In December and January, we saw a record number of students gather for conferences around the world for training in prayer, evangelism and discipleship. We are very encouraged by what the Lord is doing in the emerging generation as many of these students commit themselves to being instruments in the Lord’s hands for the furtherance of His Kingdom.
Here are just a few of these conferences:
1. In South Korea, 7 000 students attended prayer and fasting days in 12 locations.
2. In Hong Kong, during the conference, a “Life & Death Education” experience was a profoundly impactful exercise, where students simulated the end of life with mock coffins and funeral photos of themselves. They considered the questions: “If life is so fragile, what is the meaning of life?” and “Who is truly the King of my life?”
By the end of the conference, over 50 students had surrendered to the calling to full-time service. Many had discovered their new identity in God and their new mission — to be a witness of this gospel of “radical rest” to a restless generation.
3. In the U.S.A., 12 Winter conferences took place with 7 200 students attending.
Here in Orlando, three students left the Winter conference with car trouble. They called an Uber, and during the ride, they shared the gospel with their driver, John. By the time they reached their destination, John had placed his faith in Christ.
Meanwhile, at the Minneapolis conference, a first year student named Braden — who wasn’t a believer — attended with his friend Evan. After watching his peers live out their faith for two days, his intellectual barriers began to fall. During the conference while driving in a car with friends, Braden suddenly yelled out, “I want to trust Christ!” His friends explained how he could do that, and Braden received Christ right there in the car.
We thank God for each of the students. Join us in praying for them for boldness and faith as they live for Jesus.
We had a wonderful visit to Argentina in December to see Monica as she completed her semester abroad. We were in awe of the beauty of the places we explored and grateful to experience another part of God’s creation. You can enjoy a few photos from our trip at the bottom of the page.
We are also encouraged by what God is doing around the world:
The “JESUS” Film has now been translated into 2,259 languages. Last year, every two seconds someone indicated a decision to follow Jesus, and the YouTube channel surpassed 3 million subscribers just before Christmas.
Digital Outreach: In a North African country closed to the gospel, an online ad asking “How Do We Get Closer to God?” led to 1,100 conversations and the discovery of two believers—one of whom has already seen a friend come to faith.
East Asia: More than 5,000 people, many of them students, joined short-term mission trips in 2025—a 40% increase from two years ago.
Europe: Cross-cultural mission trips have more than doubled in number. Here is just one story – In Prague, a team from the United States met a student who had read the New Testament on her own and believed it because she was inspired by a TV series character who had also read the Bible. She had never been to church and didn’t know any Christians. That day, she met Christians and is now being discipled
Looking forward to 2026: The U.S., Canada and Mexico are jointly creating a campaign for the Soccer World Cup, called Victory: Beyond the Cup. People will be captivated by the competition — and it’s an opportunity to point hearts to something greater than any victory on the field: the eternal hope found only in Jesus. We are praying this strategy will maximize the moment of the World Cup to empower 100,000 Christians and 10,000 churches with tools to share Jesus with their neighbors.
Prayer Requests:
Praise the Lord for Monica’s amazing semester in Argentina.
Praise the Lord for the progress we see in the gospel going out around the world.
Pray for stamina and provision for our missionaries as they faithfully serve the Lord.
Pray for wisdom and guidance as we seek to be obedient to the Lord every day.
As we celebrate the miracle of Christ’s birth, we pray that you experience the “exceeding great joy” described in Matthew 2:10. What a privilege it is to share that joy and hope with others.
Highlights:
Kenneth began his career as a surveyor, moved to a new city, and is building a solid community of friends. His stories—from chasing rattlesnakes on farmland to flying drones over forests and cityscapes—keep us entertained and grateful for God’s protection.
Monica spent a semester in Argentina and visited Antarctica – She loved every moment. Her host family, faithful followers of Jesus, welcomed her into their church and home. She also hiked extensively and delighted in the breathtaking beauty of Ushuaia.
Marie implemented a secure, integrated communications platform for our missionaries around the world—a 20-year dream finally realized.
Stefan witnessed new churches being planted and leaders rising up to carry the work forward across many regions.
Lowlights:
Stefan’s mom suffered two traumatic falls and underwent surgeries within a month, eventually needing to move into assisted living.
The opportunities before us in ministry continue to outpace our capacity. The harvest is truly plentiful, and the weight of so many open doors is both exciting and humbling.
Through it all, we remain deeply grateful. Thank you for your friendship, prayers, encouragement, and support throughout 2025. You have been a tangible expression of God’s grace to us.
May the Lord bless you richly this Christmas and use you in ways that bring His hope and light to others.
A missionary recently shared, “I can’t remember another season when I’ve seen so many people come to faith in Jesus.” What a statement of joy! And what’s even more encouraging is that we are hearing this same refrain from teams in many nations.
Just last week, our missionaries serving among students worldwide gathered for their quarterly virtual meeting. Their reports were overflowing with good news — this year, they have already seen a 27% increase in the number of students hearing the gospel and a 40% increase in students becoming multiplying disciples — young believers who, like in 2 Timothy 2:2, are helping others follow Jesus and do the same. Praise God!
Here’s more from the missionary in Chicago who shared that inspiring line above:
“Through our Roseland outreaches alone, at least 75 individuals indicated decisions to invite Christ into their lives!
We partnered with local church leaders to set up prayer and outreach booths at two community festivals. Handing out cookies opened the door for over 350 spiritual conversations with adults and another 350 with children — many of whom began a relationship with Jesus.
Darrell, a man from a Hindu background, stopped by for cookies but expressed curiosity about Jesus. After an hour-long conversation with our team, Darrell chose to put his faith in Christ as his Savior.”
Stories like these fill us with wonder and deep gratitude — for God’s work in people’s lives, and for your faithful prayers and partnership that make these moments possible. Together, we are seeing the gospel reach hearts in places and ways that only God could orchestrate.
Photo credit to Monica Dell – these are King penguins from Argentina. They are over 1 meters tall. The chubby brown ones are the juveniles. Their coats aren’t as compact as the adults, so they look much bigger.
Please join us in prayer:
Praise God for the many open doors and hearts ready to receive the gospel.
Pray for wisdom, stamina, and grace for Marie as she helps solve complex challenges that will strengthen how we communicate with and resource our missionaries globally.
Pray for Monica’s protection as she travels to Antarctica (12-22 Nov.) — and praise God for this unique opportunity she has to witness there.
I (Marie) just returned from meetings with our Global Executive Team. The highlight of our time together is always hearing the latest stories of what God is doing around the world.
Josh Newell, our leader for Jesus Film Project®, shared about an encounter with a church-planting pastor from Germany: “I mentioned my role with Jesus Film Project, and he immediately replied, ‘Jesus Film? Thank you for saving my church. We were dying. My leaders and I were praying, “Lord, send a revival in our midst.”’
“He led us to see the community around us. It was full of refugees and immigrants from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.”
God led this pastor to host church dinners for refugees and show them ‘JESUS.’ They were given a computer memory card with the film in many languages, and they were able to use it in their video projector.
“People began coming to faith — Iranians, Iraqis and others. Not only were they coming to know Jesus, but the pastor told me they began sharing in their immigrant communities, resulting in a revival. Their church was saved … reborn, a multicultural church!”
We also heard from a war-torn country in Africa. Despite this reality, our team shared the gospel with 323,388 people over the last 12 months, and 45,602 have indicated decisions for Christ.
A staff member shared, “We are encouraged by how God is using the war to change lives. Our staff and disciples are even more determined in sharing their faith amid the insecurity going on in our country.”
We trust these stories encourage you too. Thank you for your prayers and support of our family.
Prayer Requests:
Thank the Lord that Monica is enjoying her studies in Argentina and that Kenneth successfully moved into his apartment close to where he works (about an hour from our home in Orlando).
Praise the Lord for the recovery of Stefan’s Mom after two falls and surgeries.
Stefan and I are both coordinating big projects at the moment. Pray for wisdom, clarity and creativity to help solve some of our obstacles.
We are safely back in Orlando after a wonderful visit to South Africa. We were very happy to reconnect with our children, but this time we are finding the transition from winter to the very hot and humid weather quite a challenge.
