Matthew and Elora work in Summit County, Colorado, which is located near Denver. It is a community ignorant to Christianity, with a focus on 'new age' and eastern religions.
While praying at the altar during a youth convention, God lead Matthew to answer his call.
Matthew was called into missions at a missions convention in Junior High.
Brit Collver - Son
Bennett Collver - Son
Elora Collver - Wife
Ryan Collver - Son
Roger and Debbi Audorff want to help Mexico become a sending nation for missions, and they believe that with proper training, this will be able to happen. While the immediate spiritual battle is with the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses—Roger and Debbi believe that the Catholics in Monterrey could realize that God’s Word is for them to live out in their daily lives. However, idol worship of Guadalupe is prevalent in the city among the Catholic population, and the Audorffs are praying for the spirit of idolatry to be broken by the name of Jesus. Monterrey is also home to much poverty and has had many recent problems with drug trafficking.
Nick and Olivia are located in Tallinn, Estonia to launch a new church for the young generation
One in five Gen Z adults now identify as LGBTQ+ while that number for other generations of adults (Boomers, Gen X, even Millennials) has remained the same - showing the impact that the woke media is having on our younger generation. Also, nearly 50% of students are now non-religious, one of the fastest growing demographics on our college campuses. The Secular Student Alliance (actually being promoted by some schools) is a growing organization on our campuses.
While the people of Estonia have made advances in technology and are reaping the rewards of those efforts, they are spiritually dead. In fact, Estonians considered themselves one of the least religious countries in the world. Among those that do hold religious beliefs, many have shaped their beliefs from folk tales and cultural influences, such as the popular belief that trees have souls. Within this population these sorts of beliefs significantly outnumber those that know our Savior and the hope that is found in Him. The Estonian people are spiritually hungry but don’t have many Christ followers to guide them on how to satisfy that hunger. Many of the people still suffer from the trauma of the Soviet occupation and the oppression that came with it. It is that pain and hunger that our Lord longs to heal. And we are honored that he has placed the calling on our hearts to begin planting seeds of a new day of hope in Estonia.
85-95 percent of Thai people are Buddhist while maybe 5-10 percent are practicing Islam. Thai Christ followers make up only 1%. Missionaries in the area have started a prayer movement called Change The Map in hopes of gaining a more defined prayer audience that will make a significant impact on the number of converts in Southeast Asia.
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.
River Valley 500. Lithuania has one of the highest suicide rates in the world and the people are very downcast and depressed. Of the 2.7 million people who call Lithuania home less than 1% are Evangelical Christian. Alcoholism is high, people are ignorant to their need for the gospel, and are wrapped up in materialism.
Papua New Guinea is a land of almost 9 million people who speak over 800 different languages. For those almost 9 million people, there are only approximately 500 doctors in the country. Every year 1 in 20 children under the age of 5 will die. Many die from common things such as diarrhea from drinking contaminated water. About 40% of the country has no access to a source of clean water. While looking up statistics on PNG you will see that it is considered a Christian nation, it is very much in name only. While much of the coast has been evangelized as well as some of the bigger cities, when you go into the interior of PNG, you will be met with people who still live as they have for thousands of years. They still practice their animistic tribal customs. While some may have heard of Christianity and may even call themselves Christian, most will take one or two aspects of Christianity and merge them with their animistic beliefs. There is not a true separation and a turning away in many cases.
River Valley 500. We are currently in a transition phase to move from Brazil to England and live there with YWAM full time. During this period we are working with YWAM to do an online English and culture class. Leticia just finished the class and Colin was a staff member, and in January we will both be staffing the school. The school teaches English and gives people a place to practice and learn free of judgment, while also teaching them about the differences in cultures and how different cultures show different aspects of God's character.
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 Godwin family has been serving with AGWM missions since october 1994. They served in Mongolia (Asia Pacific) for over 18 years - pastoring, coaching and mentoring leaders, working with women in prostitution and coming out of prostitution, women's prisons, served in leadership for the bible school and helping to begin new churches. Never dreaming that they would leave the work in Mongolia, God began to put into their hearts that He was bringing change. In 2013, during the World Missions Summit in Fort Worth Texas the Godwin's heard Omar Beiler (Regional Director - Eurasia), speak about the great need in Estonia. Within a years time, through personal prayer and God bringing specific and incredible confirmation, Bob and Chrissy knew God was calling them to go to Estonia to plant the Church among the unreached of this nation. One of the great parts of this whole process and story of going to Estonia has been the commitment of the Mongolian Church to send us out - as we shared of God’s call on us to move to Estonia they began to share with us their desire to send us through their prayer and through their finances! We also believe that Mongolians Christians will be a part of church planting teams in Estonia! That’s exciting! We are now in the process of planting the church in west Tallinn (Haabersti).