Pastor Renier and Isamary

2025 August Update
I ask you to please pray for my eyesight. Lately, I haven’t been feeling well. I’m not sure if it’s due to poor sleep caused by the blackouts or from studying so late.

I also ask you to pray for the children’s summer school that we want to hold at the end of August .

Please pray as well that God would fill us with joy and encouragement to give our all in the ministry, even in the midst of the economic and energy crisis.

About Me
In 1995, when I turned 14, a neighbor told me about God and His Good News for mankind through Christ. He invited me to church, and on April 14, 1996, I was baptized.

Five years later, after serving in worship team and becoming part of the youth leadership, I started attending a mission teaching the Bible and shepherding people. At first, I had no plans to study or prepare myself theologically and biblically to become a pastor. But one day, I experienced a much deeper longing for the Lord’s work — a longing connected to serving full-time as a pastor. As I began studying in seminary, the desire to serve as a full-time pastor gradually solidified.

By God’s grace, we have already served fruitfully in three churches to His glory, not counting the fourteen years of ministry in our local church in Artemisa.

Current Role and Challenges
After 8 years, the church has grown and we are currently focused on teamwork and the initiation of new ministries. This year, the children’s ministry, the preaching ministry, the worship service leadership ministry, and the ministry for helping those in need have begun to operate more solidly. We want to soon establish the evangelism ministry and a ministry to help the elderly.The discipleship and worship ministries are still active, and we want to better adjust them in line with the current vision of the church.

Challenges – The greatest challenges are related to resources. Inflation in Cuba has reached a very high level. Income has dropped significantly after COVID. A basic worker’s salary is not enough to eat well for even a week. We would need resources to support the children’s ministry, the evangelism ministry (to open a location far from the main church). We would also like to support the elderly, as their pension is barely enough to feed them for ten days.Currently, our only means of transportation is a bicycle, which presents a major challenge for reaching several areas around Cienfuegos during these times.

About The Evangelical Convention of Cuba Los Pinos Nuevos
Our church belongs to “The Evangelical Convention of Cuba Los Pinos Nuevos”. The Convention’s headquarters is located in Oliver, Placetas, Villa Clara.

Our local church in Cienfuegos began in 2010. At the beginning of 2017, the National Board asked us to move from San José (Placetas) to Cienfuegos. Since that year, we have been working in this city to serve the Lord. At first, we were forced to spend a lot of time dealing with the legalization of the property, and later with the construction of the church building and part of the pastoral house—with help from the Convention for the first phase, a very small part from the local church, and the second-to-last and final stages with help from oversea churches.

Despite the construction and legalization work, along with the great emigration exodus of recent years, God has added several lives to the church. The church has continued to strengthen its vision and mission, with two discipleship groups currently active and new ministries operating continuously for the glory of the Lord.

Richard and Hui

Bio and VIsion
We both are from China mainland and received Christ as Saviour in the United States and Canada. We have two daughters and one son.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Act 1:8)

Current Priorities and Challenges
Our cross-cultural ministry is fraught with challenges. Christians make up less than 0.3% of the local population, making it the hardest place. God has given us wisdom to build friendships with the local people through the loving witness of Chinese believers and the bridge of traditional Chinese culture, bearing fruit. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; May those who love you be secure!" (Psalm 122:6)

About C&MA
The Christian and Missionary Alliance (the C&MA) in Canada is a group of more than 400 local churches across Canada that aims to be a Christ-centred, Spirit-empowered, and Mission-focused movement in everything we do.

Our ultimate goal is to fulfill the Great Commission and bring Matthew 24:14 to fruition:
The C&MA is taking steps to complete this mission by focusing on least-reached people groups in the world. We aim to challenge our church members to live on mission with God, whether that be in a Canadian suburb or in a remote mountain village in Asia. Join us as we complete God's call to tell everyone about the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Franky & Yuk Tse

[email protected]
aimint.org

About Us
Franky decided to serve full time during a spiritual conference when he finished university. He felt called to the mission aviation ministry and moved to Canada to pursue this calling. He completed his Bible and mission aviation training at Prairie Bible Institute. Afterwards, he worked as a flight instructor to gain experience and accumulate hours in aviation. To qualify as a pilot in the mission field, he went to the US for mechanic training and aviation assessments. God eventually led him to join a mission team based in Kenya, serving missionaries and unreached people groups in East and Central Africa.

Yuk decided to serve unreached people during a mission trip when she was 20. She then went on several mission trips to Africa and confirmed her calling to become a missionary. She completed an education diploma and a Master’s in Divinity to equip herself. She served as a pastor in the mission department of her home church. She met Franky when she joined the same mission organization and they got married. They returned to the mission field as a couple in 2017.

Our Current role in AIM
Franky joined Africa Inland Mission (AIM) with a vision for aviation ministry. He is currently serving in Kenya as a pilot, aircraft mechanic, and IT developer. The aviation ministry supports many missionaries who serve in remote areas—places where they are often isolated and at risk. In addition to providing transportation in and out of villages, medical and supply deliveries, and any emergency services, the ministry offers various types of support as needed.

Yuk is involved in a local outreach team, ministering to an unreached people group in Kenya. She builds relationships and shares the gospel through teaching English, while also taking care of their daughter.

About AIM
Africa Inland Mission(AIM) has been leading people into meaningful cross-cultural ministry for more than 125 years. We send workers throughout Africa and among African diaspora around the globe. AIM serves and partners with churches to advance the gospel among Africans who have the least opportunity to hear about Jesus.

Our passion is to see the worship of Jesus Christ spread across the continent of Africa – through individual lives fully committed to him, and collectively through Christ-centered churches. God has done a mighty work in Africa, where his Church is vast and growing daily, but the task is far from finished.

Pastor Hector

2025 July Update
I would like for you all to be praying for a situation that is greatly affecting this community, and that is the drought. We live in a place where the water we receive comes from springs, and since it hasn’t rained, there isn’t much water. Sometimes we go up to two months without receiving water. There are families that have to get through a whole day with just one liter of water to drink.

About Me
I like to play baseball a lot and behind my house there was a baseball field where a Christian baseball team made me play with them. They preached to me everytime I played and invited me to Church services. That was the way God used to bring me to Him. I received the calling when I was the president of the youth department and later on I became a youth pastor. As the situation in my country worsened, I was thinking of traveling to the U.S. and on 3 occasions I prayed and asked God if it was His Will. God showed and confirmed me His calling to this holy ministry. I gave up emigrating to the U.S. and since then I have been serving the Lord full-time - not as the youth pastor, but as the pastor of the whole church of Chivirico. We then moved from Maisi, Guantanamo, to Chivirico to serve the Lord here.

Currently, I am the pastor of the church here in Chivirico. As for the challenges, I would say I face many. This place is very idolatrous, with witchcraft, homosexuality, drug use, alcoholism, child abuse, and more.

Current role and challenges
Another challenge has been that after coming here, I developed a minor prostate issue, and many of the brothers and sisters live far away, which makes it difficult for me to visit them due to my condition.

Housing has also been a challenge—the house we live in is not in good condition. When it rains, water leaks in through some areas, and it is a place where potable water is scarce.