Monica, our daughter, spent 8 weeks on a missions project in California. We thought you would enjoy reading some of her experiences. Here is what she shared with her partners.
“Thank you for your support and prayers! I just wanted to send some updates from my time on the Lake Tahoe Summer Mission (LTSM). It was beautiful to see how God worked through our time on the beaches, at work, and in community.
Workplace Evangelism: Living for God
I spent the summer working at a coffeeshop, Heaven’s Little Cafe, along with two others from LTSM. It was a blessing to have wonderful coworkers and managers who we were able to connect with, including a Christian exchange student from Jordan. We were able to encourage them to pursue a personal relationship with Christ and it was touching to see how many coworkers showed up to hang out with us during our last few days, including some of their kids. One of our regular customers expressed, “We’re going to miss you, you guys really brought so much light and life to this place.” Our time was a powerful reminder that a life focused on Christ is noticeable and impactful to those around you.
Similarly, many other LTSM students worked at McDonald’s, and on one of our last days, a high school coworker named Angel gave his life to Christ. Students had intentionally pursued him throughout the summer and he shared that he had never been loved like that before. Angel’s story is a challenge for all of us Christians to love intentionally and not neglect to love our cashiers, coworkers, and drive-through workers.
Beach Evangelism: So that everyone may know
Every Sunday afternoon, we would go out at different beaches and engage strangers about their beliefs and spiritual journeys. It was honestly terrifying in the beginning, but also rewarding to see how God opened up incredible conversations in answer to our prayers. On the first Sunday we went, I met a guy named Frankie and we were able to sit with him for almost two hours listening to him and sharing our testimonies and faith. By the end of the time, he was able to make a decision to follow Jesus. Unfortunately, he had to go to work, but please continue to pray for him as he seeks Christ, and for the many others like him that are earnestly waiting to hear about Jesus.
Over the summer, our group of 67 students had:
875 spiritual conversations
150 gospel conversations that brought people to a point of decision
28 people put their faith in Jesus.
Community – Life group
While the focus of the trip was evangelism, there was also a lot of time to build community and grow closer to God. We were all assigned Life groups of 3-7 people at the beginning of the summer, and it was beautiful getting to grow closer to the 4 other girls in my group. I was asked to lead my life group, and that was a real privilege. We studied John and James together and built a tight bond. They have gone back to different places across the US; while I’ll miss them all, I’m excited to see the impact they have on their campuses and communities.
I just really wanted to thank you for saying yes to God in sending me to Lake Tahoe this summer. I personally had a lot of doubts about going, but God worked through your incredible support to confirm that He wanted me there. It was encouraging to see that our God is alive and on the move, and I’m excited to see where He continues to move and how He will guide me.
To Christ be all the glory,
Monica
Prayer Requests:
Praise God for His protection over us and our children.
Praise the Lord for Monica’s fruitful project.
Pray for Monica as she starts her third year at university. This semester, she is studying in Argentina as part of a study abroad program. Pray that she will settle quickly and that her years of learning Spanish will pay off.
Pray for Stefan while he travels in Central Asia to help develop church planters.
Visiting with the five students from Bloemfontein and two staff members.
“Tell us how you knew God called you to become missionaries.”
Three weeks ago, we were unexpectedly invited to speak to five students from our Alma Mater, the University of the Free State. They are involved with Campus Crusade for Christ and were in Johannesburg as part of a mission project to help our ministry at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Some of the students feel the Lord’s call to become missionaries, so listening to our journey, which started when we were students, was very helpful. Our 20-minute visit turned into an hour because they had so many questions. Sharing our story, we are again in awe of the Lord’s faithfulness in our lives and the many partners who have joined us over the last 31 years in this journey.
Speaking with these students is just one of the opportunities we have had this last month visiting our partners in South Africa. It is wonderful to reconnect with long-term friends and family. Being here without our children is different, but they are both doing well. We are also thankful that we can support Stefan’s mother in her recovery after two serious falls and two subsequent surgeries.
Prayer Requests
Thank the Lord for the opportunity we have to be in South Africa.
Pray for safe travels in South Africa and good connections with our partners.
