Dear Friends,
What a pleasure it is
to serve God! We praise God for the privilege of reaching souls for Christ. It
is a joy to worship the Lord together with God's people around the country.
We celebrated our 31st
wedding anniversary this year for which we praise the Lord. Debbie's back
home! Her mother is not recovering well, but Debbie has done all she can for
now. We are both well and very happy to be back together serving the Lord.
Thank you for
your fervent prayer and faithful financial support without which we can
accomplish very little. We thank the Lord for His daily provision and care.
You have probably
noticed that not many people get saved at our meetings. That bothered us for a
while; however, the Lord has shown us that he is primarily using us to reach
God's people in the areas of revival and equipping them to go out and reach
others for Christ.
So often what we see is
that people get so busy in their work, home, and life in general that God is no
longer first in their lives.
Norman's sermons most
often are basic reminders of what the children of God should be doing--simple
reminders to witness, read their Bibles, pray, go to church regularly, live a
holy, pure life before God and people, praise the Lord and be thankful no matter
what the circumstances, perform the vows they have made to God, and keep their
sin confessed before God continually. All these things are things we already
know; but having a tendency to get relaxed in these areas, we are usually too
busy to notice that we are no longer walking with God.
When talking to people
after a service; the comment most often made is, "That was not something we
don’t already know; but, oh, how we need to be reminded of this." When
reminding the children of God of their responsibilities, as they begin to
reapply these things into their lives, they in turn begin witnessing again and
can be more effective in reaching the lost in their neighborhoods and beyond.
We are ever thankful
for God's goodness and mercy. We asked in the last newsletter for prayer in the
area of consistent attendance of the people at our meetings and for God to open
the eyes of people who have attended. Praise the Lord, our meetings are going
well and we are having good attendance and many decisions.
We pray that the many
decisions people make at our meetings will be true and lasting. If you have
made decisions at our meetings or elsewhere, please remember them and stay
steadfast in those decisions made.
Please be in prayer
with us for souls to be saved, as well as for God's people to be challenged to
serve God, especially in the area of renewing their efforts to reach the lost.
We would appreciate
your prayers for safety in our travels, for our health to stay good, and that we
may stay true and steadfast in the things of the Lord.
It would be
helpful and less costly to us, if we could e-mail our Ministry Newsletter to
you. If that would be convenient for you, please send your e-mail address to us.
Thanks!
We have been very busy
already this year. In January, we had meetings in Florida and Wisconsin.
We began February with
the Heart Conference in Wisconsin. We held four 4-day meetings, one 6-day
meeting and five 1-day meetings in Wisconsin during the months of February and
March.
At the end of March, we
headed to the state of Washington for a four-day meeting. For April, we went to
Oregon for a month of one-day meetings in the state as we were allowed the
privilege of meeting some new pastors and churches.
It has been a blessing,
as well as a privilege, to be with all the churches thus far this year.
We hope you are
encouraged to hear how God is using this ministry. Once again, your financial
gift and prayer support is very much appreciated. By giving you are sharing in
the fruits of this ministry, making God's work possible.
We pray that the Lord
may find you faithful in His service. May our God bless you with much fruit for
your labors.
His
servants,
Norman & Debbie Stevens
MINISTRY NEWSLETTERS
