Around-the-World Journey

During our latest online seminar, which was designed to train young missionaries to work with children in need, it felt as though we had taken a trip around the world. It was great fun, but also hard work! The seminar was conducted in five languages (English, French, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish), and a total of 225 students graduated.

Africa

This time, we had a large group of over 60 students from various French-speaking African countries. They were all young missionaries who work with, or want to work with, children in need. We really enjoyed it, and they were so enthusiastic about participating! There was also a significant number of students from English-speaking Africa, so the continent was very well represented this time.

Asia

A second new, large group came from South Korea. The additional challenges here were the significant time zone differences and the fact that everything had to be translated into Korean. The local facilitators had been preparing for months and were understandably nervous, but it turned out to be a huge success!

We also had a great group of English speakers from Asia, mainly from India, but also from smaller surrounding countries.

Americas

It was a pleasure as always to teach in Portuguese for Brazil and a few smaller African countries, as well as for Macau, a Portuguese-speaking region in China.

This time, for the first time, we provided a Spanish translation for South and Central American countries. That was a challenge too, but we pulled it off!

Europe

There were also students from Europe, particularly from Southern and Eastern Europe.

Australia and Oceania

Despite the added challenge of significant time zone differences, we had participants from New Zealand, Australia and the smaller island nations of Oceania.

Glory to God

Everything went so well — it all ran like clockwork! We are grateful to everyone who prayed for this, and we give all the glory to God. At times, it truly felt like spiritual warfare. For example, a week before the course began, we discovered that our internet cable had been broken under the road. How could that happen?! Fortunately, it was resolved just in time.

Summary of the evaluation

International team

We are incredibly grateful for our team of over 60 facilitators, coordinators and translators. They are good friends who all love God and are passionate about working with children in need. They guided the students, encouraged them, went the extra mile and did everything with love. What a wonderful group of people!

A Zoom meeting with our Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking colleagues

It’s not over yet!

It was more work than Johan and I had anticipated, and over the past few months we often worked 10–12-hour days. However, when we look back and see so many enthusiastic responses, we feel especially grateful that we were able to do this and that we were allowed to do it.

Refugees in a camp in Uganda also took part in the training

Second and third module

We hope to teach the second module of the online course in June and the third module in October/November. So we’ll be busy for a while yet! :)

The great thing is that, by the end of this year, all these modules will be available online in five languages, which will make them much easier for staff to use and replicate afterwards.

England

Last week, we had a wonderful chance to relax in England for a week with Johanneke, Jonathan and their beautiful girls. It was lovely to spend some quality time with them again.

3x DTS 

It's also wonderful to see that our three eldest grandchildren (Pieter, Johanneke and Michele's children) are all currently attending, or will be attending, a DTS (Discipleship Training School) in the coming year. There is so much to be thankful for!

Thank you so much for your concern, prayers and gifts. It’s so special to have such a wonderful group of friends who support us.

To all of you: God's richest blessings!

Love!

 

Thanks and prayer points:

What we are thankful for:

• Successful students: The 225 students worldwide who graduated.

• An amazing team: Thanks to the 60 facilitators and translators who helped with the five languages.

• Answered prayer: The internet cable was fixed in time and the technology worked well.

• Family: Pray for peace in England and for our three grandchildren (or soon-to-be grandchildren) who are doing a DTS.

What we are praying for:

• New strength: Energy for Johan and me after many long workdays.

• Upcoming modules: For the online courses in June and October/November.

• Missionaries: May the 225 students be a blessing to children in need.

257 students worldwide are being equipped to help children in need.

 

Over the past few months, Johan and I have spent long hours every day organizing the upcoming online seminars on our laptops. This involves communicating extensively on social media and then making direct contact with the students.

This time, however, there is also a lot of translation work involved: into French and Spanish, which we do ourselves with the help of AI, and into Korean, for which we are fortunate to have a few Korean colleagues. All the homework, articles, and information for the first seminar are now available in five languages. Wow! 

