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4 Lessons From Finland

In nearly 30 years of ministry, we have rarely seen this level of commitment to discipleship and spiritually building into the lives of others as we witnessed in Finland.

A quick photo with Anni and Pyry. Marie is wearing a marino wool jersey knitted by Pyry’s sister for her.

Fifty Finns, mostly under the age of 30, gathered for the Easter weekend to learn skills to help others grow in their faith and multiply their lives into more people. They are the leaders of small church communities from around Finland.

Although we were there to lead two workshops – which went very well because of your prayers – we felt like we were there to learn from them. Here are a few things we learnt:

1. “Tell me your Jesus story.”

Every conversation started with, “Tell me your Jesus story.” Immediately, each conversation went to a profound level of sharing and learning how God had intervened in each person’s life. It was also a celebration of God’s miraculous restoration of people – some coming out of very dark backgrounds.

2. Be fully present

We hardly saw any cell phones; we learned that before the weekend, they had decided to put their phones aside to be fully present with one another. It was so refreshing!

Marie leading her workshop – look at the beautiful ocean view in the background.

3. Ask good questions to grow.

The Finns take their meals seriously, we had five a day, but they consider two as snacks. At every meal, participants came up to us and asked questions. They wanted to grow in their faith and help others grow. They even made notes while you were answering.

4. Sauna and Splash

Sauna time is an essential part of Finnish discipleship. Deep conversations take place while sweat is pouring down your body. The retreat center had two saunas, and every night the men gathered in one and the women in the other. The fact that everyone is nude may contribute to the openness of the conversations. The sauna next to the sea also has the added benefit of cooling you down in frigid water when you get too hot. Monica received high praise for staying in the freezing water for 45 seconds! Her mother only got knee-deep.

We left Finland so encouraged! We know the Lord is raising people from every nation to bring the gospel, and witnessing these fifty people in action, we have great hope for a large harvest from Finland.

It was beautiful but freezing! Imagine how cold the sea felt.

Please pray for the following:

Pyry and Anni Winter as they lead this movement in Finland.
That the Finnish leaders manage their time well, having full-time jobs and leading their churches.
Monica as she makes her final university decision. She has narrowed down her choices between two universities.

Finding Us In Finland

Retreat center close to Turku

Easter greetings from a beautiful and freezing Finland!

This Easter weekend, Stefan is returning to the gorgeous retreat center pictured above with Marie and Monica.

Stefan wrote in our November 2021 newsletter, “A personal highlight was visiting a young pastor couple in Finland that we have been coaching over the past few years but have never gotten to visit. Stefan meets with the husband, Pyry, and Marie with the wife, Anniina. They are experimenting with a model of church planting that is attracting young Finns who are church-less, but looking for authentic faith. It is exciting to see young families finding Jesus and being obedient to His call to make disciples.”

They invited us to join them as speakers at their retreat this weekend.

They expect about 50 participants. Each participant will have the opportunity to choose 1 of 3 workshops on Friday and from another 1 of 3 on Saturday. Stefan is presenting his workshop on Friday, and Marie on Saturday. These participants are members of the 15 churches planted in the last few years.

It will be the first time Marie will meet Anniina in person, so exciting.

Freezing in Finland

Prayer Requests:

For each of the workshops that we will present during the Easter retreat. Pray for a good connection with our audience and that the lessons learned will accelerate the spiritual growth and fruitfulness of the participants.
For safe travels while we are in Europe. Next week we will visit Marie’s sister and her family in England before our return.
For Monica as she decides which university to attend. She was accepted at eight and will visit one offering her a good scholarship from 16-18 April in Chicago. She needs to make her final decision by 1 May.

What Is On The Braai?

South Africans always crave a good braai. This past weekend, Stefan experienced a great braai with a twist.

After preaching at a church in Sant Cugat, Spain (close to Barcelona), the congregation invited him to a braai where they served Calçot, a green onion that is not round but long shaped. They grill the onion plants in the flames on the braai. They then remove the charred pieces and dip the delicious inner parts into an almond sauce. Scrumptious!

The Calçot (bottom right) is lined up to go on the fire.

But more encouraging than the delicious braai was seeing the growth and missional focus of the church. Non-Christians came to church, and the Youth eagerly studied the Bible together. The photo shows them looking up Scripture on their phones.

Another treat was visiting a church called “Imperfect,” which focuses on helping refugees find Jesus and teaching them employable skills. Stefan enjoyed a good meal prepared by refugees learning to be cooks and restaurant managers.

The entrance to the church and the restaurant training fascility.

The Lord is at work around the world, and His children are finding ways to serve their communities. Thank you for helping us be a part of His work.

Prayer Requests:

Stefan is currently in Malta, meeting with partners working in North Africa and the Middle East. Pray for good connections and for strategic opportunities to partner.
Pray for the churches in Europe that are shining the light of Jesus in difficult times.

5 Amazing Highlights

How have you felt entering 2023? Excited? Exhausted? Hopeful?

We started the year reflecting on God’s goodness in 2022 and anticipating His work in 2023. Our friends and coworkers, Josh and Holly Newell, who lead the Jesus Film Project, prepared a video of what God did in 2022 and we thought you would also find the five stories inspiring. Can you believe the film is now available in over 2,000 languages?

CLICK or on the image below to watch the video

Personal News

In May, Monica finishes Grade 12 and leaves for university. Soon we will be empty-nesters, so we are enjoying all the “lasts” with her. It is bitter-sweet and also very exciting. Pray for her as she waits to hear from the universities and scholarships where she applied.

Marie returned from Dallas last week, where she met with consultants helping her with some communications responsibilities.

In early February, Stefan will travel to meet with our church planters from North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia (NAMESTAN), as well as partnering organizations. You help to make all of this possible. Thank you!

Prayer Requests:

Praise the Lord for the success our mission experienced in 2022.
Pray for Monica to have wisdom and discernment regarding her future.
Pray for Stefan’s meetings with church planters in NAMESTAN.
Pray for Marie’s work to help our organization communicate better.

Looking Back on 2022

Merry Christmas!

It has been our privilege to partner with you as we serve the Lord in His harvest field. Your prayers and financial support have been invaluable in this adventure.

As the year comes to an end, here are a few highlights and lowlights of 2022:

Highlights:

Seeing the Lord build His church even under challenging circumstances. For example, Stefan has just returned from the Netherlands, where he visited some church planters. A young Ukrainian couple he met started a bible study with 10 people and it is now regularly attended by 150 refugees. God is building His church!
Partnerships among Christians from different organizations and denominations is at an all-time high. Shoulder-to-shoulder, Christians are doing everything they can to see the gospel go to the ends of the earth.
Our family visit to South Africa was our best visit ever!
We celebrated 25 years of marriage.
Each family member celebrated some milestone – from learning to scuba dive and visiting a place on Marie’s bucket list for 30 years.

Lowlights:

It was a rough year to renew passports and apply for visas. There were many obstacles and nail-biting moments to get the right documents in time.
The death of our former president and friend, Steve Douglass, was a shock. He regularly checked in to pray for and encouraged us. We miss him.
Moonshadow, our cat, disappeared in May. A neighbor also lost a cat, so we speculate that a coyote was in the area at that time.
A South Asian country, where Stefan connected a lot in the past, has seen increased hostility towards Christians and even new laws that restrict the work of our missionaries and church planters. It is discouraging and hard for our workers there.

Thank you for standing with us through the highs and the lows of 2022! We look forward to what the Lord has in store for 2023.

Blessings

Stefan & Marie

Thanksgiving This Year!

Thanksgiving is our favourite American holiday to celebrate. It is always on the forth Thursday in November.

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

A pumpkin patch – typical for this time of the year

Here are a few things we give thanks for:

Our marriage – this month we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary!
Our good health – several of our friends have recently been diagnosed with illnesses, some terminal, so we are very aware of this gift.
Our children are happy and fulfilled in their current phase of life—Kenneth at university and Monica in her matric (final year of high school) year.
The completion of the her.BIBLE audio bible in women’s voices! The 34 readers represent 18 ethnicities from 10 different countries. It was a huge task, but we are so grateful to see people downloading the app or listening to it via the YouVersion Bible app.
Church expansion – churches are planted in places previously without churches. Even though the communities are small, their presence is a testimony of God’s hand over the church through the ages.
The godly missionary leaders we have the privilege to serve. Last week, the former president of Campus Crusade for Christ, Steve Douglass,died due to complications with cancer. He was a mentor to Marie and a prayer partner. We are grateful for the years we could work closely with him and learn from him.
You! Our partners who stand with us, back us up in prayer and enable us to serve the Lord, you continue to be one of our the biggest blessings.

Prayer Requests:

Praise the Lord for our 25 years of marriage.
Pray for our Campus Crusade for Christ family and Steve’s family as we mourn his passing.
Pray for Stefan and our global church planting leaders who will be meeting 14-18 November in Colorado

Yours in Christ,

The Dells

Update: We Survived Ian

A neighbour is helping us tie down a tree in the wind.

Here is a brief update since hurricane Ian passed through Central Florida. The storm changed course and went further to the south before going out into the Atlantic earlier today. So, Orlando was spared from the highest winds and rainfall amounts. We had over a foot (12 inches) of rain in one day, a new record for Central Florida.

We have friends and colleagues who have had major flooding. Thankfully, we did not have any. We did not lose power, and city water was never interrupted. Besides three uprooted trees, we have no significant damage in our house or around the garden.

Overall, we feel very blessed compared to the flooding still occurring all over Central Florida.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers! Continue to pray for those still in the path of hurricane Ian and all the cleaning-up operations.

Dells, Are You Okay?

We are in the path of Hurricane Ian. In one prediction, shown above, we are smack in the middle of the potential course (see the blue dot). While Ian is a strong storm at the moment, the forecast seems to have it calm down a little by the time it reaches us.

Stefan and I have returned from our meetings in Turkey, and Kenneth is home from university, so we are glad we can be together as a family during this storm.

We have done what we could to prepare our home for this hurricane, and now we are praying for the storm to weaken and for God’s protection.

Please join us in prayer:

Pray for the hurricane to weaken.
Pray for God’s protection of our brothers and sisters who are affected by this storm.
Give thanks for the Lord’s guidance and fruitful meetings in Turkey.

On a lighter note – enjoy these decorations created by the housekeeping team at our hotel in Turkey.

4 Things To Pray For

This week, Stefan meets with church planters from Europe as they gather in Turkey for mutual encouragement and to learn from each other. In some places, the “soil” can be very hard, so they trust the Lord for new ideas and ways to connect with people in societies where they often question the relevance of the church.

In addition, the ongoing Ukrainian war and the refugees are creating opportunities for the church to show the love of the Lord. Believers have done a lot already, but coordinated efforts can enhance this even more. Pray that this gathering will help make those connections stronger.

In Africa, the coordinated efforts of our church planters in 36 countries during May resulted in great fruit.

256 trainings took place, equipping 22,357 people for church planting.
1,672 (676 new churches and 996 groups were planted)
863,145 people heard the Gospel of Jesus
101,566 people prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.

Each of these numbers represents a person that the Lord touched. There are many stories, but let us share this one from Guinea-Bissau. In one of the villages, a young lady who suddenly went dumb and lame in both legs six months earlier started to talk after one of our church planters ministered to her. She responded to the prayer of faith to the astonishment of everyone. As a result of this miracle, 20 churches were planted in that area.

We praise the Lord for what He is doing and how He continues to draw people to Himself. Thank you for joining us in making Him known.

Prayer Requests:

Praise the Lord for His provision for our passports. Stefan, Marie, and Kenneth received new passports, and each passport has a miracle story as there were many complications in getting it.
For the European church planters to be refreshed and inspired as they meet in Turkey.
Next week, Marie will also travel to Turkey for meetings with the Global Executive Team. She is coordinating their program and will also facilitate two sessions. Pray for wisdom, insight and stamina for our leaders.
Monica is starting to submit her university applications. Pray that the Lord will show her where He wants her to attend and reveal what He wants her to study.

Your Story Can Count

On our last Friday in South Africa, our youth pastor allowed us to share with 45 young people how effective their testimonies are to help others find Jesus.

Many Christians think they need theological or evangelism training before sharing about Jesus. But we all have a story of our lives before we became Christians, how we became Christians, and what our lives look like now (after receiving Christ).

While the young people were practicing their stories in pairs, we prayed for them to have many opportunities to tell their testimonies in the future.

One of the youth leaders reported that his sharing buddy confessed that he had not yet become a Christian but was moving closer to making that decision. We prayed for that young man to take that vital step.

Back In Orlando

We returned to Orlando with our hearts filled with African love and memories. A particular highlight was Marie’s sister from the UK, and her children, were also in South Africa. It was a sweet reunion for the Ferreira family. All the siblings were home for the first time in 6 years. We had precious times of fellowship and lots of “swallowship” – great braais and desserts!

We loved our time in South Africa and reconnecting with friends and family.

Prayer Requests:

Monica started her Matric year. Pray for stamina and guidance from the Lord as she starts applying to universities.
Kenneth continues his engineering studies. Pray for diligence.
Marie has two projects she is working on that are way out of her comfort zone. Pray for the Lord’s wisdom and creativity as she leads these projects.
Stefan has several people on his team with family members with health challenges. Pray for him to be a good ear and support to them.