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Kevin Prinsteam leader / founder |
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Sue Prinsteam leader / founder |
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BIO
Kevin and his wife Sue founded Excelling Leaders after 16 years of cross-cultural mission work. Kevin brings a unique blend of government, business and ministry experience in his role as Team Leader of Excelling Leaders. Kevin grew up in West Michigan and has a Master’s degree in Leadership. After running his own construction company for almost 20 years, and being in city government for several of those years, Kevin, along with his wife, Sue, and their four young children moved to Barbados in 1996. There they worked with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in the areas of leadership and youth ministry. In 2000, they moved to Trinidad and Tobago to pioneer a YWAM ministry center with a special focus on youth. This particular ministry has sent teams of young people to over 10 countries, and long term trained staff are now serving in many countries around the world. In 2012 Kevin and Sue relinquished leadership in Trinidad to pioneer Excelling Leaders (EL), a visionary ministry focusing on leadership development and missionary family care. CONTACT
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BIO
Sue is a Registered Nurse, mother of 4 adopted (now adult) children, and grandmother of 9. She is a professional coach through Coaching Mission International, and has been to Le Rucher Ministries in France. She has been through many life experiences including raising a family in in cross-cultural missions for 16 years, experiencing trauma and physical illness (Cancer survivor) while serving overseas. Sue’s heart, as a co-founder of Excelling Leaders and Team Leader is to be a support and encouragement to families in missions; to provide a place missionary families can come, be refreshed, and re-equipped. CONTACT
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TON VEGTEL NETHERLANDS DIRECTOR |
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CARLA VEGTEL NETHERLANDS DIRECTOR / KIDS MINISTRY |
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BIO
What started out as an unexpected field visit to a missionary couple in need, grew into a calling of over 20 years experience serving and caring for those who are called to go. Being a Dutchie by birth, and called a 'black African in a white skin', Ton has been involved in missions for 20 years. He had the role of member care provider, and also coach, teacher, speaker and trainer. He has worked for over 25 years in Christian counseling ministries. Ton is a registered supervisor in social work and coaching in the Netherland, which brings a wealth of expertise to the team. He has been trained by Le Rucher ministries as debriefer and trauma debriefer. He is living in the Netherlands with his wife Carla. Together they pioneered the European branch of Excelling Leaders. CONTACT
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BIO
Carla has been a missionary for over 25 years with Youth With A Mission serving in the Netherlands as well as in the United States. She has worked with kids in schools, churches and summer camps in the Netherlands as well as overseas. She is married to Ton and together they live in the Netherlands. Carla loves to see the next generation flourish and thrive in countries other than their passport country. For many years she has been part of the member care team at the different YWAM campuses where she has served. Carla has been trained by LeRucher in debriefing and having lived herself for an extended time abroad makes her keenly aware of the challenges of living outside your passport country. She has a special gift to work with Third Culture Kids (TCK’s) and specializes in debriefing children as young as 4 years old as well as teenagers. CONTACT
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DAN OOSTERHOUSELOGISTICS / MAINTENANCE |
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ROBIN OOSTERHOUSEADMIN / HOSPITALITY |
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BIO
Dan and his wife Robin and their three boys served with YWAM Chico for nearly 10 years. Through the years he has served in a number of different roles including maintenance, grounds, a bit of housekeeping, cooking and starting an agriculture department. He looks forward to using the skills and talents he acquired during that time to create a place of rest and comfort for missionaries seeking refreshing and guidance. Dan was born in west Michignan. After serving as a truck driver in the Persian Gulf War, he received an Associate's Degree in Computer Aided Drafting. He then worked in several manufacturing jobs from Die Design to designing transportation seating. He started feeling the call for his family to go into missions and was promptly laid off from his job, God's kick in the pants. The family did a Crossroads Discipleship Training School with YWAM in Chico, California. About 8 months after completing that the whole family moved to California and joined the staff of YWAM Chico for the next 9 years. They have since moved back to West Michigan to help with aging parents and to serve with Excelling Leaders. CONTACT
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BIO
Robin loved growing up driving John Deere tractors and milking cows on a dairy farm in west Michigan. After graduating from Trinity Christian College in Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology she spent 16 years working in the lab at Saint Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI. She married Dan in 1995 and in 2009 they took their 3 young boys, ages 4-9, to do a CDTS in Chico, CA. They moved to Chico in 2010 and as a family, they went on CDTS outreaches to Fiji and Guatemala, built an agriculture center in India and served multiple times in Mexico. Robin enjoyed serving with YWAM Chico in northern California for 9 years and learned many of the behind-the-scenes jobs that keep a big base running. During that time, she served in grounds, housekeeping, hospitality, kitchen, on-campus International Christian K-12 school, CDTS staff, and pioneering an agriculture department. She saw firsthand how easily people in ministry can burn out so her heart is to help prepare a place of beauty and peace where tired missionaries can come away and find rest in the Father’s arms. Kevin and Sue mentored Dan and Robin during their years in Chico so partnering together made perfect sense when the Oosterhouse family returned to west Michigan in 2019. Robin likes to plug-in wherever needed whether it's preparing for a retreat, doing outdoor projects or learning how to build a website. CONTACT
