Category: Ministry

Monica On Mission

Chapman’s Peak (not even the howling wind could stop us from admiring the view).

Greetings from South Africa!

We travelled the Garden Route to show our children the Cape coast’s beautiful sights and connect with some of you. We love catching up with people, hearing what God is doing in your lives, and sharing what we have seen God do in our lives and around the world. We are having a wonderful time. It is good for our souls to be back!

Monica is excited to join a youth mission trip with our Johannesburg church, Rosebank Union, this Sunday, 26 June – 3 July. They will travel to the Thembalethu Nkomazi Centre in Jeppes Reef, Mpumalanga, where they will host a children’s bible club and sports clinic and do maintenance projects around the centre. 

Prayer Requests:

  1. Pray for the group’s safe travels and that the Lord will prepare the hearts of those they minister to next week. 
  2. Pray that each participant will get to know and love Jesus more. 
  3. Pray that Monica will bond quickly with the group and make good friends with her fellow participants.

We recently heard this inspiring story from one of our elderly church planters in North Africa – he had preached at a church in the countryside where many people received Christ. As he headed home, the civil resistance group met him and accused him of being a traitor, working for the military. They were armed and forced him to walk 18 hours over mountains to their village, with no water till his feet were blistered and bleeding. On arriving there, he was thrown into prison. The other inmates asked him to preach, and many accepted Christ!  

After his release, he praises God: “I had to walk 18 hours for those prisoners to hear the Gospel!”

May we all have the same attitude as this dear man! 

Thank you for your partnership with us.

We’re Coming Home!

There is great excitement in the Dell household! We are coming to South Africa at the end of May. We can’t wait! Since our last visit, it has been a long three years, so we are excited to reconnect with you and our family.

Here is our tentative plan:

26 – 31 May: Johannesburg 

1 – 18 June: Colesberg, Garden Route and Cape Town

19 June – 17 July: Gauteng

18 – 31 July: Vaal Triangle

1- 7 August: Johannesburg

You can contact us via email or WhatsApp.

We are looking forward to our South African trip.

Meet Bekele:

Recently, Marie hosted a Zoom webinar for American ministry partners who have significantly funded ministry opportunities around the world. Since one of her guests was Dr. Bekele Shanko, our Vice-president for Global Church Movements and Stefan’s boss, we thought you would love to hear what God is doing in the church planting world. If you don’t have time to watch the 30-minute video, you can find Bekele’s part at the 17:30 minute marker.

Please Pray:

  1. For Kenneth’s passport renewal process to be completed speedily. He is already in South Africa and had to travel on a temporary document due to various delays. He is returning to the USA in mid-June to start his semester early.
  2. For all the logistics of our trip to fall into place.
  3. For safe travels to and in South Africa.
  4. For our team members who are covering our responsibilities while we are traveling.

Good News and a Prayer Need

We wish you a very special Easter. We trust that you were able to reflect yesterday on the death of Jesus and what it means for us as believers. The words of Jesus on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” from Mark 15:34 reminded us that because He was forsaken, we never have to experience that! What an incredible comfort it is that God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 15:5b)

This weekend, all around the world, Christians have a unique opportunity to tell the story of Jesus. We are already receiving reports of how God is touching people’s hearts through various outreach programs our missionaries have planned.

Would you please join us in praying that many will come to know Jesus this weekend? 

We received this heartwarming video from our ministry in India that they produced with a partner ministry to serve as a spiritual conversation starter. We sent the English version to our Indian neighbor, who responded very positively. Maybe you can also send it to someone you know. Watch it in any of the 11 languages.

English: https://youtu.be/qVJ7FkznGO8

Hindi: https://youtu.be/U15D8MChYS4

Bengali: https://youtu.be/wYHRXT-scWs

Gujarati: https://youtu.be/eFnG1bPBg8c

Malayalam: https://youtu.be/A2SgqmSZIx0

Marathi: https://youtu.be/5ZjDJLuyCP0

Oria: https://youtu.be/zDLe8jBRrVQ

Telugu: https://youtu.be/zVMStktOjww

Tamil: https://youtu.be/5Usxql_hjqsGB

Kannad: https://youtu.be/rBwUeE2tJXc

Assamese: https://youtu.be/ZBNTZ4ECTAk

We are rejoicing with you that we serve a Risen King!

