When they are seeing God’s blessings on the field, I jokingly tell BBTI graduates that they are having too much fun, and we must stay here where life is boring.
Tayler and Lorin Norris are certainly enjoying their work in Zambia. Tayler was born into a godly home in the Azores Islands, Portugal. His father was in the United States Air Force. Like many children in Christian homes, he made a profession of faith at an early age. However, as he grew older, he realized that he was not saved. He trusted Christ at age twenty while in Bible college. Lorin was born in Oregon and grew up in a Christian home. She accepted Christ at age twelve. Both Tayler and Lorin were homeschooled.
Lorin’s parents, Jeff and Nanci Klein, came to BBTI in 2007 when Lorin was in her youth. The Klein family served in Argentina, working with the Mapuche Indians for several years. During a furlough, the Klein family met the Norris family, and after a long-distance relationship, Tayler and Lorin married.
When the Norris family felt the call of God to go to Africa, it was natural for them to attend BBTI and obtain the Advanced Missionary Training. They graduated in 2021.They are sent by Coast Hills Baptist Church in Santa Maria, California and assisted through Baptist International Mission Inc.
Their plan was to go to Mozambique, but the Lord redirected them to Zambia where they arrived in April 2022. They settled in the city of Chipata (population 300,000) and began serving with a veteran missionary family.
When Tayler and Lorin began learning Chichewa, they found their BBTI training to be a great help. English is the official language in Zambia, and they became very busy in ministry. Language learning requires careful planning and discipline, and ministry can conflict with language learning. Chichewa is a tonal language. With one tone chimbuzi means “toilet” and with a slight tone change it becomes “big goat.”
God has given the Norris family many opportunities to minister. In August 2022, they hosted a medical clinic in the village of Chiyembekezo where they treated 1,000 people and gave them a Gospel witness. Soon after, they began the Hope Bible Baptist Church in that town. By door-to-door visitation and Bible studies, the church has grown rapidly. Also, Tayler taught in a village Bible institute. This is much needed because, as hard as it is to believe, even some local Baptist pastors would say salvation is gained by good works, keeping the Ten Commandments, and baptism. In January 2025, they began a new church plant, Sunrise Baptist, in Katete, a city of nearly 80,000.
Lorin, besides being a wife, mother, and homeschool teacher, also teaches junior church. Her class started with forty to sixty children but grew to one hundred eighty! Talk about fun! Most Zambian churches have no ministry for children.
Pray for the Norris family. Medical help in Zambia is not always good. Enoch broke his arm. They took him from one hospital to another looking for one with an x-ray machine and a pediatric doctor. Two days later the bones were set. But while in the hospital, the metal curtain rod fell and cut his head.
The Norris’ fun will be diminished this year because they need to come back on furlough to visit supporting churches and new ones to raise more support. Perhaps your church could have them for a meeting. Contact them at: norrisfamilyministry@gmail.com.
Spring 2026