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Abram SopenskiKids Debrief Team
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Lindsay SopenskiWEB + GRAPHIC DESIGN / Debrief Team
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BIO
Fifth of eight kids, Abe knows a lot about family! He grew up in NE Ohio, but has traveled the world. He brings his love of nature, fitness and family everywhere he goes. Abram served with YWAM for 5 years. He moved with Lindsay to China in 2016 to begin their walk across China. From 2016-2017 they walked the 3,500 mi length of China from the southernmost point to the northernmost point (basically Russia!). Since completing their 240 day project, they have had a heart to care for missionaries and cross cultural workers. When he's not volunteering for EL, he is the operations managers for a growing, high-end landscape design, install and gardening company with his sister and her husband. Abram is passionate about his 3 kids, stewardship and fitness. CONTACT
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BIO
Always working on a creative project, Lindsay delights in details and organization. With lots of admin and design experiences (in and out of missions), she offers a unique perspective with a creative twist! Lindsay served with YWAM 8 years. She was born in the great state of Texas, but grew up mostly in NE Ohio. She moved to China in 2012, and again with Abram in 2016 to begin their walk across China. From 2016-2017 they walked the 3,500 mi length of China from the southernmost point to the northernmost point (basically Russia!). Since completing their 240 day project, they have had a heart to care for missionaries and cross cultural workers. Lindsay is passionate about her 3 kids, having a creative outlet, thrifting and organization. CONTACT
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BIO
Jolanda has been a missionary with Youth With A Mission serving in the Netherlands as well Bosnia and now with YWAM in Colorado Springs with her husband Rodney and their 2 daughters. She has a very outgoing personality and loves people. Jolanda is Dutch and from the beautiful province Zeeland in the Netherlands. In ’96 she met her husband Rodney (from AZ) in Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and in June ’97 they got married. They have 2 daughters, Lisa and Sarah. Since their marriage they served with YWAM in the Netherlands, 4 years in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Church planting and Humanitarian Aid) and traveled a lot teaching with YWAM in Europe. After her Bosnia experiences Jolanda knew she wanted to work in Missionary Care. At YWAM Heidebeek in the Netherlands she worked till 2013 in Staff Care and Development, Pastoral Care and Member Care. Since 2013 Jolanda and her family live and work with YWAM in Colorado Springs, CO. She’s involved with Member Care for North America and loves to help missionaries understand cross-cultural living and working. It’s a privilege to support missionaries not just to survive, but to thrive! CONTACT
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BIO
Christy is from Northern Indiana but has served with Youth with a Mission all over the world! She had her first out reach experience to Mexico when she was still in high school. That opportunity captured her heart. A few years later she got trained with Youth with a Mission in Barbados. She has been serving in missions ever since. She spent 12 years in Central Asia with a focus on medical missions and working in orphanages. Her journey also took her back to the Caribbean for a few years. Most of her involvement through the years has mostly been with Youth with A Mission. In 2018, Christy came to one of our retreats ready to give up on missions due to some trauma. The retreat was life changing for her. She left us with a renewed hope and went back out there and served 2 more years. Today she is on our team because she wants to give back and to be there for others as they process their own stories and to remind others that they don't walk alone. CONTACT
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BIO
Alexa has been serving overseas in Guatemala for the past 5 years. She is passionate about coming alongside others on their healing journeys and has experience working in social work and therapy settings with survivors of trauma. She loves creativity and artistic expression, music, reading, and spending time in community with others. Alexa serves as part of the debriefing team for individuals, families, and children with Excelling Leaders. She attended the Radiant Life Retreat in 2020 while serving with a different ministry, struggling with burnout and secondary trauma in the field. That experience was life changing. The Lord opened her eyes to the great need for missionary care and how she could contribute to filling that need. She is honored to now support other missionaries as they journey on the road toward restoration and resilience. CONTACT
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BIO
Susan grew up in the Middle East and has lived cross culturally for over 25 years. She serves with both individual, family and kids debriefing to help cross-cultural families thrive in their journey. She loves the outdoors and enjoys her home base of Colorado in every season. Some of her favorite things about life are color, vision, taste buds and adventure. CONTACT
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Kevin StablerDebrief Team |
