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ONE VOICE FOR AFRICA!PAOC Missionaries Steve and Heather Chaloner
July 02 CANADA DAY IN KENYA!
Thank you to all our friends and supporters! We are your arms extended to Africa! By the way - you do know how to spell Canada with 3 letters don;t you? C -eh, N - eh, D - eh! Keep us in your prayers - pray especially for our Zimbabwe team - you know why! Steve and Heather June 21 BACK IN NAIROBIHeather and I touched down in Nairobi on Wednesday evening after some wonderfilled weeks in Canada. Regional Director's, General Executive meetings, and General Conference were times of important input and output, and the blessing we rceived as we ministered in several of our supporting churches was a real encouragement. How empty our house seems without the enquiring voices of the grandchildren, Dylan and Kaitlin. Apparently they have been looking for us everytime the dog barked or the front-door opened. Shakespeare said "Parting is such sweet sorrow!" Back in the Africa office there is lots to accomplish as we prepare for a continent-wide leadership summit of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Africa in Nairobi next month. PAOA is the fellowship of all the national churches that are associated with the missions work of the PAOC.
On a prayer note - nothing more critical than the country of Zimbabwe. Last Wednesday, one of our missionaries had their work permit renewal refused last Wednesday and they were given 7 days to leave. "Now what Lord?" Violence is reported to be widespread in the pre-election run-off and so we ask you to pray every day for the saftey of our team and the security of the ministry that we do in Jesus' name! Heather started feeling sick on the flight and has not been well since arriving - stomach flu it seems. An e-mail from home today says that the family has it too!
Keep in touch and PLEASE pray for us!
Steve and Heather April 14 WELCOMED TO NAMIBIA!
WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA, April 13 2008 Steve was welcomed to Namibia this weekend. He writes from Windhoek: "The last thing you expect in Namibia (extensively covered by desert) is rain - but a cloudburst greeted the South African Airbus as it touched down. Oddly enough I had packed a plastic rain-poncho in my travel bag. Did I ever feel pleased to pull it out and get across the tarmac to the terminal without getting soaking wet! However, Sunday morning (afternoon really) a number of new-believers needed more than a raincoat inside the Windhoek church - they were drenched in the waters of baptism!
That was 22 years ago - but the story continues. Parts of it are tragic - 2 years ago a terrible car accident left the leader of the work a paraplegic and then claimed his life. I saw his widow in church today - she is strong in the Lord - a tribute to God's Amazing Grace! The new leader, Pr. Nehemia David, is doing a commendable job of leading the church and today it was our privilege to ordain him as Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Namibia. You can see him in the left of the photo with his wife Liz and the General Secretary of the Fellowship, Rev. Manzambi António, also ordained today! WHAT IS NAMIBIA LIKE? The people I talked with had vivid memories of the Apartheid era when Namibia was under South African rule. Separate hospitals and schools for Whites and non-Whites. Non-Whites forbidden to look into the eyes of Whites, non-White men forbidden to wear long-trousers, non-Whites forbidden to buy white bread! Unbelievable injustice for those of us that grew up elsewhere! Namibia is the former German colony of South-West Africa during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory. PROJECTS FOR NAMIBIA! Drop us a line at chaloners@africaonline.co.ke
If you can donate something to any of these projects you will be making a difference in NAMIBIA! Maybe you could bring a team to Namibia to do some church building and ministry! March 31 GOOD NEWS UPDATE FROM AFRICA!
