Category: Ministry

“Norah is from a closed country in the Arabian Gulf. With problems at home, she had a deep need for love. She found no love in the dominant religion.

After attempting suicide, Norah searched online, trying to discover who God is and if Christianity could bring her love. She found one of our evangelistic websites on Google and chatted with Miriam, one of our missionaries. Norah asked if God loved her and would accept her with all of her problems. They began to discuss Norah’s questions every day on WhatsApp. After three months, Norah made a clear profession of faith. She told Miriam, “I love Jesus so much!”

Miriam encouraged Norah to watch the JESUS film. Afterward, Norah said, “I want to read the Bible.” Miriam encouraged Norah to read the Bible on a website. A few weeks later, she wanted a Bible she could hold. Miriam told her this would be too dangerous. They put Norah’s hope for a Bible in God’s hands.

Miriam also encouraged Norah to share her faith with others. Norah talked with her brother about Jesus. After two months, he too, had accepted Christ. Soon she had told eight people about Jesus.

Norah started a discipleship group. She invited eight people and started two discipleship groups. Two of the eight new believers have started telling others about Jesus.

Recently, Norah emailed Miriam that God had answered her prayer. An unmarked box had arrived in the mail, containing Christian books and a Bible!

Norah continues to disciple others. She is now also extending her outreach further by doing graphic design for the discipleship website.”

In North Africa and the Middle East, missionaries like Miriam have trained more than 800 Arab believers to share their faith with seekers online.

On Saturday, 6 May, Marie travels to the Middle East. Her team will conduct a five-day workshop with missionaries in countries closed to the gospel. Helping them to create and distribute content for digital platforms so that users can find Jesus. Digital content, for the most part, can be freely accessed, so we have an unprecedented opportunity to spread the gospel across borders that are closed for missionaries.

Please pray for:
1. Safe travels and protection for all our missionaries traveling to our meeting.
2. Our missionaries to receive the skills, inspiration and innovation needed to make digital pathways for people to find Jesus and grow in Him.
3. Praise the Lord for Stefan’s productive meetings in Poland with European church planters.
4. Praise the Lord that Kenneth now has his learner driver permit (hence the smiling photo). Of course that also implies a prayer request for his parents as they teach him how to drive.

Stefan had a wonderful visit with our Eastern European staff members last month. He loved hearing stories of what God is doing and how churches are planted in places like Moldova and Georgia. He was thrilled to pray, plan and partner with them to trust God for even greater multiplication and church growth.

Philippines:

Stefan’s team travels to Manila on Wednesday (21 February) for a meeting with church planting missionaries from all around the world. This meeting serves as a time of training, refocusing strategy, sharing best practices and encouragement. Your prayers for safety, unity and great learning would be appreciated.

Puerto Rico:

Marie’s team travels to Puerto Rico on 20 February to assist with Hurricane Maria relief efforts, coordinated by GAiN (the humanitarian arm of our ministry). It is five months since the hurricane hit that country, but a lot of work remain. Pray that their service will be an encouragement to the churches they partner with and that it will open doors for the church to minister to the lost in their community.

Pray for Kenneth and Monica’s protection and for a great time with our friends that are taking care of them until Marie’s return Thursday night.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

P.S. Together with our Global Alliance partners, 1.3 million churches has been planted since 2011. Praise the Lord!

As the Persian-speaking churches have closed in Iran, many home churches have started without a pastor. Christian leaders are providing training outside the country for the house church leaders of Iran. A leader in this church network brings small groups to train and sends them back to continue their work in the house churches.

He shared about Maryam (not her real name), a new member of a group with which he’d been working. Maryam shared her testimony while showing her wound-covered arms. Maryam explained she had approached one of her classmates, asking about her loving behavior. Maryam noticed she was different. Her friend answered that she is a believer in Jesus and shared Christ with Maryam. As Maryam read the New Testament her classmate had given her, her eyes were opened. She invited Jesus into her heart.

Maryam began attending house church meetings with her friend, and her mother found out about her faith. Her mother told Maryam’s father, a practicing Muslim with a high government position. After discovering that Maryam was serious in her faith, her father threatened her in hopes of causing her to stop following Jesus. As Maryam resisted, he began beating her to death. She cried, “Jesus, save me.” Suddenly her father stopped the beating and started crying, asking for her forgiveness. Her father said, “As I was beating you, I saw Jesus covering you; the belt was hitting Jesus. I realized I was beating Jesus, and I stopped. Like you, I believe Jesus now.”

We literally hear dozens of stories like this from our Campus Crusade missionaries and from our partners. And not just from the Middle East, from every corner of the planet. God is at work, and we are blessed to join Him! Thank you for your part in enabling us to be part of the Church planting efforts around the world.

Your prayers would be appreciated for the following:

1. Stefan is traveling from 16- 28 January to first meet with some of our church planters in Western Europe (Dresden) and then he joins the Eastern Europe team for their staff conference. Both these teams face their own unique challenges, so pray for wisdom as Stefan encourages and helps them think through their challenges.

2. Kenneth turned 15 on January 6th. Turning 15 means he can now earn his learner’s driver’s license. Pray for his test preparation. (And for his parents …)

Our visit to beautiful South Africa is over and we are back in Orlando. We are grateful for the Lord’s hand of protection over our trip (the many kilometers driven and especially the very turbulent flight from Johannesburg to Frankfurt) and over our home in our absence.

You can enjoy a few photo highlights from our visit here.

On our return, we heard a report from Dr. Steve Douglass (the president of Campus Crusade for Christ) and thought we would encourage you with a few of facts he mentioned:

• In the last 7 years, over 2 million churches have been planted by partnership (Global Alliance for Church Multiplication and other partners) with whom we are working.
• Of the 7,000 languages on earth, over 3,000 have enough of the Bible translated for evangelism and discipleship to occur. Over 2,200 additional languages have Bible translation projects started.
• A recent professional survey done to measure the results of the use of the JESUS film in one year, indicated that in 2015, the JESUS film was used by God to generate 186 million exposures to the gospel, 37 million indicated decisions for Christ and 370,000 groups planted.
• Last year, our campus ministries launched 1,000 new campus works around the world.
• In the digital realm, EveryStudent.com in English (one of our evangelistic websites) sees well over 40% of the people who indicate decisions for Christ go into a digital follow-up process.

He concluded with this: “God is moving today. He has given us the opportunity to be in the thick of what He is doing. But our abundant opportunities to see great fruit could wane. So it seems to be compelling to follow the exhortation of Jesus in John 9:4: Work while it is yet day.”

Thank you for your support that enables us to “work while it is yet day”.

Our new academic year started today. Please pray for:

1. Kenneth (Grade 9) and Monica (Grade 7). Kenneth started high school, so we would appreciate prayers for the parents as well as they adjust to the American high school scene.
2. Wisdom and stamina as we catch up on our jobs after our long absence.
3. Stefan’s travels from 19-28 August to Western Europe (Zurich) and Eastern Europe (Macedonia), where he will be meeting with our church planting leaders for those areas.

In 7 days, we are exchanging the heat and humidity of summer here in Orlando, for the cold weather in South Africa for two full months. And we can’t wait!

The main reason for our home assignment is to reconnect with you.

We wish we could visit with each one individually, but sadly, time fly by so quickly. If at all possible, could you come and see us at one of these events?

June 4: We are speaking in the services at Rosebank Union Church, Johannesburg (8:00, 10:00 and 18:00)

June 10: Join us for an American picnic in the Rosebank Union Church Amphitheater (12:00-14:00) Please RSVP for catering purposes

June 16-19: We will be in Colesberg

June 20-21: We will be in Bloemfontein

June 25 and July 2: Join us for a tea and cake at our Campus Crusade for Christ office, 398 Rigel Ave S, Erasmusrand, Pretoria (15:00 – 17:00)

July 22: Join us for tea and cake at 38 Beethoven St , Vanderbijlpark (15:00 -17:00)

July 23: Join us for tea and cake at N.G. Fontein Kerksaal, 58 Van Wouw St, Sasolburg (15:00- 17:00)

July 30: We are speaking at Westville Baptist Church, 2 Church Pl, Westville, Durban (8:00, 10:00)

Please pray for us for safe travels and that we would be able to finish well here before we leave.

