Jesus.net Magazine

JESUS.NET

“WE ARE BLESSED BY PERSECUTION.”

Peyman & Djawaher - p.44

“Seeing God at work never gets old”

Jeff Moore, YouVersion - P. 30

“I only had two weeks to live...”

Déborah Rosenkranz - P. 18

Timeline Jesus.net

Interview Priya D’Cruz

Partner World Map

Interview Jan-Willem & Eric

A Miracle Every Day

Jesus.net Tools

The Watertower YouVersion

Interview Jeff Moore

God is Good... all the time... and He is online too!

am so happy to present to you our first Jesus.net magazine. May you be encouraged by what God is doing online, all over the world. What a privilege to share stories of impact like Priya who came to faith by reading A Miracle Every Day and now works for Jesus.net full time. Be inspired by Peyman and Djawaher who fled Iran, got to know Jesus in the Netherlands and now use the internet to reach Farsi speaking people all over the world.

Who could have imagined when Eric Célérier and I met in 2005 that our joint passion for the internet and the gospel would spiral into a global network that is now reaching millions of people with the Word of God, every day! Who could have dreamed that Jesus. net would have offices in Europe, Asia, North and Latin America and that tools like the YouVersion Bible app, The Life of Jesus film and the CODEX platform would be translated into numerous languages to change lives.

Looking back my heart is filled with thankfulness. Thankful for all the hardworking and passionate people that are dedicated to share the gospel online, for all the lives transformed by Jesus and thankful for the opportunity to serve this ministry, together with my wife Marjon, for so many years.

Who knows where the road may lead us but I do know one thing: God will lead the way.

© Stichting Jesus.net contact@jesus.net

weare.jesus.net

Jan-Willem Bosman

Be blessed, Director Jesus.net

ZeWatchers creates a matching fund for Jesus.net to accelerate

Matthias Langhans from the Swiss partner Campus für Christus launches MyStory.me

10 year celebration of Jesus.net with theme 'Only Jesus'

BASED IN Chennai in Tamil Nadu - India

EDUCATION

Bachelor of English Literature - University of Madras

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Mortgage Underwriter and Team Leader UK based Retail Banking & Journal Manager for Elsevier ltd.

FAMILY

Married to Jonathan & mum to Skylar (4) Raised in a Hindu family

JESUS.NET ROLE: Team Leader Tamil ministry

CClose your eyes and think of India. What do you see? What do you smell? Even if you’ve never been to India, you can probably paint a picture. Bright colors, fragrant curry’s, delicious chai’s or perhaps you see the Taj Mahal or holy cows.

For Priya D’Cruz (32) India is her beloved home. “India is the country I cherish. This is where God has brought me into existence and this is where He is calling me to share the gospel. India is so rich in heritage and has a diversity of landscapes, climates, people, languages, traditions, agricultural products etc. Amazing! It’s also a country where worshiping idols and superstition has a stronghold. I see so many of my friends trying to find answers and peace of heart but they have no idea that Jesus is the source of freedom.”

Priya lives in Chennai with Tamil being her mother tongue. She was raised in a Hindu family but the birth of her daughter Skylar changed everything.

India, the land of miracles. ”

Praying for a miracle

“As a child I often prayed for a miracle for my difficult family situation. In Hindu culture you would have to pay money or give gifts in order to get close to an idol and to receive a blessing. This brought so many questions in my mind as a young child, like: ‘If I had nothing to give, I could never get close to God or receive a miracle.’ But then I watched the Jesus film on a local Tamil tv channel. When saw Jesus being kind to people and performing so many miracles irrespective of their social status, talent or qualification, I hoped that He would be kind to me. Jesus was depicted as described in the Bible: kind, loving, compassionate, merciful, gentle and impartial. He was performing all the wonderful miracles and touching lives, without partiality with utmost love and He won my heart instantly. This film made a lasting impact and made me want to know more about Him. But it wasn’t until I became a mother that I truly connected with Jesus.”

Depression

“The pregnancy of my daughter Skylar and postpartum depression hit me very hard. I started seeking God more and I came across A Miracle Every Day in English. God probably knew that it was time that He brought me into this new experience with Him and in Him. It wasn’t an instant happening or an overnight realization. It was a process which took almost a year. First it started with an outpouring of love into my heart, a love which I never experienced before. A transforming kind of love which transformed me into a new version of myself. started looking and reaching out to others with more love. Day by day God spoke to me through many ways (including A Miracle Every Day) to help me understand that He wants me to be in this new dimension of relationship with Him and that don’t need to worship idols or offer flowers to please the Gods.”

Salvation

“I discussed my new experience with my husband Jonathan who was ok with me following my new faith walk but was not willing to join me. He grew up with the Roman Catholic church but didn’t know Jesus personally. I gave it to the Lord in prayer and never ceased sowing the seeds of God’s word in my husband. I kept

sharing whatever the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He also eventually came into the experience of salvation and we both were baptized together on 19 Dec 2021. I can now share my faith journey with Jonathan who is in awe of the miracles of Jesus. It gave me so much joy and I’m so blessed to know that God had planned salvation for my husband and my mom too! My mom wants to be baptized but the devil is still fighting hard to hang on to her. continue to pray for her and for my dad, my sister and her family. I’ve given this to God’s will because His word says in John 15:16: ‘You did not choose me; I chose you.’”

Leap of faith

“Jesus is my everything. He is the reason I’m alive today. He showed me the true meaning of love and manifests that love in my life every day. I just want to become like Him. He’s my role model. I just could never have imagined that would one day work for Jesus.net and bring the gospel to Tamil speaking people like myself. What a privilege and turn of events! Or should I say: what a miracle! The name A Miracle Every Day is chosen perfectly for it’s miraculous what has happened in our lives.

I’ll be honest though, making the decision to quit my job and join the Jesus.net ministry full time was not made overnight. It was and is a big leap of faith.”

Dream

“My dream is to bring at least 1% of the population of India into a close relationship with Jesus through this online ministry, to help them with the resources they need, to encourage and motivate them through their journey. This may sound subdued but 1% of 1,4 billion people = 1,4 million people! How? By translating online tools like A Miracle Every Day and The Life of Jesus film into Tamil. My beloved language with its rich vocabulary and it being one of the oldest (5000 years) known languages in the world. There are more than 70 million Tamil speaking people in India and around the world. A major percentage of this population is yet to experience the love and saving power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Impossible? Not for our God of miracles!”

Did you know 95% of India is Hindu or Muslim? And that over 121 official languages are spoken in India? Jesus.net has set up a ministry in Hindi, Telugu and thanks to Priya now also in Tamil. With the potential of reaching 750 million people. Goal is to eventually enroll content in ten of the most spoken languages in India.

“

You did not choose me; I chose you. ”

JJesus.net is essentially a group of dreamers and visionaries… people who embrace, and not fear, the opportunities the Internet provides to share the Gospel. In 2005, two innovative dreamers connected - Jan-Willem Bosman and Eric Célérier. They became two of the founding fathers of Jesus.net. The network soon spun out of control but has always been in God’s hands. Their story brings God glory.

How did you meet Eric?

“We met in Lausanne, Switzerland in 2005. Our mutual Belgium friend, Joseph Hoquet, connected us. He initiated this meeting by bringing together people that had a vision for online ministry. I remember that from the start I felt a huge click with Eric.”

What do you appreciate about Eric?

“For me, Eric is the Steve Jobs of the Christian world. He comes up with all these crazy ideas that do not seem possible at first. But as it turns out, several of his ideas were divinely inspired. I love to brainstorm with Eric because we bring out the best in each other.”

What moments stand out to you?

“Looking back over the years, we’ve had so many great moments together. For me, one of the best moments was the Lausanne Evangelism Conference in 2010. We were both so on fire for internet

evangelism that we wore the same t-shirt for four days in a crowd of 4,000 people. The t-shirt had arrows pointing at each other with these words: Eric is also an Internet evangelist and vice versa. It was such a good laugh but it also resulted in a lot of great conversations and became the starting point for tools like CODEX, MyStory.me and personalized content.”

Jan-Willem

How did you meet Jan-Willem?

“A Belgian guy named Joseph Hoquet had the great idea that we should meet - a kingdom idea! He invited us both to a meeting in Switzerland to talk about internet evangelism. Also present were some business people: driven by results so not interested in projects or activities - they wanted maximum impact. They agreed to support online evangelism only if Jan-Willem and I would be involved. And from then on Jan-Willem and I started dreaming together.”

What do you appreciate about Jan-Willem?

“We are very different. I work on intuition and he is more of a process thinker. My inbox is always flooded with 50.000 emails and his inbox is always empty by the end of the day. I’m a sprinter and he’s a marathon man. I have a lot of hair and he doesn’t… but we love being together. Love dreaming together. We are complementary. We are Brothers in Christ - Brothers in Arms.”

What moments stand out to you?

“I remember a special trip to Capetown, South Africa. After a powerful prayer walk, we went to a restaurant and started talking with the waiter. Turned out his

name in Swahili meant: you are not wanted. What a sad name. We shared about the love of Jesus and asked if we could give him a new name: shining star! He was so happy that he told the owner, a French lady. She was amazed at his transformation and wanted to know what we had told him.”

What is the power of internet evangelism?

“Because we connect to people who are already searching for life questions, all we need to do is anticipate it. Searchers are not being pushed but their own desires to know more are being met. The internet has become such a big part of daily life and finding answers online has become a natural process for many people.”

Isn’t the internet distant and impersonal?

“For most people, the internet is very intimate and a safe space to explore. They can ask any question and look at answers without feeling ashamed. Especially once seekers are connected to an e-coach, the conversations go much deeper. But we do aim to connect the online and the offline world.”

What miracles have you witnessed in the Jesus.net journey?

“The journey with Jesus.net has been filled with miracles and divine connections. Today we are more united than ever before and our network is strong and continuously innovative. Every day messages that God is working in miraculous ways in the lives of people. In the end, that’s what Jesus.net is for - connecting people

What is your Jesus.net dream?

“My dream is that we cover 99% of the world’s languages to reach people and bring them into a spiritual journey, and to connect people to the offline world in a personalized way.”

Eric

What is the power of internet evangelism?

“The power is connection. I believe that if Apostle Paul would be alive today, he would definitely use the internet. Today, smartphones, laptops, tablets, and the internet are the language everyone speaks. You can connect with the masses and you can connect people to other people and local churches.”

Isn’t the internet distant and impersonal?

“Not in my experience! When I planted a church in France, I created my first website. The first ever online response I got was from a guy who lived in Brazil. He wanted to visit the church so he came over and stayed with us for a month! Later I installed a chat function on my website and on the very first chat, had an hour long conversation with a lady who wanted to know how to get in touch with her guardian angels. I told her that if she wanted a heavenly connection, she should connect to Jesus. She was very open to the Gospel, we typed prayers together, and after an hour she said she had to get ready to pick up her kids and I was like, but it’s 11pm! It turned out that she lived in Canada and for her it was 5pm. So for me the internet is not distant at all - in fact, it erases distance.”

What miracles have you witnessed in the Jesus.net journey?

“I’ve witnessed so many! Jesus.net is a work of faith. So many organizations working together, from so many different backgrounds and cultures. The partnership with the Billy Graham Association turned out to be very powerful. A Miracle Every Day is a miracle in itself. What started out as a simple idea now has all these writers in so many different languages, reaching hundreds of thousands every day.”

What is your Jesus.net dream?

“My dream is that we continue to reinvent ourselves, to stay creative and inspired to have new ideas for the Kingdom. I’m excited about working together with The Chosen. I pray that we can facilitate and be a catalyst for an online internet movement to share the Gospel… always moving forward, with the Holy Spirit to guide us.”

T“This will never work. I’m not a writer. I’m not good at doing the same thing for a long time. People won’t want to read a biblical message every day.” Eric Célérier (pastor, internet evangelist and co-founder Jesus.net) had numerous reasons not to start writing a daily email. But he did. “At first didn’t want to. I was up a mountain in Colorado and God implanted this dream in my heart to start A Miracle Every Day: a daily reminder via email that God was and is a God of miracles. I wasn’t enthusiastic about it at first and friends even doubted if I could do it. But God put it so strongly on my heart: ‘Eric, encourage My people. Tell them I am a living God and that I want to manifest My presence in the lives of my children. Encourage them to believe once again that I am a God of miracles.’ I simply couldn’t refuse so I decided to give it a try and what a blessing it has been. I’m in awe of what God has done. All glory to Him, for it was most certainly His idea from the start.”

A Miracle Every Day is sent out to hundreds of thousands of people every day in 20 languages and counting. What started with a daily email in French, that was translated into English and then Polish and Arab, later spiraled into a global ministry with a team of local writers. All sharing the miracles of a living God who makes the impossible possible.

jesus.net/everyday

Faith, Hope and Love translated into the 40+ different languages within the Jesus.net network.

Déborah Rosenkranz (German) Elias Dos Reis Silva (Portuguese)

How did you get involved with A Miracle Every Day?

“It all started with a miracle during the pandemic. As a singer and book author, I suddenly found myself at home. One day I was praying and God said: ‘Get on the computer and post about a miracle!’ At the same time, God put my name on the heart of Jan-Willem Bosman*, and when he searched for me on the internet, he came across this post of mine about a miracle. Shortly after we met in person for the first time and let me just summarize: it obviously had God’s handwriting over it all!”

What do you love about the ministry?

“I love hearing about what God has done in the lives of our readers, listeners (radio) and viewers (as we are also on TV daily in Germany). Amazing how God translates one single message into so many different versions, so that people with totally different backgrounds are being encouraged! Many of our readers did not know about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and are so excited to experience Him in a brand new way – some even at the age of 80+. This summer we hosted our very first live event in Switzerland which I enjoyed very, very much and will never forget! Meeting our readers for real, talking to them, seeing the tears of joy in their eyes and worshiping God together for all He’s done.”

What is the biggest miracle in your life?

“I’ve experienced several big miracles in my life. I’ve been through many hardships, from depression through sexual abuse. Yet the biggest miracle would be the one, where I had lost almost 30 kg because of one sentence that was spoken over me when I was a teenager. Yes, the power of words… The doctors told me had only 2-3 more weeks to live. In their desperation my parents cried out to God. It was a prayer full of hopelessness and hope. Of doubts and strong faith - all at the same time! This prayer reached my heart like nothing else before and saved my life. It’s been a process that has not always been easy, but I got healed 100%!”

What’s the power of A Miracle Every Day?