Pray for the five Kovsie students as they are on the journey to confirm their calling to mission work.
Pray for the recovery of Stefan’s Mom after her falls and surgeries.
We are enjoying Spring and the little ducklings that have made our pond their home.
Exciting news: Stefan and Marie are coming to South Africa at the start of June. We can’t wait to reconnect with you and our family.
It will feel very different: Kenneth is now employed at a surveying company in Florida and Monica is doing an eight-week summer outreach project with our organization in California.
Here is our tentative plan:
5-26 June: Gauteng
27-30 June: KwaZulu Natal
1-13 July: Colesberg, Garden Route and Cape Town
14-31 July: Vaal Triangle
1-11 August: Gauteng
News From America:
Since both of us had some life-changing experiences at Student conferences, we find this news encouraging. From the end of December through the beginning of February, our ministry hosted 6,809 students at 12 Student Conferences.
The attendance of these conferences was up by 32% from previous years. The Northeast conference (includes Boston where Monica is studying) hadn’t happened since 2010. Our staff members made a faith decision to restart the conference and planned for 250 students to attend. They had to use additional hotels and an overflow room when more than 650 students attended!
Praise the Lord!
Prayer Requests:
Pray for our trip to South Africa – for all the details to fall into place.
Pray for Stefan’s Mom. She had two bad falls and two surgeries in April. We hope to be of help when we are in South Africa.
Pray for Marie as she leads the project of moving our 16,000 staff members onto a new communications platform this month.
Pray for Stefan, he is the conference director for our global church planters conference next year. There are a lot of details to keep track of, and he needs a good team to assist him.
Pray for Kenneth and Monica to walk closely with the Lord.
Last week Marie’s team released the annual report they compiled for Campus Crusade for Christ International and we thought you would enjoy this story from the report.
After a Bombing, New Life
In 2003 Ketut* masterminded a suicide bombing that killed 12 people in a country in Southeast Asia. In the aftermath he heard about Jesus and began to read the Bible. After two years of reading, the bombing mastermind decided he must surrender his life to Jesus. His brother tried to kill Ketut when he learned about his new faith. Several years later, Ketut’s brother also came to faith in Christ.
The brothers are now local church leaders in their Southeast Asian community. Recently, Unto®, the humanitarian part of our ministry, helped them drill a clean water well in their city, which fostered a new openness to the gospel. People were curious about why Christians would care for them. Since the well drilling, 55 people in this largely unreached community have come to faith in Christ.
Even the woman who built the bomb Ketut used in 2003 has put her faith in Jesus. She will host two Unto women’s health clinics later this year, opening more doors to share the message of hope with those who have never heard.
* Name changed for security reasons
Our God continues to change individuals and communities. Praise Him!
Celebrating Monica’s birthday at a Mexican restaurant.
Going on a mission project during our student years was instrumental in cementing our callings into full-time missionary work. Stefan went to Botswana and the Caprivi Strip in 1991, and Marie to Bulgaria in 1992. Trusting the Lord to provide for those trips gave us a good taste of the Lord’s faithfulness and how He uses other people as part of that journey.
It is fun to see students still learning that lesson. Naomi, a student involved with our ministry here in the United States, talked to a friend after his mission outreach. She saw he was noticeably changed and thought, “I should consider this.” But when she found out she would need to fundraise for it, the fear was just too much.
Later, she heard another student sharing about one of her own fears. Instead of giving up, this girl leaned into her fear, saying, “Jesus is worth it.” Naomi decided to trust God in the face of her fears. This past July, she did her first mission project. During a recent student conference, Naomi passionately challenged other students to invest their summer in missions: “Go! Even if you have to do it scared…because Jesus is worth it!”
May her challenge also motivate us to “Go! Because Jesus is worth it.”
Prayer Requests:
Praise the Lord for thousands of students preparing for mission projects this year.
Marie is attending our Global Executive Team meetings in Panama this week. Please pray for good meetings, stamina, and good health. She is feeling a bit under the weather.
Stefan’s Mom needs to move out of her current accommodation, and we are praying for a place in a retirement village. Please pray for a solution.