But I am convinced that God brought us to this place, and despite all the trials and challenges, God has never abandoned us, and He is working in this place.

About Evangelical Church of the New Pines
Our church is called Evangelical Church of the New Pines (Iglesia Evangélica Los Pinos Nuevos), and here we have a total of 40 brothers and sisters—12 children and 28 adults.

When we arrived here 1 year and 6 months ago, there were only 6 brothers and sisters. But by the grace and mercy of God, He has been adding to the church, and now we are a total of 40 members.

Tim and Laura Neufeld

2025 July Update

 Please pray for all of the pilot candidates who apply to work with MAF Canada.  Tim has become involved in the recruiting and assessing of these candidates.  It is challenging but very rewarding.  

  1. Continue praying for Tim's struggle with getting some paperwork from Transport Canada.  This process has become very frustrating, but praise that there is progress happening in the past few weeks.  

  2. Pray for the Prairie College students who are training throughout the summer.  Over the past few weeks, we have had 13 new pilots complete their first solo flights, a huge step in their training. Pray that the Lord would continue to give them safety and excellent learning.

About Us

Tim and Laura both grew up cross-culturally as missionary kids, Tim in Latin America and Laura in Kathmandu, Nepal. Their lives first intersected when they attended Prairie High School in Three Hills, Alberta. Years later, Tim felt a clear call to mission aviation and decided to attend Prairie School of Mission Aviation to earn his commercial pilot license. During this time, Tim and Laura – now a teacher – got back in contact and were married in December 2009. Tim and Laura knew from early in their relationship that finding a way to become active in God’s Kingdom in a global sense was important to both of them, and since the beginning of their marriage have been working towards fulfilling this mandate. Before joining Mission Aviation Fellowship, they had been living and working in northern Alberta, where Tim was flying for an air operator offering medivac and charter work.

My Current role in Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)
The Neufelds have being serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Papua New Guinea since October 2017, along with their two children: Hannah (2013) and Ethan (2017). Tim flies a Cessna 208 Caravan into isolated communities across the country to bring help, hope and healing through the love of Christ. His passengers may be missionaries, pastors, Bible translators, teachers, local people, or those needing urgent medical care. Laura is a teacher and has been volunteering at a mission school where both of their children attend.

In January 2025, after seven years of service in PNG, the Neufelds will be transitioning to MAF’s flight school, Prairie Aviation Training Centre in Three Hills, where Tim will be training pilots for mission aviation. He looks forward to using his experiences overseas in training the next generation of missionary pilots.

About MAF
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is an international Christian organisation whose purpose is to bring help, hope and healing through aviation to people living in isolation and poverty. Every 5.6 minutes a MAF aircraft takes off or lands somewhere in the world, transporting people who live in remote villages and assisting missions, churches, aid and development agencies and others working to transform the lives of communities that are cut off from the outside world.

PATC is a part of Prairie College, a world class Bible school just one hour outside of Calgary, URL: www.prairie.edu/aviation/

James and Anna Young

About Us

James was originally from Vietnam. He fled to Hong Kong with his family when he was young. James went to church in a very young age. He accepted Jesus as his personal savior after he came to Hong Kong. He was baptized at Christian and Missionary Alliance Mei Foo Church in October 1978. In 2023 his life was transformed after a serious health issue. During his recovery period, he received God’s calling to take up the Itinerant Missionary role for the Prairies. He submitted to God after praying together with Anna for a few weeks. With faith and joy, James and Anna stepped forward and accepted God’s calling.

Anna’s sister shared the gospel with Anna when she was young. Anna was baptized at Christian and Missionary Alliance Mei Foo Church in Hong Kong when she was a teenager. Being a Christian for many years, Anna put too much focus on the secular job and life issues, not knowing God has a special plan for her. Until there were some significant life events happening in her life, she realized God is her only dependence, nothing else. Anna submitted to God’s calling in humility and started this missionary journey with James after weeks of prayers. God reassured and empowered her to get on this missionary journey with James, as a couple, in many ways.

Current Roles and Challanges

As an Itinerant Missionary (Small Town Mission), our role is to lead and develop Small Town Mission Ministry by networking and partnering, mobilizing and educating churches to involve in small town missions and to proclaim the Gospel together.

Every new role has its challenges. We are just like a sponge to soak in, learn every aspect of the role itself. We understand that missionary life is not complacent but a sacrificial commitment. To connect and mobilize with the churches involving in this ministry required lots of good energy and heavenly wisdom. We need to balance a creative mind and yet follow God’s plan to carry out all the missionary duties for this ministry.

About CM Canada – Small Town Mission Ministry

CM Canada – Small Town Mission Ministry follows Jesus’ teaching: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.” (Matthew 9:35) With that, our vision is to regularly send out visitation teams to visit Chinese friends and communities in small towns, and to bring Christian faith, love, and care to them. We also build up local believers through testimonies, love, and bible teachings.

We cannot do this alone. We partner with churches (that is YOU) in big cities to fulfill and proclaim the Gospel together.

Bev Huff

2025 July/August Update

  1. Thank you for praying for Pamela our IOT Candidate in Barbados. Praise God she complete her teaching assignments and now will receive her Instructor of Teachers Credential.

  2. Praise God Janet’s gallbladder surgery went very well, and she is recovering. Janet appreciates your prayers and encouragement. She has her final appointment with the surgeon this week.

  3. Pray for my preparation time for teaching at Good News Camp July 14-18. Pray for safe travel as we drive. Pray as well that the children will have open hearts and will be excited to hear and learn how they can pray for the children in the Caribbean.

  4. Pray for many open doors and willing youth to attend Christian Youth in Action training and teach 5 Day Clubs in many of our Caribbean countries.

  5. Pray for Rodia our French Assistant who will be in Saint Martin and Guadeloupe in July conducting training.

  6. Please pray for a Teaching Children Effectively level 1 course being held in Belize in August and that God will bring the students of His choosing.

  7. Praise God for enlarging our regional education department. Anne Marie, who serves CEF in Anguilla, is very capable and Janet and I are pleased to have her on our team.

  8. Praise God He continues to meet my every need. Thank you for praying and for the additional gifts.

I am so grateful for your faithfulness in prayer partner.

Bev Huff

CEF of the Caribbean

I was raised in a Christian home and attended church faithfully.  It was at the age of 6 that my father passed away suddenly and my mother at the age of 30 began to raise four children on her own.  It was my mother’s godly life and faithful walk with God that inspired me to live for Christ. At the age of 13 I received Christ at Echo Lake Bible camp and was disciple by godly youth leaders.  

While I was attending college and was challenged by a CEF director who spoke during a chapel service to give a summer to teach 5-Day Clubs.  I attended CYIA training and served as a summer missionary that summer for CEF of Manitoba and for the first time experienced what it meant to be a witness for Christ.  That is when the Lord planted the seed in my heart to serve with CEF.  For the first time I experienced God using me in sharing the gospel and I witnessed the miracle of children as well as adults coming to salvation and a personal relationship with Christ. 