“You cannot remain unchanged if you are reminded of God’s truths every day! And not only you will be changed, you bring this truth into your everyday life and your environment - and thus you automatically make a difference!”

How did you get involved with A Miracle Every Day?

“Getting connected with A Miracle Every Day was a miracle itself! I was working alongside Eric Célérier* and he introduced me to the daily emails and got the ball rolling.”

What do you love about the ministry?

“The most rewarding part is, firstly, the testimonies of people who accept Jesus. Secondly, being able to be a channel of blessings for thousands of people and being able to receive divine messages inspired by the Holy Spirit and to witness those messages transform lives and lead them to eternal life.”

What is the biggest miracle in your life?

“My greatest miracle, firstly, is the salvation of my soul and, secondly, it is the calling of the ministry. So grateful to be able to contribute to the salvation of many lives, to be able to live life and to be in the purpose that God has prepared for me and my family!”

What’s the power of A Miracle Every Day?

“All the messages are baptized in the word of God and by using the power of the media we can get the message across borders, straight into the lives of people living in a spiritual desert. And only in eternity will we know the true impact A Miracle Every Day!”

Wilma Veen (Dutch) Grant Fishbook (English)

How did you get involved with A Miracle Every Day?

“Just before I was asked to start designing and writing with A Miracle Every Day, I had the offer to launch my own magazine, book and product line. As an artist and writer a promising and exciting project. But I didn’t feel like God was saying: Go for it! I couldn’t find peace in my heart. As I was talking to Eric Célérier* I suddenly realized what I had to do and it moved me deeply. And to this day I feel privileged to share God’s love and hope for the future.”

What do you love about the ministry?

“Everything! Absolutely everything! The writing gives me wings. When my fingers fly over the keyboard, I feel God’s spirit bubbling inside of me. also love connecting with the readers through our live broadcasts. I truly feel and believe this is my calling and have experienced God’s blessing upon it. The inner conviction of doing what God is calling me to do, helps me to keep going. Even on tough days, when days are long and I have to say ‘no’ to things in order to say ‘yes’ to A Miracle Every Day. I know that God is leading me on.”

What is the biggest miracle in your life?

“It’s a miracle that I’m alive! I’ve escaped death three times. Once in a severe car crash and I’ve had two heart attacks. When your heart stops beating, that’s the end but God has granted me life again and again. I also marvel at the strength I see in others. Like my handicaped sister who is so restricted yet so positive and full of Jesus’ love. By witnessing her loneliness, her illness and pain I feel in every fiber of my body that every life is precious. That life itself is a miracle and should not be taken for granted.”

What’s the power of A Miracle Every Day?

“It’s God’s power itself that is the power of A Miracle Every Day. He’s speaking into people’s lives directly. I think what also works is the personal connection. I am open, honest and personal about my life and walk with the Lord and I try not to use any jargon. I open my own heart so that I can reach the hearts of women, men and teenagers.”

How did you get involved with A Miracle Every Day?

“I guess you could say that I joined A Miracle Every Day through a relational miracle! I have a personal connection with Norm Schulz* and Jan-Willem Bosman* and Eric Célérier*. I started doing the live Q&R shows on YouTube several years ago and recently joined the team of regular writers.”

What do you love about the ministry?

“I love every aspect of the ministry! The writing and the live’s are both precious for different reasons. The personal connection with the audience and the live component of the YouTube shows create a dynamic that is exciting and constantly changing. love that energy and it’s my weekly favorite! Being on the spot with real faith questions is both challenging and inspiring!”

What is the biggest miracle in your life?

“I have experienced more miracles than I can count! My wife Laurel and I have seen miracles of healing, provision, guidance, wisdom, connecting with Jesus daily and God’s faithfulness through the years. We are still awaiting Laurel’s miracle of healing for her sight and we know that God will come through for us. As we wait, all of the other miracles continue to build our faith and our anticipation. One of our greatest miracles is our two children and their passion for Jesus. We love that they love God!”

What’s the power of A Miracle Every Day?

“I believe the power is in God’s response to people who continually ask, seek and knock on the door of God’s presence. God the Father loves to respond to His children! The power of that connection continues to provide a place for the miraculous in every person’s life. My prayer is that they would walk away with the hope of God! God never breaks a promise and that blessed hope should sustain each of us as we continue to follow Him.”

* Eric Célérier co-Founder of Jesus.net and creator of A Miracle Every Day

* Jan-Willem Bosman Director and co-Founder of Jesus.net

* Norm Schulz Fund Development Director at Jesus.net

Christian Misch (French & Spanish)

How did you get involved with A Miracle Every Day?

“I’m from Spain but I also speak French, and for many years I have been following the online ministry of Eric Célérier. From the beginning on I loved the concept of Un Miracle Chaque Jour, the original version of A Miracle Every Day. Also Eric’s book ‘Connexions Divines’ made a strong impact in my life and I decided to translate the book into Spanish. But then I started to think: What would happen if I would translate Un Miracle Chaque Jour into Spanish? So we launched Un Milagro Cada Día - and a few years later I’m the writer of the French and Spanish emails! Glory to God!”

What do you love about the ministry?

“I love writing and sharing my heart with thousands of people, because I know that God can use all of these emails, blog posts, and videos on YouTube at any moment to change lives. also love reading the comments and testimonies of the people. It’s very encouraging!”

What is the biggest miracle in your life?

“Out of the many many miracles in my life, one impacted me the most. Even though I grew up in the church and always felt like I was a ‘good boy’, I never felt God’s presence in my life in the way that I had heard in testimonies. became hopeless and fearful that I would never experience the love of God. But one day I made the choice to believe in Him, even if I couldn’t demonstrate His existence. Right at that moment, felt Jesus by my side. Pure joy, peace and love filled my heart and my life was forever changed. Lots of fears, nervous ticks, and darkness disappeared immediately.”

What’s the power of A Miracle Every Day?

“The power is that we all share our lives like we are, in a transparent and vulnerable way. We share our victories and how we got them with all the amazing people who read our emails. But we also talk about our failures and the lessons we’ve learned. This creates a real connection with people because they can identify themselves with us in our highs and lows, and in this way be inspired to live in a deeper relationship with God.”

“I’m a trucker driver and every morning as I get into my truck I start my day by listening to A Miracle Every Day. What an incredible faith booster!”

“I was ready to end my life as I said my final prayer to God: ‘If You are out there, you need to reveal yourself quickly because I’m done. I checked my emails one last time and came across the message of A Miracle Every Day and it literally saved my life.”

“I’ve been abused for more than 18 years by my husband and after he killed himself, the daily emails gave me the strength to rebuild my life and look towards the future with hope. I’m learning to love myself again and accepting that God does not disapprove of me but loves me deeply.”

“You have no idea what your words have done in my life. Thank you for impacting my work, relationship, my family and giving me back hope!”

“Every night after dinner, we listen to A Miracle Every Day, together with our teenage daughters who absolutely love it! And it has changed our family for the better.”

“A year ago I lost my job and my faith was in the dumps. This morning I woke up feeling like, this is it, my life is over. Then A Miracle Every Day’s message came. The topic was like, Bingo! Peace began to spread in my discouraged soul. Hope for life began to spring up in my heart.”

“I was a very wealthy man but I lost all my shares during a financial crisis at the Stock Exchange. I was desperate, fell into a deep depression and on the day I decided to take my life, someone forwarded me A Miracle Every Day. That day the message was about a man who had lost everything and who wanted to kill himself but God intervened. And He did so in my life. I’ve now found my way back to church and am grateful to be alive.”

“Who is this Eric? Why does he write to you every day? Should I be worried?” asked my husband. I just laughed! No dear, it’s not what you think! Eric just forwards me a love letter every dayfrom God! My daily vitamin shot of love.”

“For a long time I didn’t feel the presence of God and deviated from the ways of the Lord. I was spiritually cold and immersed in sin. When I started receiving the emails, it was like every word touched my heart. often shed tears as I felt like God was speaking to me. He transformed, healed and freed me through A Miracle Every Day.”

“Time and time again God speaks through your ministry. In times of loss, hurt, depression and anxiety. How often I have read the emails with tears in my eyes because I knew God was speaking to me directly. At times wanted to give up, the devotionals gave me a different and hopeful perspective on life. Thank you!”

“I recently lost my wife to cancer. My daughters and I miss her terribly. She used to listen to A Miracle Every Day every morning and it gave her hope. And where would we be without hope? Even though she didn’t heal, it gives me great comfort to know she put her trust in Jesus and to know where she is now. Thank you for encouraging her and therefore me.”

Testimonies

Testimonies

Audio Guides

Headphones on and welcome to your personal journey. Jesus.net produces audio guides so the listener can connect with the writer/ speaker and together will discover more about God and Jesus. Audio guides are not the same as audio books! An audio guide will challenge the listener to pause, to reflect and to come back another day after processing what they just learned.

CODEX

CODEX is an online interactive learning platform, created by the Polish partner of Jesus. net. Henryk Krol took the initiative to build it and his son Filip made it all work. Free courses about the basics of christian faith are available plus a wide variety of topics such as prayer, forgiveness, marriage and identity. Courses can be taken individually, with the guidance of an e-coach or together with an e-friend.

Watch here a Sandy Tales-video!

“The audio guide “21 day listening to God’s voice” was life-changing for me. I found myself waking up at 3:30 in the morning just to get started. My life will never be the same because of it.”

Audio Guide Listener

Sandy Tales

The Sandy Tales videos display sand art to visualize stories from the Bible. Jesus.net has produced over 40 Sandy Tales with stories like the Good Samaritan, the Nativity story or the Irish Blessing. A creative way to share the Bible and available in a variety of languages and ready for translation.

”The Sandy Tales video about Jonah will be forever what I’ll remember when I hear about Jonah. I’ve been a Christian for four years but I’d never heard the story before. What a great execution.”

Sandy Tales Viewer

“On the outside I might have had everything I could long for in life but on the inside I lacked inner peace. I started wondering why I was alive in the first place. I came across the online course, Why Jesus. It spoke to me deeply. After completing the course, I decided to write Jesus an email, to share all my thoughts and to tell him that I will entrust my life to Him.”

Course Student

“I felt so privileged to accompany this woman in her journey of faith. I, myself, did nothing spectacular. God had already prepared her and the Spirit of God uses these online courses to touch people’s hearts. Being an e-coach gives me great joy!”

E-coach

Question Driven Coaching

On the CODEX platform, chatbots or via our online response forms, online seekers can connect with an e-coach. An anonymous (but real person) online guide that helps seekers in their journey of faith. Jesus.net has developed the training course Question Driven Coaching. A method that trains e-coaches to ask questions instead of giving all the answers. By asking questions the online seeker is forced to think deeper and adapt what they learn into their own lives.

Become an e-coach!

“On the outside I might have everything could long for in life, but on the inside lacked inner peace. I started wondering why I was alive in the first place. I came across the online course Why Jesus. It spoke to me deeply. After completing the course, I decided to write Jesus an ‘email’. To share all my thoughts and to tell him that will entrust my life to Him.”

“At my grandfather’s funeral, the minister said that my grandfather’s greatest desire was that we all would personally connect to Jesus. I was so moved. When I got home, I started searching online. Who is Jesus? I found this online course and learned all about Him. I have now decided to give my life to Jesus!”

“I commute via train to work every weekday. My YouVersion Bible app keeps me focused on God by making His word available wherever go. I read my Verse of the Day and forward it to many of my contacts early in the morning. They tell me it is a blessing to them and that it is encouraging. I consider it one of my ministries. We take for granted the easy access to God’s Word. It wasn’t always this easy!”

“The Life of Jesus is the best movie ever! I learned so much about God and Jesus. I pray that this movie will touch many hearts!”

“I felt so privileged to accompany this woman in her journey of faith. I myself did nothing spectacular. God had already prepared her and the Spirit of God uses these online courses to touch people’s hearts. Being an e-coach gives me great joy!”

“When I visited your website for people who struggle with suicidal thoughtsnever expected to connect with someone who would talk to me about God. To be pointed towards God’s promises that can hold onto. I can see now that God will bring people into your life that will draw you closer to Him. My dark thoughts haven’t completely disappeared but I feel like I can breathe again and I have now seen the shimmer of light. I have found hope.”

“I want to thank you. Because if it wasn’t for the online courses and information about Jesus online, wouldn’t be here. I’m from Iran and I would have given up on life but now I have found hope.”

“Thank you for being an instrument of God and showing the love of Christ in each and every written word. I live in Sweden which has made it difficult for me to find good teaching, but God always finds a (digital) way!”

“Truly, I have been blessed in a modern way by your ministry. live in Puerto Rico and I am struggling with a mental disorder and anxiety. The words that God puts in your heart to share with the world, are true messages to the heart and help me to move forward with my Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Wow! Your website Jesus.net has answered many of my questions. It made me look at myself and God in a more positive way. Thank you!”

“This course is something else! I’m so glad found you. I’ve been reading the Bible since I was a little kid but all those years never really understood what it meant. I’ve visited many different denominations but nowhere have I found such a clear explanation of the Bible as in this online course!”

Testimonies

“When I discovered the Bible Plans inside the YouVersion app, I devoured the ones that centered on the topic of marriage. You see, 8 months ago, I left my husband after 17 years of marriage. We were having serious issues and I left without any intention of going back. But as I exposed myself to the Word, I began to see how my own sin had a part in wrecking my life. I wanted to go back, but fear and lack of courage held me back. But God gave me the courage to go back. My home is now the place of miracles.”

“I hated God, Jesus, the Bible and everything to do with the christian faith. believed in science and if it couldn’t be explained, it was a lie. But after having unpleasant supernatural experiences, I started doubting myself. What is there more to life? had heard of a woman who became a christian after having similar experiences and was set free. So I simply googled: how do I become a christian? found a Jesus.net website, took an online course and my life has never been the same. I’m even a pastor now!’

“A big thanks to my e-coach. Because of her help and this course, I have started to see faith not as keeping rules and regulations, but as a way of life – right, full of thankfulness and love.”

Living Water

In old documents watertowers were described as symbols of living water. For centuries lack of hygiene and clean drinking water had caused diseases to spread. By providing the city with fresh ‘living’ water, this Watertower saved many lives. To this day the Watertower is a source of living water, reaching millions of people with new hope and life found in Christ.

