Uncategorized – Stefan and Marie Dell

Impacting the Next Generation

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.

Yours in Christ,

Stefan & Marie

Gospel Impact Around the World

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.

Beagle Canal Ushuaia Lighthouse

Glacier Perito Morno

La Boca Buenos Aries

Stories You Would Like

Marie presenting communication ideas to the team.

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.

No Longer Building Bombs but Churches

The Global Executive Team planning together.

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!

Prayer Requests:

Marie’s meetings in Panama went well. Thank you for your prayers for her. You can see a few fun photos from Panama in this link.
Pray for an opening at a retirement home for Stefan’s mother.
Praise the Lord that Kenneth is enjoying his new job.
Pray for our Muslim friends that the Lord will reveal Himself to them as they search for God during Ramadan.
Pray for all the teams that are planning Easter outreaches around the world.

Thank you for 30 years!

For South Africans, 1994 was a very significant year. It was the year we could all vote in the first democratic elections and experience the birth of a new South Africa. It was also the year we became missionaries with Campus Crusade for Christ.

It is shocking to realize that we have served as missionaries for 30 years! We look back on God’s incredible faithfulness and thank you for your unwavering support which has enabled us to continue with focus and passion. We celebrate that “We are intimately linked in the harvest work.” (Matthew 10:40 in the Message)

Our journey has taken us to people and places that we could never have imagined when saying “yes” to the missionary life. After 30 years of ministry, it is still a privilege to lead someone in a prayer of surrender to Jesus.

Thank you for journeying with us and encouraging us to stay faithful to the Lord’s calling. We look forward to continuing in His service.

THEN – How we were introduced in 1995

NOW

Safe After Hurricane Milton

Praise God for His protection! Hurricane Milton has passed, and there was no visible damage to our home. The winds were strong early in the morning, but we were spared from significant rainfall. And we didn’t lose power at any point. The eye of Hurricane Milton passed south of us as shown in the picture below.

However, the storm caused widespread destruction across Florida. Over 126 tornadoes were reported, and over 3 million Floridians are without power.

Thank you for your prayers, texts, and for checking in on us. Please pray for all affected by Hurricane Milton as they face the long road to recovery.

Our Hurricane Milton Update

From our back porch – the calm before the storm.

Hurricane Milton is Coming

We await Hurricane Milton and would appreciate you joining us in praying that the storm will weaken before it makes landfall later tonight. It has been an intense few weeks here in Florida.

Last week, Stefan and his team were due to attend the annual Global Alliance for Church Multiplication (GACX) conference in Asheville, North Carolina. Sadly, Hurricane Helene destroyed that beautiful city, and the conference was canceled.

Despite that tragedy, Stefan’s team, composed of people from 10 different countries, was able to meet here in the Orlando area. The team members had a fruitful time praying, planning and speaking about ways to continue bringing the gospel to people and planting churches. The team never gets together without having fun, too—this time, they had a mini Olympics that caused sore ribs from all the laughter.

Top photo: Praying together. Botttom photo: Our mini-olympics – elastic band shooting

Prayer Requests

Pray for Hurricane Milton to weaken.
Pray for everyone rebuilding their lives after the destruction of Hurricane Helene.
Give thanks to the Lord for a good team meeting for Stefan’s team despite the many changes in their plans.
Pray for new believers T. and M. as Marie continues to disciple them in the basics of their new faith. Their passion and excitement for everything in the Bible give her great pleasure.

You Hold Our Arms Up

Marie’s team – – from left to right – Luke, Tara, Steve and Marie

We have all served on some wonderful teams, and working with people you enjoy and love daily is a privilege. For the last four years, Marie has had the joy of working closely with the president, Steve Sellers, and a small team that feels like we are the Aarons and Hurs (from Exodus 17: 12-13) – who hold up his arms as he leads our movement. Marie had such a close working relationship with this little team that she sometimes spoke to them in Afrikaans before remembering they were not family.

