Stefan and Marie Dell

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.”

Here are a few things we give thanks for:

1. Our marriage – this month we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary!
2. Our good health – several of our friends have recently been diagnosed with illnesses, some terminal, so we are very aware of this gift.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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:

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

Yours in Christ,

The Dells

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.

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:

1. Pray for the hurricane to weaken.
2. Pray for God’s protection of our brothers and sisters who are affected by this storm.
3. 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.

“Thank you all for praying for my mission trip to Jeppes Reef earlier this month! Leaving on the trip and only knowing one person, was terrifying. But it was an amazing experience getting to know fellow young Christians and, on returning, counting them as friends. 

The week-long trip provided an excellent chance for me to grow spiritually. We hosted a bible club for children from the community. It is unclear how well the kids received our message due to language barriers, but we saw many smiles of appreciation for the time we spent with them. 

Handing out food and soap was a chance to show the faith James talks about in James 2:14-17. Please continue to pray that the seeds we planted will grow and that no one will mislead them with false teaching. 

I hope Christ’s love does not get lost in our desire to be moral and ‘good’ people. Jesus died and loves us all, regardless of our sins.”

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for the gospel seeds planted in the hearts of the children and young people in Jeppes Reef to germinate and grow.
2. Pray for me to continue to grow in my love for Jesus.
3. Pray that our last month in South Africa will go well. My aunt and cousins from England are also coming soon, so it will be a wonderful reunion.