September 2019
Dear Saints,
Well the past several weeks have seen us yet again “hither and yon”, involving us in some ministerial efforts that we had seen coming and others that we could have never expected. As we have mentioned in the past letters, we are blessed to have about as good of status in the country of Malawi as any missionary could want. We work under what is called a “Permanent Residence Permit”, a highly sought after permit amongst the expatriate community in Malawi and, undoubtedly we only received this status because of the prayers of the saints in years gone by. While our status is recognized as “permanent” by the Malawian government we are still required to “maintain” our visa once every year which required me to be physically present in Lilongwe at the beginning of September 2019. We were well aware of this date and had purchased tickets for me briefly return to Malawi towards the end of August in order to handle this and other administrative obligations at that time. As we mentioned in our previous letters, the country of Malawi is a bit more volatile lately than it usually is due to frustrations in recent elections. There have been riots in the streets and protests for the past few months which seemed to be coming to a head right at the time I was scheduled to arrive! Just days before my arrival the opposition leaders stated their intention to “seize” all the borders of Malawi, not allowing any person or cargo to exit or enter the country without their permission. I was scheduled to preach in three different churches on this trip and each of the pastors from Malawi contacted me separately notifying me of the situation and asking me to reconsider my plans to come. It truly was a fearful situation to think of flying into a “hot zone” of political upheaval, but the Lord gave me a certain peace about it so we prayerfully continued as planned. The day before my arrival in country the Malawi Government issued a fourteen day ban on all of the opposition plans and deployed the Malawi Defence Force soldiers from one end of the country to the other. Although the atmosphere was far from the “Warm Heart of Africa”, it was at least controlled, and completely non-threatening. I was picked up at the airport by my first convert and long-standing friend Alex Mwenekifungwe, pastor of Light Baptist Church. The preaching went on as planned and God seemed to move in a special way in each of the services. Although we stay in almost daily communication with the pastors and church leaders, I was blessed to see things in place that I had not even heard about during my months of absence. Pastor Daniel and Charity Baptist seemed to be doing better than ever before. They had done several things to the property and building to improve it including putting up a badly needed fence all around the church property. There were new chairs, new decorations, but most importantly, new faces! Pastor Daniel had gone through a lot over the time we have been on furlough. Possibly one of the most difficult issues was an attempt from representatives of a large “reformed theology ministry” based in Zambia and South Africa, attempted to subvert him and Pastor Alex to convert to the ideologies of Hyper-Calvanisitic theology. The subversion attempt was complete with dinners at expensive restaurants and offers of financial compensation. Thankfully both of these guys saw through the smoke and mirrors and were not deterred from the truth. In fact I could see more steadfastness in their doctrinal positions than ever before. The church Pastor Alex is pastoring is currently renting a single room building as a meeting place but will eventually need to be in a more stable situation. Please pray that the Lord will give me wisdom and grace to know how best to help him and encourage him in this area.
As many of you know, the unseen logistical challenges that missionaries deal with in the background of deputation and furlough, to make it from meeting to meeting, are laughable at best and downright terrible at least half the time. As missionaries, we tend to see the “Good the Bad and the Ugly” of everything involved with Foriegn Missions! From blown transmissions, and leaking RV roofs to church splits and church feuds, we see it all! Honestly, the good things we see and learn so far outweighs the negative, it is almost not even worth mentioning the latter! During the course of seeing all these things we also learn to mind our own business and run our own race, or at least we are supposed to. From time to time though, we do run across situations that really demand our attention and truly can be helped because of the nature of our missionary work. Such is the kind of situation we recently found ourselves aware of, in the south western town of Grants Pass Oregon.