 My Current role in CEF

For the past 17 years, I have had the joy and privilege of serving in the North American/Caribbean region as an Education Director.  I have witnessed God at work in many ways in developing the outreach and ministry of CEF in the Carian.  I consider it an honour to have had a part in helping open” Specific” countries in the Caribbean, with training programs helping to increase the number of Instructors and providing key training to help strengthen and ministry. As well as the joy of having opportunities to ministry to children and seeing them come to Christ. I praise God for what He is doing and look forward to what is ahead. 

Ministry roles with CEF 

  •  Regional Education NA/C – 2006 – present 

  •  Canadian CMI Director – 2002-2005 

  • Education Director – CEF of Manitoba 1981-2005 

  •  Area Director -City of Vancouver, British Columbia 1978-1981       

  • CYIA Summer Missionary – 1977 & 1978 

About CEF

Child Evangelism Fellowship of Canada (CEF) is an evangelical, Bible-centred mission whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living. Our concern in seeking to evangelize children is that, “not one of these little ones should perish.”

Christina Wai

I am on Facebook, Signal, and WhatsApp. [email protected]
My newsletters (they always include prayer items) are in both English and Traditional Chinese.

July 2025 Update

Dear faithful partners,

Greeting from hot, humid Japan!

May this update find you energized!

“The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.” (NRSV)|
“We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.” (MSG)

Proverbs 16:9

What’s Happening?

Thank you for all your prayers and the goodness of our LORD, I have some wonderful catchup time and being able to mostly stay in air conditioning. =P

Praise the LORD! The 55 Day e-learning PureHeart Challenge Course on our website is up. The 5-part bible reading plans in Tradition Chinese are now all done. (The last 2 waiting for approval from YouVersion.) Please pray that those who need to know that they are loved and forgiven, those who long for a deeper encounter and be satisfied by God will be blessed with these. (All plans are available in English and Japanese as well.)

So recently I had an experience of my lifetime... ok, it’s not so weird for parents. But after all these years of baby sitting, I never thought that I will get to "the beginning"! During my 3-day visit to former teammates I got to "witness" a baby being borned... It was late evening, and a member who hardly speaks Japanese had her water broke... (The due date was later that week). The one and only female team member was their official help but due to the need of her own young children she couldn’t accompany the couple to the hospital immediately... and then I happened to be there, right?! Logically then I went with them... thinking I will leave when "official" help comes. Due to late hours, the birth clinic was closed to public and i guess they rather have me in the delivery room than roaming around in lobby! So yes, I was there through it all... praying for it to be over quickly (of course for the sake of the labouring mother). Praise the LORD the labor was only approximately 3 hours, such grace for birthing a firstborn child. After some explanation of the stay, "official" help needs to return home to feed her own infant and I stayed until mother and newborn were settled into their room. 

Side-note: Japanese clinics usually keep the mother and newborn for 4-5 days before they are released to go home. (It will be even longer if issues arises.)

I am grateful to be reminded of the “hardship” of mothers before visiting Mom. During my time with Mom, I was able to visit my former discipleship school and shared my testimony with the current students. Afterwards I also had time to talked to 2 of them, both lived in Japan (short-term) and have a heart for the lost in this nation. There are many who have burden for this nation yet finding it hard to find organization with the same vision and practice. Please pray for open doors to best-fit faith community for those wanting to come and are already in Japan.

As I came back to Japan at the end of June, I sudden found that I don’t understand as much... I don’t know if it’s a relapse, or the fact that I was immersed in my mother-tongue for too long?!? Therefore I have restarted my weekly Japanese lessons. Still figuring out what area to focus on but one way or the other I need the practice with feedback. For now I will work on both pronunciation and trying short translations.

I am so grateful that I am blessed with flexibility and capacity which allow me to meet up with visitors, visit former teammates, and make new connections. Although I must say I am not as youthful to run after toddles and/or hold infants.

What’s Next?

After much prayer and consideration, I have declined staffing a 3-month Japanese pilot school due to the extended away-from-home requirement. As I have that door shut, I was asked to help with another organization’s staff retreat. They have overseas speakers that would needs to be paired with translators. I will be helping with the kids’ program the third week of August. It will be a 2-day road trip to northern Japan with a few staff and another volunteer. Please pray for safety and also blessings for this retreat. 

With one of my new connection, an older Australian worker who has lived in Japan for decades, who is burdened for her neighborhood and would like someone to pray and maybe do bible study with her on a frequent basis. To my surprise, we have quite a few things in common. For now we will start with praying weekly to see where the LORD leads. 

A couple that I met on their seminary internship will be returning to Japan in September. I would like to accompany them for some of their ministries as they settle in. I have also offered to have them stay at my place while they look for their own apartment. 

I have also been asked by the Osaka disciple school to translate for a few days. I am praying on if that’s something the LORD wants me to do. Please stand with me to do the “right” thing. 

Mid-year reflection... It was very clear to me that I need to take this year "slow", meaning more casual schedule. The LORD has brought back many "old" people and as we chat I realized the growth and work the LORD has done for us. Many has been stretched/enlarged while others are switching gears. (Of course, struggles and hardship were unavoidable.)  I am very grateful for everyone He connected me with and looking forward to see what the LORD will bring for the second half of this year. 

One thing I am keeping in mind is when to visit Canada. It would be 2 years next April. But that doesn’t lineup with passport renewal (which will push it to June or later). Since last year, I am thinking to do a longer visit for health reasons. Recently I also have some online banking issues. Praying for wisdom in regard to timing and duration of the next visit. 

Praises:

· Restful time visiting Mom

· Opportunity to reconnect with most of the former Kobe team members

Prayer Requests:

· Japanese language improvement

· Specific ministry guidance

· Timing to visit Canada and specifics

Blessings,

Christina

I grew up in a non-christian home but my older brother went to Christian school and became the first believer in our family. Since then he started to share Jesus and took my to church gospel events. One time, the message was about God willing to forgive all our sins; I was touched but thought that I want to know more before deciding to believe. The next day, the message was about how simple faith is, just like toddlers eating eggs. So I decided to trust this God who is willing to forgive even I don’t understand everything He feeds me.

In college retreat, I committed to served God full-time but has never thought of how. After working some years, and wanting to spend time with aging parents, God led me to a missionary school (Youth With A Mission). One step at a time, God called me to pioneer a team in Kobe, Japan. With prayer and getting to know the team, I responded by saying yes. Again trusting this good God even I can’t see what’s ahead.

My Current Role
At the moment I am a self-funded missionary involved with both international sender Youth With A Mission in Osaka and a local ministry near Kobe. This year we are pioneering a bilingual bible school which I serve as administrative and tutoring staff. Since everything is new, there are trials and errors. And this is an intense school, so yes, lots of reading and homework (which I need to grade). My prayer is that students and staff from this school will be infused with the passion for His Word and stay to staff the next school. The local ministry I have been working with for the last 3+ years is Onfire Japan. We focus on discipleship through bible study and mentoring. Since 2021, we have been doing LIVE morning worship everyday and a few other theme-focus hours throughout the week. I have been joining LIVE panel, providing technical support and training. We have team members who are very willing to jump in if there is a gap but we need more to be willing so we can expand to more hours and cover more themes. My prayer is to start a Chinese-Japanese hour.

