21 years ago, we packed up a moving van and left pastoral ministry in South Jersey to begin an adventure in faith.  The very core of our calling was anchored in an encounter that I had with Jesus when I was 18.  Kneeling in a prayer chapel on the campus of Asbury University, I heard an inward, audible voice from The Holy Spirit.  I had asked in prayer for the Lord to tell me what He wanted me to do with my life.  This was His response:

“I want you to win as many people to Jesus as fast as you can.”

That encounter changed me, immediately.  I felt a burden for souls for the first time in my life and I also felt an urgency.  I changed my major from History (I planned to go to Law School) to Bible.  A year later I started my ministry by pastoring a little one room church with an outhouse in Eastern Kentucky.  Five years later after graduating from college and then Seminary, we began our full-time ministry in South Jersey.

In 1992, we left my home state to travel full-time as an evangelist with a ministry back in KY called The Francis Asbury Society.  In 1995, we planted a church that planted churches called The Great Commission Fellowship.  And in 2006, we felt a clear call to invest in 24/7 prayer in Kansas City and then Atlanta.

That’s 21 years of ministry away from the coast, away from home.

In less than two weeks, we will once again pack a moving truck.  But this time, we will be moving east not west!  We are Jersey bound and I am overjoyed.

The call on our life hasn’t changed.  We are still committed to winning as many people to Jesus as fast as we can.  The Lord has helped us learn a whole lot in the last 21 years about church planting, missions and prayer.  And we are using every bit of that knowledge in our ministry called The Malachi Network (www.malachinetwork.org).  We have the amazing privilege of providing a covering, both spiritually and practically, for 40 young leaders in missions and church planting.

The Purpose of our network is “making the name of the LORD great among the nations.” (Malachi 1:11)

We are committed to these four values:

1.  The Convergence of Mission and Prayer – Malachi 1:11

2.  The Knowledge of God — Malachi 2:7

3.  Preparation for the Lord’s return — Malachi 3:1

4.  Mentoring the Next Generation — Malachi 4:6

We are still on an adventure of faith.  We live entirely on the support of people who believe in us and our ministry.  Would you pray for us in this next season?

If you would like to know more about The Malachi Network and the goals we have for the coming year, please email me at:  richstevenson63@gmail.com.