Wendell and Misti Stevens always have had a passion for missionary work.
Whether it's serving the local church or traveling abroad to underprivileged areas, they believe their Christian mission is to support the communities in which God placed them.
Recently, Misti, a College of Education adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University, and Wendell, curriculum developer for Grand Canyon Education, traveled to Malawi, Africa, for 10 days to distribute Bibles and teach about God and the Christian faith.
“God has done so much for us, it would be impossible not to share Him,” Misti said. “I have been able to learn how to teach (the Bible), and it is my mission to teach. I bring the principles of God into my classroom to share that with people who can go do it when I can’t anymore.”
The Stevens' were introduced to the need for ministry in Malawi in 2018, when they met a missionary from that country on their trip to Israel.
When they asked how they could help, they were certain the answer would be financial support. Instead, the missionary told them they needed teachers who could explain the Bible to Malawi people, Wendell shared.
“Since both of us are professional teachers, we thought, we like to teach. Let’s go,” Wendell said.
The Stevens’ have returned to Malawi six times, including their most recent visit this summer. They spent their time ministering through classes, lessons and activities that taught them how to read the Bible and practically live out Christian principles.
Wendell hosted men’s classes, while Misti gathered with the women, together reaching roughly 14,000 locals.
Though they have gotten to know some of the residents there over the years, their continued warm welcome and excitement to participate in the classes have never ceased to amaze Wendell and Misti.
After landing in Malawi this summer and heading to dinner, Misti received an unexpected call from the local church pastor, telling her the women could not wait until tomorrow’s Bible study and that they were already at the church, camping outside.
“They were begging me to come that night,” Misti said. “The culture is very male-centric, so the women weren’t given Bibles. Men would sit in chairs, women would sit on the ground, and when we tried to ask for me to teach women, their response was that it wasn’t necessary (during their first visit).
“I asked them about scriptures, Acts and Titus, where it says older women are to teach the younger women, and they had no answer. I told them, I will go home and get enough Bibles to take to Malawi if that’s what it takes.”
Because Malawi doesn’t receive women missionaries often, Misti’s classes for women were significantly larger than Wendell’s classes for men.
From the 14,000 locals that attended classes, roughly 11,000 were women, Wendell shared.
In partnership with Church of Christ, a global network of Christian congregations that have a local church in the Valley and Malawi, the Stevenses began building a collection of Bibles to distribute in Malawi every summer.
This year, they raised roughly $40,000 and handed out more than 5,000 Bibles.
“Here in the U.S., you can probably drive to Walmart and get a Bible,” Wendell said. “But over there, there are maybe three places you can get a Bible in the entire country, and for them, it’s about two weeks' pay to buy a Bible.”
Added Misti, “There is nothing like when you give a Bible to someone who has wanted one all their life and has been told no. You hand them the Bible, and they just collapse to the ground, saying thank you and God bless you. You know it’s not you, it’s God that has provided this.”
After one of Misti’s classes, the couple had prepared boxes of Bibles to distribute to a room full of women. As they were nearing the end and the Bible stack was getting smaller, Wendell began worrying they wouldn’t have enough, he said.
But as they reached the end, there was one woman left in line and one Bible left in stock. There were exactly enough Bibles for the crowd.
“I was praying, God, please make this work and multiply items so it gets to the right number,” Wendell said. “It’s so heartbreaking when you get to the end and you don’t have enough, but we had 624 Bibles, and there were 624 women. It was just astounding to me.”
The crowds grew bigger each day, and the Stevenses were blown away by how zealous and desperate the people were to learn about God and to own Bibles.
Some walked miles to get to the church where Misti and Wendell were teaching and slept on the ground so they wouldn’t miss the following day's activities, Misti shared.
“We’ve always felt God’s work,” Wendell said. “He has given us the opportunities, and He will make them work. Don’t feel like you have to go to Africa to make a difference. All of us are in the mission field right where we are.”
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