NEW GROWTH
THE HOLISTIC TRANSFORMATION of urban poor communities is largely slow, meticulous work. It can take years for our efforts in a new community to bear significant fruit. Because of this, it is common for us to highlight the ministries that have had time to mature and demonstrate impactful change. In our twenty-six years of ministry with Servant Partners, we have had the privilege of witnessing God’s work of transformation all over the world as well as the growth and development of our organization.
However, it is also critical that we always remain open to the new things God is doing. Jesus has a predictable and unsettling tendency to call us to risk stepping out in faith in new ways so that we are challenged to trust that He will work powerfully through our feeble, hesitating strides. Things that are new are exciting but also fragile and dependent upon God’s provision. This year, we want to highlight a few of the new things which are emerging in our ministry. These include new sites, new tools for engagement, and even a whole new international organization.
One last new thing we would like to note is that this will be our final Directors’ letter for Servant Partners’ Annual Report. A couple years ago we discerned that God was calling us to hand off the leadership of the organization to a new group of leaders, which began a leadership discernment process led by our Board of Directors. Beginning this fall, Kevin Blue will become the new General Director and will be joined on the executive team by Daniel Groot and Jennifer Blue who will serve as Co-Executive Directors. We plan to remain in the organization, working with our international partners and the Global Partnership for Urban Transformation (which you will learn more about in this report). We are exceedingly grateful for the grace it has been to serve in these roles for over twenty years, but we are now truly excited for the new things that God has in store for Servant Partners under this new leadership. Thank you for faithfully partnering with Servant Partners, as we follow Jesus in urban poor communities around the world. To God be the glory!
With gratitude,
Derek and Lisa Engdahl
General Directors
2024 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Chris Hodge (Secretary and Treasurer)
Senior Vice President of Sales Innovation Line
Tom Hsieh
President New Pacific Airlines
Verónica Torres McLane
Assistant Director for Professional Learning Center for Equity for English Learners Loyola Marymount University
Lindsay Olesberg
Senior Consultant Clarity for Christian Leaders
Kevin Rhodes (Chair)
Managing Partner Epiceutical Labs LLC
Kevin Walton
Senior Pastor Emeritus Community of Nations Church
Andrew Wong
Ph.D. Student, Clinical Psychology Fuller Theological Seminary
A New Global Partnership For Urban Transformation
The launch of the Global Partnership for Urban Transformation (GPUT) to support and multiply indigenous, national movements dedicated to church planting and urban transformation worldwide
International
"God was inviting us to join in the work of
growing Jesus movements led by indigenous leaders...”
Henry Williams
THE MAJORITY of the world’s population, 4.2 billion as of 2018, makes their home in dense
urban centers. However, the necessary people-centered systems and infrastructure to
support this rapid urban growth are not keeping up with demand. This leaves a huge
number of people at risk, especially vulnerable populations. In these urban centers, with
much suffering and very few ministers, Servant Partners sought to call teams to live,
serve and minister among the urban poor. Even as these teams were sent out, SP also
continued to pray and look for signs of how God might be moving to respond to the poor
beyond its current ministry models and capacity.
As Servant Partners’ work expanded across the globe, staff encountered ministries that
received similar calls to minister in the urban poor centers within their own countries.
The rise of the church in Asia, Africa, and Latin America has led to the multiplication of
new missions organizations that are not only reaching their own urban contexts but also
sending people out to other nations. The international partnerships Servant Partners
began to develop prompted the reimagining of its sense of mission.
New Growth Through Listening
CTC participants discovered God at work in their midst and were equipped with a new skill for transformational Kingdom ministry.
Latin America
"People in the community have answers and God is already there.”
Beauty Ndoro
COULD LISTENING itself be a profound ministry? This idea was a radical paradigm shift for many Latin American leaders who participated in Servant Partners' Community Transformation Certificate (CTC) program or Certificado De Transformación Comunitaria. Accustomed to a ministry model focused on "doing," they were surprised to discover how listening plays a central role in community transformation. The CTC program emphasizes a three-fold way of listening: to God, oneself, and the community—a holistic practice that challenges one to stop and listen before acting.
The CTC invites participants to look and listen for signs of God’s transformative shalom sprouting in their communities. Through asking questions and intentionally listening to neighbors, participants join their communities to build something together...
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Founded on Prayer
New site leaders rely on prayer as they establish Jesus communities in their neighborhoods.
North America
“Prayer has been critical in establishing the work. I have prayer partners who have spent their days interceding for our community. Many prayer walks around the neighborhood have given us insight and a snapshot into what is at the heart of the community's needs."
Tony Gatewood
GOD SHAPES the world by prayer (Billy Graham). Establishing new ministry sites in urban communities rests on a foundation of prayer. At the beginning of a new work, God calls Servant Partners staff to the city, and He answers their prayers as they step out in faith.
In 2019 Servant Partners staff received a word from Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” This scripture was an invitation from God to pray and to expect Him to lead Servant Partners by His wisdom in unimaginable ways.
Over the last few years, God began adding to the number of leaders in Servant Partners. New sites formed in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States. Prayer-fueled growth in Latin America and the US reminds us that God hears our prayers and calls leaders to new initiatives in faith.
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Financials
'Reflections of God'​ and more
Visit our Youtube channel to watch personal stories of God’s transformative work through Servant Partners in urban neighborhoods in the US and abroad.
NEW RELEASES COMING SOON
Vision For Spirituality & Rule Of Life (Summer 2025)
Vision for Spirituality and Rule of Life is a bilingual edition (English and Spanish) which shares Servant Partners’ spiritual vision and practices, inviting and inspiring partners to follow Jesus on this journey of hope in the midst of poverty.
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Ministerio Encarnacional (Fall 2025)
Ministerio Encarnacional is a Spanish translation of selected chapters of Aaron Smith’s groundbreaking book, Thriving in the City, which shares a vision for sustainable incarnational ministry. We are excited to equip partners with Aaron’s inspiring stories and insights as they minister incarnationally throughout the world.
