Looking Back - 2025

Six months have come and gone and with it, so many of our completed goals for 2025. This past year has been filled with incredible opportunities both foreign and domestic and following the course the Lord has laid out has been nothing short of exciting, constructive, and eye-opening. 

Since the first trip to Japan years ago, we’d anxiously prepared for our family’s first journey abroad. The time came and we headed eastward from LAX (Los Angeles INT Airport) to Osaka, our home away from home. For the first three weeks, we interacted regularly with the staff and student population of YWAM Takatsuki. Quickly we made friends who we wouldn’t soon forget. The warm welcome we received made us feel as though we’d been there for years. Helping with regular duties, cooking, homeschooling the kiddos, and taking on maintenance type tasks, allowed us the much needed normality of transitioning into a new culture. We were sad to take a step back when the Trans had arrived, but we were ecstatic to get the ball rolling on helping to lay the groundwork for what would be the Tran’s new life in Osaka. 

What we thought would take at least a solid month ended up taking mere weeks as God had already started networking people together through both YWAM and local individuals. Before we had a chance to realize it, we were cleaning Johnson and Cierra’s new 2 room apartment in Ibiraki-shi, only a few blocks away from the church they’d felt called to. With more time than we originally thought, we prayed and decided to return to YWAM Takatsuki where we resumed weekly lunches and dinner meals. From community dinners to a YWAM Japan leaders conference, we diligently worked using the giftings God gave us. By the end of June when the time had come for us to leave, we felt a piece of our own heart break off and stay behind in that beautiful city. So many memories we had accumulated, so many friends we’d gotten to know, and of course, leaving our extended family (Johnson and Cierra behind), made our leaving both sorrowful and optimistic for what was to come. 

No sooner had we landed back in the states, we ventured back to Ozark where a month of Mission Adventure summer camps were waiting. Back to the kitchen we went, ovens screaming, stove ablaze. MA (for short) has always been our busiest season, however, it is always one of the most rewarding of our yearly sessions as we witness God raise up new youth to champion the gospel message foreword back to their home towns and, God willing, to the ends of the earth. 

After another glorious round of MAs, August finally arrived and we were able to catch our breaths… slightly, because staff training for our Fall Discipleship Training School was just around the corner.

YWAM Ozark’s new DTS students came at the end of September, eager to delve into their own faith and take their new knowledge, wisdom, and a heart full of God’s grace to the nations. During the summer/fall season, spending time in the cafeteria opened the door to wonderful conversation with our kitchen crew: Ava, Rachel, and Mackenzie, who made every day an adventure with new jokes and introspection about what God was doing in their lives. Three months of life altering transformation gripped their souls and by the time they were ready to leave for their Brazil outreach, each had grown substantially in their walk with Jesus and their faith in the Father. As with every group, watching them leave is hard, but knowing The Lord is going to work though them in miraculous ways fills us with such joy. (They are currently in Brazil sharing the Gospel and are receiving training to take the Gospel up the Amazon River)

In the midst of DTS, the construction of YWAM Downtown pushed on, by the end of the year: a new roof was installed, the middle portion was demolished and resurfaced for outdoor entertaining, and the inside was nearly gutted. At this point we are steps away from the “blank-slate” we were hoping for by Jan 1, 2026. If it wasn't for the leadership of YWAM’s very own Matt Q. and the work crew made up of 3 of our DTS students, we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have. We are hopeful that by the summer, we’ll have events proceeding downtown to share the love of Christ with Ozark….

Now here we are, looking ahead into 2026. A new year, with new beginnings. To be wholefully honest, after a year so full of preparing and going, it’s hard to know what the future holds. What could be next on the horizon? What do we have to prepare for next? I imagine more cooking, more life change, more continuation of this mission story we’ve been on for over a decade… but who knows? After so long you start to realise that plans are an earthly point of reference, God’s future is bolder, broader, more encompassing… 

The year is still young. 

Prayer points:

1. February 3rd, Steven will be flying out to Japan to spend some time with the Trans and to visit a new YWAM campus in Kochi. Please be praying that he has safe travels and that he’ll be able to raise the $1500 he'll need for the 3 weeks he’s there. (tickets are booked, no money for transportation, food, etc…)

   
   

   ***UPDATE!!! Thanks to High Desert Church's small groups and the Thursday bible study group, we were able to raise all the finances needed for Stevens upcoming trip to Japan! Halleluja!

   
   

2. Our Future. We will be in Ozark for the foreseeable future, working with the building project and managing the kitchen, helping with DTS,DBS, MAs Etc… however, we feel God may have greater plans in the future for our family. Whether that’s Japan, locally in Ozark, or to and fro nationally, pray we have open ears and open hearts to receive it when it’s presented and the ability to discern our excitement/dreams from God’s.

   
   

3. We are in dire need of more monthly supporters. By the grace of God we have managed, and thanks to our wonderful group of families all across the states, we’ve been able to continue in missions for the past 11+ years, but as inflation rises, so do prices on everything from plane tickets to basic amenities. We are hoping to increase monthly support by x2 this year in order to set aside for international ministries to come. If you feel led, would you consider supporting our family so we can continue this call God has placed on our lives?

Thank you:

Shaffetts’, Staeflers’, Kellers’, Keelers’, Levins’, Maoilios’, Jelcy, Ozark church and its congregants, 88 Lown Elm FWB Church, 81 FWB Church, and High Desert Church small group and bible study members  for making this year the success that it was. Of the many years we’ve spent in missions, this has been one of the most memorable as a family. We could not have done it without the love and support you’ve lavished upon us. And for all those who’ve continued to fervently pray for us, we have felt every word. 

We love you all and appreciate you to no end. 

May the Lord bless you in this coming year with new insights, direction and growth and may He fill you with peace, love, and hope as you move into 2026.

Sincerely The Kellers,

Steven, Angelina, Milo, and Heidi