Tag: hightlights

Looking Back On 2023

Merry Christmas from Deming, New Mexico!

Dallas, Texas

We wish you a very merry Christmas as you remember the birth of our Saviour and hopefully also enjoy some time off over the holidays.  

We are enjoying our sabbatical (an extended time of rest offered by our organization every few years). We are grateful for the slower pace that allows us extended time in Bible study and doing what our hearts desire.

It also allowed us to reflect on all we experienced in 2023.

Highlights

  1. In the last year, our 2,730 church planting missionaries have trained about 80,000 church planters and facilitated the planting of 23,563 churches of various sizes; the average size of the church is 38 people. We have seen at least two generations of church multiplication in 116 countries, with the highest being 30 generations in Tanzania, 26 in an Asian country, and 21 in Ethiopia. Generations mean churches planting churches that are planting churches. Stefan continues to help our church planters in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. 
  2. Our sabbatical!
  3. Kenneth loves his geomatics studies at university and has received several scholarships.
  4. Monica moved to Boston and is enjoying her studies and exploring New England.
  5. Marie’s Mom came to visit us in Orlando.

Lowlights

  1. The ongoing wars and unrest that several of our co-workers are experiencing in the 32 active conflicts around the world. The stories we hear are heartbreaking, yet we know the Lord is also at work amid all the tears.
  2. The persecution many Christians are experiencing, especially in some of the countries Stefan is involved with.

Looking Forward

We are thrilled to announce that our JESUS Film Project team is producing a new, feature-length animated family film about the life of Jesus, which we hope to release worldwide around Christmas 2025. Anchored in the Gospels, this film re-imagines the 1979 JESUS film, using much of its dialogue in a refreshed script. Here is a quick look into what is already happening!

Thank you for your friendship, prayers, encouragement and support during 2023. May the Lord richly bless and use you!

Looking Back on 2022

Merry Christmas!

It has been our privilege to partner with you as we serve the Lord in His harvest field. Your prayers and financial support have been invaluable in this adventure. 

As the year comes to an end, here are a few highlights and lowlights of 2022:

Highlights:

  1. Seeing the Lord build His church even under challenging circumstances. For example, Stefan has just returned from the Netherlands, where he visited some church planters. A young Ukrainian couple he met started a bible study with 10 people and it is now regularly attended by 150 refugees. God is building His church!
  2. Partnerships among Christians from different organizations and denominations is at an all-time high. Shoulder-to-shoulder, Christians are doing everything they can to see the gospel go to the ends of the earth. 
  3. Our family visit to South Africa was our best visit ever!
  4. We celebrated 25 years of marriage.
  5. Each family member celebrated some milestone – from learning to scuba dive and visiting a place on Marie’s bucket list for 30 years.

Lowlights:

  1. It was a rough year to renew passports and apply for visas. There were many obstacles and nail-biting moments to get the right documents in time.
  2. The death of our former president and friend, Steve Douglass, was a shock. He regularly checked in to pray for and encouraged us. We miss him. 
  3. Moonshadow, our cat, disappeared in May. A neighbor also lost a cat, so we speculate that a coyote was in the area at that time.
  4. A South Asian country, where Stefan connected a lot in the past, has seen increased hostility towards Christians and even new laws that restrict the work of our missionaries and church planters. It is discouraging and hard for our workers there.

Thank you for standing with us through the highs and the lows of 2022! We look forward to what the Lord has in store for 2023.

Blessings 

Stefan & Marie