We are now the proud parents of a high school graduate!
Kenneth finished his school career with pomp and ceremony during his graduation on 17 May. The event was hosted at the indoor sports arena here in Orlando. With over 700 Seniors (Matrics) in the class, it was a big day, celebrated with gusto. Fireworks rounded off the event with “oohs” and “aahs” from students and parents alike.
Kenneth starts at the University of Florida on 28 June. The university is in Gainesville, two hours north of Orlando. They receive 50,000 first-year applications every year and only accept around 7,000 students, so we are proud of him for making the cut. His dream is to become an anesthetist or anesthesiologist, as it is called in the US. It is a long road ahead for him, and much can still change.
Thank you for all the prayers for Kenneth during his school career. We are grateful that he has come this far and we thank you for your ongoing prayers for him and Monica.
Stefan and Monica will be in South Africa in June for a brief visit to check in on family. Stefan can be reached on email or with WhatApp on his US number.
Alexa came to me (Marie) for prayer during the altar call. I asked her what I could pray for her. Her immediate response was – “I want to say ‘yes’ to Jesus.” It was such a joy to pray with Alexa as she fully surrendered her life to Jesus. Throughout this past weekend, we saw several students commit their lives to Jesus.
We had the privilege to minister at a youth conference in Deming, New Mexico. Six churches from various denominations in Deming put resources together and invited missionaries from Youth with A Mission (YWAM) and Campus Crusade for Christ to minister to the young people from their town.
We joined six YWAM missionaries and planned a weekend for the youth that included the gospel, understanding their identity in Christ, and growing in their walk with Jesus. On Saturday night, we also challenged the youth to consider serving the Lord in missions. Eight young people responded to the calling of God on their lives. It was a holy moment to pray with them and recognize the Lord at work in their lives.
God answered your prayers on our behalf, and we praise the Lord for the opportunity to hang out with these young people and teach them how to “braai” marshmallows around the fire the South African way while imparting spiritual truths. Seeing their excitement for the Lord has been a great blessing. Thank you for praying for us!
Deming turned out to be remarkably similar to the Karoo, where Stefan grew up in climate and aridness. It was a treat to stay on a pecan farm and learn how labor-intensive it is to farm pecan nuts. We enjoyed eating the delicious nuts.
Here are a few photos from our weekend in New Mexico.
Worship lead by YWAM missionaries and local volunteersMarie training the youth to have personal time with God.Stefan helping the youth to write out their personal testimonies.Missing the Karoo
A partner in New Mexico, who we have met through church planting efforts, has asked us to speak at a Youth Retreat in their town, Deming. High school and university students from various churches in Deming will join us. The purpose of the retreat is to help the youth consider their life purpose and what God might be calling them to do.
We will join a group of six people from Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to lead the retreat.
We are both excited and a bit apprehensive at the prospect of this retreat. We do lead the youth at our own congregation, but it is a tiny group. This retreat is requiring us to step out of our circle of comfort.
Would you please pray for us?
Pray for our preparation. We will lead a workshop on:
How to grow in your relationship with God.
How to share Jesus with others using your personal story.
In addition, on Saturday night, we will challenge them to consider how they can become life-long laborers for God’s Kingdom, no matter what career they choose. It has been good for us to reflect on our calling and journey – we certainly could never have imagined how God would use us when we said a feeble “Yes Lord, send me” many moons ago.
Please also pray that:
The students will indeed hear the call of the Lord for complete surrender of their lives and respond to it.
The partnership with YWAM will bring the best from our groups together for God’s glory.
Kenneth and Monica will be safe at home. They are preparing for their final exams of this school year.
We celebrate his life and the blessing he is to us as a family and many others. He made a long list of what he is most thankful for, and we condensed it to seven things.
Here it is – in no particular order:
Growing up on a farm in the beautiful Karoo.
Getting married and sharing the same calling with Marie.
For beautiful children and watching them grow up.
Wonderful family and friends around the world.
As an adrenaline junkie – many adventures that involved tricks high in the sky, down in the ocean, and anything with speed in between.
Traveling around the world and seeing God at work everywhere.
Serving our missionaries and helping countries be more effective through good systems, platforms, and church planting strategies.
Thank you for your part in encouraging and supporting him.
Tomorrow (13 April) Stefan and his team are hosting another “Bold Moves” online conference for our church planters worldwide. This one is offered in nine languages and will celebrate the progress made in church planting over the past 10 years and focus on the task ahead as we continue to look for ways to establish churches everywhere.