We can’t wait to see you!

Your Missionaries

Stefan & Marie

P.S. Thank you for your prayers for our trips to India and Canada. We had very productive times. We will tell you more in person, but for now, here are a few photos from our trips.

“The Christian life never meant much more than attending church to Mebrete. As a first-year student in northern Ethiopia, he was challenged to attend a discipleship group. He soon realized that his mission was to study and share Christ!

Attending Evangelism and Discipleship Training, Mebrete was asked to make a plan to win his campus for Christ. He came back with a simple plan–to win his roommates for Jesus, according to Acts 1:8.

Mebrete began making his roommates’ beds, laying his hand on each bed and praying for the salvation of each of his seven roommates (see photo on the right). Today Mebrete tells about the dramatic conversion of six of his roommates before he left campus. The seventh also accepted Christ a year after he graduated. Mebrete helped them grow and become involved in spiritual multiplication. While a student, Mebrete shared the gospel with over 2,000 students, and 35 of them put their faith in Christ.

When about to graduate, Mebrete sensed God’s call to become a missionary in one of the most difficult parts of Ethiopia. He started sharing the gospel on the Ethio-Sudan border, and people began responding.

The new church Mebrete planted has grown to over 50 members and become self-sustainable, with local leaders and financial support raised in this resistant area. When Mebrete felt it was time to leave the church in local hands, he moved to Azezo and planted a second church, mentoring the leaders of the first church from a distance. The second church now has over 20 members.”

Stories like these reminds us of God’s power to use a humble, obedient person. Pray with us that we would also be like Mebrete.

Stefan is currently in South Asia meeting with church planters. Please pray for his safety and that he would be an encouragement and support to our church planters.

Marie is on her way to Canada to speak at a conference of global digital strategy leaders. This surprise invitation came as a result of her testimony about Peter’s death. She would appreciate your prayers. Also pray for Kenneth and Monica and their American “grandparents”, Keith and Kay, that are looking after them while their parents are traveling.

Your prayers encourage us. Thank you!

• Mebrete’s name has been changed for his security.

Nelaam*, was lying in hospital in an Asian country, nearly paralyzed from alcohol poisoning. Out of desperation, he had cut himself repeatedly. One of our church-planting pastors visited him. The pastor explained the gospel. Nelaam believed and became a follower of Christ.

Nelaam is now married to a wonderful Christian wife (who came from the dominant religion). This couple shows people the “JESUS” film and use a strategy called “Prayer, Care, Share”. They have lead 20 of the 100 families in their village to the Lord!

In this Asian country, in a grand vision, staff members are working to train 4,200 new lay leaders like Nelaam in their nation. These trained workers will plant churches using the “JESUS” film, implement the “Prayer, Care, Share” and other strategies. The results to date are extraordinary. Of 700,000 villages, 300,000 now have a church! Staff members hope to see a church planted in each of the remaining 400,000 villages, many in the most challenging areas.

As Stefan work with the church planting leader of this vast country, we want to do everything we can to help him and the other Spirit-filled workers fulfill the great vision, particularly in the difficult areas. Above all, they need prayer.

We want to ask for your intercession for the church planting teams. Please pray for their protection, that God will restrain radicals, open hearts and whole villages to receive the gospel. Pray also for us, as we encourage and assist with operational support, that the Lord will make us sensitive to His guidance. Would you also pray for the protection of our family? Recently we have experienced many kinds of difficulties that could make us feel discouraged and we recognize the influence of the evil one in it.

Thank you so much for enabling us to serve our church planting missionaries around the world.

*Name Changed