Meet the Arman Family
Chris and Julie met in France in 1997 when he was visiting our Greater Grace Church there, Julie’s homechurch. They were both missionaries in Budapest, Hungary when they met again a few years later and started dating in October 2000. Chris had shared with Julie how much Africa was on his heart and how he thought God wanted him to be a missionary there. After visiting Ghana together (Julie’s first time in Africa in January, 2003), they were engaged and then married in Baltimore in July, 2003.
A year later, in 2004, they moved to Lusaka Zambia with a missionary team from our Greater Grace Church, until 2006. They were blessed with two beautiful daughters, Callia and Poema, and after three years in Baltimore, they moved back to Zambia in 2009.
After all these years on the mission field, God has led them to the country of Malawi. They moved their little family and their furniture across the border to Malawi, in December of 2012. “It is only by God’s Grace and by Faith that we are following in God’s plan for us,” says Julie. “Now we are a family of five. Our son, Noah Christopher was born in 2015.”
Malawi is a landlocked country about the size of Pennsylvania. Located in southeast Africa, it is surrounded by Mozambique, Zambia, and Tanzania. Lake Malawi, formerly Lake Nyasa, occupies most of the country’s eastern border. The north-south Rift Valley is flanked by mountain ranges and high plateau areas.
Population: 16 million; Religion: Christianity (80%) and Islam(20%)
Capital: Lilongwe
Malawi’s economy revolves around agriculture, which supports well over 80% of the population.
Maize is grown as the staple food for home consumption. However, tobacco, tea, cotton, coffee and sugar are important for trade. Agricultural produce brings in more than 80% of the country’s export earnings.
Tea is Malawi’s second largest export crop and is grown mostly in the southern districts of Thyolo and Mulanje.
Manufacturing in this small landlocked country is minimal. Most industry is based in or around the commercial city of Blantyre in the south.
Warm Fall Greetings,
Those that still have Daylight Savings Time know about “Spring Ahead/Fall Behind”. We want to flip the script and “Fall Ahead”. We are trusting God for a great Fall Season whether we have Daylight Savings Time or not. God is empowering our precious Malawian and Namibian Brothers and Sisters to take great strides in His Kingdom.
Bible College. With our family having an extended furlow in Baltimore, we are so encouraged to see the churches in Malawi going forward in God’s calling. The first Bible College class run solely by our Admin team had a great turn out of 70 people of registration. With other students coming day after day, we are believing God for a great year ahead.
Radio. Our church in Malawi has been on National radio for the past 7 years. 6 of those years were on the same station that was owned by the family of the previous president. Coming with the change in power to a new political party, the current party shut down our beloved Galaxy Radio. We loved the station especially because the studio was across the street from our house. We used have different people from our church coming into the studio to interview them. By the Grace of God, the closing of Galaxy Radio did not mean the end of Grace Moments Radio Program. We are now on a youth focussed station called Timveni Radio. The format is a little different since they do not have physical studios. We send in recordings of the Malawian pastor’s messages and play them every week. The radio station broadcasts into the whole nation which gives everyone a chance to hear the Grace and Finished Work Message.
Christian School. We are still continuing our vision for a K-3 Christian School. We have made great progress in building and are about 2/3 of the way finished. We have raised the money for the digging of a well and $1000 toward completing the structure. Once it is finished, we will rent out the front half of the classrooms that face the main road to raise money for the church. Our aim is to make the church self-sustaining and that the shops and school would raise the rest of the money to build more classrooms up to 8th grade.
For more information and to read their blog, go to www.ggwo.org and click the tab for Greater Grace Mission News and find the one for Malawi.
Meet The Robbins Family
At the beginning of 2022, we began supporting the Robbins Family and their work in Izmir, Turkey. Roger and Liz, together with their children Paige, Hazel, and Dodge, are bringing the Light of Christ to that region.
“Seeing our young Turkish students learning from their teachers with joy and faithfulness makes our hearts just about burst with pride and gratitude!
“We have a faithful group of students who come to our house every week. They are university students or full-time working, and yet they have prioritized maturing in their faith. After every class, we have a Q&A time, and it’s always a great time of discussion. These believers are the future of Greater Grace Izmir, and we thank God for them!”
Robbins Family Update: Transitions and New Opportunities
As most of you know, our family moved back to the States this past June. We are still in a period of transition, but our hearts are full of peace knowing that God brought us back and He continues to work in us and in Turkey. Our three kids are two months into school at GGCA, our church’s affiliated private Christian school. After 4 years of homeschooling in Izmir, this is a huge change for them in so many ways (new country/culture, learning in a classroom setting, English-speaking peers…just to name a few) and we are just so proud of them for their courage and flexibility. Our kids continue to teach us so much.
Paige (6th grade) played on her middle school volleyball team. It was her first time playing an organized sport on a team, with practices and games every week. She loved it! Liz signed on to be the assistant coach so she had front row seats to watching Paige learn the sport, work on her skills and mental tenacity as well as sportsmanship and team spirit. This is something that wasn’t available to our kids in Izmir and we are thankful for it!
In addition to running his business, Roger has started volunteering at our church in the Inreach Department, specifically spearheading a “Newcomers” program that aims at welcoming, teaching and connecting newcomers to the church. His heart for the disconnected, lonely, or disenfranchised is being used so clearly — God is faithful to use us in ways that are life-giving to us and its amazing!
Roger and Liz have been given another new and exciting opportunity. They are podcast hosts for the longstanding daily show “The Grace Hour” that Greater Grace Church puts on live every day at 11 AM EST. They have the Monday slot and have been able to talk about all kinds of great topics like discipleship, early church fathers, intimacy & sex, and so much more! You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and other podcast platforms.
We are so excited to be in Izmir next month and expecting God to do miracles through the concerts.
Thank you for being with us in this. Your financial support is funding every aspect of this incredible
opportunity. Your love and prayers carry so much weight as we begin to plan.
Please keep us in prayer!