On 18 July, Steve handed over the leadership to our newly elected president, David Robbins. Marie coordinated his commissioning service, which was a beautiful celebration of God’s faithfulness over the last 73 years of our organization.

You can watch the recording of the service.

Please pray for David as he steps into his new role and as we learn to support him.

Thank you that you are our Aarons and Hurs, holding our arms up as we serve the Lord on the frontlines.

Prayer Requests:

Praise the Lord for Stefan’s successful visit to North Africa. The interviews their team did with believers and church planters to understand the movements in that country went well. The only challenge was that his suitcase had its own itinerary and arrived 13 days late – but it did arrive!
Praise the Lord that Kenneth is safely back from Alaska after a great adventure.
Thank the Lord for our wonderful co-workers.
Pray for our student ministries as they prepare for the start of the new academic year in many parts of the world. We have many outreach strategies, especially for first-year students.

No Disabilities Or Obstacles Too Big

Stefan in Medellin, Colombia

Your prayers and blessings make a difference in the lives of people around the world. Here are three short stories of God at work through our partnership.

From Fear to Faith: Calling Out to God (America)

Through an unexpected series of events, Sara (a Jewish student) from Florida is now being mentored by one of our missionaries. After a scary car accident, Sara started calling out the names of God in Hebrew. Then, by accident or choice, she called out the name Yeshua (Jesus) and stopped. She sensed something. That “something” sparked an active interest in Jesus. Today, she is a follower learning how to help others find Yeshua, too!

The Gospel Not Stopped By A Disability

In Chad, our missionaries trained storytellers and evangelists to use stories to proclaim the gospel in the Toumak language, spoken by a minority group. Recorded stories are an excellent resource for proclaiming the gospel in this part of the world where most people are oral learners. In four weeks, 18 storytellers and 22 evangelists were trained, with 42 stories.

Caleb was one of the trainees. He is blind and unable to read or write, but during the public oral practice, many people were touched by how he told stories. This training has transformed Caleb’s life. He realizes that his disability can no longer prevent him from proclaiming the gospel to those around him. He has a voice and stories to tell anyone he meets.

A Newly Trained Evangelist

Mrs. Camara is from Côte D’Ivoire. Her husband was a devout follower of another religion and refused to learn about Jesus. After participating in our evangelism training, she presented the gospel to her husband. By the grace of God, he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord and is now active in the local church with her.

Prayer Requests

Pray for Sara, Caleb, and Mrs. Camara to be strengthened in their faith and used mightily by the Lord.
Thank the Lord for the good meetings Stefan’s team had in Colombia.
Pray for Stefan in Türkiye, who is leading a leadership development program with some of our global church planting leaders. Pray for protection and good health.
Pray for Kenneth and Monica as they complete their academic year this month.
Pray for Marie, as she is leading a large communication project requiring much change. Pray for stamina and wisdom.

Come With Me To Cambodia

Greetings from Cambodia!

Cambodia (also known as Kampuchea) has a rich history in architecture, culture, and tradition. Cambodia continues to recover from the ravages of past regimes, and while it has one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies, most of its population still lives in poverty.

I (Stefan) visited several churches this weekend in the countryside near the border of Vietnam. There are over 20 churches in this particular rural area. It was encouraging to meet with the leaders of this small network to hear their strategy for starting new churches in all the village communities throughout the region.

Each church intentionally applies what they learn from God’s Word each week, reaches out to their community and families, and launches new churches. During my visit, three people indicated they believed in Christ, and the church members will immediately begin helping them to share their new faith with others.

I can’t show you photos of the people for security reasons, but I thought you would enjoy seeing the rice-based snacks they shared with us after church.

Prayer Requests and Praise Items:

Thank you for praying for my trip to this country, and continue to pray for stamina and good interactions with church planters.
Thank you for also praying for Monica at university. She is settling in well. Pray she finds a Christian community quickly.
Thank you for praying for Marie’s Mom. She did not need surgery for her shoulder after falling while visiting us in America. She is comfortable and recovering slowly.