The Watertower

BBreathtaking views, packed with history and filled with passion: the Watertower is the inspiring headquarters of Jesus.net. The tower and surrounding water basins were used to store and purify water, providing the city of Rotterdam with fresh drinking water. When the water supply company moved elsewhere in 1978, the area became home to several creative cooperatives. The reservoirs were removed and the tower transformed into a restaurant, living units and office space. But when the Jesus.net team stumbled upon the Watertower, the top floors had been vacant for years.

“In 2017 we were looking for an office that could symbolize our vision and be an inspiring place to work and welcome our (international) visitors. When we saw the ad to rent the Watertower, it started out as a joke. Wouldn’t that be something awesome?! But after visiting the tower, calculating the numbers and lots of prayer - it didn’t seem like an impossible option after all. God confirmed in several ways that the Watertower could become a symbol of living water once again and on November 16 in 2017 we received the key!,” shares Jan-Willem Bosman, director of Jesus.net.

The team had to give the Watertower a complete make-over. For months they cleaned, painted and restored the office space and even built their own furniture. “We’ve put our heart and soul into this project and we are so blessed to call the Watertower our homebase. My favorite part? The big windows that give a 360 degree view of the city and beyond. To illustrate the international reach of Jesus.net, we’ve written all the countries we partner in on the windows. Every week we pray for one window so we can stay both visually and spiritually connected to our partners all over the world.”

The Watertower was designed by architect C.B. van der Tak and built as a French-Dutch cooperation between 1871-1873. The 48 meters high tower consisted of seven water reservoirs that could store over 1 million liters of water, making it the biggest and oldest watertower in the Netherlands.

YouVersion Reading Plan Top 5

“‘One on one with Jesus’ is a personal favorite of mine because it brings Jesus to life. It makes him into a real person that I can connect with. You spend 100 days with Jesus, divided up into three different reading plans (Advent, His Ministry and His Passion).”

AAlready installed on over 530 million* unique devices all over the world, the YouVersion Bible app offers a free Bible experience for smartphones, tablets, and online at Bible. com. The app offers 2,781 Bible versions in 1,835 languages for free, and without advertising. Jesus.net is the European representative for YouVersion and connects churches, pastors, writers and speakers to the reading plan platform.

“I was having serious marital struggles when I decided to download a Bible plan about marriage. I started reading it every day on my bus commute to work. The plan helped me realize the things we both could do to restore our marriage. But the impact reached further. Because a few months later a lady taped me on the shoulder as I got off the bus one day. ‘I want to apologize to you,’ she said. ‘Why?,’ I asked. ‘For every day you rode the bus, I sat in the seat behind you. My marriage was falling apart and I have secretly been reading over your shoulder your devotionals about marriage. And it gave me hope that we could restore our marriage too. And God did!’ You see, I was moved to tears for God had not only used the reading plans to heal our marriage but He blessed two homes in the process!“

Dola, Nigeria

YouVersion Original

“Overwhelmed at the thought of reading the Bible? Spend time each day hearing or reading from Nicky and Pippa Gumbel as they take you through the whole Bible in 365 days. I love this reading plan because it helps me understand the Bible so much better.”

Want a great example of how you can combine Jesus. net tools? Read and watch The Life of Jesus reading plan, written by Jan-Willem Bosman himself. Embark on a journey to learn more about Jesus as you watch a clip from the movie every day.

Jesus.net Favorite

Check out all reading plans!

* October 2022

If you find yourself constantly struggling with worry and anxiety, YouVersion created ‘From Anxiety to Peace’ for you. There will not be a quick formula that guarantees 100% peace but the principles of this plan can offer pathways toward victory when they are lived out.

This reading plan is inspired by the life and message of Corrie ten Boom: a world famous dutch speaker and writer who shares about her experiences with forgiveness after surviving the concentration camps in the 2nd World War but losing her father and sister in captivity.

Tip from Jeff Moore

Tip from Jeff Moore

Written by Jan-Willem Bosman

Seeing God at work never gets old! ”

Jeff Moore is Director of Global Impact at YouVersion. Married to Amy and father to Gareth and Owen. He lives in Oklahoma City and has been on staff with Life.Church for 17 years and the last 5 years on the YouVersion team.

W“Why do I work for YouVersion?” Jeff just shrugs his shoulders at this question and laughs. ‘How can I not be involved? Our mission is so deeply important. Witnessing the impact of the Bible app first hand is a privilege!” Jeff Moore shares about God’s surprises, big dreams and the Jesus.net connection.

Entryway

“The Bible app is all about growing in intimacy with God. Scripture is essential in everything we do. The app is an entryway to help people understand the Bible and how it applies to them. Like if you are struggling with addiction, hopelessness, your marriage or your identity in Christ, the app can give you direction by providing reading plans. We want to help users grow and mature in their personal walk with the Lord and connect them to a larger community.”

God’s surprises

“No matter what our strategy is or what we come up with - God always manages to surprise us. He always does so much more than we could ask or imagine. Somehow, in His providence, God takes the tasks that are on our to do list: all the projects, phone calls, meetings, conferences, programming codes, designs and turns them into personal moments where people all around the world say: ‘This is what God has for me today.’ We can build whatever digital tool we want but it isn’t until the Holy Spirit shows up that lives are being changed and to be honest - seeing God at work never gets old!”

Life.Church

Craig Groeschel is the founder and senior pastor of Life. Church, an American evangelical multi-site church based in Edmond, Oklahoma and birthplace of the YouVersion Bible app in 2008. The Bible App, founded by Bobby Gruenewald, was one of the first 200 free apps available when the Apple Store launched in July 2008. The app reached more than 80,000 downloads in its first weekend and it has since been downloaded in every country of the world on hundreds of millions of devices.

It’s free!

“We are often asked: ‘Why don’t you just sell the app for a small fee? Imagine what would happen if you could hire more developers, designers and programmers!’ Who knows?! But I don’t believe we would have the same impact if we did charge for the app. Our core component: it’s free! It can be traced back to when our senior pastor was handed a free Bible at his college campus. He wasn’t a believer and would never have paid for a Bible himself but simply by reading the Scripture he came to know the Lord. Giving people free access to the Bible is key. We’ve seen time and time again that God blessed that kind of generosity.”

Hybrid Ministry

More people are embracing a blend of digital and in-person experiences in their faith journey, which means church leaders need new ways to gauge and encourage spiritual engagement.

As modern life and ministry intersect, YouVersion is rolling out two new features built specifically with churches in mind: Church Profile and Insights. “Our dream is to help pastors connect with their church community 24/7 and not just for 1.5 hours on a Sunday,” shares Jeff. “With Church Profile, church leaders can create their own space inside YouVersion as a way to connect with people and encourage them to engage in Scripture throughout the week. The feature makes a church discoverable to their attenders and anyone in the YouVersion community who is searching for a church. Once a person taps Set As My Church, they’ll see key information, including address, service times, and a church description, and also receive notifications as updates happen. With Insights, church leaders will gain access to search trends, most highlighted verses, top books of the Bible, and other (anonymous) data that points to people’s felt needs. This can be used to inform future sermons or ministry direction, as well. Imagine the impact! We have high expectations for the future of digital/physical, or what we call hybrid ministry.”

Shared DNA

“Why do we value our partnership with Jesus.net? We have a shared DNA. We appreciate the heart of evangelism and discipleship and their desire to help people that are hurting and that are experiencing the worst the world has to offer. I love how Jesus.net so generously and freely shares their network of dozens of ministries around the world and also quality content. Jesus.net is part of our global reach and I love exploring how far we can go and what new languages we can add, like Kurdish. If God’s in the mix, who knows what might happen?!”