Heather and I are still adjusting to our new ministry but count it a privilege to serve in this capacity. Being Regional Director for all of Africa is quite a challenge, but Marg Foreman’s first-class admin. skills, great attitude, and calmness under stress make it so much easier. On the continent that defies definition, our daily prayer is for His Kingdom to Come, His will to be done, and the gates of Hell not to prevail against His church in Africa! In our extremities, we are blessed to see the Lord at work in so many wonderful ways. · PAOC 100 Years in Africa! Charles Chawner left for Africa on Feb. 12, 1908. His simple obedience to go and preach the Gospel to the Zulus so marked his son Austin that he forsook all to establish an apostolic ministry that has swept hundreds of thousands into the Kingdom! · Pan Africa Christian University Charter – February 15, 2008. It took 30 years but we all know that God's timing is perfect! In the midst of all the trouble and post-election violence that has rocked Kenya and the world, God brought President Kibaki to PAC to present its university charter and to witness the installation of its Chancellor, Bishop Bonifes Adoyo, and Vice-Chancellor, Kirk Kauffeldt. God has set before us a wide-open door that no man can shut! · Villages of Hope Africa… Everyone knows that Africa and starving children are almost synonymous, but Villages of Hope Africa are establishing oasis o f hope in the wilderness of despair! How we thank God for VOH Champions Sergio and Nancy Bersaglio and their Team of anointed care-givers. On · Leadership Development: TELTAC brings together all the key players in our leadership development centres. In our November 2007 Conference, Principals and Academic Deans from 12 colleges in 10 countries, representing 50,000 students, pastors, and leaders met together to emphasize Servant Leadership – striving to be the godly servant leaders in Africa. · Mozambique: Training initiatives continue to flourish and the empowerment course for Pastors’ Wives is bringing so much blessing to the church. The Distance-Education programme reaches 1,500 students all across the nation, while over 200 students study on-campus, in Diploma, Undergraduate and Graduate courses, and over 150 pastors and their wives participate in weekly leadership seminars. · Senegal: On the heels of a major Islamic summit - the Assemblies of God pushed the envelope for Jesus as they celebrated their 50th Jubilee on Easter weekend! Beginning with a formal celebration in a sports stadium, believers took to the streets in a public March of witness for Jesus and led to a great outdoor concert of praise and worship followed by powerful evangelistic services. Africa – The Unfinished Task! 300 Million Africans still have no viable access to the Gospel. Many of them are in North Africa. Without a doubt, Reached Africa holds the key to Unreached Africa! Promoting missions by Africans, for Africans is fundamental. With this in mind, last year PAOC held Africa’s first-ever Missionsfest in Lubumbashi DRC. This month (Feb. 2008) the second Missionsfest was held in Pretoria, South Africa. In West Africa where 40-50 Talibe children come to one of our centres for a shower, first-aid and breakfast, 2 boys were overheard in their native language Pulaar, “we are really blessed here, the way they take care of us!” Love is a language anyone can understand! In Kenya, the Turkana people are hearing the Gospel loud and clear as we build and develop schools, churches, and clinics and train a team of transformational professionals! RAISED FROM THE DEAD!
Since we are on the Easter theme - welcome to our update on Easter in Dakar Senegal! "CHRIST IS RISEN" ... "HE IS RISEN INDEED!" What better way to express our hearts here in Dakar this Easter Sunday! On the heels of a major Islamic summit - the Assemblies of God is pushing the envelope for Jesus as they celebrate their 50th Jubilee! Beginning with a formal celebration in a sports stadium, believers took to the streets in a public March of witness for Jesus and led to a great outdoor concert of praise and worship! Last night the power of the Gospel began with the preacher himself - who testified of how Jesus transformed his former life as the son of a Maribu in Isla*. The message "Bring him to Jesus!" revisited the healing of the paralytic man - brought to Jesus by his four friends. Check out the pictures below and Praise the Lord with us!
Steve and Heather Chaloner August 03 A VOICE FOR AFRICA! "A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” One voice CALLING! - One voice calling IN THE DESERT! One voice calling in the desert, calling for PROGRESS! PREPARE THE WAY! Prepare a HIGHWAY! Prepare a highway for our GOD! Prepare it in the WILDERNESS! FILL THE valleys! LEVEL the MOUNTAINS and the HILLS and the ROUGH ground and the RUGGED places! God will be GLORIFED - Publickly, Simultaneously e Certainly ONE VOICE HAS SAID IT ...
THE VOICE OF THE LORD! Psalm 29:3-9 3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; July 01 CANADA DAY IN KENYACANADA DAY IN KENYA!
Last night we slept in our new home and awoke to Canada Day in Kenya! That has been our goal since accepting the new ministry position as Regional Director for Africa and Praise the Lord we have accomplished it! The Bible College in Maputo has a new leadership team and we are now free to concentrate on that which the Lord has called us to. After church in the packed Valley Road Pentecostal Church Heather and I got out our Canada T shirts to celebrate Canada's 140 birthday with some of our Kenya team. In the evening we assisted a great production of the Prince of Egypt by the Rift Valley Academy quoir and topped it all off with a café latte! Now we are waiting for our new phone to ring to catch up with our kids. Below is a reprint of my missionary version of O Canada:
O CANADA!
O Canada!
