Jean coaches worldwide church leaders in Asia, Africa and the U.S.A. on how to conceptualize, plant, cultivate and multiply churches and ministries that are indigenous in nature. She makes sure to do this in ways that are culturally relevant, self-functioning, self-determining, self-supporting, self-propagating and self-giving, and that promote a healthy self-image and a healthy community-image.
A few days after her graduation from North Central Bible College in 1986, Jean began the journey of planting a church among Cambodians in St. Paul, Minnesota. Because of her training in cross-cultural communications, her first strategic action step was to move into a Cambodian community and “do life” with them. For 6 years, Jean lived among the Cambodians. Their family struggles became her family struggles, their weeping became her weeping, their celebrations became her celebrations, and their laughter became her laughter. After those 6 years, she then headed to Cambodia to serve as a missionary, where she spent another 16 years among the beautiful Cambodian people.
Jean was called to be a missionary during her High School years in St. Paul, Minnesota, through her exposure to and friendships with Cambodian, Hmong, and Vietnamese refugees.
Taiwan is predominantly a Buddhist and Taoist practicing country. 19% of the population is still unreached (roughly 4.5 million people), but only 3.3% are evangelical; leaving over 23 million people who have yet to accept the Gospel.
Cape Town, with a population is 4.5 million people, is known across the continent as the Mother City and is one of the most influential cities on the continent of Africa. With the average age being 29 years old, there is great potential to reaching many university students, young professionals, and families. Nestled behind Table Mountain is the University of Cape Town which is the premier university in all of Africa. Our goal is to launch a thriving Chi Alpha ministry in this influential university of almost 30,000 students. Cape Town is also the Parliamentary capital of South Africa and boasts other major industries like manufacturing, tourism, oil and gas, agriculture, marketing and media in addition to Information Technology an
Burundi is one of the youngest countries in the world. In a country of about 15.5 million people, almost half of them are under the age of 14. Its also the poorest country in the world by GDP per capita. Its GDP per capita in 2021 was $221.48. About 85% of the population claims to be Christian but it’s a very syncretistic version of Christianity. They still visit witch doctors when they are sick, and are worried about the spirits of their ancestors. Burundi has a history of ethnic tensions, genocide, and protected civil war and is an under educated country.
The Gruetzmachers work directly with Hispanics here in the United States and within several countries in Latin America. Their main focus is to develop leaders, and their schedule is filled with ministry to Hispanic churches; coaching pastors and leaders; leading mission trips with Hispanic students; holding retreats for men, women, and youth; leadership training; and working with 2 Institutes for Church Planters.
Jon and Jennifer Dahlager serve as missionaries in Costa Rica, Central America. They have served in the country since March 2000.
Joanne Oftedahl teaches and serves as Student Missions Advisor at Immanuel Bible College, Cebu Philippines. She preaches, teaches, and helps provide resources for evangelism and discipleship in local churches of Cebu and neighboring Islands.
Steve and Trina are missionaries with Assembly of God World Missions in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa. They are serving as Team Leader Overseers of Live Dead East Africa. They have responsibility for teams in 6 countries. Their primary focus is church planting among unreached people groups and training. In addition, Trina ministers to young ladies.
Indonesia is a majority Islamic country with about 83.3% of the population practicing the Islamic faith and 70% of the population unreached. They are part of the 10/40 window and Indonesians that convert to Christianity may face being ostracized from their family and be pressured into isolation and taking on verbal abuse. It is legal to be a Christian In Indonesia however Missionaries often face oppression from radical Islamic parties when planting or getting permission to build a church.
4% of Generation Z in America have a biblical worldview. 96% of people who make decisions to follow Christ do so prior to their 30th birthday. In MN: there are 425,000 college students and 1.2 million young adults. In USA: there are 18.6 million college students and 21.56 million young adults.