Please pray for:
Stable internet and connections
The participants to be encouraged and equipped
Increased fruitfulness of all our missionaries
13 April is also the start of Ramadan, the month of fasting, for followers of Islam. Pray that God will use this month of spiritual openness to reveal Himself to them.
The chat feature on our Zoom was going crazy. Leaders from over 130 countries sent messages to express their joy of being together for our Global Leadership Celebration. During the online event, we celebrated what God has done in and through our ministry over the past decade. And it was a huge celebration!
The Production Team Hard At Work During Last Week’s Global Leadership Celebration Event
Due to the ongoing pandemic, it is easy to see the gloom around us. I (Marie) think this made last week extra special – we intentionally looked back and saw the incredible faithfulness of God. I could not help but consistently say, “wow – if God could do that, what will stop Him from doing that or more in the future!”
As my team prepared the videos and the translations into ten languages, we had a sense of awe. I had many highlights, but I thought I would share a story from Brazil. My team produced the first part of the video in 2015 when Kariny was a student involved in our ministry. We interviewed her again last month, and it is heartwarming to see how God is using her as an engineer. Cru is the name of our ministry in Brazil.
Her story is one of many. Pray for the people like Kariny who our missionaries are connecting with every day – that they will all become multiplying disciples of Jesus and take the Good news to people around them.
Thank you for your partnership that allows us to connect with people like Kariny.
During 2020, the JESUS Film team projected that an estimated 30 million people indicated their decision for Christ. That’s one person almost every second!
The JESUS Film is now available in more than 1,870 different languages. Ministry partners who use JESUS played a crucial role in planting upwards of 293,000 churches. That’s 800 every day!
Even during the pandemic, virtual translation workshops aided new script creation, but remotely. Ministry partners like YWAM and Renew World Outreach took on an even greater role to translate JESUS for smaller language groups. In 2020, 105 new translation projects were completed.
A missionary in Southeast Asia who serves as the television broadcast coordinator shares: “Due to the pandemic, we have such a captive audience at home, so many people are tuning in and watching {satellite broadcasts}. What draws them more than anything is the fact that they can watch these programs, the JESUS film, in their ethnic heart language. We get confirmation all the time when we ask, ‘How did you find out about Jesus?’ And they say, ‘We saw Him on TV, and we love it because it’s in our own language.’ Someday we will see people from every nation and tribe and language gathered around the throne, worshipping our Savior and Lord, all because we partnered together and we stood in the gap for such a time as this.”
Hearing these stories always remind us of the privilege of serving the Lord and how grateful we are for your support that enables us to do this.
Reverend Dell:
Stefan was invited by one of our partner groups to be ordained as a minister. We are required to complete a certain number of theological courses throughout our staff career, which we have done, but we were not seeking ordination. In light of Stefan’s work worldwide as a church-planter, having the title “Reverend” makes it easier for him.
What made the ordination ceremony special was that our good friends, Marnus and Mariette van Niekerk were in America for business at the time, and they joined us. Due to Covid restrictions, we were only 11 people at the ceremony, but it was very intimate and meaningful.
Prayer Requests:
This month our ministry is celebrating the impact of what God has done through all of us over the past decade. It culminates in a three-day online celebration event on 24-26 February. Marie is part of the design team for the event and will appreciate your prayers.
Kenneth is waiting for responses from the universities where he has applied. Pray that it will be clear which university will be best for him. For us as parents, navigating the USA college system is intimidating.
This is the season to celebrate the good news as announced by the angel in Luke 2:10: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
This year, the need for good news is probably stronger than ever, and so we want to end 2020 by telling a few good news stories. May this remind you that the good news of Jesus still causes great joy for people and that together with you, we have the privilege to spread that good news!
Praise the Lord for the following stories:
When Covid-19 hit, our church planting leader in Ethiopia, Miktile, contemplated the poor internet service in many parts of his country and the fact that most church planters did not have smartphones. It occurred to him to send out the church planting teaching on spiritual multiplication via WhatsApp messages.
He sent out the training in short messages to 9,409 staff members and volunteers, asking each person to forward it to others. Within a few days, 63,105 people were receiving his daily texts and putting them into action, resulting in some 200 churches being planted!
Further north, our European team leader, Martin, reported that in Switzerland, far more people are attending online church services than had been attending in person. The same happened in the Middle East and Asia. “In a country in Southeast Asia,” reported Ricky, our leader for the region, “Of the 35 churches that we directly planted, 30 experienced a growth of at least ten times. One church went from more than 100 attendees before lockdown to 2,262 online!”
