Kathie and Steve Arnold
Location: Based in Flower Mound, Texas; training leaders and overseeing ministries in Russia, Albania, Kenya, and Ukraine.
Missionary Agency: Come and Sew Ministries
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Steve and Kathie’s mission is to share the Gospel of Christ and provide life skills training through long-term discipleship and prayer. They accomplish this work by using “creative life skills evangelism,” which involves training and partnering with evangelical churches and mission programs in countries around the world to host sewing classes. They also walk alongside many of these churches and programs to help them implement spiritual and economic change in their areas.
Their ministry motto is: “Christ is our mission, and sewing and skills is our method.” The people reached by Come and Sew Ministries (CASMI) are the poor, widows, single moms, orphans, trafficked women, and the abused. Criteria is strict for those wanting to be trained in life skills, and each student is required to attend Bible study and prayer time with a trained leader from their culture. Many of CASMI’s students are coming to Christ after being loved deeply and taught well by tailors and spiritual leaders in their culture.
Steve shares: “Kathie ran a sewing school in our home teaching women and children to sew for 12 years. Though ‘ministry’ was not initially the intent, many students were reached with the love of Christ as they stayed after class and allowed Kathie to minister to their hurts. During this time, God also used our home to give guests an example of how we serve one another. When we began to travel and establish ministry to other cultures, God opened many opportunities for our now 50+ years of marriage to minister to many.”
Their first trip began in 2001 as a fact-finding trip to Russia at the behest of Josh McDowell Ministries, with the goal of bringing the Gospel into state-run orphanages through sewing classes. God allowed them 10 years going to Russia yearly, where Kathie’s sewing curriculum and creative evangelism outreach impacted many orphanage teachers, pastors and Sunday school teachers.
After those 10 years in Russia, where God taught Steve and Kathie so much about listening, leading, and His grace on the journey, Kathie was asked to go to Albania to help the widows. The key verse God has written on their hearts is James 1:27, “Visit orphans and widows in their distress.” They continue to be God’s servants to do this and to let God work in their lives to obey the end of the verse: “Keep oneself unstained by the world.”
God has opened up doors for them to help establish sewing outreach in several locations in Africa where others help lead and make a way for poor widows and women in Eswatini, Uganda and outreach to orphans they met in Kenya. They have worked over 10 years in Albania with widows since the first trip in 2012. Albanian leaders share that 80% of those that attend the CASMI sewing courses are coming to Christ and continuing to serve the Lord and bring family members to Christ, as well.
Today, Steve and Kathie’s roles are to encourage their leaders, teach when necessary, and plan, execute, and fund new outreaches in each country. Each project has different needs, so their roles involve many tasks. In general, each project involves prayer, friendship, discipleship, teaching, mentoring, and financial wisdom and leadership. Leaders they work with and have trusted relationships with are from Russia, Albania, Kenya, Uganda, Eswatini, and Ukraine, as well as many US ministry leaders that use CASMI program guidelines.
Steve and Kathie give God all the glory and are faithful to keep a strong prayer team that prays for each of the ladies and leaders who disciple and share Christ in each country. They encourage you to join this team and recognize it is the reason GOD alone gets the glory for all He is doing. Their story is one of using your gifts for His glory and going where He calls.
Steve and Kathie have 4 adult children and 14 grandchildren, and they have been members of Stonebriar Community Church since 2001.
Hobbies & Interests: Steve and Kathie love to play cards and board games of all kinds. They both enjoy reading, camping, traveling, gardening, spending time with family, and staying active. Kathie also loves to sew, of course, and Steve likes to do creative building projects.