Land where we long to be:
Close to our friends and all our family,
But Christ on our allegiance called
And sent us far away
To win the lost in His Great Lands
Before the Judgment Day.
God keep our Land
Glorious and Free
To preach the Gospel of eternity
To preach the Gospel of eternity
O Canada!
We will not always roam,
Soon Christ will call, and then we’ll all go home,
But let it be with conscience free
The good work gladly done!
With countless souls of ethnic tongues
For Christ our Saviour won!
God keep our Land
Glorious and Free
To preach the Gospel of eternity
To preach the Gospel of eternity
O Canada!
While we are still apart
Stand firm with us and keep us in your heart!
The fields are white, the workers few
But something you can do:
Defend our cause before His throne
And send us help from home!
God keep our Land
Glorious and Free
To preach the Gospel of eternity
To preach the Gospel of eternity
(SWC 2004) May 11 ... When PEACE, like a river ... when SORROW like sea-billows roll ... whatever my lot ... You have taught me to say ...IT IS WELL IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL! April 24 WHERE AM I?M.K.E.C.M.Z. ... Confused? So am I, especially when I wake up! In the last 6 weeks I have slept in 1 night in Mozambique, 16 nights in Kenya, 9 nights in England, 8 nights in Canada, 4 nights in Malawi, and 3 nights in Zambia. This morning I was in Lusaka, tonight in Nairobi, and tomorrow I should be in Maputo! My tongue is a bit twisted too - it never knows what language the brain is going to fire at it next - Portuguese, Changan, Swahili, English, or bits of Chichewa or Bemba! What is not confusing is why we do what we do where we do it! "Go into all the world, said Jesus, and preach the Gospel to every creature!" M.K.E.C.M.Z. March 27 PR VUVO CELEBRATES HIS 100 BIRTHDAY!PR. MARCOLINO VUVO - celebrated 75 years of ministry on Saturday - many of those as a personal assistant to PAOC pioneer missionary, Austin Chawner!
Bill Mercer writes:
"Greetings to all!
Yesterday was the big day for Pastor Vuvo! The special service was held in a school gym in Chibuto. It was ideal as far as the temperature was concerned, for the structure has no walls - just a roof. The service was delayed while we waited for the local government dignitaries to arrive. The service began with Pastor Vuvo and his wife marching from the back to the front of the gym, accompanied by Pastor André Pondja and a large choir dressed in red T-shirts. Once all were seated, the program got underway. The choir members each had a logo on their shirts with a picture of Pastor Vuvo, his name, and the words"100 years of life and 75 years serving the Lord". A good-sized crowd was present for the event.
Special music, words from Pastors and dignitaries, and a good message by Pastor Luis Mnuel, were among the items that made up the program. I read the congratulatory ltter that the PAOC sent, signed by Bill Morrow and Murray Cornelius. I gave Pstor Vuvo the original in English, and the Portuguese translation in a glass Pcture frame, so that he can hang it on the wall of his house if he so desires. At the time of the giving of gifts, the missionaries went together to Pastor Vuvo, ad gave him a letter stating that our gift to him was the offering to help finishthe church building were he is still the Pastor. He seemed to be very satisfied.
