreign language is very difficult. Instead of just saying the word and your hands typing it, you have to say each letter and some of the words can really throw you; “…Onse akukhulupilira iye adzalandira chikhululukiro cha machismo” Machitidwe 10:43 – “… Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remissions of sins.” Acts 10:43; say that three times quickly!
At the beginning of the month of December John and Brother Nelson headed down to Tengani for the monthly Men’s Conference. At this meeting there were 85 men present for the two days of teaching. Praise God that the storage facility was completed to include concrete
flooring so that we did not have to teach or sleep outside in the damp and drizzly weather.
We handed out another 40 Bibles to the men that did not receive them the previous month.
This is such a blessing for not only them, but for us. We continually tell them to read the scriptures for themselves and see that what we are teaching them is correct and scriptural (Acts 17:11). We want them to believe the Word of God, not us. We are scheduled to go back down on the 2nd and 3rd of January for the next series of teachings.
During these last two months we continue to go to different churches on Sundays to teach and preach. During November we went to Kautuka #1, Waruma, Njuli. During December we have gone to Waruma, Ozamba, and we are scheduled to go to Benini on the 16th of December, Bwalia on the 23rd, and Makwasa on the 30th.
The first two weeks of December John finished up the Bible Institute with the last two classes being the “Life of Christ”, and Homiletics. The students then took two days of tests; the final exam was 26 pages covering 351 questions. They were really happy to be done, and John was
well pleased with the student’s commitment to the Institute.
On Saturday the 22nd of December, the Fullford and Mowery families and Ms. Goodman will be going to two, large, district hospitals; Chiradzulu, and Thyolo, to give out Christmas gift bags to the patients in the TB, Aid, and Children’s wards. Each gift bag will contain a King James, John/Romans in Chichewa, gospel tracts, body soap, laundry soap, 1Kg of white sugar, (highly prized), a Christian coloring book in Chichewa Darcy and Elizabeth put together, (3) crayons and a large bread roll. We will also take national translators who will preach to each ward as we hand out the gift bags. As a bonus we give out tracts and John/Romans to the
hospital stall when and where ever we find them. It is so encouraging that we can go to these Government hospitals and be welcomed with open arms. They know we are going to preach the Gospel of Christ, and we have their approval and support; Oh,that America had this same attitude!
We want to say a special “THANK YOU” to Bible Baptist Church of Fairbanks for supplying all the funds for the hospital gift bags!
Please pray for one of our co-workers, Ms. Sharon Goodman, in that she has cancer and she is scheduled to go into an SDA hospital on the 26th of December for major surgery. She has been a faithful worker, and a good friend. Our family has purposed to assist her as much as possible, but she needs God’s hand to direct the doctor, and her choices.
On a final note, the Fullford family will be traveling back to America on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 to start a one year furlough. During much of the time John and Darcy will be traveling to new churches to garner more support for Bible Baptist Africa Ministries. Their desire is to also visit existing supporting churches to thank them for their faithfulness, and
financial support.
PRAYER NEEDS FOR THE FULLFORDS AND BBAM:
1. Funds for the Bible College at Tengani. Currently all construction has stopped as the funds have been depleted.
2. Ms. Sharon Goodman and her cancer surgery.
3. Upcoming year and direction for BBAM.
4. The Fullford’s furlough back to America; March 27, 2013.
5. Scheduling Churches for meetings while back in America.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND MAY GOD FIND YOU PROFITABLE NOT ONLY FOR THIS YEAR, BUT FOR NEXT YEAR ALSO!!
By His Grace & Mercy,
John, Darcy, Elizabeth and Johnathan

What God can do!

This is what one woman in Gods hand can do. Sharon is a hard worker and that is why I worked with John, at least I could keep up with him J enjoy her newsletter and please pray for her and the work.

From the Desk of Sharon Goodman

Bible Baptist African Ministries

Malawi, C. Africa

November 27, 2012 for Sep-Oct 2012

Dear Family in Christ,

September was a fairly routine month. I am enjoying the opportunities to try to get closer to my ladies and teens. One lady from Chiwaya was overloaded when her husband was in the hospital for 2 weeks. The Thyolo District Government Hospital is quite a trip, and costs about 550 Malawi Kwacha to go to and from. That is a whole day’s wage for the average Malawian. You and I were able to help with some transport and food. I believe I have told you before the conditions : A relative must take care of the patient., Food is prepared by family and friends either on the hospital grounds or brought from home., Plates, cups and water jugs need to be brought, and there are no sheets or bedding unless someone brings them. I personally did not get to go to the hospital as I originally planned, but I did visit the family when the husband arrived home. I brought some dried fish, so the man had some protein to gain strength. It means so much to these people to just come and sit with them a few minutes.

Another lady also from my Bible Study in Chiwaya went to the hospital in September to stay until her twins were to be born. –Same hospital, same conditions, except there was no bed available for her. Mrs. Jeffery and her mother camped out on the hospital floor of the maternity ward for 3 weeks waiting for the arrival of the babies. This is very common because nobody has money or a way to get to the hospital when the time is right. Mini buses do not run at night. You and I helped with food, soap, a couple outfits for the babies, and a little money. I went with Pastor Kalilima and his wife. The only way for them to be able to go was for you and I to pay for their transport. Both Pastor Kalilima and I packed tracts and John and Romans in our bags without the other knowing it to make the visit a soul winning trip also. We had a great time. While Mrs. Kalilima and I visited with Mrs. Jeffery, Pastor took off visiting other wards. When he returned, he had his wife sing songs with the ladies in the maternity ward and give some encouraging words. Then, Pastor Kalilima gave the gospel. Many ladies raised their hands to accept Christ. I was so excited seeing Pastor and his wife work together as a team, I just stayed still and did the quiet praying. On our way to go back home, we passed out the rest of the tracts until all were gone. Mrs. Jeffery is now home with her twin girls, but I am wanting to go back to the hospital with Pastor Kalilima and his wife. This time I want to take my own interpreter, so I can let Pastor and his wife do their own witnessing while I do mine.

