MISSION WORLD

Here’s the latest from Karis and Steve. Please remember them in your prayers and take a few minutes to call or write to encourage them - it’s hard work. Here’s the letter and below are instructions on how to contact them.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Malawi. Many of you probably remember our emails asking you to pray for rain in Malawi! God gave us a great rainy season. As the rains are coming to an end, I am reminded of God’s mercy on this country. People in our area have been harvesting their crops and of course there is actually drinking water.

Stephen began teaching at the Bible School last week. He is excited about this new group who seem to really have a desire to study the Bible. He has been going back in the evenings to answer questions that come up during class. Most of these men have had very little Biblical teaching.

Brennan and I spent almost 2 1/2 weeks in Johannesburg, SA in March. Due to the heat I have felt quite sick the past year, so I went to have medical tests. They were hoping to rule anything out that might be causing my stomach problems. Nothing showed up in the tests, so the doctors are starting to agree that heat does affect me. We have been blessed with cooler weather this month. I am beginning to feel better.

Brennan our 8 month old bundle of energy is doing very well. Going through all those typical phases: chewing on everything in sight, crawling and fitting in to small unusual places, reaching objects in “impossible” high up places, and of course with each new skill making his parents think he is such a bright little man.

We are so grateful for each of you! Thank you for praying

Praises:
Praise HIM for the rain!
Praise HIM for providing food to these needy people.
Praise HIM for the opportunities we have to witness to those around us.

Pray:
Pray for Stephen as he continues to teach at Bible School this week Pray for these students that the Holy Spirit will reveal truth in their lives.
Pray for continued good health and protection from malaria for all of us.
Pray for Collins who just lost his second sister to Aids. We have been sharing the gospel with him as he is being faced with where he will spend eternity.

With love and gratitude,

Karis, Stephen, and Brennan

email: skward@malawi.net
phone: 011-265-1-466-386

Here’s an inexpensive way to call:

dial the local access number: 410-2013
Call Nobels, the African carrier: 653-640-8669
then dial the Ward’s number: 011-265-1-466-386

There is a food crisis in Malwi due to a severe water shortage. Just a week or 2 ago, Karis wrote that Steve was having a hard time finding pure water for the baby’s formula. Here is a link to an article about the famine and a photo gallery.

Please be in prayer for them and the people they serve and be ready to respond if we are asked. Here is the latest news from Steve and Karis:

We have mentioned in our previous newsletter the hunger crisis that Malawi is facing right now. Our team met yesterday to pray and discuss how we can be involved in getting food to these needy people. Please be in prayer for us. So many details will need to be worked out. This project will consume
several months of planning and distribution. Pray that God would give us
clear direction as we plan and organize.

We are hearing reports that people are literally starving to death. In some cases people have gone searching for food on the mountain and eaten poisonous plants and died.

Through all of this we are reminded that God is in control and our main focus still needs to be on getting the gospel to these people.

Thank you so much for praying.

Karis, Stephen, and Brennan

Stephen and Karis Ward
www.homepage.mac.com/karistward
P O Box 105
Mulanje, Malawi
Africa

Phone number 265 1 466 386

A letter from Karis;

Dear ONES,

Greetings from Malawi!! We hope this letter finds each of you well. Some of you may have not have heard the news of the arrival of our son, Brennan Seth. We are so blessed to have a precious healthy boy. He was born on August 14 in Johannesburg, South Africa. We so appreciate your prayers for us during this time. God undertook for us in such a wonderful way. We enjoyed the four weeks after his birth while we stayed in Jo-burg waiting on a birth certificate and passport. Not only did we have a great support system, I have to mention that the malls were great also.

Please click on this link to see pictures of Brennan: http://homepage.mac.com/karistward/Ward_pics/PhotoAlbum16.html

Also click on this link to our newsletter where you will find out more about
what’s going on here and more specifically how to pray: http://homepage.mac.com/karistward/Personal15.html

Praise and Prayer:
1. Praise the Lord for the sweet gift in Brennan
2. Pray that we would constantly seek His Face
3. Pray that our joy would come from Him no matter the circumstances
4. Pray for Stephen as he preaches in Chi chewa
5. PRAY FOR RAIN

Love,

Karis for Stephen and Brennan

P.S.
If the links don’t work go directly to our website.

www.homepage.mac.com/karistward

Pray for the Wards

Steve and Karis Ward’s website is back up. You can keep up with the latest news from Malawi, Karis’ pregnancy, Steve’s uhhhh motor vehicle mishaps and, of course, the mission.

Here’s an email from 6/14/05:

Stephen has been making weekly trips in to our ministry area which God has really guided. He has led him to meet some pastors in remote areas. It amazes me how God orchestrates these meetings, because there are no phones or way of communicating to them in the bush that Stephen is coming.

We both continue in language study. Being out here in Mulanje has really helped us because so few speak English so we are forced to speak ChiChewa. We desperately need your prayers in regards to language study. Please pray that God will help us retain the language and take every opportunity to practice. I spent 4 hours yesterday chatting with some women. Wow, talk about exhausting.

On July 17th we will be going to Lake Malawi for a week long mission meeting. On July 23rd I will be flying to Johannesburg to await the arrival of our baby boy. Stephen will probably join me the second week of August closer to the due date which is August 18th.

We want to thank our family and friends who have so graciously sent baby “stuff” over. We are so grateful for how God has provided through you.

We love to hear from you so write us when you can!! We also love to know your prayer needs.

Please take a moment and look at our website:

Steve and Karis Ward

God bless each of you. Your prayer support is our biggest encouragement.

Karis and Stephen Ward

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The Wards were our youth ministers for 3? years before leaving for Malawi, Africa with the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Church.

You can reach them at:

PO Box 105
Mulanje, Malawi
Africa

or

skward@malawi.net

If you want to support them financially, use the donate button to your right and specify that it is for Steve and Karis - we’ll see that it gets to them.