Generosity Testimonies
Each year we highlight a spiritual practice as a church body; in 2025 we focused on giving. Specifically, we encouraged everyone to increase the giving of their time, attention, and money by adopting one of our 21 long-term ministry partners. Click on the names below to hear firsthand how your prayers, encouragement and financial support are making a difference in their lives and in the work they are doing.
We want to first and foremost thank the leaders of StoneBridge and everyone who participated in this year’s Generosity Practice. We cannot thank you enough for remembering us in your prayers and for your financial partnership in our ministry.
One of the best aspects of this practice has been the opportunity it gave us to stay connected with our StoneBridge family from afar. When we left Marietta 13 years ago, StoneBridge was a relatively small congregation (at least compared to its size today). As the church has grown, it has been difficult to meet and connect with the many new people who have become part of the fellowship in our absence. This practice helped us feel reconnected to the body as a whole and gave us a voice with those we have not yet had the pleasure of meeting face-to-face.
This has been invaluable, and we are deeply grateful for the opportunity to meet new people who are interested in our family and ministry.
As a result of this practice, we saw an increase in monthly supporters who partnered with our ministry not only financially but prayerfully as well.
We have said this from day one, and the axiom remains true: we would not have been able to accomplish anything in our host country without the loving support of our Stonebridge family. Every reward we have gained on our mission will be shared with you.
Peace and blessings,
The 6 Wheelers
Jessie and I have seen Stonebridge as our church home for over 15 years! We have been so blessed over those many years with numerous prayer and financial partners from the Stonebridge Family. This year, as Stonebridge started intentionally pursuing the generosity practice, we have been so encouraged by all of the new Stonebridge members we have met and how they have joined us in the ministry of reaching Montenegro with the Good News! Those new partners have made it possible to continue our ministry to families in need of food as well as our ministry to women seeking to learn about the Bible.
Thanks!
The German Family
Hi Stonebridge Family- We have been so encouraged by the church's generosity practice this year. For practical/financial reasons - it enables us to not only continue to serve here in southwest Germany reaching our neighbors and the refugee population, but also to be a little extra generous with the people we are serving. For example, more giving helps with gas money (German gas prices are the equivalent to $4.50 per gallon) and offering to drive a refugee to their language test or doctor's appointment or providing the snacks for the language cafes that we do. In addition, the prayer support is hugely felt in ministry as we see God move in ways that we know are only possible through prayer- i.e. now having an open door at the Kandern Refugee Camp to hold language classes, when the Heimleiter was super opposed to this initially. AND the best part is when those partnering with us reach out to us personally- either with a reply to our monthly newsletter, a text or email that says how they have been praying for us and ministry here. THANK YOU!
Last February Justin went to the doctor and there was a problem with his insurance. We were surprised because in order to get a work permit and open the roastery Justin had to get all of the paperwork in place and sign up for the mandatory government health insurance. So the next day Justin went to see what the problem was. The folks there said that they had been waiting for him to come in and explained that the government had decided to fine him for all of the years that he had owned our company and not paid into the health insurance system. Justin tried to reason with them by explaining that the company was dormant for many years and that he could not legally benefit from the health insurance so he was not required to pay into it. We had paid all of the taxes and kept the company legal. We didn't actually owe any money to the system. And we’re not talking a few hundred dollars, the fine was over $10,000!! We were distraught. We talked to everyone we could find to figure out what to do. The fine was completely unfair but Justin’s work permit was dependent on having good standing with all the government offices- meaning if we didn’t pay it we wouldn’t get to stay. We talked to our friends int he government and many people tried to help us fix the problem or find a loophole. Several of our foreign colleagues had had similar fines. They basically called it the “ M tax.” We prayed and we asked people to pray about what to do. An extremely generous person gave us the money to pay off the debt. It was such an incredible gift and has allowed us to stay here.
We are so thankful for their generosity and for each of the folks who have supported us this year. The inflation rate here has skyrocketed over the past few years and our budget has suffered greatly. Thank you for giving so generously!!
