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Mission staff are ensuring a steady stream of successors. In this time, when almost every organization is struggling to find qualified personnel, God has shown us His great grace. We testify that many trained and competent individuals volunteer their time daily in a wide variety of areas, such as website design, bookkeeping, fundraising, and the execution and organization of aid shipments. For this, we are eternally grateful!
Some of these employees are now working full-time for the aid organization. The workload is constantly increasing, making it impossible to manage this work on a part-time basis. We are very pleased that Michael Akulenko, our second chairman, has resigned from his position in favor of CDH-Stephanus e.V. and will be working full-time at the headquarters in Speyer starting September 1, 2023. His responsibilities include not only representing the first chairman, but also planning and implementing various aid projects, maintaining contact with foreign organizations, recruiting new staff, and coordinating the youth initiative on mission trips. He has proven himself in all these areas repeatedly during his volunteer work.
Financial administration requires diligence, accuracy, and time. Matthias Krüger, who has been familiar with our work for several years, took over this area of responsibility on September 1, 2023, on a part-time basis. This lifts a great burden from the shoulders of the chairman, Nikolaus Wall, who has long been committed to the future of the mission and prays for it. It is not easy to lead the aid organization while also bearing the responsibility for his family and his ministry in the church. Added to this is the daily commute of over 100 kilometers. At this point, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks for his work, patience, and perseverance over more than 20 years of service to CDH-Stephanus e.V.! We thank God for the love, patience, teamwork, peacefulness, wisdom, and protection that our Lord Jesus has bestowed upon our brother Nikolaus Wall throughout all these years.
Our long-time driver, Waldemar Akulenko, who has been with the mission for 32 years, is retiring. Waldemar Penkowski, who has volunteered for over two decades transporting aid supplies for CDH-Stephanus e.V., will be hired full-time as his replacement. This was not an easy decision for the Penkowski family, as his wife, Lina (née Firus), knows from experience the dangers this dedication entails. She has grown up without a father since she was 11 years old; he died during an aid transport to Armenia. Please pray for these changes and that the Lord may grant them His protection.
More information on the development of the mission: