TRUST IN TRANSITION
I want to begin by expressing my deep gratitude for your prayers and financial partnership with us. Your support has been a great encouragement to our staff team, especially in a year marked by significant change.
This past year brought major transitions for Servant Partners. After many years of faithful service, Derek and Lisa Engdahl and Henry Williams* stepped down from their executive roles. Jennifer Blue, Daniel Groot, and I became the new executive team following a long season of prayer and discernment for our board and staff as we sought God's direction and blessing. While the transition has been smooth organizationally, this was a huge shift for our ministry. The outgoing executive team spent several months passing on institutional knowledge, and we were grateful for time to celebrate their long leadership with us. We are also thankful they have sensed a call to continue with Servant Partners, now leading in our national movement department.
In this transition, we believe God is leading us into a new season with a prophetic promise from Deuteronomy 11. We have been seeking the Lord and asking Him to “let it rain,” a sign of His provision and blessing for His people in the passage. We hope for a season of fruitful expansion and trust His work will deepen and widen among us.
In response, we have entered into a year of prayer and fasting as a ministry. Each staff member is joining at least one other person to fast and pray one day per month, so that every day in 2026 is covered in prayer as we seek God's blessing in this new season. We want to trust God in the change of leadership and in the change of seasons.
As we continue, we invite you to join us in prayer and fasting for this new season in our ministry and for the leadership of our new executive team. We hope and pray that the Lord might build on all He has already done.
In Hope Of His Coming,
Kevin Blue
General Director, On Behalf of the Executive Team
*Names changed for security and privacy reasons.
2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
_____
Samuel Awosanya
Former SP Staff - Uganda
Senior Software Developer for CA Department of Health Care Services
Tom Hsieh
Community Leader - SP Pamona
President of New Pacific Airlines
Verónica Torres McLane
Community Leader - SP Lincoln Heights
Assistant Director
Loyola Marymount University
Kevin Rhodes (Chair)
Managing Partner for Epiceutical Labs LLC
Sandy Lee Schaupp
M.A. Student in Chaplaincy,
Fuller Theological Seminary
Kevin Walton
Former SP staff - Bangkok
Senior Pastor Emeritus
Community of Nations Church
Andrew Wong
Former SP Internship Staff - South LA
Ph.D. Student, Clinical Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary
VULNERABLE CHILDREN FIND FREEDOM AND BELONGING
Latin America
Álvaro and Irene Silva met Jesus in 1998, beginning a new life together that would eventually lead them into one of the most challenging neighborhoods in Santiago, Chile.
While praying as a young couple, they sensed God giving them a promise from Matthew 16:18: “The gates of hell will not prevail against the church.” At the time, they did not fully understand what that meant.
In the early years, Álvaro and Irene served adults struggling with addiction and homelessness, helping them enter rehabilitation and rebuild their lives. But over time, they noticed a troubling pattern...
"...But if we came
here, the LORD
would provide
for us."
Álvaro Silva
BIBLE STORYTELLING OPENS NEW PATHS TO DISCIPLESHIP
Asia
"I found myself reciting the stories in my prayers, that’s when I realized how deeply they had shaped my own spiritual formation."
Suzy Triplett
In Thailand, stories carry meaning in ways that lectures cannot. “Thailand is an oral culture,” explained Servant Partners staff Suzy Triplett. “Information is passed along through stories, proverbs, and songs. No matter their socioeconomic class, that’s how people store information in their minds.”
During her first two years in Thailand, while searching for ways to share the gospel more effectively, Suzy attended a storytelling workshop in Chiang Mai. Participants spent days memorizing and sharing Bible stories aloud. At the time, she wasn’t sure how impactful this method would be. But months later, something shifted.
CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF THE FORMER EXEC TEAM
Executive
"It’s rare for leaders to give up power willingly—and stay. Their choice is a beautiful witness to the Kingdom."
Kevin Blue
It wasn’t a dramatic moment that marked the transition. No crisis or fracture, no formal speeches or spotlight. Just three leaders quietly naming what they had long sensed from God: that it was time to step aside so Servant Partners could grow beyond them.
After decades of commitment to the cause, following God’s leading, and dealing with crises on the ground, their last act as Directors was one of humility. Henry Williams*, Derek, and Lisa Engdahl laid down their executive roles—not in resignation but in full trust in God.
To understand the weight of this moment, it helps to look back to the early years. Servant Partners began with seven people and a huge vision that people in urban slums all over the world would know Jesus. Early interpersonal conflict and ministry setbacks reduced the team to three.
A VISION FOR SHALOM TAKES ROOT
North America
Long before it became a Servant Partners site, the work in Waughtown on the Southside of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, had already begun. The neighborhood still bears the effects of redlining and disinvestment—historic homes with little upkeep and limited public resources—yet for Joe Maye, Brandon and Salem Ortiz, it’s a place of deep relationships, resilience, and hope.
In 2014, Joe felt a growing conviction. Though he took his youth group on mission trips every summer, he felt they should minister in their own city. Even when they ran week-long Bible clubs in Waughtown, he felt unsettled. “It didn’t sit right with me,” Joe said. “It felt inappropriate to tell kids that we and Jesus loved them, and then not see them again for a year.”
That conviction pushed Joe to invest more—coming once, twice, three times a month—yet the feeling remained...
“Many of the skills Danny may have used negatively in the streets—his networking, his courage, his boldness—God is now using for
His glory.”
Joe Maye
2025 Financials
Movement as Consolation
Visit our Youtube channel to watch personal stories of God’s transformative work through Servant Partners in urban neighborhoods in the US and abroad.
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NEW FROM SERVANT PARTNERS PRESS
Vision For Spirituality & Rule Of Life
We're excited to share our latest release from Servant Partners Press, Vision for Spirituality and Rule of Life. Grounded in Luke 4:18-19, this bilingual booklet (English and Spanish) shares the spiritual vision, values, and practices that shape our movement as we follow Jesus and seek transformation in marginalized urban communities. We hope to invite and inspire our partners to be more like Christ on this journey of hope in the midst of poverty. Available exclusively through the Servant Partners Press website.
