Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Bob and Stephanie Newton minister around the world
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Some people provide food for your body; some people provide food for your soul. Bob and Stephanie Newton provide both. They are a ministry based out of small-town Winfield, but their ministry goes way beyond. They have been in ministry since 1994 when they became youth pastors, then went into full time ministry in 2006.
“We have been traveling the United States for years and in 2023 it moved into missionary work beginning in Africa. We have now been to Africa twice, Argentina, Philippines, and Mexico, with more to come,” said Stephanie, adding, “we are going back to the Philippines, Argentina, and Germany next year! In the future, we will be traveling to more countries overseas, helping to start churches, starting Bible colleges, and supporting orphanages.”
The Newtons are licensed with an organization out of Des Moines called Kingsway Fellowship International (KFI). The organization licenses 2,900 ministers and missionaries in 52 nations.
“We love traveling, serving, supporting and telling others about Jesus,” Stephanie.
In the summertime, Bob also travels with a big tent and goes to inner cities to have church and reach the unreachable. Bob came out of a life of addiction and alcohol abuse and has a desire to reach those with the same problem and give them hope. He calls himself a “Hope Dealer,” explained Stephanie.
When asked to describe what their missions involved, Stephanie said they usually go with groups of 7-14 people depending on what needs to be accomplished. KFI holds conferences and workshops all over, but Bob and Stephanie choose which ones they are going to travel to.
Once they have arrived and are greeted by a local pastor, they are taken to a home or hotel to stay and rest up for the adventures that will begin on the following day. The trips usually last 7-14 days depending on how long it takes to travel there and the tasks that need to be done and what they desire to accomplish while there.
Most days are spent ministering to the locals, visiting churches, visiting schools and orphanages. Bob and Stephanie personally support many causes which have included purchasing a new transformer for an orphanage in Mexico ($4,000), a new well for an orphanage in the Philippines ($5,000) and new mattresses and provisions for an orphanage in Africa ($3,000).
“The orphanages are well kept and the children well cared for and loved, but money is in short supply,” said Stephanie. They depend primarily on donations to support them. “Both times we went to Africa, we took nine suitcases full of clothes, shoes, outdoor toys and school supplies. They appreciate anything you donate. It is very rewarding to see the smiles and get hugs from the children that are thankful for receiving gifts.”
Stephanie said she will try almost anything as far as food goes. Goat and African foods are her favorites so far, but two things she will not try is what in America are referred to as Rocky Mountain Oysters, only by a different name and animal and Balut (unhatched baby chick). Bob is not that adventurous; he sticks to mostly chicken and vegetables.
A custom that is widely observed in other countries is not using silverware. They prefer to use their hands as they believe it helps them connect with their food and nature. Stephanie says she still prefers to use utensils.
Bathroom facilities are something Stephanie said she had to get used to. Outhouses are still used although they are different than what we know as an outhouse. In Africa, they have a wooden shed with a hole in the ground or a slab of cement. In Mexico or the Philippines, they have a woodshed with a hole in the cement also or they may have a porcelain toilet with no lid or seat. And don’t forget to bring your own toilet paper!
Stephanie recalled a funny incident where she was in an outhouse in position while wearing a dress (which is customary in most please) and a lizard ran by her head. She said she let out a scream, but was “thankful it was only a lizard and not a spider!” At least outhouses are enclosed, giving one a measure of privacy.
It would take a book to write all the adventures Bob and Stephanie have experienced while doing ministry these last 31 years, but there is one image that has stuck with Stephanie. While visiting the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, a small naked 3-year-old girl was running around after playing in a sewer creek. That image sums up the conditions in which they live.
She said they also had to have bodyguards while walking through there as one man had a machete and jumped on the back of their van. “You want to help everyone, but you just can’t. You just do what you can.” Stephanie said.
When giving advice to anyone wanting to go on a mission trip, Stephanie says, “Everyone should go on one! It will change your life!” But she advises people to go with someone experienced as you are vulnerable and it can be dangerous. “It is definitely not for the faint of heart, but very rewarding.”
If you would like to know more about Powerhouse Ministries or KFI, you can visit these websites.
If you wish to donate to their work, you can be sure the benefits of the money donated will go directly to their mission work to help meet the needs of the people they are ministering to.
Bob and Stephanie reside in Winfield, have four grown sons, three granddaughters and have been married 28 years.