Stories You Will Enjoy

We are always encouraged to hear stories of God working in people’s lives. Marie recently compiled a report about the impact of our ministry, and she thought you would enjoy reading these short stories.

Mongolia

In October, our ministry were able to have an in-person student conference for the first time since the pandemic started. They ran ads on Facebook to invite participants, targeting college students who lived nearby. Around 150 students came to the meeting. Of these, 60 indicated decisions for Christ!

New Zealand

Dana, a young woman working in a mental health service, started a Bible study with her colleagues. They met weekly to pray, study and encourage one another.

Because the group was open to everyone in her workplace, curious non-Christian colleagues sometimes came to read the Bible with them too! Amy was one of them, coming faithfully each week.

In one meeting, only Dana and Amy showed up. Dana had been hoping for an opportunity to talk with Amy about the gospel. Using her GodTools® app, Dana shared the “Knowing God Personally” presentation with her. Amy asked Christ to forgive her sins and give her a new life!

Asia

In a country where all online content is monitored, censored and often blocked, between January and October 2021:

  • 28,189,119 people interacted with the ministry by watching a video, reading a post, chatting, or opening and clicking on content.
  • Of those people, 2,265 made a decision to follow Christ after a conversation with a ministry team member.
  • Over 1,200 of those people were connected with local churches or fellowships!

Ghana

Emmanuel, from Ghana, received church-planting training from our ministry. After the training, Emmanuel returned to his village. He began sharing the evangelistic tract called the Four Spiritual Laws, and 15 people indicated decisions for Christ. Emmanuel began to meet with them.

After Emmanuel’s group invited a “JESUS” film team to show the film in their community, another 22 people joined their group. Emmanuel identified two people in the group — now a small church — who were zealous to win souls for Christ. He trained them in how to use the Four Spiritual Laws booklet.

When one of them, Ezekiel, moved to a nearby community, he began sharing the gospel. He has since planted a church that now has 34 members.

Thank You!

Because of your generosity, Dana, Emmanuel, Ezekiel, and many others have been equipped and resourced to reach their communities with the life-changing news of the gospel. Thank you for your generosity to our family to be part of this ministry!

Church Planting in Europe

Church Leaders in Finland

With travel restrictions resulting from Covid lifting slightly, Stefan had the privilege to visit three countries to be part of gatherings where strategic church planting conversations took place. 

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.

Stefan is currently in Moldova. 

This story from Moldova is a reminder of God’s power to transform someone and use them for His Kingdom:

“Oxana stood apart from the others, arms crossed, cigarette in hand. Everything in her body language said, “Leave me alone.” She had reluctantly come to the picnic in the woods that afternoon with other non-Christians after some Jesus Film® workers invited them.

One staff member took the initiative to talk with Oxana about Jesus, and she became curious about the hope God offered.

She agreed to attend the next group meeting, and it was there she gave her life to Christ. Within the week, her mother, sister, and niece did the same. Turning her indifference into a passion for the Lord, Oxana quickly shared her faith 100 times. After watching Magdalena, an evangelistic film about the life of Jesus from the eyes of Mary Magdalene, she invited 25 people to meet in her home as a small group. Oxana is now part of the church planting team in Moldova. She said she cannot imagine her life without God.”

Thank you for your partnership in helping to bring the gospel to people all around the world.

Left to Right: Martin, Stefan, Tanya, Aliona & Igor in Moldova

Prayer Requests:

  1. Pray for safe travels for Stefan and good connections with the church planters he is meeting with at the moment.
  2. Pray for Kenneth and Monica to walk closely with the Lord.
  3. Pray for our friends Pyry and Anniina as they help plant churches in Finland.
  4. Pray for Igor, Aliona, Martin, Tanya, and Stefan as they give leadership to our church planting efforts in Europe.
  5. Thank the Lord for protection and good health.