Partners In The Spotlight

Expect the unexpected and always be prepared to be amazed by what God is doing online. Asking partners to share about their collaboration with Jesus.net is a true witness to the power of the internet - for good! Global partners from Thailand, Lithuania, Colombia and Armenia share their involvement with Jesus.net and God’s local impact online.

Robertas Peteraitis | Lithuania

Coordinator of the Ieškau Dievo (Seeking God) ministry in Lithuania - a group of evangelical churches and mission organizations that share the gospel online. Robertas has a master’s degree in Physics and Biophysics and PhD degree in Natural Sciences and Physiology and a love for programmering.

“We very much appreciate the fellowship we have among the Jesus.net partners and of course the sharing of tools. A big plus is the sharing of experiences too. Jesus.net allows us to avoid costly mistakes and makes online ministry so much more smooth and effective.”

Impact

“Our website has had over 690.000 unique visitors so far. That’s over 25% of all Lithuanians (2,7 million in total)! We’ve had numerous testimonials of people taking steps closer to Jesus or receiving new birth. Stories of people that in their despair started googling for hope and found the WhyJesus course and found a new meaning in life and even got baptized.”

My online dream

“My dream is that Christians all over the World would see gaming as a priority area and would start using gaming elements in their ministry. We do not only want a big number of visitors, but we also want deeper engagement. And gaming can provide this.I’m not talking about million dollar games like ‘World of Warcraft’ but simple games in which you can share your testimony like I have created before that involved over 30 daily players with whom I had deep and meaningful conversations with. Online gaming, in my opinion, is the most promising way we can deeply engage people with our content.”

Arman Manukyan | Armenia

Pastor, teacher, author and leader of the Armenian version of the website Jesus. net (Hisus.am) and A Miracle Every Day in Armenian. Arman has a Masters in Environmental Sciences and Policy and Christian Studies.

“The Jesus.net ministry is like a family to me. In 2009 I started posting sermons on YouTube and registered the domain Hisus. am - an Armenian version of the website Jesus.net. What I didn’t expect was that I would be connecting to millions of Armenians worldwide. Armenia is a small country with a 3 million population but outside of Armenia over 6 million people speak Armenian. When a friend introduced me to the staff of Jesus.net, it renewed my vision for the website Hisus.am and since 2021 we are also sending out the daily email of A Miracle Every Day in Armenian. I’m so blessed to have access to the archive of Eric Célérier writing. I feel that we are led by the same Spirit. We’ve also started online disciple groups and now have 25 groups that meet online weekly to grow spiritually.

Without the professional support of Jesus. net it would be impossible to accomplish the ministry we are doing currently.”

Impact

“Every day I receive messages and see many comments under the posts on our YouTube channel and Facebook page where people speak about encouragement that they receive through our ministry and share the stories of their changed lives. Some are also repenting and joining churches.”

Robertas

The online dream “My dream is to learn to effectively use online technologies to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and also to disciple them to become mature Christians who are involved in the work of the Kingdom and have passion for reaching the lost and making them disciples of Jesus. And I would love to use the YouVersion Bible app to the full extent of the use of all the features in Armenian.”

ieskaudievo.lt

Juan Bravo | Colombia

Juan and his wife Adriana Correa-Bravo are the co-founders of Conectar Global, a non-profit organization that seeks to impact the Spanish speaking population with innovative digital and face-toface strategies. Juan is also a Doctor of Ministry at Bakke Graduate University.

“Our partnership with Jesus.net started in 2017 and it has been a win-win partnership. There are no geographical boundaries in the digital world but they are linguistic and Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world after English and Mandarin. Together we are creating courses and mobilizing e-coaches who serve the online seekers in Spanish. Jesus. net has openly shared their expertise, knowledge and passion for a world in need that can be perfectly reached using digital means. It is the need that has brought us together, the need of people who search for answers online and we have adopted as our own the four step strategy which is: Access, Know, Grow and Share. We believe that together we can go further.”

Impact

“The most gratifying thing is to see that disciples are being made. We have students who came to us not knowing Jesus and through our courses and the help of a mentor became believers and now they grow and serve with us. They are hungry to serve and to connect with others and the digital ministry has made it possible. Conectar Global we see the internet as the new public square - a great place to meet people and help them forward in their spiritual journey. We produce our own courses and daily devotionals and have mobilized a worldwide army of e-coaches and e-missionaries who help us to connect

with the more than 20,000 students who subscribe to one of our courses uploaded on the Codex interactive platform.”

My online dream

“The vision of Conectar Global is to be a leading force throughout the Spanish speaking world bringing transformation through the Gospel. We are aware that we have only scratched the surface of the need and we dream that many more people from different nations where Spanish speakers live will become disciples who will bring transformation to their families, churches, governments, and to the least and the lost.”

conectarglobal.org

Co-founder of Digital Strategies for Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU) and Gospel Tools in Thailand and now Global Digital Director at the International Evangelism Association. Involved with the KnowGod.in.th - a collective Jesus. net partnership for evangelism and disciple-making via social media, chat bots, e-coaches via Facebook Messenger and their app.

“We go where the people are… Not just to the other side of the world but to the other side of a screen. The collaboration with Jesus.net is valuable beyond words. It’s not just about the sharing of ideas, strategies and tools but perhaps even more so the fellowship of likeminded believers that seek to be digital missionaries. Working together with people who understand and share the drive to reach people online is key.”

Impact

“In 2022 the mysterious death of a popular young Christian singer/actress caused quite the stir all across the country. In contrast to a usual Buddhist funeral filled with unintelligible chants and devoid of hope, her uplifting memorial service was streamed online and thousands upon thousands of Thais who had never heard or seen anything like this before wanted to know: ‘Why was she different?’ In the span of a few weeks, we saw a flood of hundreds and hundreds of Thais who started conversations with our team in Messenger, usually with the entry point to our chat being: ‘I want to know God too.’ The number of Thais that wanted to know Christ was so great, we had to hold group Zoom sessions because our ‘typing fingers’ couldn’t keep up with the request.

Over a 100 Thais accepted Christ. Praise the Lord who truly works in ‘mysterious ways.”

My online dream

“That all 70 million + Thais have immediate access to quality, interactive online gospel-centered content. That each Thai will know someone who truly follows Christ and that those Christ-followers will use online tools as part of their witness to friends.”

knowgod.in.th

Matthew Scott | Thailand

Dream Big

AA dreamer in a red pickup truck. That’s all God needed. As he’s driving down the road in rural Canada, he listens to one of his vintage tapes: the Gospel of John. ‘In the beginning the Word already existed, the Word was with God and the Word was God.’ He loves listening to audio versions of the Bible. The words sink in and come to life in his imagination. But today it’s different. Something is stirring in his heart. As he is driving along, he starts to wonder: what if people could not only hear but also see the gospel of John? Imagine the impact the message would have and the people it could reach?! If there is a quality movie out there, I want to help share the film to reach millions with the gospel. Just a simple idea as he is headed on the highway. But this simple idea is a godly idea that will soon have an eternal impact on the lives of many.