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Katherine StablerDebrief Team |
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BIO
Kevin was born in Pennsylvania and spent his childhood fishing, hunting and playing sports. He studied Administration of Justice and later received a master’s degree in Missions and Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College. After marrying his wife, Katherine, he supervised juvenile delinquents and adult offenders with the County Probation Department in Bellefonte, PA. As a couple they felt the call to missions, and in 1985-86 they completed the Youth with A Mission (YWAM) DTS and School of Missions. They arrived in the Amazon region of Bolivia in 1986 where they lived and served the Bolivian people for 32 years, planting churches and establishing Christian schools. Kevin teaches in cross-cultural training programs, preparing and mentoring the next generation of Christian workers for service in intercultural ministries, as well as mobilizing the Latin American and US church towards global missions to the remaining unreached peoples. Together, with Katherine they work with Educating for Life, a biblical-based, educational program designed to equip teachers to develop a biblical worldview of education and interactive teaching methods for use in the classroom. Kevin and Katherine were blessed with two children, Amy and Jeffrey. Amy and her husband, with their four beautiful boys, live in Charleston, SC. Their son Jeffrey was called Home to the Lord’s presence at age 24 when he was tragically killed in car accident in 2015. Currently they live in the mountains of north-central Pennsylvania where Kevin enjoys playing his guitar and relishes any opportunity he has to hunt, fish and trap in the beautiful outdoors. CONTACT
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BIO
~~~coming soon~~~ CONTACT
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BIO
Jill has served in missions for over 35 years by working in intercession and training in the United States and in Asia. She started working in debriefing after returning to the US after 11 years overseas and has worked in member care since 2015. Her heart is to do mobile member care and debriefing by traveling to where the missionaries are. Fun fact: she has an older brother and she copied whatever he did by playing every sport you can think of. Her dad and brother are both left-handed so she plays pool left-handed as she was taught to play by them. Fishing and golf are her two sports of choice now. CONTACT
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BIO
Kevin and his wife Sue founded Excelling Leaders after 16 years of cross-cultural mission work. Kevin brings a unique blend of government, business and ministry experience in his role as Team Leader of Excelling Leaders. Kevin grew up in West Michigan and has a Master’s degree in Leadership. After running his own construction company for almost 20 years, and being in city government for several of those years, Kevin, along with his wife, Sue, and their four young children moved to Barbados in 1996. There they worked with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in the areas of leadership and youth ministry. In 2000, they moved to Trinidad and Tobago to pioneer a YWAM ministry center with a special focus on youth. This particular ministry has sent teams of young people to over 10 countries, and long term trained staff are now serving in many countries around the world. In 2012 Kevin and Sue relinquished leadership in Trinidad to pioneer Excelling Leaders (EL), a visionary ministry focusing on leadership development and missionary family care. CONTACT
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BIO
Sue is a Registered Nurse, mother of 4 adopted (now adult) children, and grandmother of 9. She is a professional coach through Coaching Mission International, and has been to Le Rucher Ministries in France. She has been through many life experiences including raising a family in in cross-cultural missions for 16 years, experiencing trauma and physical illness (Cancer survivor) while serving overseas. Sue’s heart, as a co-founder of Excelling Leaders and Team Leader is to be a support and encouragement to families in missions; to provide a place missionary families can come, be refreshed, and re-equipped. CONTACT
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BIO
What started out as an unexpected field visit to a missionary couple in need, grew into a calling of over 20 years experience serving and caring for those who are called to go. Being a Dutchie by birth, and called a 'black African in a white skin', Ton has been involved in missions for 20 years. He had the role of member care provider, and also coach, teacher, speaker and trainer. He has worked for over 25 years in Christian counseling ministries. Ton is a registered supervisor in social work and coaching in the Netherland, which brings a wealth of expertise to the team. He has been trained by Le Rucher ministries as debriefer and trauma debriefer. He is living in the Netherlands with his wife Carla. Together they pioneered the European branch of Excelling Leaders. CONTACT
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BIO
Carla has been a missionary for over 25 years with Youth With A Mission serving in the Netherlands as well as in the United States. She has worked with kids in schools, churches and summer camps in the Netherlands as well as overseas. She is married to Ton and together they live in the Netherlands. Carla loves to see the next generation flourish and thrive in countries other than their passport country. For many years she has been part of the member care team at the different YWAM campuses where she has served. Carla has been trained by LeRucher in debriefing and having lived herself for an extended time abroad makes her keenly aware of the challenges of living outside your passport country. She has a special gift to work with Third Culture Kids (TCK’s) and specializes in debriefing children as young as 4 years old as well as teenagers. CONTACT
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