It's very international.

We've accepted 257 students who work with children in need in 58 countries. About two-thirds of them are missionaries from Youth with a Mission, and the rest are staff members from other missionary organizations or churches. The students represent 53 different nationalities and speak a total of 65 languages—mostly from Africa and Asia—that I’d never even heard of before. Fortunately, though, they can all participate in one of the five language groups: English, French, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. 

To ensure everything runs smoothly, we've recruited 60 staff members to provide mentorship opportunities and 10 translators. They, too, are scattered all over the world.

Children in Need

How special it is to be able to do this! Zoom and Google Classroom offer wonderful opportunities to help children in need by training and encouraging students in their work and ministry. 

Experience

We teach a number of classes ourselves, but there are also other instructors, many of whom have decades of experience. I think this is what makes the seminars so enriching—they are people who have worked directly in the mission field for years, just like us, and are eager to pass on their knowledge to the next generation. 

Why do we do what we do?

This week, I read Ephesians 3. Verse 8 says:

"It is only by God’s grace that we are able to point other nations to the unimaginable riches of Christ."   

We strive to convey this message in our lessons, which focus primarily on working with children in need.

Our prayer for the students can be found a little further on in the chapter (verses 16 and 17):

We ask Him to strengthen them by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in them as they open the door and invite him in, their feet will be planted firmly on love.

Will you pray that for them as well? The result will then be (verses 18 and 19):

They’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

But sometimes I ask myself: “How is that possible?” I downplay it in my mind, thinking, "After all, they're just online seminars, right? Can they really make such a difference?” But then, after the seminars, we often receive emails and messages from students saying that the seminars have been life-changing. I understand then that it’s not because of Johan’s or my "wisdom," but because of God within us: (Ephesians 3:20).

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

It's the five loaves and two fish, the staff of Moses—the small things God has placed in our hands—and it's not us, but Him who will multiply them. We also give thanks to God, as in verse 21:

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!

(From the Message translation) 

Dates

The first module this year runs from April 13 to May 1. Modules 2 and 3 will follow later.

Would you join us in prayer?

• For the 257 students, that they may have open hearts and be well-equipped for their work with children in need.

• For the staff and translators, that they may have wisdom, unity, and strength in all they do.

• For the children being reached, that they may experience God’s love through the work of these students.

• For the technology: That internet connections will be stable everywhere, and that nothing will hinder the teaching.

• For us personally: health, clarity, and not overlooking anything important.

• The launch on April 13: For peace, focus, and God’s presence in every moment.

Thank you so much for your compassion, for praying for us, and for supporting us with your gifts. Together, we reach children in need.

We wish you God’s abundant blessings!

Precious moments and poisonous caterpillars

"Will you come to my high school graduation?" asked Igor, our eighteen-year-old grandson from Brazil.

It is so precious to be able to attend such a celebration. With our married children and grandchildren, almost all living in different countries, we often miss out on these occasions. So, it was all the more enjoyable when we were able to celebrate special moments together in Brazil in December.

 

An even bigger family

Another special event was the large "family gathering" of Youth With a Mission in Brazil, where we enjoyed being with more than 800 coworkers.

We were there with our daughter and son-in-law, Michele and Romeu, and their children, Igor and Eva. We enjoyed seeing how many young people have given their lives to the Lord and are eager to be used by Him. God is doing great things among young people in Brazil and around the world.

Teaching in Brazil

With Romeu, Michele, Igor and Eva

A sea of worship

This became even more evident a few weeks later when five soccer stadiums were filled with 250,000 young people who spent 12 hours praising God and dedicating their lives to him in prayer! Oh, how wonderful!

Teaching in YWAM Heidebeek, Netherlands

Back home together

Back in the Netherlands, we celebrated a wonderful Christmas with Davi and Dilma, who stayed with us for a few weeks, as well as with Hannah, our eldest granddaughter, who lives with us. We are so grateful to God for such beautiful days together! We had to adjust to the temperature change from Brazil to the Netherlands, but we also enjoyed the snow, which made everything beautiful.