During our furlough travels we were introduced to a fledgeling church that is in real need of some help. The 83 year old pastor recently retired and left the pastorate in a complete void. Currently the gap of leadership is being filled by Bible Believers Baptist Church in Hillsboro Or, some four hours drive north of Grants Pass. B.B.B.C. Hillsboro is pastored by my older brother John Robinson, and the church there is doing all they can to organize church services, supply the pulpit, and call for pastoral candidates until a permanent pastor is called to take this work and go forward with it. Having had personal interaction with this church and having been there when the pastor resigned, impressed on me the need to mention this in my prayer letter, and to ask for prayer for Dayspring Baptist Church ( https://dayspringbaptistgp.com/ )to receive the Man of God who God would want to go to Grants Pass and pastor this church. If you are currently pastoring a Bible Believing Independent Baptist Church and you would like more details about this church’s need, please contact Pastor John Robinson at BBBCpdx@gmail.com
Thank you to all of you who faithfully pray for us and support our ministry. Please pray specifically for the following:
Well the past several weeks have seen us yet again “hither and yon”, involving us in some ministerial efforts that we had seen coming and others that we could have never expected. As we have mentioned in the past letters, we are blessed to have about as good of status in the country of Malawi as any missionary could want. We work under what is called a “Permanent Residence Permit”, a highly sought after permit amongst the expatriate community in Malawi and, undoubtedly we only received this status because of the prayers of the saints in years gone by. While our status is recognized as “permanent” by the Malawian government we are still required to “maintain” our visa once every year which required me to be physically present in Lilongwe at the beginning of September 2019. We were well aware of this date and had purchased tickets for me briefly return to Malawi towards the end of August in order to handle this and other administrative obligations at that time. As we mentioned in our previous letters, the country of Malawi is a bit more volatile lately than it usually is due to frustrations in recent elections. There have been riots in the streets and protests for the past few months which seemed to be coming to a head right at the time I was scheduled to arrive! Just days before my arrival the opposition leaders stated their intention to “seize” all the borders of Malawi, not allowing any person or cargo to exit or enter the country without their permission. I was scheduled to preach in three different churches on this trip and each of the pastors from Malawi contacted me separately notifying me of the situation and asking me to reconsider my plans to come. It truly was a fearful situation to think of flying into a “hot zone” of political upheaval, but the Lord gave me a certain peace about it so we prayerfully continued as planned. The day before my arrival in country the Malawi Government issued a fourteen day ban on all of the opposition plans and deployed the Malawi Defence Force soldiers from one end of the country to the other. Although the atmosphere was far from the “Warm Heart of Africa”, it was at least controlled, and completely non-threatening. I was picked up at the airport by my first convert and long-standing friend Alex Mwenekifungwe, pastor of Light Baptist Church. The preaching went on as planned and God seemed to move in a special way in each of the services. Although we stay in almost daily communication with the pastors and church leaders, I was blessed to see things in place that I had not even heard about during my months of absence. Pastor Daniel and Charity Baptist seemed to be doing better than ever before. They had done several things to the property and building to improve it including putting up a badly needed fence all around the church property. There were new chairs, new decorations, but most importantly, new faces! Pastor Daniel had gone through a lot over the time we have been on furlough. Possibly one of the most difficult issues was an attempt from representatives of a large “reformed theology ministry” based in Zambia and South Africa, attempted to subvert him and Pastor Alex to convert to the ideologies of Hyper-Calvanisitic theology. The subversion attempt was complete with dinners at expensive restaurants and offers of financial compensation. Thankfully both of these guys saw through the smoke and mirrors and were not deterred from the truth. In fact I could see more steadfastness in their doctrinal positions than ever before. The church Pastor Alex is pastoring is currently renting a single room building as a meeting place but will eventually need to be in a more stable situation. Please pray that the Lord will give me wisdom and grace to know how best to help him and encourage him in this area.
As many of you know, the unseen logistical challenges that missionaries deal with in the background of deputation and furlough, to make it from meeting to meeting, are laughable at best and downright terrible at least half the time. As missionaries, we tend to see the “Good the Bad and the Ugly” of everything involved with Foriegn Missions! From blown transmissions, and leaking RV roofs to church splits and church feuds, we see it all! Honestly, the good things we see and learn so far outweighs the negative, it is almost not even worth mentioning the latter! During the course of seeing all these things we also learn to mind our own business and run our own race, or at least we are supposed to. From time to time though, we do run across situations that really demand our attention and truly can be helped because of the nature of our missionary work. Such is the kind of situation we recently found ourselves aware of, in the south western town of Grants Pass Oregon.
During our furlough travels we were introduced to a fledgeling church that is in real need of some help. The 83 year old pastor recently retired and left the pastorate in a complete void. Currently the gap of leadership is being filled by Bible Believers Baptist Church in Hillsboro Or, some four hours drive north of Grants Pass. B.B.B.C. Hillsboro is pastored by my older brother John Robinson, and the church there is doing all they can to organize church services, supply the pulpit, and call for pastoral candidates until a permanent pastor is called to take this work and go forward with it. Having had personal interaction with this church and having been there when the pastor resigned, impressed on me the need to mention this in my prayer letter, and to ask for prayer for Dayspring Baptist Church ( https://dayspringbaptistgp.com/ )to receive the Man of God who God would want to go to Grants Pass and pastor this church. If you are currently pastoring a Bible Believing Independent Baptist Church and you would like more details about this church’s need, please contact Pastor John Robinson at BBBCpdx@gmail.com
Thank you to all of you who faithfully pray for us and support our ministry. Please pray specifically for the following:
- Dayspring Baptist Church to have a Bible Believing Man of God to pastor it.
- My Back Pain Issues to be handled well before returning to Malawi.
- Our remaining Church visits on furlough.
- Our return to Malawi in Gods time.
- The Churches and ministries in Malawi to continue prospering.
- Pastor Daniel Nyirenda & Pastor Alex Mwenekifungwe
July Prayer Letter 2019
Dear Saints,
Thank you so much to those of you who pray for our ministry and family. The last few weeks have seen us quite busy as usual. One thing I remember hearing over and over in my earlier years was the fact that,“Serving the Lord is NEVER boring, it may be hard at times, and it may not always be what you expect, but it will not be boring! My life and ministry thus far will certainly attest to the validity of that statement!
One interesting door which was opened up to me in recent weeks was the opportunity to preach in both Australia as well as Papua New Guinea. Late in 2018 we were invited by, brother Jason Young to come and preach in Australia. Since that time, we began to pray about heading over there during this furlough. A few weeks ago during a missions conference the Lord used a national pastor from PNG (pastor Willy) to bless me beyond measure! Missionary Joey Anderson was planning a missions trip back to PNG and he invited me to go help him. I was happy to go. As you may know, the flight patterns in that part of the world are such that Australia is a common hub for traveling in and out of PNG. With a few arrangements made concerning my furlough schedule the Lord miraculously made for me to go in every way. I immediately began to ask the Lord for souls in both Australia as well as PNG.
I was picked up from the Sydney airport and taken to the regularly scheduled Saturday street preaching outreach in Sydney. After a great time of street preaching and tract distribution,we were about to roll it up when we were approached by a 53 year old man named Ryan. It was clear that the Lord had been dealing with this guy and that he was under great conviction. While I DID expect the Lord to answer my prayers about having some fruit there in the land down under, I didn't realize it would be through street preaching within the first few hours of landing. So far as I know, Ryan was the first Australian I have ever gotten to lead to Christ! I hope he will not be the last.
The highlight of the Papua New Guinea portion of the trip was, undoubtedly, the preaching of brother Anderson in the PNG prison. He preached on, “The man after God's own heart” and GOD showed up there in that prison! There was truly a deep sense of God's hand working as the word was preached and many responded in an attitude of faith to the invitation. I was given a group of men that spoke enough English to be dealt with without a translator. The Lord once again answered prayer and allowed me to be a part of several grown PNG men coming to know Christ as their personal savior!
Since returning from that trip we have carried on with ministering in the local churches in the Northwest. We are so thankful for the many and unique opportunities that the Lord gives us to serve him while we are in the USA. We found out many years ago that visiting the churches is not just about raising support levels. It is about being faithful in “doing the work of an evangelist” in churches that may or may not support the work. It is not about filling out the status quo, but it is about ministering in the churches in the unique capacities he allows us opportunity.
The churches in Malawi are doing just fine. We are in contact with the leadership on a weekly basis as they continue to grow in their own ministries. Charity Baptist Church choir just finished recording their first gospel singing album and the choir director sent me a copy. I was so blessed to pick out the voices of folks who are now singing for the Lord.
Please pray that the Lord will give me guidance as of what to do for my back. It has become a real point of concern over the past few years and I am not really sure of how the story will end. It seems like it is ok for a while and then inevitably it relapses and when it does I become nearly worthless. It is totally debilitating. Since being back in the states, we have gone through an extensive process of eliminating solutions in order of how invasive the options would be. Starting with changes to the diet, weight loss, more exercise, learning proper body mechanics, stretching routines, etc. All of this is being done in order to avoid having the discectomy surgery on the herniated disc. I realize that I am too young to be having health problems, but I guess my back didn’t get the memo. I have had some really great times of pain free relief, but inevitably the same problem returns. We are now looking to take the next step in the search for a solution that can give me time to fully recover before heading back to the field. Please pray that the Lord will guide our decisions and that ultimately my back would be healed.
Thank you so much to those of you who pray for our ministry and family. The last few weeks have seen us quite busy as usual. One thing I remember hearing over and over in my earlier years was the fact that,“Serving the Lord is NEVER boring, it may be hard at times, and it may not always be what you expect, but it will not be boring! My life and ministry thus far will certainly attest to the validity of that statement!