About To The Nations Fellowship/OnFire Japan/YWAM
My Canadian Charity partner “To The Nations Fellowship” was founded to come alongside the Body of Christ to facilitate sending Christians on long and short term missions.

Onfire Japan, founded in 1995 to minister after a major earthquake in Kansai, is a Christian ministry dedicated to seeing Japan and Japanese Christians filled with the presence and power of God. We equip believers for discipleship and simple church planting through

online media, networking and training. We’re excited for the opportunity to work together to see revival come to the church and the harvest come to Japan.

Youth With A Mission, founded in 1960, is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world.

Clarence Yau

Our contact information is as follows:
Handy: +49 176 4340 6372
Clarence Email: [email protected]
Anna Email: [email protected]
Address: Hammersteiner Strasse 18, 79400 Kandern, Deutschland

Clarence was not raised in a Christian home and it was in Junior High that he came to know the Lord as his personal Savior through a friend who invited him to attend Youth Group events and know the Youth Pastor at his friend's church. He understood Christ's sacrifice for him and the freedom that would be gained in a relationship with Jesus and entered into a relationship with Christ at age 14. His journey with Christ was a bit of a roller coaster through High School and it was in the year 2000 that he surrendered his life fully to Christ's call on his life to be involved in vocational Christian ministry. In 2003 he moved to Black Forest Academy in Germany to serve as a Resident Assistant in the boarding program at Black Forest Academy.

Clarence and Anna met in 2003 and were married in 2005 in which they answered the Lord's call to serve as Youth Pastors at North York Chinese Baptist Church from 2005 to 2012. In 2012 the Lord led Anna and Clarence's family back to Black Forest Academy with their 2 little boys to serve as the Middle School Chaplain and serve missionary families and their children at Black Forest Academy.

My Current role in Teach Beyond BFA
Clarence is now serving as the Team Lead with TeachBeyond in Kandern. This role includes keeping a pulse on the 143 TeachBeyond Members (adults and kids) that are serving at Black Forest Academy and various other ministries supported by TeachBeyond in the area. Clarence works within a team to ensure, to the best of their abilities, that the members of TeachBeyond in the area are being cared for in a way that allows them to thrive in their service at their project. We also seek to build community and create camaraderie amongst our team members. One significant challenge that Clarence faces is being able to provide genuine and authentic care for our large team and building a system/culture of mutual care so that it doesn't fall solely as Clarence's responsibility.

About TeachBeyond
TeachBeyond is a mission organization that seeks to provide Transformational Education Services to various schools and projects around the world. Our vision is a world where individuals and communities become all that God intends. We are global community with approximately 1000+ members consisting of national/local members and expatriate missionaries providing transformation educational services as part of God's ongoing mission to transform individuals and communities in to all that God intends.

Janet Snyder

July 2025 Update

Dear Praying Friend,
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask
or think, according to the power that works in us," Ephesians 3:20.

GOD'S UNIMAGINABLE ANSWERS TO PRAYER:

  1. Thanking the Lord my gall bladder surgery went well, and I had my
    last appointment with the surgeon. Grateful for God's provision and healing.
    Thankful for your prayers.

  2. The TCE course is completed in Barbados and Pamela has received her
    credential to be an instructor of teachers. 

  3. CYIA trainings are taking place the next two weeks in the Caribbean.
    Thankful for a team of 11 from Indiana who traveled to Antigua to assist
    with the training and teach clubs.

  4. Our first Caribbean region Zoom Good News Club training is set for
    Saturday, September 6.   

PRAYER REQUESTS:

  1. Bev and I leave on the 12th to travel to Pennsylvania for day camp,
    July 14-18. We are looking forward to another year of teaching Bible lessons
    and being the camp missionaries. Pray for safe travel and for open hearts
    and excitement as they learn about the Caribbean and how they can be a
    missionary.       

  2. We are grateful that our regional education team is growing. Ann
    Marie, from Anguilla is joining the team to assist with trainings and
    mentoring new trainers. Rodia, our French assistant is traveling to several
    islands this summer to develop the ministry and meet with leaders.

  3. The Junior Youth Challenge training course in January 2026 will be
    held in Jamaica.  The staff is making inquiries for the best location and
    cost. Pray for the location and students of God's choosing. They will be
    coming from seven countries across the Caribbean.

  4. Pray for the young people as they teach 5-Day Clubs throughout the
    summer. Ask God to continue to increase their burden and passion for
    teaching God's Word and seeing children coming to Christ. 

  5. Three staff members from Guyana are planning on attending the
    Children's Ministries Institute in Missouri in August through November.
    Pray as they make plans to leave their families and ministries for three
    months.

Thank you for joining me in prayer and seeing God do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we can ask or think.
Gratefully,

Janet

I grew up in a small country town in Pennsylvania in the US and each week our bus driver would drop us off at a neighborhood home to attend a Good News Club. Each week I would hear of God’s love and salvation through two faithful teachers. One week when I was 10 years old, I accepted Christ as my Savior.

When I was 12 years old, I had opportunity to be a helper at the Vacation Bible School at my home church. It was here that I quickly realized my love to work with children and teach them the gospel. After attending university, I was an elementary school teacher for several years. I volunteered with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) during the summers. From these experiences and mentoring leaders, the Lord called me to serve Him with Child Evangelism Fellowship full time.

My Current Role at CEF Canada
I serve as the Education and Literature director for the North America/ Caribbean Region. I oversee the training programs, train teachers and leaders, and equip and support teacher trainers in the 26 countries in the Caribbean. As Literature director I work with translation and printing of the literature for French, Dutch, Creole, and Papiamento.

About Child Evangelism Fellowship Canada (CEF Canada)
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) was established in 1937 and the mission is to evangelize children with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living. The major ministries are Good News Clubs during the school year and 5-Day Clubs throughout the summer. Volunteers are trained to reach the children in over 200 countries around the world. Every Child, Every Nation, Every Day.

Janice & Enoch Jabab

Our monthly ministry updates/prayer requests on our blog: https://www.cimcanada.org/janice-ministry-updates
Email address: [email protected]

Enoch and I (Janice) both became Christians at young ages because we grew up in Christian families and attended church. Enoch's mother always lived by example to their family about the importance of prioritizing God and serving others. This life of service to others for God's glory was greatly imparted onto Enoch at a young age. I began participating in short term missions trip to Ghana in 2009, where God started putting on my heart a love for the Ghanaian people.

God confirmed my calling by answering a confirmation prayer in 2018. I prayed to God that He would put the passage of Mark 10:29-30 to someone in my life to give to me as a confirmation that my full-time move into ministry in Ghana was God's will. In God's perfect provision, He confirmed my calling to me a week later when my pastor spoke from Mark 10.

My Current role in Chinese International Missions (Canada) CIMI am CIM Canada's International Worker in Ghana and I oversee some of the administrative work between CIM Canada and the local church, Evangelical Church of Ghana (E.C.G.) We work with nine E.C.G. pastors, in which the pastors are involved in church planting efforts in as many as 22 preaching points in their surrounding rural areas. We also support 3 E.C.G. mission schools and their teachers. In Nyankpala (our current town), we work with Campus Ministry students from the university in organizing a weekly kids club for the children in the community to learn about the Good News of Jesus.