Perhaps most dramatic, in one Southeast Asian country, 10,000 churches existed before the quarantine. During Covid-19, believers lived out “Prayer-Care-Share” by passing out 1.3 million facemasks. Within a few months, the 10,000 churches had become 300,000 home groups and missional communities, and many believers saw their neighbors turn to Christ.
Give thanks for the many people who for the first time this year, are celebrating Christmas understanding why Jesus came to this earth and the significance of it to their lives. Our partnership made it possible, so we thank you and wish you a Merry Christmas! Celebrate the impact of the Good news proclaimed by the angels over 2,000 years ago!
Last week was the last of the monthly, global, online conferences Stefan’s church- planting team hosted. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, some 2,000 Global Church Movements staff members worldwide were suddenly confined to their homes. It seemed that church-planting efforts would screech to a halt. But God had a different plan.
As the world pivoted to online meetings and churches began streaming their services, God began giving creative ideas.
Since July, God has helped Stefan’s team to host a monthly Zoom meeting in eight languages. They called the conference series “Bold Moves,” and every month, we based the theme on a bold move they could take to become better church planters.
When Stefan volunteered to become the conference director for these conferences, he could not have foreseen the challenges he would experience. However, he is looking back now and is in awe of how the Lord has helped them to connect with many church planters. Usually, when they would have a face-to-face conference, they would have, at most, 350 people attend it. Through these online meetings, they could have between 1,300 and 1,800 people attend.
Last week’s conference focused on celebrating what the Lord has done the past ten years through our church-planting efforts. We thought you would enjoy watching this video as you have been part of making it possible. Thank you for your partnership. Click on the image to watch the video.
Praise the Lord for the effective Bold Move conferences and pray that the impact of it will continue to help our church planters.
Marie tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, Stefan has also started to feel sick (Monday). Pray for her healing and the rest of the family not to get the virus.
It is hard not to drown in the daily negativity and political divisiveness around us. We are so grateful for having hope in Jesus and for your support. We are also thankful that the work of the Lord continues. We celebrate this good news:
Ten Years and 1 million downloads:
Our evangelistic app – GodTools that helps you learn how to confidently share and explain to someone how they can begin a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, celebrated ten years of existence and 1 million downloads!
Whatch a short video about GodTools
Church-planting Potential:
The number of registrations to the annual Global Alliance for Church Multiplication conference for those involved with church-planting was ten times the face-to-face registrations due to it being virtual this year. So just under 4,000 people were able to be equipped to expand the church-planting work around the world.
New President For Our Ministry:
Steve Sellers was appointed by our Board of Directors as our new global president. Steve is a humble, godly man, and we are excited about his leadership.
However, since Marie has worked closely with Steve Douglass, the current president for the last several years, it is bittersweet. He has taught her much about leadership and being a spokesperson.
Steve and Christy Sellers
Please pray for:
Steve Sellers, as he becomes the third president in the nearly 70-year history of our ministry.
Our missionaries around the world to experience the Lord’s guidance despite the continued adjustments due to COVID-19.
Kenneth, our son, as he applies to universities and scholarships.
Good news! The women’s audio Bible Marie’s team is working on – now has an app. You can have the new her.BIBLE app for your phone in just three easy steps!
Step 1 Go to the app store on your mobile phone: Apple Store or Google Play. Step 2 Type in her.BIBLE women’s audio Bible in the search feature. Step 3 Add the her.BIBLE app to your phone and enjoy listening to the Word of God in women’s voices.
Here’s what some others are saying about her.BIBLE “My kids beg me not to turn it off at night. I think it’s such a gift and there’s something that’s different than the other ways we have read the Bible to them.” Evangeline
“I decided to listen before sharing with my wife, which left me listening to the whole Book of Matthew in the middle of the night. I listen to hundreds of hours of audio Bible every year (male readers), and I noticed right away that the female narrator brought a different facet of God’s heart, which I had never before experienced. Hearing a daughter read her Father’s love letter really gives a new perspective.” Colin
“I just want to say thank you, a thousand times to the people who put together her.BIBLE. It is such a powerful way to soak up scripture.” Sarah, a human trafficking survivor
Prayer Requests:
Praise the Lord for the app and pray that the her.Bible team can complete the recording of the remaining Old Testament books.
Pray for Stefan’s team as they plan the third global Zoom meeting for church planters for 1 September 2020. Both the previous meetings were well attended and inspiring.
Pray for Kenneth, who started Grade 12 and Monica Grade 10.
