2025 is coming to an end. For us here in Montana we see our “season” of changes continuing into 2026. This last year we saw, among other things, the arrival of our first grandchild Wilder, spent the Summer in Kona staffing a leadership school, and Eden entered her last year of high school. 2026 will continue the trend. Molly will begin transitioning out of her role on the Campus Director’s Team. This is role she has filled for 15 years and has had a huge impact working directly alongside our Campus leaders here in Montana. What she moves into is still in prayer and consideration, but she knows it’s time to make that change. And on the family front we may become empty nesters! We’re not sure what that will look like, or feel like!
YWAM Montana continues to grow. We have seen an increase in students, staff, and initiatives this year. This has been very encouraging, and for us on the leadership team quite sobering as well. We know our role is to be stewards of this ministry for God, not just “leaders”. The Lord has used YWAM MT in some profound ways this year; locally, regionally and internationally, and we appreciate the responsibility that comes with that. September brought the launch of two of the largest schools we have run in a while. Our School of Biblical Studies (SBS), and our Discipleship Training School (DTS). This last weekend we sent out the DTS in 4 teams, to 4 different locations: Cambodia, Sth Thailand, Nth Thailand, and the Netherlands. Exciting things are happening with this generation (Gen Z), and a wave of anticipation is building for the coming Generation Alpha who will be entering adulthood in just a few years. For any of us who feel like the world is getting crazier, and worse, hold on! Change is coming, and in fact has already arrived. GenZ and GenA are hungry for truth, God, and change. We are seeing revival already begin in multiple places among the younger generation, globally.
To close we simply want to wish you all a very merry Christmas. Remember the reason we celebrate it! He is so good to us. The only reason we give gifts to each other is to remember the gift He gave to us, Himself, to live among us then, today and forever. Blessings, love and mountain-aloha! from our family to you and yours!
What a year for our family! Molly and I are one child closer to becoming empty nesters. Joel is in his 3rd year of college, attending Montana State University and living about 5 hours away in Bozeman. We miss him a ton, but he is doing well in life and that is a great blessing to us. Eden is in her junior year (11th grade for the non-Americans), and wonderfully still at home 😊. However, she is very social and involved with activities that it seems she is out more than home!
As for Samuel and Kinley, they are in the process of making us grandparents! (Our son is having a son!) Being grandparents is a wonderful addition to our job description, but honestly a slight mental adjustment (can we be that old already?). We can’t wait for his arrival in March! Molly is very much looking forward to being a grandma… or Grammy, or MiMi, or… Who knows?! My Team at work ran a survey to come up with “What Jeremy will be called as a Grandfather”. Oh my… a LOT of names suggested, ranging from Grandpa-Roo, to Papa West (for your entertainment you can see a few of the names suggested after the photos below). The overall voted favorite? “GrandMate”. Hmmm, we’ll see. As for Molly’s name, that jury is still out.
On the work front, ministry and missions are charging ahead. I (Jer) continue to oversee our campus’s various Discipleship programs. The most rewarding things for me are seeing our people grow, the Gospel making real change in people’s lives both here and around the world, and being able to continue creating space for others to grow and develop. I am very blessed to be working with many high value and high capacity mission workers, excellent leaders, and people-developers.
Molly is still the irreplaceable moving part in the Director’s office as she works to improve our campus, deal with high level decision making and facilitating mission accomplishment. As always, she is keenly involved in several lives of younger ladies in leadership roles, and an ardent supporter of our Bible translation and distribution efforts.
In other campus news we recently welcomed back our DTS’s from Cambodia and 2 other closed nations, and this weekend we will send out several more teams into the nations to plant seeds, water, and harvest!
This week we are also welcoming home Bible teaching teams from 6 nations: Cambodia, Taiwan, Ukraine, Thailand, and 2 other closed countries. These students are in their 20’s and are on fire to be teaching believers and pastors from many villages who have no Bible training. What a joy to be part of sending these young people to make life-changing impact!
You – our friends and partners in ministry – share in that too.
The YWAM Ship “Liberty”, which YWAM Montana is directly involved with for the purposes of Bible translation and medical ministry in Papua New Guinea, has now arrived at its base port of ministry, in Madang. We are directly involved in that project from here, especially Molly in her role within the Directors office and her passion for the Bible. The Liberty will be hosting continual medical teams to reach isolated villages on the coast as well as continual Bible translation for 33 bible-less languages. This is no small undertaking and your prayers for these translations is much appreciated.
As we close this letter, a prayer point. We have recently been asked to staff a Leadership Training School with Darlene Cunningham next Summer in Kona Hawaii. This will be Darlene’s last, and it is a huge honor to be asked to be part of the staff team. But this will bring it’s own challenges: logistical, financial, work, and school stuff in Montana… Would you please pray for our process in this decision? And please contact us with anything you may be discerning for us. We will share more in the near future.
As always, thank you for being a vital part of all we do, as we work to “know God and make Him known”.
Jeremy and Molly
(Proud) Mom and daughterJoel – so big!Grandkid #1 on the way!Graduating Summer DTS Students, just back from two closed nations.Local outreach in Kalispell with the DTS studentsA grab from the DTS InstagramThe “YWAM Liberty”. Papua New GuineaThe Liberty on her way (Nth East) to her home port, Madang.
(If you’re still reading…) Grandfather names that didn’t make the cut… 🙂
The Old Cobber Papa Jer Skipper Bub Grand Pappy Hefe Granpy-J Grand Fella Old West Chief Tutu (Hawaiian) Jeremy Papí Puppy (Australian accent) Bandit Big G Kupunakane Sage Old Mate Jeremy (said in an Aussie accent) Sir Grand Mate Gramps El Padre Popdaddy Professor Papa J G-Pa Papaw Bush Poppy PeePa Jerome Grumpa Abuelo (Spanish) Papa Jer Bear Boss Grandpa Captain Jeremy Pop Grandpa Roo Mr West Grandpa Koala PeePaw Pop-Pop Oupa (South Africa) Papa Jerry G Daddy Pops Granddad Big Pop Mate Old Man West Baboon Pepe (French) Chuck Papa West
GoWests! 