Love,
Elizabeth
We are grateful for the new monthly supporters for our team this year. Additionally, it has been a wonderful year of ministry. Our family is doing really great. We know all of this is because of the increased prayer for us, our family, and ministry. Thank you, StoneBridge, for the many ways you bless us and join us in making Jesus known among the nations in New Orleans.
We have been so blessed by the generosity practice at StoneBridge this past year. We've loved connecting with some of y'all who we didn't know before. And we've been able to pass on that blessing to those we serve!
Because of your generosity, we've been able to bring village church pastors into town for weekly worship and prayer nights, treat Ukrainian chaplains to some special events during our trauma healing retreat, and to host 50+ ministry partners from 10 countries for Thanksgiving!
We are so grateful for you and thankful for your generosity. Y'all are making things happen here in Romania that we couldn't do without you!
We love you StoneBridge family!!!
We are deeply grateful to StoneBridge for your unwavering support throughout this past year as we’ve been serving overseas in ministry. Your generosity and encouragement have been a constant source of strength and inspiration for us. From your prayers and financial contributions to the encouraging emails and visitors, you have made a profound impact on our journey. Knowing that we have such a supportive church back home has been a comforting anchor, and we are truly blessed to be part of this community. Thank you for walking alongside us and for being in our lives.
This year, this practice has connected us with members of the body who have prayed for us and encouraged us in our day to day work consistently. We are so thankful for those who sowed their resources into the work of CV, ensuring workers around the globe received the care that they needed. On top of the financial investment into the work, we have felt covered in prayer through this practice of generosity as well. I am incredible grateful for those who invested their time, finances and heart into the work of CV this year.
This year’s spiritual practice of generosity has blessed not only me, but our whole Tanzania team! We have experienced the outpouring of generosity through new financial support and many words of encouragement – but especially from the time so many have given in prayer for the mission work. As I shared stories and ways to pray for us, our team was led to have a stronger prayer strategy for the unreached we have been engaging with, and those we are equipping to reach them. Through the focused prayers of the StoneBridge family, God has opened doors for our team to have access to 4 new unreached people groups! Through generosity in praying, giving, and encouraging, the Lord has blessed this work beyond anything we could have asked or even imagined.
Since March of this year, we have taught many Bible lessons, with coloring sheets from the miracles of Jesus and the three missionary journeys of Paul, to an elementary school in Tinyari Grande every Monday. The school is a very humble school in the mountains and most of the kids are in families that work on farms. There are approximately 30 students. We have also had the opportunity to do parent workshops for the parents in the school and many have come to accept Christ in their hearts. The kids and parents enjoyed some celebrations where we brought some cakes and snacks, and this brought the kids lots of joy. Thank you so much for your support this year.
This past year was our first full year transitioning into a new country, language, culture and it’s been marked by beautiful and hard moments throughout. The Generosity Practice felt like gift from the Lord to us as we were stepping into this huge change as a family, as it surrounded us with even more people to encourage us and pray for us when things were difficult. We can’t thank you enough StoneBridge family, from the leadership who help prepare us well to all those who sent us encouragement and support, we would not be here without y'all. May the Lord bless you all in return with the joy of knowing you are helping people come to know Christ as their Savior and Lord.
With the blessing of StoneBridge's year of generosity, I was able to be fully funded for the year of 2025!! Being able to be in ministry with the blessing and grace of StoneBridge has been a gamechanger. We (my husband David and I) could not be more grateful for the guidance, friendships, partners, support, etc that has come from y'all! My thanks and gratitude is based on Paul's letter to the Philippians in chapter 4. I would not be able to say it better than he did.
Starting out in ministry can be tough and scary but I never felt that. God knew the plan on our life and from His blessings through the Church, He clearly showed up. This year has encouraged me to really take action into every detail of my life being fully devoted to Jesus and being vulnerable to others about God's provision, excellence, and love! For several years, I wanted to just do ministry but did not think it would be like this!! There are ups and downs and nothing on earth is perfect, but remembering we see glimpses through the Church and His creation of God's perfection and paradise, truly gets me to praise Him.