One interesting door which was opened up to me in recent weeks was the opportunity to preach in both Australia as well as Papua New Guinea. Late in 2018 we were invited by, brother Jason Young to come and preach in Australia. Since that time, we began to pray about heading over there during this furlough. A few weeks ago during a missions conference the Lord used a national pastor from PNG (pastor Willy) to bless me beyond measure! Missionary Joey Anderson was planning a missions trip back to PNG and he invited me to go help him. I was happy to go. As you may know, the flight patterns in that part of the world are such that Australia is a common hub for traveling in and out of PNG. With a few arrangements made concerning my furlough schedule the Lord miraculously made for me to go in every way. I immediately began to ask the Lord for souls in both Australia as well as PNG.
I was picked up from the Sydney airport and taken to the regularly scheduled Saturday street preaching outreach in Sydney. After a great time of street preaching and tract distribution,we were about to roll it up when we were approached by a 53 year old man named Ryan. It was clear that the Lord had been dealing with this guy and that he was under great conviction. While I DID expect the Lord to answer my prayers about having some fruit there in the land down under, I didn't realize it would be through street preaching within the first few hours of landing. So far as I know, Ryan was the first Australian I have ever gotten to lead to Christ! I hope he will not be the last.
The highlight of the Papua New Guinea portion of the trip was, undoubtedly, the preaching of brother Anderson in the PNG prison. He preached on, “The man after God's own heart” and GOD showed up there in that prison! There was truly a deep sense of God's hand working as the word was preached and many responded in an attitude of faith to the invitation. I was given a group of men that spoke enough English to be dealt with without a translator. The Lord once again answered prayer and allowed me to be a part of several grown PNG men coming to know Christ as their personal savior!
Since returning from that trip we have carried on with ministering in the local churches in the Northwest. We are so thankful for the many and unique opportunities that the Lord gives us to serve him while we are in the USA. We found out many years ago that visiting the churches is not just about raising support levels. It is about being faithful in “doing the work of an evangelist” in churches that may or may not support the work. It is not about filling out the status quo, but it is about ministering in the churches in the unique capacities he allows us opportunity.
The churches in Malawi are doing just fine. We are in contact with the leadership on a weekly basis as they continue to grow in their own ministries. Charity Baptist Church choir just finished recording their first gospel singing album and the choir director sent me a copy. I was so blessed to pick out the voices of folks who are now singing for the Lord.
Please pray that the Lord will give me guidance as of what to do for my back. It has become a real point of concern over the past few years and I am not really sure of how the story will end. It seems like it is ok for a while and then inevitably it relapses and when it does I become nearly worthless. It is totally debilitating. Since being back in the states, we have gone through an extensive process of eliminating solutions in order of how invasive the options would be. Starting with changes to the diet, weight loss, more exercise, learning proper body mechanics, stretching routines, etc. All of this is being done in order to avoid having the discectomy surgery on the herniated disc. I realize that I am too young to be having health problems, but I guess my back didn’t get the memo. I have had some really great times of pain free relief, but inevitably the same problem returns. We are now looking to take the next step in the search for a solution that can give me time to fully recover before heading back to the field. Please pray that the Lord will guide our decisions and that ultimately my back would be healed.
May Prayer Letter 2019
Dear Saints
I hope and trust this letter finds you well. We are all doing very well. Let me say a special thank you to all of you who have prayed for my back as I seem to be having a season of relief. The blessing of this relief can not be overstated, THANK! YOU! to all who prayed.
I have continued to bounce around all over the country attending meetings and trying to be a blessing to the churches. Several people have expressed concern about the need for us to be “getting more rest” while on furlough. Please be assured that just because I am traveling a lot doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m not getting the rest I need on furlough. It is still a privilege to sleep for an average of six to seven hours nearly every night somewhere on some soft mattress and in some safe environment. Although I do sometimes feel exhausted I remind myself that every man who is thirty-seven years old (who is worth his salt) is burning the candle at both ends in one way or another. Please pray for continued grace in all of our furlough responsibilities.
Many of you realize that a sending church for any missionary is their greatest resource and lifeline outside of the Lord himself. Although our sending church in Fairbanks Alaska is a little off the beaten path, even when we are Stateside, I was recently afforded the opportunity to participate at the ordination services for my younger brother Paul. A few years ago after several years of faithful service as associate pastor Paul courageously accepted the ministry of senior pastor at North Star Baptist Church in Fairbanks Alaska. Having the opportunity attend his ordination was such a blessing to me. I was amazed at how the church has grown and prospered since our last attendance in person in 2014. What a blessing it is to see men and women still offering their lives as a living sacrifice to serve others in the pastoral ministry of the local church!
On the home front we are thankful to be traveling again as a family. After attending a Christian school in the Portland Oregon for the past few months, the kids are happy to be on summer break and I am happy to have everyone together again. Currently we are still out west attending missions conferences and visiting churches. Please pray for us to be a blessing wherever we go, and that the Lord will use us for his glory. We truly serve a great God who truly deserves the love and worship of our whole heart and soul, and mind.
We continue to hear good things from Malawi from pastor Nyirenda and pastor Mwenekefungwe. I was recently encouraged to hear of new converts in Charity Baptist Church two of whom walked the isle at invitation in a Sunday morning preaching hour. One thing that I have emphasized over the years is the need for basic discipleship once someone is saved. I am glad to hear that discipleship courses for those who have been saved are still carrying on in my absence.
Aside from the church people I receive messages and emails almost every day from random people in the Mzuzu area and really the whole north of Malawi. To say that we have a good report among the people there would be an understatement. Many times I have felt like our work is invisible to these people and that if we fell off the planet tomorrow that they wouldn’t even miss a beat. The constant greetings and messages I receive tell me that even if the people don’t respond to the gospel the way I wish they would, they DO know that we are there for a purpose and that there has been at least a some influence in their lives by our ministry there.
Please pray for the elections in Malawi which take place on May 21 2019. Our hope is not in politics or politicians, but we also know that wicked and unreasonable men can hinder the work of missions. Pray that the outcome of these elections would enable us to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Pray also that we would be able to continue to make the right decisions for the remainder of our time in the states, and that the Lord would direct our decisions as to the timing of our return to Malawi.
I hope and trust this letter finds you well. We are all doing very well. Let me say a special thank you to all of you who have prayed for my back as I seem to be having a season of relief. The blessing of this relief can not be overstated, THANK! YOU! to all who prayed.
I have continued to bounce around all over the country attending meetings and trying to be a blessing to the churches. Several people have expressed concern about the need for us to be “getting more rest” while on furlough. Please be assured that just because I am traveling a lot doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m not getting the rest I need on furlough. It is still a privilege to sleep for an average of six to seven hours nearly every night somewhere on some soft mattress and in some safe environment. Although I do sometimes feel exhausted I remind myself that every man who is thirty-seven years old (who is worth his salt) is burning the candle at both ends in one way or another. Please pray for continued grace in all of our furlough responsibilities.
Many of you realize that a sending church for any missionary is their greatest resource and lifeline outside of the Lord himself. Although our sending church in Fairbanks Alaska is a little off the beaten path, even when we are Stateside, I was recently afforded the opportunity to participate at the ordination services for my younger brother Paul. A few years ago after several years of faithful service as associate pastor Paul courageously accepted the ministry of senior pastor at North Star Baptist Church in Fairbanks Alaska. Having the opportunity attend his ordination was such a blessing to me. I was amazed at how the church has grown and prospered since our last attendance in person in 2014. What a blessing it is to see men and women still offering their lives as a living sacrifice to serve others in the pastoral ministry of the local church!
On the home front we are thankful to be traveling again as a family. After attending a Christian school in the Portland Oregon for the past few months, the kids are happy to be on summer break and I am happy to have everyone together again. Currently we are still out west attending missions conferences and visiting churches. Please pray for us to be a blessing wherever we go, and that the Lord will use us for his glory. We truly serve a great God who truly deserves the love and worship of our whole heart and soul, and mind.
We continue to hear good things from Malawi from pastor Nyirenda and pastor Mwenekefungwe. I was recently encouraged to hear of new converts in Charity Baptist Church two of whom walked the isle at invitation in a Sunday morning preaching hour. One thing that I have emphasized over the years is the need for basic discipleship once someone is saved. I am glad to hear that discipleship courses for those who have been saved are still carrying on in my absence.
Aside from the church people I receive messages and emails almost every day from random people in the Mzuzu area and really the whole north of Malawi. To say that we have a good report among the people there would be an understatement. Many times I have felt like our work is invisible to these people and that if we fell off the planet tomorrow that they wouldn’t even miss a beat. The constant greetings and messages I receive tell me that even if the people don’t respond to the gospel the way I wish they would, they DO know that we are there for a purpose and that there has been at least a some influence in their lives by our ministry there.
Please pray for the elections in Malawi which take place on May 21 2019. Our hope is not in politics or politicians, but we also know that wicked and unreasonable men can hinder the work of missions. Pray that the outcome of these elections would enable us to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Pray also that we would be able to continue to make the right decisions for the remainder of our time in the states, and that the Lord would direct our decisions as to the timing of our return to Malawi.