Pastor Dzimbiri had a conference at his church in Chirimba on October 5-7. His theme was to be rooted in Christ, Colossians 2:6-7. I taught the ladies on Saturday afternoon and the teens on Sunday morning. The church was packed out, and the group was very lively. He has a Christian school, so the classrooms were sleeping quarters for those coming from afar. You and I purchased a pot 2 feet in diameter to cook the nsima over the fire. From all that I heard, all went smoothly.

Other teaching engagements are shaping. I have been approached by Pastor Mwachande, who pastors in Makalanga, to teach a ladies conference in Zomba close to where his parents live. The dates have not been decided yet. Bro. Fullford has asked if I could go to Waruma on a regular schedule to teach the ladies there. The ladies of Njuli have requested that I come back there to teach them. I can’t give up what I am doing now, but possibly I could go the 1^st and 3^rd week to Chirimba and Chiwaya and then go the 2^nd and 4^th weeks to the other places. It would be nice to teach all these and more, but we live within time. I have in the past given my notes after being translated to Chichewa to pastors for their wives to teach. Please pray for wisdom and organization of teaching schedules.

Teaching these people to ‘think outside the box’, as my pastor phrases it, is always a challenge. I asked the 2 guys living on the property to dig a well in the garden area because I know that when I move in March the person taking over does not have the money to allow the guys to use the running water. -- No garden, no food. I received permission from the owner of the property and explained to the guys that this is planning for tomorrow. Today is usually the end of their thoughts, so it was hard to get them excited about the project. They dug about 10 meters and hit solid rock. Some water was coming in at about 8 meters, but not enough. They stopped and decided that it was impossible. They had no idea of what to do. I really didn’t know either, but suggested that we go horizontal in the area that some water was coming. It worked, and so I was able to use the situation to help encourage them to always keep looking for a solution. I have these men, who are in their 40’s, and their extended families constantly on my porch to help resolve the simplest problems. So… I need to think more ‘outside the box’ to help the people here think ‘outside the box’.

The ladies in Bible study also have a hard time apply the principles taught to other situations. My translator asked me how the marriage lessons were going to help the older ladies who were widows. It made me stop and realize that I need to constantly tell the ladies as I teach how the principle being taught is to be passed to younger ladies. Our own failures are valuable lessons to use to help others. Many of the principles like communication are valuable in any relationship. Loyalty, forgiveness, and confidentiality etc. should be a part of general interaction with anyone. If a person is not able to take principles and apply them to various situations, Christian growth is greatly hindered. I so want my ladies to understand what they read in the Bible and are taught to benefit every facet of their lives!

The month of October was Bible month here, so the Bible Society had a sale. Money was sent to me specifically to purchase Bibles for Pastor Kalilima to distribute in Chiwaya. I was able to get 40 Bibles with the money. Thirty were distributed in his church and ten Pastor Kalilima gave to other Pastors in the area. It was a great blessing. I also purchased Bibles and any lady or teen in my classes who will memorize the books of the Bibles receive a Bible. Most of my ladies did not have a Bible and have taken the challenge. Bibles cost 2700MK, about $9.50 U.S., which is beyond what an average village person is able. Everyone has been so excited to own their own Bible. Thank you.

For the glory of God,

Sharon Goodman, Malawi, Africa

Christmas Day Ministry with Fullfords

I just received this e-mail from John Fullford, what a great thing is being done in Malawi. God has a great plan for Africa as a whole and Malawi in particular I think. The pictures make the landfill much nicer that it really is, if only the pictures were scratch and sniff J Please pray for his ministry and for all the help he is to Rackson and the Bible Way Baptist Ministries.

Pal in Pace

Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2012 2:18 AM
To: Chuck Miller
Subject: Christmas Day

Dear Brother,

Even though we have talked I want to get off a line and thank you for praying for our outing to the landfill.

There were not very many people in attendance, about 50, much less than Rackson or I hoped for, but that is God's department, not mine.

Because some heavy rains were coming I had to quickly get the Gospel of Christ presented, and why we celebrate Christmas. At the invitation about 1/3 of those present prayed to receive Christ as their personal Savior. Only God knows their hearts, but again, that is His Ministry!

We passed out as many gift bags as possible, then as it started to rain we ran for the car. Just opening the doors to get in filled the interior with hundreds of flies. I would have preached to them on the way home, but I do not believe that they are redeemable! So, we opened all the windows including the far back hatch window even though it was really raining hard. As Darcy said, "I would rather be wet then have all these flies on me"!

It was a good day just to be able to get the Gospel out to people who I do not think are loved very much.

Attached are some photos of the day.

Rackson did a good job, and taking the police was great! The people came running for the truck, but when they saw the police they stopped in their tracks and at the command sat down on the only grass.

God Bless my Brother and we will talk to you in the near future.

But My God...

John

Decmeber 25th

Dear Dad and Mom,

All the Helpers!

Thank you for trusting me with the Dollars you sent for Christmas, Give my thanks to all the people who put hands (helped)in this Ministry to support me and the Ministry here.

We have very good Christmas party this year and I Hope we brought change to some of the lives, see the pictures attached.

Brother John help with transport(truck) God Bless him very much, I tryd to Attach more pictures but I have slow service.