After the service, there was the meal and the cutting of the cake." How we thank God for Pr. Vuvo - he is the living link between the pioneer days of Austin Chawner and the vibrant church numbering hundreds of thousands of members that has emerged through faithfulness amidst the fires of suffering and persecution! THANKS BE TO GOD - JESUS IS STILL BUILDING HIS CHURCH! AMMUNITION DUMP EXPLODES!AMMUNITION DUMP EXPLODESAMMUNITION DUMP EXPLODES IN MAPUTO! Bill Mercer writes: Dear Steve and Murray, Just a few lines to give you a little up-date on the catastrophe that happened in Maputo last Thursday, when the ammunition dump in the suburb of Malhazine caught fire. As you may have heard, about 100 people died in the disaster, over 300 were injured in varying degrees, and millions of dollars of material damage took place. It was literally war for several miles around. Many glass windows here in the city in some of the stores and homes were smashed, due to the impact of the shock waves. As mentioned previously, the false ceiling of the Bible School chapel suffered some damage for the same reason. Pastor Bata's new house was all but totally destroyed (he had not yet moved in). We have heard of some believers who were injured, but to date I have not heard of any that have died. The hospital in Zimpeto had two large holes blown in the side of it, and the Ingrid Chawner Centre for street children, nearby, was hit. As a safety precaution, all of the children from the Centre were taken in time to the Central Church here in Maputo In the midst of disaster, the Lord protected many of His own. Pastor Marcelino said that the house beside his was hit, and then the destroying object landed in front of his house. Another Pastor ( I believe that he is a student at the Bible School ) said that the houses on each side and in front of his house were hit, but that his was spared. Pastor Justino Gune showed me a hole in the ground where a bomb, or whatever, had dug in after just missing his church building. He thinks that the object is still buried there. Many stories will yet be told of pain and loss, of protection and deliverance.May the Lord help Mozambique that has suffered so much in the past few weeks with floods, a cyclone and now this. Thanks for your prayers. Bill February 22 MOZAMBIQUE CYCLONE AND FLOOD UPDATESource: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Date: 20 Feb 2007 UN aids Mozambique as country braces for cyclone's impact(New York: 20 February 2007): As tropical storm Favio bears down on southern Africa, the United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners are working with the Government of Mozambique to provide urgent assistance to more than 120,000 people displaced by recent flooding. Humanitarian agencies are working to provide aid for the nearly 71,000 people currently sheltering in newly-established accommodation centres, as well as the nearly 50,000 in resettlement centres established after the 2001 floods. The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that food aid is currently being provided to 33,500 flood victims in Mozambique, while the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has provided water and sanitation supplies, including plastic sheeting, chlorine, water tanks and latrine slabs for newly established accommodation centres in Mopeia. The UNICEF is also assisting local health authorities in Caia to assess the nutritional status of children, and are supplying BP5 (high protein supplement) to supplementary feeding sites in Caia and other affected areas. Several multi-sectoral Rapid Assessment teams have deployed around the affected areas and will evaluate areas including education, food, nutrition, health, HIV/AIDS, water and sanitation, market access, shelter, protection, assistance received, infrastructure and security. The teams are expected to finish their assessments at the end of the week. While the overall situation in Mozambique has stabilized for the moment, with diminished rainfall in the past week and the subsequent suspension of rescue/evacuation operations, humanitarian agencies are concerned about the possible impact of tropical storm Favio, which is expected to make landfall in Mozambique as a cyclone on Thursday. According to forecasts, Favio will continue to move to the west and gain intensity in the Mozambique Channel, with the probability that it will hit the Mozambican coast as a cyclone on 22 February. The WFP is investigating storage and transport options in Vilanculos in preparation for tropical storm Favio. A number of countries throughout Southern Africa have been affected by earlier and heavier rains than usual this year, which have prompted significant flooding in Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In total, the floods have affected nearly 170,000 people since mid-December 2006 and have killed nearly 150 people. Other heavily-impacted countries include Angola, where 114 people were killed and 28,000 displaced by flooding in the capital of Luanda and surrounding areas at the end of January. The Government of Angola, supported by humanitarian agencies, is providing support to those affected, including for cholera prevention as the number of cholera cases rose in the wake of the flooding. At least 12 temporary camps have been established. In central Madagascar, tropical storm Clovis caused floods that displaced up to 31,000 people. The WFP and its NGO partners are working to distribute some 450 tonnes of food aid to those affected, while preliminary estimates indicate that up to 70 per cent of crops have been lost due to floods. Meanwhile, southern Madagascar continues to experience less than normal rainfall this year, leaving nearly 500,000 people without adequate access to food. Affected populations will require assistance at least until the next harvest, expected in March 2007. For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int. February 21 ZAMBEZI RIVER BURSTS ITS BANKS!FROM THE BBC
February 19 COMPUTER SCARE!COMPUTER SCARE last Thursday afternoon! For no apparent reason my laptop shut itself down in the middle of what I was doing! I managed to fire it back up again - but it shut down almost immediately. Friday morning I was up VERY EARLY when it struck me that I had all kinds of info that I needed to get off of it. I maganged to get it to run for 20 minutes or so - time enough to save some vital files. After our prayer meeting I went on the hunt for information and a solution. Someone suggested that it might be the cooling fan - if it fails once the cp gets too hot it shuts down. I came home and put a big fan over it and now it works for up to an hour! Hopefully it will limp along until I can get it back to Canada for repair at the end of March. Praise the Lord that I took out the most extensive (expensive warranty possible). It's almost 4 years old and still covered. Meanwhile I have been able to do a full backup - Thank you Lord!
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