READ MORE >

TTurns out he is not the only dreamer! In 2003 the film, The Gospel of John, had been released - a three-hour, word-forword, high-quality movie - and it was waiting to find its way to the internet. The dreamer turned out to be a businessman who was able to buy the rights of the film. Through Norm Schulz, he connected with the dreamers at Jesus.net. Later the Jesus Film Project jumped on this idea of spreading the movie for free online, using YouTube.

First they decided to change the title into The Life Of Jesus to make it accessible and findable for people interested in Jesus. And three hours is a long watch, right? The team decided to divide the film into eight separate episodes so you could watch it as a series. Later, options to watch the film per chapter and per verse were added. The dream is to reach one billion people so the movie was translated into languages like Hindi, Mandarin, and Russian. Every year more languages get added. Not only do people get the opportunity to watch the film, they are also challenged to take online courses to find out more about Jesus and get connected to an e-coach. Also every comment made on YouTube gets a reply to engage with the viewers. Every day hundreds of thousands watch the film in every corner of the world.

”I truly enjoyed watching The Life of Jesus on YouTube. I feel like I really got to know Jesus better. I’m going to watch the movie again but with my kids this time!”

Viewer The Life of Jesus

100 million views on YouTube in the first half of 2022

34

languages

”I am 13 years old and I had dark thoughts about myself. I decided to watch the movie The Life of Jesus on YouTube just out of curiosity. And now, only a few days after I tried to take my own life, I know God has led me to this video... for now I know how loved I am. I’m proud to say that I am nothing without the Lord. I love Him and He loves me back.”

Viewer The Life of Jesus

Goal by 2025 is to release 54 languages and reach one billion views

In partnership with

Starring:

Directed by:

Screenplay by:

Released:

Bible book:

Translation:

Duration:

Original title:

Henry Ian Cusick as Jesus and Stuart Bunce as John

Philip Saville

John Goldsmith

2003

The Gospel of John

Good News Bible by the American Bible Society

180 minutes

Narrated by:

The Gospel of John Christopher Plummer

Bible Viewer

What if you only want to see a certain verse of the Gospel of John? No worries! Jesus.net has developed the Bible Viewer. Just type in the verse you’d like to watch and voila! A great tool if you want to visualize a Bible reading at church or school. Want to see Jesus walk on water? Just press John 6:16-21.

Use the Bible Viewer!

How to support Jesus.net?

Norm Schulz has a focused passion for global missions, media and reaching the next generation. He seeks to accomplish his passion in innovative and creative ways. When Norm met Jan-Willem Bosman at a conference in Finland, they quickly discovered their like-minded passion for global ministry and media and together took on the challenge of using The Life of Jesus to reach a global audience online. Today it is the most viewed movie on the planet, with over 10 million viewers every month.

As ministry opportunities grew, it became evident that Jesus.net needed a North American presence. Norm offered to take on a leadership role to develop a team to serve the English and Spanish-speaking world and build a global base of prayer and financial support. The team’s approach is to invite people being blessed through A Miracle Every Day emails, The Life of Jesus or other Jesus.net resources, to have an active role in what God is doing. Today that is happening through a Prayer Network of over 17,800 people and two groups of regular contributors - the Miracle Family and Miracle 1000 Family. These groups give financial support to launch new languages and projects. They also give feedback on their Jesus.net experience and receive resources such as the audio guides that Jesus.net produces for free.

Norm also launched the Global Development Council, an international group of business leaders who provide strategic input into the direction of Jesus. net. Norm is committed to reaching people across the globe today and developing innovative and creative ways to help people know Jesus in the future.

Norm

The MT is supported by the Board members of Jesus.net: Reg Allat, Chantal

Previous MT members: Eric Célérier, Matthias Langhans, Arjo de Vroome and Fokke Kooistra

Previous Board members: Ken Cochrum, Duane Gaylord, Henryk Krol, Hans-Peter

Simon Seow, Wes Griffin.

Prayer & Voluntary network

PPrayer is powerful and life-changing! Every day Jesus.net receives many prayer requests from online seekers. Jesus.net has created a continuous prayer chain for the people who are taking steps of faith on Jesus.net websites, courses, emails, channels and socials.

An international prayer network of 13.000 people weekly receives an email with prayer requests and are dedicated to cover the ministry in prayer. For now only in Dutch, English and German but the goal is to create prayer networks in all languages for Jesus.net believes that prayer is the foundation of everything.

A passion for global ministry

Norm Schulz, Jan-Willem Bosman, Reinout van Heiningen and John van Leeuwen form the Management Team (MT) of Jesus.net

Barry and Eric Célérier

Nuesch, Mark Appleton,

“Thank you for the opportunity to serve the Lord through prayer. It’s an honor!“

Why work for Jesus.net?

“I love how I can use my talents and expertise for God’s kingdom. After working as a freelance communications advisor for years, I realized I missed living out my calling: helping people find their purpose in God At Jesus.net I am intrinsically motivated and surrounded by passionate colleagues and I feel so privileged to be part of this family.”

- Stella

“As a singer-songwriter I want to create songs that fit the (spiritual) needs of ‘secular’ people and as a designer at Jesus.net, I can do the same by thinking out-of-the-box to reach out. Jesus.net is deeply rooted in Jesus but also constantly, like me, exploring new territories to tell the world about the Good News.”

- Daryl

“I’ve always had a passion for technique. I studied to become an IT professional and worked in that branch for a couple of years. But I missed sharing the gospel. I went back to school and became a youth pastor. When got in touch with Jesus.net I realized I could actually combine my two passions: technique and the gospel! What a great fit!”

- Peter Jan

“I work with Jesus.net because I have firsthand seen how God uses this organization to share the Gospel with others. Working for an organization which has such a God-given purpose and vision makes my work exciting and worthwhile everyday!”

- Anna

“Seeing people connect with Jesus or reconnecting with God or finding hope again is the most beautiful thing. I’ve been involved with online ministry for 18 years now (in mission work for over 32 years) and witnessed firsthand the impact sharing the gospel online has. And I might be in my 60’s, I’m not planning on retiring any time soon!”

- Martien

“So many people have never heard of the name of Jesus. The fact that my work can make that difference is a great motivation. I love working with such a great team of inspiring people who are all dedicated to sharing the gospel.”

- Lidewij

“My job at Jesus.net is a daily reminder that God is doing incredible things all across the globe! Seeing the impact that our partners are making is incredibly special and inspiring to me.”

- Drew

“My family and I have been missionaries in Thailand. After returning home, I picked up my old profession but I missed working in God’s kingdom and being part of a fellowship. As a representative for YouVersion, I feel blessed to be part of the mission of Jesus.net to encourage and challenge people to seek intimacy with God everyday.”

- Grea

“Jesus.net is a great work place where we combine innovation with the spreading of the Gospel. A great use of my IT skills! Our partners, and their hearts for Jesus and people, inspire me daily.”

- Nils

“Seek and you shall find. Every day millions of people all across the globe are searching for God. What a privilege that by working for Jesus.net, can help seekers find hope, purpose, joy, and above all… Jesus.”

- Aafke

Peyman & Djawaher

W“Who could answer my questions? I wanted to know more about Jesus but couldn’t find anyone. I thought all Dutch people were Christians but when I started asking questions, most had no answers.” Djawaher is a refugee from Iran. She grew up in a Muslim family. Djawaher had to flee her country when she got trapped in a bad marriage and Iranian law made it difficult for her to get divorce, especially when children are involved. With a heart full of sadness and sorrow, she escaped and ended up in a refugee center in the Netherlands. The moment she received a Bible, her whole life changed.