Pastors Learn Digital Strategies

Bayang Mognanguele Training Pastors in Chad

“For years, we’ve asked God to grant us opportunities to serve the body of Christ with digital strategies. Working with Global Church Movements, our Digital Strategies team recently had the opportunity to organize a vision-casting meeting with over 110 pastors and denominational leaders throughout Chad. At the end of the meeting, several denominations decided to open the doors of their churches for digital training.” These are the words of our friend and fellow-missionary, Bayang Mognanguele from Chad in Francophone Africa.

Stefan met Bayang in 2015 and Marie in 2018 when she was in Kenya to help train our staff members in Digital Strategies, where he was a participant. The team from Chad has embraced digital strategies and it is exciting how they are using them in every sphere of their ministry.

Bayang continues, “In July, we trained the first 143 pastors. Several pastors admitted they had believed technology is evil even though people use it every day. To give them an experience of digital ministry, we called all the participants to use the devices at their disposal to announce the gospel to at least one person. They did this by SMS, phone calls, movie clips and social media. 

One pastor shared that his childhood friend accepted Christ over the phone as a result of the training.

All the pastors have committed to training their local church members. Thus, hundreds of Christians will be mobilized through these leaders. Despite the political and economic crisis in Chad, God is really at work mobilizing His army. We have several requests from other regions for training that we will conduct in the coming days.”

Thank you for your partnership with us that help Bayang and our other missionaries to share the love of Jesus all around the world

Prayer Requests:

  1. Pray for Bayang and our team in Chad as they continue to train pastors to equip their church members to use digital tools to spread the gospel.
  2. Pray for the annual meeting this week of the 90+ member groups and churches of the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication (GACX). It is a hybrid meeting, with around 230 participants meeting in person and around 1,000 joining in virtually.
  3. Praise the Lord that Kenneth has settled well at university and Monica is enjoying her Grade 11.
Visiting the Florida State Capital, Tallahassee

How To Find Comfort

One of the joys of our roles at the global head office is the privilege to help equip missionaries around the world with training and resources. 

Meet Comfort in this 7-minute video. It showcases her journey of discovering Jesus on her mobile phone and the impact of our ministry. Marie is blessed to have helped the team in Ghana over the years. 

Imagine thousands of people who are finding Jesus like Comfort. This is what we do to help seekers find Jesus online, grow in their faith, and train them to share the gospel with others. Comfort’s story shows a full circle of digital ministry impact. Comfort now serves with our local ministry in Ghana.

We feel so honored to have you on this journey with us! God has done great things these last few years, and we are so blessed to call you friends and partners.

Continue to pray with us for many to find Jesus.

Prayer Requests:

  1. Thank the Lord that Kenneth started at the University of Florida. Pray for him to find a Christian community to join.
  2. Pray for Comfort and our missionaries around the world as they share the gospel.
  3. Pray for our church planters and their efforts, especially for creativity, as the pandemic requires new ways of safely connecting with people.

Good News In New Mexico

Early morning walk in the pecan orchard.

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 volunteers
Marie training the youth to have personal time with God.
Stefan helping the youth to write out their personal testimonies.
Missing the Karoo

New Mexico, Here We Come!

This weekend we have a unique opportunity.

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:

  1. How to grow in your relationship with God.
  2. 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:

  1. The students will indeed hear the call of the Lord for complete surrender of their lives and respond to it.
  2. The partnership with YWAM will bring the best from our groups together for God’s glory.
  3. Kenneth and Monica will be safe at home. They are preparing for their final exams of this school year.

We value your prayers and support. Thank you!

A Glimpse of Heaven

  • Greetings from Burundi!
  • Hello from Ukraine
  • Good afternoon from Liberia
  • Hi from Switzerland
  • Warm Greetings from Togo
  • Good morning from Uruguay
  • Hello from the Arabian Dunes
  • Greetings from Nepal
  • Hi from Jamaica
  • Hello from Singapore!

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.