Newsletter from the Kwon's

this picture was taken a few days before our daughter was born! :)

Shalom! Peace to you all!

We like to begin this Newsletter with the most exciting news in our lives: God has blessed our family with our precious and beloved daughter. 😊

Our baby girl Kalia Zoe, whose name means "beloved by God," was born on May 23rd.

Kalia brings so much joy to us and we have been adapting well.

In this update we love to share what has been happening over the last months, some testimonies from the last school we have been leading and also the changes it brings to be parents to our beloved daughter.

We say thank you for taking the time to read our update and all your love and support.

“As we intentionally take steps to put God before us, grace-filled new habits will replace old ones. Just as a compass needle always points north, our hearts will inevitably return to God. If God is the great longing of our soul, He will be the North Star of our inner being.” — Dallas Willard

1. DTS (Discipleship Training School)

The January DTS, which we led, ended successfully. Both teams to North Africa and Brazil returned after two months of outreach filled with incredible testimonies of what God had done. In the final week before graduation, we heard many powerful stories and witnessed how much the students had grown and changed over the past five months. It was a great joy. Let us share some testimonies with you:

1) North Africa

The North Africa team served at a center we helped establish in Lausanne for Sudanese refugees. While partnering with a medical team from Kona, our students prayed for visitors, took care of children, and helped in practical ways.

One day a man paralyzed on the left side of his body due to a stroke, came into the office. He couldn’t move his left arm at all and had no feeling in his leg. The doctor said there was no way to treat the condition, only pain killers could help him.

One student from our school felt strongly that he should pray for this man before he left. He shared a testimony of how his grandfather had been healed from a stroke, then laid hands on the man and began to pray. As he prayed, our student noticed the arm of the sick man starting to move.

The man looked shocked as he began moving his arm—up, down, forward, backward, side to side! Although his leg was still numb and his hand still clenched, our student prayed again. Then strength returned to the man's hand, and he tightly gripped our students hand—so tightly, in fact, that our student had fingernail marks for two days. The paralysed man, who came in with partial paralysis, walked out without a cane, fully healed.

Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!

In addition to this healing, a Muslim-background family accepted Jesus after hearing the gospel from our team. They began studying the Bible with our students and even invited neighbors to their home for prayer. Over two months, 19 people came to faith through this team’s ministry.

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up… The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” — James 5:15–16

2) Brazil

The Brazil team ministered in Uberlândia, an inland region, and in the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro.

At first, the team had concerns about safety. But after much prayer and reassurance from a local pastor that missionaries would be safe if they respected local rules, the team entered the favelas.

In Rio’s favelas, where gangs rule, students were understandably nervous. But God gave them boldness, and miraculously, the hearts of the people opened. When students offered to pray for gang members, the gang members laid down their rifles and prayed with them.

One gang leader trembled under the presence of the Holy Spirit and listened to the gospel. A girl struggling with suicidal thoughts heard the team’s worship and came into the church, encountering God. Another young man, who had planned to take his life that very day, met the team, heard about Jesus, and gave his life to Christ.

During the outreach, they distributed over 900 Bibles, and through this ministry, 20 people came to faith. Praise God!

Perhaps “to the ends of the earth” does not just mean a physical location but also the places no one else is willing to go - yet where Jesus is most needed. We believe the favelas are such places, where God's heart aches.

We give all glory to God for how He worked through these two teams and pray that the seeds of the gospel they planted will bear abundant fruit.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses... to the ends of the earth.” — Acts 1:8

At graduation, one student shared how their life, once hopeless, had been completely transformed by meeting Jesus. Another student, who had no church or Christian community back home, said the community at DTS gave them a taste of heaven. One student’s mother even texted us after graduation, saying how deeply her child had grown in faith and how grateful she was.

We are so thankful. Though teaching, training, and discipling students is not easy, seeing their lives transformed in Christ makes every sacrifice worthwhile. We rejoice over every life being transformed over this last few months.

2. Welcome, Kalia Zoe Kwon!

The most beautiful treasure and greatest blessing from God - Kalia - has arrived in our family! 😊

Kalia was born at 46 cm and 2.7 kg.

Her name Kalia means “Beloved by God,” and we also gave her the middle name Zoe, which means “Eternal Life” in Greek, symbolizing the eternal life that comes from God.

Since her arrival, everything has changed but for the good! We are beyond blessed to have her in our lives. SeongEun and I are adjusting well and we are definitely learning a lot in this new season. Being parents brings a way deeper understanding on the love of God for us and we are also learning in a deeper way to trust God for the life of Kalia.

This season is stretching us to trust God's goodness, His faithfulness, and the truth that He loves and cares for Kalia even more than we do.

Please pray for us as we are stepping into this new role as parents that we can be faithful parents and a godly example to the most precious gift entrusted to us.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. Psalm 23:1

3. What's next

After completing the DTS we are looking forward to a season where we are more focusing of adjusting to be parents to Kalia and also relearn to work together as a team as Kalia has highest priortiy.

I am helping in a lighter involved in some categories at the base. The mix of being with Kalia and yet having the oppertuntiy to support students and staff in some categories bring me much joy and excitment.

SeongEun will be leading the worship ministry and oversees our student service office, where we process all our students applications and questions.

We are very excited for this new season and thank you for all your prayers.

4. Prayer Request

As always, we want to thank you all for your prayers and support :) It means so much to us in the midst of ministry to know that someone is listening, carrying, and is praying for us. We ask that you continue to partner with us in prayer.

1. Please keep praying for the billigual DTS who is currently on outreach that they can have a wonderful experince as they are serving in the nations.

2. Thank you for your prayers for Kalia's growth and development. And that we as a new family can continue to adjust well in our new roles.

We are so blessed to know that someone cares about our ministry and is praying for us, whether it's through financial support or prayer!

Thank you and we love you!

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How to support us:

we have new Bank-details which you can find another te following link

https://janastettler9.wixsite.com/my-story/general-1

If you would like to know more of how you can parnter with us in giving financially please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Many blessings

Jana & SeongEun with Kalia