International Partner from Malawi Visits Stonecroft’s Home Office
Emmanuel Chirambo, our international partner in Malawi, visited Stonecroft’s Home Office Dec. 12 to share how God is at work across his country. He and his co-workers use Stonecroft Bible Studies and Stonecroft Life Publications to share the Gospel in communities, schools, and prisons. Much of Emmanuel’s ministry focuses on reaching Muslims and empowering women.
He recently acquired two properties where he and his team will build houses for widows and orphan girls. These homes will be used for Bible studies, discipleship courses, and vocational training. He also plans to develop an outreach medical clinic and a library with SBSs and other Stonecroft resources available to the women and girls. “Please pray for these new initiatives, that they will be fruitful and that we will be able to share the Word of God with as many people as possible,” Emmanuel said.
After his presentation during a luncheon with staff, staff members gathered around Emmanuel for a powerful time of prayer for him and his ministry.
Photo above: From left, Lorraine Potter Kalal, President and CEO; Doris Thompson, Vice President of Outreach; Emmanuel Chirambo; and Maddison Berciunas, Outreach Coordinator
Stonecroft Adds Two Staff Members
Two women recently joined Stonecroft’s staff – one on the field in our Western Division and the other in our Home Office in Overland Park, Kansas. Autumn Katz began her role as Western Divisional Field Director Jan. 2, serving an area that includes Southern California and the West Coast. Mandy Coltharp joined our Accounting Team as Accounting and Payroll Processing Clerk on Jan. 16.
Autumn lives in Long Beach, California, with her husband and their four children. Autumn brings 13 years of ministry experience to her new position. Her background includes work as an entrepreneur, youth minister, worship leader, musician, public servant, administrator, and communicator. She also has served in overseas missions.
From Manhattan, Kansas, Mandy brings 14 years of customer service experience to Stonecroft. Mandy served as a lead accounting office associate for Wal-Mart and worked as a teen mentoring coordinator at a Kansas State University learning center, both in Manhattan. She also worked for a nonprofit that provides a safe home for homeless young mothers and their babies.
Welcome, Autumn and Mandy!
Three Hubs Launched in January
We’re thrilled to announce the launching of three Stonecroft hubs during January – one in Woodbridge, Virginia, about 20 miles south of Washington, D.C.; one in northeast Knoxville, Tennessee; and the other in Kansas City, Missouri. So far, we have 25 Stonecroft hubs in communities across the United States!
The Woodbridge hub (shown in photo above) is the second established in Virginia; another hub was launched in April 2017 in Richmond, Virginia’s capital city. The Knoxville and Kansas City hubs mark the second hub to be established in each of those metropolitan areas.
Primarily led by young women, each of our 25 hubs is a local volunteer organization of Christian women of all ages who are passionate to share the Gospel with friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Volunteers gather in these community-based groups to receive training about how to share the Gospel. They also meet for prayer, outreach planning, and community building.
To learn more, go to stonecroft.org/hubs.
Military Volunteers See God Do ‘Immeasurably More’ during Holidays
Stonecroft Military volunteers saw God do “immeasurably more” (Ephesians 3:20, NIV) this past Christmas season when some last-minute opportunities arose to reach out to military families.
Just before Christmas, volunteers Teasia Levin and Nicole Salmond — at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming — talked to several women who said they felt overwhelmed during the holidays and didn’t have close friends or family nearby. Teasia and Nicole followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting and organized — in just a week — the “Frozen Mitten Christmas Tea.” Ten women and 14 children showed up. Volunteers served tea, soup, and dessert and performed a skit featuring Santa hats representing challenges faced by women during the holidays. The team also built relationships and promoted a new small group Bible study on base. One pregnant woman who attended didn’t have family in the area, so the other women and Military volunteers decided to plan a baby shower for her in January.
“When God wants to do something, He for sure knows how to do it!” says Teasia, who serves on Stonecroft’s National Military Team.
Meanwhile, at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, National Military Team member Debbie Harrell got a short-notice request from a chaplain to provide cookies and punch for 150 families attending an event called “Operation Santa’s Lift.” Debbie had just three days to round up more than 700 cookies and seven gallons of apple cider. Since she’d moved to Georgia just a few months earlier, she didn’t have a large group of local friends to help.
“So I said a prayer, asking and trusting God to provide for the need,” Debbie recalls. God provided 725 cookies and 12 gallons of cider through some Women’s Connection volunteers and neighbors who learned about it on Facebook. It was “Ephesians 3:20 lived out,” she says. “When we each can do our little, God will do much — exceedingly, abundantly more than we ask or expect.”
Stonecroft Hosts Story Marks Outreach in Kansas City
Stonecroft hosted a Story Marks outreach Jan. 25 at Monarch Coffee in Kansas City, Missouri, featuring 15 women and the stories behind their tattoos. The women’s portraits, photographed by Rachel Cohen, were displayed in the event space of the popular coffee shop, located in Kansas City’s historic Valentine neighborhood. Jessica Leep Fick, Stonecroft Evangelism Resources Director, shared her faith story at the gathering, one of several Story Marks outreaches held in cities across the U.S. in recent months.
Interested in hosting a Story Marks in your area? Visit stonecroft.org/storymarks.
’40 Days of Freedom’ to be Highlighted on Social Media during Lent
“40 Days of Freedom” will be posted on various Stonecroft social media pages during the Lenten season. Pray that God will use these posts to draw nonbelieving women to begin a forever relationship with Jesus and to inspire Christ-followers to a deeper walk with Him. This year Lent begins on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
Join us for Easter Prays!
Want to make a difference in the lives of women around you this Easter? Share the gift of prayer with them as you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Visit stonecroft.org/easter-prays to find out how you can participate in “Easter Prays.” This prayer outreach begins the first day of Lent (Feb. 14) and runs through Easter Sunday, April 1.