Working with full commitment

Then, it was suddenly time to start working hard on the three online seminars planned for this year. What makes it especially busy is that we hope to offer them in six languages. Everything has to be in English and Portuguese as well as French, Spanish, and Korean. The sixth language is Brazilian Sign Language. The first hundred students have already registered, but registration is still open, so there will probably be more.

A moment of shock...

Last week, we received a startling text message from Brazil. Igor had felt called to do a DTS (Discipleship Training School) during the meeting in December, and he had just started a week ago. However, he had an allergic reaction to a large poisonous caterpillar that fell on his arm, so he was in the hospital! It made us feel even more how far away we live from our children and grandchildren.

AI made it into a scary picture!:)

Tests indicated that Igor's muscles were dying, but his "spiritual muscles" were growing stronger as he learned to trust God more deeply (as were those of his parents, us, and the rest of the family and friends!). It's hard to wait from so far away.

Carried by prayer

But what a blessing to have such a large family and group of friends gathered around him in prayer! We are so grateful for that. Everything ended well, and he is feeling much better and after three days in the hospital he is back at the DTS. God is good.

Looking forward to April

Johan and I are working hard on the preparations and translations so that the first module of the online seminar will be ready in April. Would you pray for that, too? Pray that we will have the right students, those who work or plan to work with children in need and could use some help. They are often missionaries from YWAM, Youth With a Mission, or other mission movements and churches who work in places of great need.

Grateful to be connected with you

Thank you so much for your involvement and prayers! Much love and God's rich blessings!

A Blessed Christmas!!!

  

'Today in the city of David, your Saviour is born. He is the Messiah, the Lord! 

(Luke 2:10-11)

May God bless you richly in the New Year and grant you holidays filled with wonder, hope and love.

 Johan en Jeannette Lukasse

United by His calling. Training, encouraging and building a future for children worldwide.

We had such a wonderful time in Cartagena, Colombia, with over twenty enthusiastic students from the Children at Risk School! They were extremely motivated to learn more about how to work most effectively with children in need. Although I had never been to Colombia before, I immediately felt at home there!

 

The three-month school was a nice change from the online seminars we regularly give. Johan also felt right at home!

Back in Brazil

And now we are in Brazil until mid-December. As well as making lots of visits, we are going to participate in a big conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Youth With A Mission in Brazil.

We are staying with Romeu and Michele who took us to a Lamalma adventure camp for children from the slums that they organised. It's always so wonderful to see! All those beaming faces — and then at the end of the weekend to hear: “This was the best weekend of my life!” What a blessing!

More than sixty facilitators in 2026

Meanwhile, we are also busy holding online meetings with over sixty facilitators from all over the world. Together we are preparing three different online modules, which will be offered in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, and Brazilian Sign Language next year. It’s quite a challenge to organise! 😊

Our desire is to train and encourage young people who work with children in need. Often, these are young missionaries who are involved with Youth with a Mission, but increasingly, churches and other missionary organisations are participating too. They often work with some of the poorest children in the world.

A Christmas filled with wonder, hope and love.

Thank you all so much for your compassion, prayers, generosity, support and encouragement, and for all the other ways you help us.

The Old Testament describes the coming King, the Savior, the Messiah, in many different ways as one who will bring peace and justice. Then suddenly an angel appears and proclaims: “Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news that will fill all the people with great joy. Today, in the city of David, your Saviour has been born. He is the Messiah, the Lord!” (Luke 2:10,11)

Wow! We wish you love, light, and hope for the Christmas season ahead, as we celebrate together the birth of the long-promised Messiah, and we wish you many blessings for the New Year!

Prayer points

· Please pray for our time in Brazil and for God's guidance and protection.
· Pray for the preparations for the online seminars, which will be held in many languages.
· Join us in giving thanks for God's faithfulness and love for us and for children in need worldwide.