About CIM
Chinese International Missions Canada (CIM) was established in 2003. The mission of CIM is to unite international and local ministries in proclaiming the Gospel cross-culturally through sending people, supporting ministries, and creating long-lasting partnerships.

Jason and Monica Klumpenhower

Email: [email protected]
Whatsapp or phone: +31610104911

2025 June Update

We had an encouraging time during our monthly evangelism Saturday this month, where we had 13 locals out on the streets sharing the Gospel!

We celebrated the graduation of 18 Tyndale Seminary students!

We have been visiting a couple tiny churches in Schagen a city just 9 km north of us (one with 10 congregants and one about 30) to be more acquainted with the condition of the Church in Schagen, and how we can help to encourage and build up the local Church. Jason has been out doing  street evangelism every Thursday and is thankful to have found a couple people to join him.

What a blessing to have cousins visit!

Jason has been working hard on the Tyndale office renovations that will continue through this summer, with a couple teams coming to help.

So many beautiful wild flowers out right now! The kids and I have been foraging and drying them for medicinal teas and salves. It’s fun to continue learning all the many ways God cares for us and has provided for us in creation.

This month the kids have been practicing extra for their swim test to get their A Diploma which is a big deal here. We are very proud of their hard work and excited for their upcoming test!



Baby is 30 weeks! Praise the Lord He continues to grow well. Still many appointments in the coming couple months before we meet baby! I am doing well, though definitely more sore now in the third trimester and having to slow down a little bit.

Prayer Requests

  • We are continuing to wait for a response for our application to renew our Dutch Visa. Please pray we will get the 5 year extension to stay in The Netherlands.  

  • Pray as the renovation project begins at Tyndale Theological Seminary. Jason is overseeing a team of 9 volunteers as they begin the renovation of the offices.

  • Continue to pray for the KOTV evangelism project, for boldness and creativity in sharing the Gospel and pray for our core team as we seek to motivate and encourage the local churches to unite in an evangelistic effort in the city of Alkmaar.

  • Pray for the weekly evangelism events in Schagen that we are now involved in. Pray for open hearts and boldness to proclaim the Gospel.

  • Please pray for finances, we will begin a fundraising effort in the fall. We are starting to feel the effect of the rising cost of living here in The Netherlands.  

Thank you for your continued support, prayers and encouragement!

In Christ,

Jason and Monica Klumpenhower

Monica and I both come from strong Christian backgrounds. I was raised to know and love Jesus but in my teenage years I completely walked away from my faith. Through much pain and struggle God brought me back to him as I learned that it was only through His power and the saving grace of Jesus that I could experience true joy and peace in my life. From a young age Monica always felt the desire to serve the Lord in ministry somewhere. Through some trials one of the key lessons the Lord has taught Monica is to always find your identity and worth in the Lord. He is worthy of our trust and always faithful.

We met at Capernwray Hall Bible School in England and married a year later. From the beginning of our marriage we knew God was calling us into missions, we just weren’t sure where. Through experiences such as returning to Capernwray Hall as volunteers, to building houses for families in extreme poverty in Mexico we explored this calling and God affirmed it to us! While visiting the Netherlands on a holiday from our work in England God impressed on our hearts the deep lostness and spiritual need of the Dutch people. This has never left us. 3 years ago, we joined Greater Europe Mission and 1 year ago we moved to the Netherlands!

OUR CURRENT ROLE

We are actively involved in a street evangelism organization here in Alkmaar called Kracht om te Veranderen (Power to Change). My roles include being part of the core leadership team, recruiting and leading short term teams, and going out on the streets telling people about Jesus! The biggest challenge we face is how to spread the Gospel in new and engaging ways. Dutch people are very closed, especially when it comes to talking about matters of faith. Too often we are met with cold indifference, postmodern worldviews and sadly people who have been hurt by churches or religious organizations and want nothing to do with God.

My secondary roll is a part time position at Tyndale Theological Seminary as Facility Manager. Tyndale is unique as it is a seminary that offers full scholarships to pastors and christian leaders from Asia, Africa and eastern Europe. The faculty is comprised of like minded missionaries from all over the world working together to teach and disciple these future leaders to go back to their home countries and do the same.

Monica is our prayer coordinator for Kracht om te Veranderen and aside from her responsibilities as a mother, is actively engaging the moms in our community in hopes to start a small Bible study and share the love Jesus has for them!

ABOUT GREATER EUROPE MISSION

Greater Europe Mission was founded in 1944 with the goal of sharing the gospel with disillusioned post WW2 European people who had seen so much loss and despair. Since that time GEM has grown to 3 different sending countries and over 300 missionaries serving across Europe. Sadly, in most European countries only about 3% profess a relationship with Jesus. Europe needs Jesus! Greater Europe Mission exists to relationally connect and reach the unbelieving and uncommitted across Europe. To grow and deepen them in their faith through intentional discipleship and to empower and send them out to impact their world for Christ. GEM missionaries are involved in many different types of work, with the common goal of expanding God’s kingdom and reaching Europe by multiplying disciples and growing Christ's Church.

Jim & Shari Cottrill

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1.403.276.9505
https://cottrillcompass.com
Visit our mission website here: https://avantministries.org

2025 July Update

Hi Friends!
Thanks to all of you for your prayers for us and the ministry here in Mexico City. Although we can't communicate as much as we would like, we very much need your prayers, as always.

God is giving us many challenges to navigate, reminding us that we need to trust in Him and seek His will in each situation. I'm especially motivated to write today to share about some upcoming events.

First, we are very excited that two of the churches here will be joining together for a special service this Sunday! A baptismal service! So please pray for each person who is following the Lord in baptism this Sunday. This is always a special time of testimony, but also sometimes a difficult time for those who have family and friends who are against their faith. Please pray for those being baptized, their family and friends, and also for the two churches that they would grow in love and faith as Jesus builds His church.

Second, our church will be joining another church (a different one - in another municipality) for a time of evangelism on Saturday, the 26th. The church, Mount Horeb Bible Church, will be having a VBS next week, and we will join them for the closing program. Family and friends will
be invited, and we will be sharing God's Word through drama, music, an object lesson, and one-on-one conversations. Please pray that we would share God's Word clearly.

And this is a praise as well! Praise the Lord for so many in our church, Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas, who have jumped at the opportunity to serve together with our
sister church. A drama was written, props are being created, we will be practising music, preparing food - there's lots to do! And it's so encouraging to see so many
involved enthusiastically. :)

There are many more things I could share but won't - for the sake of keeping this email short, and in some cases because of confidentiality. But we do appreciate your
prayers in general for wisdom, health, and strength as we serve the Lord day by day.

General prayer requests:
https://cottrillcompass.com/requests.html
More details at our blog:
https://cottrillcompass.com/blog/category/prayer-and-praise

Thanks!

Grace & Peace,

Jim & Shari
----------------
The Cottrill Family
c/o Avant Ministries Canada
2121 Henderson Highway
Winnipeg, MB R2G 1P8

Contact us:
[email protected]
(403) 276-9505
http://CottrillCompass.com
Donations:
http://bit.ly/cottrill-donations
To unsubscribe or change your email address, visit
http://cottrillcompass.com/blog/change-options

Jim’s mother led him to the Lord around the age of 3 or 4. At the age of 7, Shari was learning some Bible verses in school. She came home and talked about them with her parents, who led her to the Lord. We praise the Lord for His mercy!

In 1998 we began serving in full-time ministry training high school and college age teams which travelled around the world focusing on drama and music ministries. In 2003, we joined CAM International, which has now joined with Avant. Both missions were started in the late 1800s with a focus on reaching the lost with the Good News.

Our Current Role at Avant
We are currently church planters in south eastern Mexico City, in the municipality of Ixtapaluca. This work involves serving the community through community centre outreach, evangelism, Bible studies, leadership training, and networking with like-minded churches and missions in the area. This area of Mexico is one of the least reached areas in the Americas, and one of the most populated urban areas in the world.

About Avant
Avant has been focused on reaching the unreached since the 19th century, planting hundreds of churches over the past 130 years. Today, there are still many places in the world that are unreached and have no church. Avant's vision is to make a difference in time for eternity by rapidly planting and developing churches where none exist. We serve the Lord by “planting and developing churches” with several hundred missionaries worldwide, in 50 countries.

John and Leanne Paetkau

Personal Email: [email protected]
Work Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 403 519 3210
Facebook/Instagram: John Paetkau
Give Online: Canada: send.org/canada/give-from-canada
USA: send.org/give/missionaries/paetkau

JULY 24, 2025 UPDATE

We will be on the road for the next 10-12 days, meeting with supporters, new missionary candidates, and individuals who are seeking to know more about missions.

We will also have the joy of attending a tri-annual family reunion on John's mom's side in Oregon - haven't seen them for 5-7 years due to covid etc. John will be bringing the message at the morning service that weekend.

Part of the trip is also connecting with Ukrainian friends from Sumy who live in eastern Washington.

Prayer items:
- safe travels - we have a lot of miles to cover
- good listening skills - that we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading as we connect, listen and share.
- wisdom as we walk alongside those who are seeking what part God would have them to do in cross cultural ministry
- that God would raise up new supporters to join our financial ministry team
- energy/health - we aren't as young as we used to be.

Thank you for standing with us
Love
John & Leanne

JULY 10, 2025 UPDATE

Good morning
This past weekend while a multi church baptism was taking place in Sumy, Sumy Grace Camp was hit by three rockets. The camp is only a few miles from the border with Russia and was targeted.

Sumy Grace Camp is a place very near and dear to our hearts. This was a huge part of our ministry while in Ukraine, and it has ministered to thousands over the years.

The rockets destroyed two cabins, the old chapel and damaged the kitchen and other buildings. They have not held camp there during the war due to its proximity to the border and possible shelling, thus there weren't any kids on site. Pray for those who are there, cleaning up and dealing with the senselessness of it all.

Ministry continues in the midst of all that is taking place. These past two weeks Sumy Grace Church has held a day camp on the church site for children (last week) and teens (this week).

Pray for strength, wisdom and hope for our brothers and sisters who are serving in a very challenging place and in very challenging times.

Thanks
John & Leanne

John: I grew up in a Christian family in northern Alberta, and became a Christian at a young age. God really got a hold of my life when I was 18, and I was called into ministry at that time. I planned on becoming a youth pastor, to reach the young people of Canada with the Gospel. During my second year at Briercrest, God called me overseas through the testimony of an old missionary from Spain. 11 years later on December 4, 1997, after serving as an associate pastor for 7 years Leanne, our two little daughters and I got on a plane and flew to Ukraine. We served there for 17 years and returned in 2014 with our three children to transition them into their next stage of life.

Leanne: I was born in Swift Current, Sk into a pastor’s family and received Jesus as my Saviour at the age of 5. After high school I went to Briercrest Bible College for 4 years. Here I met John which was a wonderful blessing and he became my husband after graduation. I was also introduced to missions at Briercrest in my first year when a missionary guest speaker came to speak he challenged us with the biblical account of Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water. Peter faced his fears, likewise I was challenged to get out of the boat and confront whatever fear I had. At the time my greatest fear was that if I gave my all to the Lord he would send me to Africa, which I found frightening because of course, Africa has snakes and spiders. John and I got married and we ended up serving the Lord in a local church doing ministry for 7 years, not only to gain experience but also to pay off our student loans. John and I were excited to be able to receive a call to serve in Ukraine, and we were there for 17 years serving and raising our family.

Together we served the alongside Ukrainian believers in northeastern Ukraine, mentoring and training leaders, doing discipleship, helping them with children and youth ministry, camp work, and doing evangelism through friendships in our community. By 2013 we could see that we were becoming “the grandparents of our ministries” as we had trained up new leaders to take our place. Thus we exited out and eventually moved back to Canada hoping to transition our kids and someday move back overseas to where God was calling us next, to do whatever was next. We are still involved in ministry in Ukraine through various means (prior to the escalation of the war in 2022 we would lead a team to minister each summer there) and now from we serve from afar.

Our Current Role at SEND:
John - serves as a western Canada Missions Coach and representative for SEND in MB, SK, AB & BC. This entails the following in all four provinces: connecting with those who are inquiring re missions; visiting & speaking at bible schools; representing SEND and speaking at churches and conferences; coaching and facilitating new missionaries who are preparing to go the field; and facilitating short term teams and individuals.

Leanne - has two primary roles. Works part time as a home care professional and serves alongside John in the above roles as able. She also serves in ministry to women in both a face to face and online context.

About SEND:
SEND International is a international mission with members from 12+ passport countries serving in 21+ countries around the world. SEND seeks to plant the church where it doesn’t exist and serve it where it does, with a special focus on least reached peoples. Our focus is church planting and discipleship, using a variety of ministry platforms depending on the culture, the needs, the opportunities and the location.


Josh & Deb Wong

Both of us, at a young age, having grown up with a Christian home, made a simple acceptance to have Jesus be our Lord and Saviour.

For Josh, while attending the University of Calgary, he joined P2C - Students to study the bible on campus, and upon graduating in 2000, joined staff with P2C to help launch the campus ministry in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

For Deb, she always knew ministry would be a significant part of her life. She assumed it would come later in life after she had established a career. However, when she witnessed a different reality in P2C at her time at Dalhousie University in Halifax. So in 2003, she graduated and joined staff with P2C, ministering alongside Josh in Halifax.

Our Current Role at P2C - Students
Josh, as director of Strategy and Operations team, helps students take their next step towards Jesus by coordinating the strategic planning process of the ministry and creating and managing infrastructure to effectively and efficiently deliver ministry objectives. As a member of the National Leadership Team, he helps to implement change management processes to help the ministry achieve the desired outcomes of our plans and goals.

Deb, as director of the Creative Communications team, helps students connect with opportunities that help them take their next step towards Jesus. Through communication spaces like our p2c.com/students website, social media (insta: @p2cstudents), and resourcing in-person conversations, we design, create videos, write, inviting students to get involved with a local community, go on a mission trip, consider internship, and more. She also helps her team members in fund-raising.

About Power to Change
Starting at the University of British Columbia in 1967 (as Campus Crusade for Christ), Power to Change has been steadfast in helping people know Jesus and experience His power to change the world for close to 60 years. Throughout the years ministry expanded beyond post secondary students to other domains of society including families (FamilyLife), athletes (Athletes in Action), the marketplace (LeaderImpact), those living in vulnerable communities and in the margins (Connecting Streams), and those needing humanitarian assistance (Global Aid Network). Today, Power to Change has 10 ministries across Canada and belongs to a network of global ministry partners through Cru International to help people know Jesus and experience His power to change the world.

Larry & Bella Mori

Larry—I attended the Urbana mission conference in 1987 while I was working as an engineer at IBM. During the conference, I responded to God’s call to serve Him overseas due to the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20. That led to eventually going to Japan as a 2 year term missionary with the EFCA. During that time, I made a deeper commitment to become a career missionary to Japan. I met my wife, Bella, on the mission field and God blessed us with two children, Timothy and Tiffany.

Bella—While I was attending Bible school in Canada, God gave me the burden for Japan through the sharing of missionaries. I was sent to Japan through the EFC of Hong Kong as a missionary until I met Larry on the mission field and were married in Hong Kong.

Our Current Role
We have started Sendai Izumi Church in Sendai City. We teach Outreach English classes at Sendai Izumi Church and also at community centers (when invited) as a means to reach out to our community. In the past, we also spent a few years serving the Tsunami victims while we were church planting the Sendai Izumi Church. We have a small congregation and we meet every Sunday for worship, weekly prayer meeting and hold Outreach English classes weekly.

About EFCA
We are serving with the EFCA ReachGlobal and EFC of China – Hong Kong Overseas Mission Board.
EFC of China – Hong Kong Overseas Mission Board Purpose: Spread the Gospel to the whole world and benefit all peoples by spreading the Word.
EFCA ReachGlobal Purpose: Focus is to invest in disciplemakers to establish the church where the gospel isn’t known.

Sam and Colleen Yim

Read more about Christ-honoring transformation https://www.christar.org/cycle-of-transformation and why we share the gospel with least-reached people. https://www.christar.org/why-we-share

[email protected] 517-732-4353
[email protected] 517-526-5614

  • Greetings,

    We just wanted to get out a quick prayer list as we have just started Christar’s two week training program in Muslim evangelism and would appreciate your prayer power for the students, teachers and the interaction and outreach students have with our contacts and the contacts they may make on their own while here. The training consists of daytime classes and afternoon/evening outreach. We will be teaching some of the sessions, helping in the kitchen and taking them on outreach. Pray we can give our best in all areas.

    ESL classes will end after this week and the students, thankfully, are very disappointed. So, I will be having “informal” classes this summer and we will be reading through Lewis’ “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe”. They are excited about coming together for a book club during the summer and I’ll be making the connections between the text and the gospel. We will all be taking turns hosting in one another’s homes so are also getting closer in our personal relationships. We pray this leads to deeper trust to be able to share the truths of the gospel.

    I will also be leading a book club for our church this summer and we will be reading “The Sermon on the Mount” from John Stott. It is a great book and thick book that is very deep. Pray we can gain God would have for us from this resource as we study the Sermon on the Mount.

    Lots going on this summer that has already started, so thank-you for praying for us.

    Sam and Colleen

    Pray:

    -ESL summer “informal” class. Good participation, connections from the book to gospel, seeds and salvation.

    -Justice, whatever that looks like, for the Middle East.

    -Jiran outreach: for the Muslims who come to hear the Bible stories and all the story tellers.

    -Manarah, C*’s training program for Muslim Evangelism, has begun. Pray for students and teachers as they teach, learn and interact in outreach to the community.

    -Leaders from Arab service have decided to pause this ministry. Pray as they go forward to consider if we continue.

    -Friendship Friday: The joyful friendships made with these contacts will allow for deep conversations at other times.

    -Continue to pray for Afghani friend and her daughter. Very thankful for her citizenship and the arrival of her American passports. She has begun to be anemic, is taking medicine for depression and is shaking a bit. Pray for her health in all areas.

    -We will also be helping with Christar’s North American Annual conference this August. Please pray as we are currently trying to get a teach of child care workers.

    -Our discipleship class will produce lasting fruit and growth.

    -Sermon on the Mount summer book club.

    -Along with our regular Saturday coffee days, we are planning outings for our students this summer. Again, pray for opportunties to share the gospel.

    Praise:

    -We are completing another year of ESL and have made lasting friendships.

    -A discipleship group with my Iranian student and a few other younger women from my church has begun.

    -Manarah has begun and we look forward to the next two weeks of training and seeing what these eleven students will do as they take up the baton.

    -We will welcoming Sam’s family for a visit the first week of July.

    -A former student from Iraq will be getting married in July in Toronto and we are very happy to be attending his wedding. Between ISIS, losing his home and career, and having to put off marriage for many years, we are so happy to be celebrating with him.

Sam: I was raised in a Christian home and I followed my parents when they went to church. When I was a teenager, I attended a Billy Graham’s evangelistic meeting and I made decision to follow Christ. When I was a high school teacher, I felt I need to be equipped to reach out to to high school kids, so I decided to go to seminary. During the mission course, I found there are many unreached people groups in India. At that time, I knew I would like to go to India to share the gospel with them.

Colleen: While working for the Department of Natural Resources in a rustic park, while working, my boss would always share the gospel with me. After a couple years of sharing and praying, I finally really understood what the scriptures he was sharing meant, and on June 10, 1981, I repented and started following Jesus.

My Current Role in Christar
We are ministering in Dearborn, MI, home of the largest Arab Muslim population in the US. We work along with a church in Dearborn teaching ESL during the week, hosting a Friday night outreach, visitation, and participating in another city wide outreach called Jiran, a time of Arab/English singing and Bible storying. We also give on-line training for an organization in HK called Oasis, who train Nepalis in HK for pastoral work.

Alliance Seminary HK: Sam just completed mentoring 2 D.Miss students and they have us both as second readers for their D.Miss program.

Writing is also a continuing ministry. Sam continues writing for Christian Times from HK.

Columbia International University: Sam continues to teach as an on-line professor to students in the mainland.

About Christar
Christar workers PARTICIPATE by planting churches in these LEAST-REACHED communities, where He is yet to be worshiped. The vision of Christar is to cultivate Christ-honoring transformation in communities where He is yet to be worshiped.

Christ-honoring transformation speaks to the process as well as the outcome. In the establishment of indigenous churches, we pursue a Christ-honoring influence on the community at large. As workers who partner with God in His work, we are a part of the transformation process that God is bringing about. God’s promise in Revelation 5:9 is clear. People from every tongue, tribe, people and nation will worship God in eternity.

Our vision is to go to those people who are not accounted for in the eternal roll call of nations!

Doug and Katia

  • The end of the semester at SBS was busy. Seven out of nine students graduated from the Intensive English Centre (IEC) into the mainstream classroom. I am very thankful that the IEC initiative was a success, and these students were able to participate. God is good!

    Doug and I have improved considerably, but he is still coughing a bit, and I am still struggling with back pain occasionally. We covet your prayers for our health. 

    We are on holiday, although I have a lot of documents to prepare to transfer my visa to the new school. I have also started going to Cedar International School to discuss curriculum needs. Cedar is a Chinese Christian school that opened a year ago, aiming to serve the Christian community from China. The owners are two Chinese Christian ladies who have a big heart but little knowledge about education. One of them is married to a pastor who also started Bethlehem church in Chiang Mai. We will have a Bible study training for seven teachers in the next few days to prepare them to teach the Community Bible Study (CBS) program in the classroom from Kindergarten to secondary school. I will be teaching the Bible to teachers starting in August. God is good!

    God richly bless you and SCCEFC!

    Katia, for the Flowers

Doug – I came to Christ through the influence of a missionary family and Christian teachers while teaching in northern Saskatchewan. I was initially Catholic, so it took over half a year to understand the Gospel and my need for a Savior. I accepted Christ on Easter morning in 1989. After I finished my teaching contract, I enrolled at Prairie Bible Institute to learn more about missions and how to be a Christian teacher. My wife Katia and I met and married at Prairie.

Katia - My mother and aunt led me to the Lord while attending university in Brazil. I had been experiencing much anguish, so my aunt invited me to visit her church in the countryside. I accepted Jesus and started a prayer and fasting campaign. After several weeks, I returned to my aunt’s town, and the Pastor prayed for me. When I woke up the following day, all my anguish was gone. I realized the evangelical faith was genuine and decided to pursue it.

After Doug and Katia met, we started seeking the Lord regarding which mission to join and where to go. He led us step by step, and we feel honored to have been serving God in Asia for the last 28 years.

Our Current Role in Action
Our heart’s passion is two-fold:
a. To reach students and teachers for Christ in international schools. We are “tent-makers,” and the school setting provides ideal opportunities for witnessing and discipling, opening doors to impact teachers, students, and their families. We integrate the truth into our classes and serve in weekly Bible clubs and evangelistic meetings for children and adults.

b. To develop a love of learning in people, equip teachers and church leaders, and raise educational and ethical standards. We train teachers, teach church leaders the Bible, and counsel those in need.

About Action
Action International Ministries (ACTION) is a global mission agency committed to sending multinational workers who treasure Jesus Christ and minister His Gospel in word and deed, primarily to the poor.

In 1974, ACTION started working alongside small Filipino churches on the streets of Manila, ministering to street kids who had run away from home. From that small beginning, we have grown into an evangelical, interdenominational sending organization with workers in 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Shaun & Sondi Carlaw

Shaun was raised in a Christian home and placed his faith in Christ as Saviour at an early age. Söndi was introduced to Christ in her first year of college when she joined a choir led by a Christian student. Söndi and the choir sang Christian songs and she also attended Bible studies led by the choir director. From other believers, she experienced God’s love and came to see God’s truth in the Word which led her to faith in Jesus.

Shaun’s experience in Hungary began in 1991 when he first started teaching English as a tentmaker with the EFCCM. He attended Trinity Western University to earn a Teaching English as Second Language Certificate and then sought God’s leading for his next step.

Leaders in the EFCC encouraged him to apply to the mission and serve in Hungary full time. It was a step of faith but God is the provider and Shaun headed to serve in Budapest in June 1998. Söndi served in the Campus Crusade office in Budapest from 1993-1997 and then with an American EFC mission team in Budapest from 1997-2001. Shaun met Söndi at Kelenfold EFC, and they were married in Budapest in 2002. Söndi joined the EFCCM in August 2002.

Shaun and Söndi are living in the Budapest area and are a part of the Sarokkő Evangelical Church. Shaun uses English teaching as a tool holding outreach English clubs, Bible studies and summer camps as a means to reach the community and grow the church. Söndi volunteers with a Roma mission in outreaches and music ministry in Budapest and in different places throughout Hungary.

Our Current Role
Hungary is historically a “Christian” nation however Hungarian people have now mostly lost contact with the gospel. They seek answers to life’s problems in material possessions, personal pleasures, alcohol, and false religions. Mixing Eastern religious thought with other various spiritual ideas have increased in recent years. Those who would be true believers in Christ are less than 3% of the population.

In reaching out to others, people often respond indifferently and building relationships of trust is important in sharing the gospel. Serving among the Roma, one can see a spiritual openness but this can be towards evil practices. Ministry among the Roma is a real spiritual battle as it is for reaching out to others in Hungary too.

About Action International Ministries
Shaun and Söndi now serve with Action International Ministries as of May 1, 2025. Their former mission EFCC ServeBeyond laid off all its full time missionaries at the end of April 2025.

Action International Ministries (ACTION) is a global mission agency committed to sending multinational workers who treasure Jesus Christ and minister His Gospel in word and deed, primarily to the poor.

In 1974, ACTION started working alongside small Filipino churches on the streets of Manila, ministering to street kids who had run away from home. From that small beginning, we have grown into an evangelical, interdenominational sending organization with workers in 30 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Shirley Unger

Address: 304-25 Ivybridge Gate, Winnipeg, MB, R3W 0L5 Canada
Email: [email protected] or [email protected].
Website: https://gemission.org/

I became a Christian when I was a child. I grew up in a Christian home, learning about Christ at church and in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. I was asked by a friend at a birthday party if I had a personal relationship with Christ. I went to my room, took out my little Bible that my parents had given me for Christmas and invited the Lord into my heart.

I had never considered going overseas to serve as a missionary in my earlier years. I went to Bible College and then got my teacher's degree at Brandon University. My goal was to teach elementary age children, but the thought of doing it outside of Manitoba didn't cross my mind.

After teaching on First Nations schools for four years, which was kind of a mission field of its own, a Greater Europe Mission (GEM) rep was at my parents' home for lunch and asked me to consider serving. That led to going to Spain on a summer mission trip. During the wrap-up time in Germany, opportunities to teach at Christian schools in Europe were mentioned. I applied, looking to serve for a year or two and the Lord expanded it to become a long term ministry, eventually with more than just teaching.

My Current Role at GEM
My current ministry is as an administrative assistant to both GEM Canada and to GEM Teams, where I served in person for over 16 years. My role with GEM Teams is to interact with teams and individuals who are wanting to serve on a short term team (1-3 weeks) and walk them through the GEM application process. I also read through their evaluations after a project and make our mobilization department aware of those who may want to return or consider longer term ministry. I meet with GEM Canada staff virtually once a week and with my supervisor also weekly. I meet with GEM Teams staff once a month and with that supervisor about once a month. I travel to Germany to be with the team in person once a year.

About GEM
Greater Europe Mission (GEM) began in 1952 because of a desire by Bob Evans to train leaders in the Bible. 22 Bible schools were established in the first 30 years, many that continue on. The ministry spread to include church planting. Today the mission has a wide variety of ministries, including Creative Arts, Business as a mission, sports, camps, children/youth education, justice, refugees, church planting, disciple making and so much more. GEM has over 700 missionaries from North America, Europe and beyond.

GEM's mission is to reach Europe by multiplying disciples and growing Christ's Church.