The Bible is corrupted

“The Bible is corrupted. This is what I’ve been taught all my life. So I didn’t want to believe a word. But every time I read the Bible, it deeply touched my heart. I was confused because these words were supposed to be corrupted and so I tried to suppress those feelings. Until I couldn’t anymore. The love of Jesus flooded my heart and I simply had to answer His call. Eventually found christians who helped me understand the Bible and took me to christian conferences.”

“Bringing the gospel into the heart of Iran, to our brothers and sisters - this is our heart’s desire.“

Anti-religious

Peyman is also from Iran. He was raised anti-religious and didn’t want anything to do with faith whatsoever. He also had to flee and ended up in the Netherlands. He started having visions about Jesus and got curious to find out more about Him. He came to faith and even became a pastor. Peyman and Djawaher met in the Netherlands as Peyman was teaching a Bible course. Long story short: they got married and are now pastors of a Farsi speaking church in Amsterdam and reach Iranians all over the world with the gospel.

“Bringing the gospel into the heart of Iran, to our brothers and sisters - this is our heart’s desire. I see that God is at work and this fills me with hope. I believe the islamic bonds will eventually be broken and that christians one day will be free,” shares Peyman passionately. “Every day we speak to Iranians and tell them about Jesus. And they listen!”

Online missionnaires

Peyman also works as an online missionary for Jesus.net. He’s developing online courses and websites to reach people with the gospel online in the Farsi language. In 2022 the daily email of A Miracle Every Day launched and quickly hundreds Farsi speaking people signed up. Readers from Iran and the Netherlands but also from Afghanistan and Turkey. “Did you know over 100 million people speak Farsi? Imagine we could reach all of them in their own language?”

Dangerous

The online ministry isn’t without danger. Not only is the ministry blacklisted but it’s also dangerous for those in Iran itself. “Iranians have to set up fake accounts so they will not be linked to us.

Sadly we frequently see people caught and punished for being in contact with us. Even family members who don’t want anything to do with the Christian faith are arrested, simply because they keep in touch with us. This is intense and hard to deal with. But we are not afraid. For we truly believe that if you live without Jesus, you are the real captive.”

“To us this statement is a real confirmation that our websites are having an impact in Iran.“

Blessed with persecution

The Iranian government has issued an official warning for their websites Doustibakhoda and Naviderahaie, two Farsi websites about the Christian faith. Iranian officials claim the websites lure searchers into a christian trap. “To us this statement is a real confirmation that our websites are having an impact in Iran. I see their warning as a compliment! We are blessed by their persecution,” shares Peyman. “The official rapport shares about the innovative methods we use and how we are the new generation of online missionaries. The government does not want these websites sharing about a loving God. Especially a video about God’s love letter is labeled as misleading and false. And to be honest - this makes me really proud. For they understand that Iranians will want to know a loving God. This is what scares them. That people will want to connect with a God that loves deeply.”

Attempted suicide

“I came into contact with a young man in Iran that struggled with mental problems,” shares Djawaher. “He was very depressed and didn’t want to live anymore. He tried to commit suicide and right at that very moment we were praying for him. His attempt failed and he soon after connected with us online. ‘While tried to take my own life, I felt ‘something’. I don’t believe in God but tell mewhat is that ‘something?,’ he asked us. We were able to share the gospel that day and he came to faith. He is now doing really well and is excited about life and faith.”

Live freely

“We are so grateful to live in the Netherlands. This country offers us so much freedom. We are free to come and go as we please and to share the gospel wherever we are. This freedom also offers us the chance to reach our brothers and sisters in Iran. Ofcourse we desire to go back one day but we truly believe God has led us here so we can share the gospel over there. I want to encourage everyone: don’t be afraid. Connect with Muslims. Share your life and be available to share the gospel. When first came to faith,” says Djawaher, “I didn’t know anyone that could help me. So be brave! And don’t forget that you have a powerful message in Jesus: we are free!”

Naviderahaie.com

Doustibakhoda.com

We are blessed by persecution.

The Stepping Stones Strategy

Jesus.net has developed the ‘Stepping Stones’ strategy to map and create content for the spiritual journey of online seekers. People enter at different stages.

The ACCESS phase is used to build bridges for people who are not yet connected to Jesus.

In the KNOW phase we share the heart of the gospel.

The GROW phase focuses on deepening the relationship with Jesus and applying their faith in everyday life.

The SHARE phase helps Christians share their faith easily. Whatever phase people enter in, the goal is to guide them through that stepping stone and into the next and ultimately from an online into offline community.

ACCESS KNOW GROW SHARE

Jesus.net is excited about the upcoming partnership with The Chosen: a seven-season series about the life and ministry of Jesus. Derral Eves, Executive Producer of The Chosen, shares about the dream, miracles and opportunities of the show.

The dream

“The Chosen started with one guy, movie-director Dallas Jenkins, and his wife Amanda sitting on their sofa, watching tv. They started wondering: why hasn’t there ever been a multiple season tv show about Jesus and his followers? Dallas got enthralled with this idea and started pitching his dream and even though people loved the concept, no one thought it feasible. Until he produced a short film called The Shepherd about the birth of Jesus through the eyes of a shepherd. A friend shared it with Angel Studios and long story short: the studio captured the vision of creating a television series with multiple seasons about Jesus’ life seen through the eyes of the people who knew Him.”

Find out more in this video about the Stepping Stones!

Special Partnerships

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Partnerships evolve over time within Jesus.net. For instance, it took Eric Célérier some convincing to get the BGEA board on the Internet but once they embraced the opportunities the internet provided, their ministry within Jesus.net took flight. Over time the ministry matured and by their hard work and dedication, it became a strong, impactful, and more independent online ministry. The partnership evolved to a new level, with the same DNA in the Jesus.net Family. Working related and independently side by side in His Kingdom.

The miracles

“A crowdfunding model was set up (season 1 was the #1 highest crowd-funded entertainment project of all-time!) and I was asked on board to help produce the show. I have a 20+ year background in online and YouTube audience development. I’ve always loved the stories of Jesus and I love television and movies and couldn’t wait to combine the two! From day one God has been a very active participant in The Chosen. We’ve seen miracle upon miracle. Like when we needed first century boats and the owner backed out at the last minute when he found out The Chosen was a show about Jesus. We’ve seen so many times that when we hit a wall, God would provide. This time ‘by chance’ we found a boat maker who made us two first century boats in only two weeks’ time. An impossible task! But with the paint still drying on the freeway, it arrived right on time and budget.”

The opportunities

“The key to success of The Chosen is showing the authentic Jesus interacting with authentic broken people with real problems. The Chosen dives deeper into the characters and storylines of the Bible but also helps people deepen their relationship with Jesus. Working together with Jesus.net just makes sense. In the

end we are only a tv show portraying our perspective on what’s plausible in the first century. We can start people off on a journey but there is a longer journey ahead of them. Online ministry partners and churches around the world are able to use the content, already translated into 50+ different languages, for free, so they can amplify the message and help people go deeper into the Word of God and let His message really penetrate the heart.”

“Working together with Jesus.net just makes sense.”

The Chosen

HAVE FAITH AS A CHILD, BRING HOPE TO THOSE WHO NEED IT AND LOVE ALL PEOPLE.