Tierra Bomba Island, Cartagena, Colombia

 

Yesterday we arrived on a small island off the coast of Colombia. The Children at Risk School from Cartagena, where missionaries are trained to work with children in need, had invited us to come and teach. Just last week, the entire group — 27 people — moved to this little island, where many children live in deep poverty.
 

There is no running water here, no garbage collection, and no paved roads — but there is plenty of music! The students continue to amaze us with their flexibility; they adapt so easily. This week’s classes are a mix of theory and practice. Johan is teaching most of the sessions, and it’s wonderful to see how much he enjoys it.

 

 

The students come from various South American countries, and it’s beautiful to witness their enthusiasm, their passion to follow the Lord Jesus, and their love for children. Would you pray for us this week?

From Poland to Colombia: Testimonies of God's faithfulness and blessings from around the world.

‘I would like to thank you for the latest online course. If I hadn't completed the Children at Risk online training recently, we probably wouldn't have been so well prepared to respond to an urgent request for help from a street girl and find the right support for her.' (Student from Poland)

We received this and other very positive feedback shortly after the last online course. It is wonderful to see that the Lord God is multiplying our 'loaves and fishes' in this way, and enabling our lessons to have an impact in many different countries and bless children in need.
 

We were dreading it!

All our courses are registered with the University of the Nations. In recent weeks, we have been working hard to submit the completely renewed registration for these courses. It was a big task that we had been dreading, but we hope that everything will be well taken care of for the next ten years.
 

In the south of France, we spent a few days together with Johanneke, Jonathan, and the girls. 

Merci beaucoup... eh... how was it again? 😊

We were invited to teach for a week on the Youth with a Mission campus in Burtigny, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. We decided to turn it into a vacation and traveled across France in our camper van. Two weeks later, we arrived in Burtigny.
 

It was great fun to be back at a YWAM base and to have 'real' students in front of us rather than online. We were also able to discuss plans with the school's leaders, for the French translation of our courses. We had long since forgotten the French we learned in school, so we needed some help with that! 😊
 

Staying with us for a holiday

After our trip, Dilma and Davi, our children who live in a sheltered housing facility for adults with special needs about three miles from our home, came to stay with us for the holidays. It was wonderful spending time with them.
 

We are grateful for AI!

We are currently preparing the online courses for next year. Among other things, we are translating all the material into French and Spanish! It's great that AI is helping us so much with this!

Cartagena, Colombia

Many children in Colombia are in need, and for the first time in about 20 years, a Children at Risk School will be held there. We hope to teach there in October.

After that, we will fly to Brazil to teach and meet lots of friends. Of course, we are also looking forward to being with Michele, Romeu, and the children again.
 

Richly blessed

We are grateful for our good health and for being able to do all this. We are also grateful for the wonderful group of family and friends who support us in this endeavor. We know we are richly blessed!

We wish these blessings upon you as well. In a world full of turmoil and seemingly insurmountable problems, we can turn to God together, knowing that He is guiding us and will always be with us.

May His peace and grace be with you!

Prayer points:

• Thank the Lord for the beautiful fruit and positive responses to the courses.
• Pray that the French and Spanish translations are blessed so that more people can be reached.
• Pray for good preparation and protection during our trips to Colombia and Brazil.
• Pray for strength and good health so that we can continue this work.
• Ask that the lessons may be a blessing to children in need worldwide.

News

We send this newsletter by email four times a year and this letter also appears on our blog each time 

You also have the option of receiving a link to our blog via WhatsApp every time a new letter is published. This makes it easier for us to share prayer points and pictures. This is a special WhatsApp group where Johan and I are the administrators and are the only ones to post messages.

If you would like to receive it by WhatsApp from now on (four times a year, plus extra prayer points and photos), you can click on this link: 

https://chat.whatsapp.com/CHStf3tfOJBLBHt0wGydME?mode=ems_copy_t

Or scan this QR code: