General STEM News

General News From STEM

DEC 10

Year End Donations

You can give online contributions to STEM right up to 11:59pm on December 31st and receive a current-year 2014 tax receipt. Click on the "Donations / Payments / Support" tab at the very top of this page, or copy and paste this link in your browser: http://stemintl.org/donations/payment

You can also send a check payable to "STEM" to: STEM Int'l, 107 Lena Ann Dr, St Cloud FL 34771 (postmarked no later than Dec 31st for a current-year 2014 tax receipt).

May the Lord bless you for your financial support of STEM!
AUG 13

STEM Re-Locating to Orlando!

STEM will re-locate its offices and STEMPress publications distribution center to Orlando FL sometime soon during fall 2013. Check back for further updates as they become available!
AUG 2

STEM / Converge Announce Strategic Missions Partnership

August 02, 2013: The International Ministries division of Converge Worldwide (Orlando FL), and STEM Int’l (Minneapolis MN), are pleased to announce a strategic Christian missions partnership!

Rev. Roger P. Peterson, Founder/President of the 28-year old Minneapolis-based Christian mission organization STEM Int’l has accepted a full-time position as “Director of International Ministries Partnerships” with the International Ministries division of Converge Worldwide. Converge Worldwide assists their 1,200 U.S-based churches to “connect God’s people around God’s purposes, by igniting multiplying movements, by transforming lives and communities with Christ’s love and truth.”

IM Executive Director Ivan Veldhuizen highlights Roger’s extensive, enduring experience with churches engaging themselves in Christian mission, noting his “unique experience and skills that fill some very important gaps in our IM Leadership Team. He has authored numerous publications, led seminars and workshops on church-led missions, has an exhaustive résumé on missiologically wise short-term missions, and has gained high respect all across the nation for his mission contributions. Roger is a level-five leader who is eager to become a part of our Converge Worldwide Leadership Team.”

While in his new role at IM, Roger will be simultaneously seconded back to STEM Int’l on a part-time basis — creating an informal, yet strategic partnership between the two nonprofit Christian mission organizations — with a special focus on the STEMPress publications division. STEMPress “exists to extend God’s glory by publishing and distributing mission materials and resources that equip, support, and improve short-term and longer-term mission efforts.”

Roger began as Director of IM Partnerships on August 1st working remotely from Minneapolis.

STEM and Roger’s family will re-locate to Orlando sometime during this fall 2013.
MAR 1

Pray for STEM!

Our March 2013 prayer requests, “Praying For STEM,” are posted at http://stemintl.org/about/praying (copy and paste into your browser). Please take 90-seconds and lift us up in prayer!
JUN 14

STEM Board Elections

Dick Easterday (St. Croix Press), Roger Peterson (STEM Founder/President), and John Quam (The Mission America Coalition) were elected to new 3-year terms as Board Members of STEM Int’l; and Steve Miller (STEM C.O.O.) was elected to a new 1-year term. David Eby and Jim Levin (STEM Ministries) are serving current terms on the Board.
MAY 1

Office Relocation

STEM Ministries relocated our Team Operations and STMLC offices about 500 feet across campus at Bethany International. STEMPress relocated our primary book inventory 23 miles north to less costly offices in closer proximity to employees’ homes. Both moves should help contain costs and provide even better customer service.
JAN 3

STEM Strategic Planning Surveys

Between now and Feb 15, please consider answering one or more of four Strategic Planning Surveys which STEM will sent by email to various groups of existing STEM stakeholders and STEM constituency. The candid, anonymous information you provide will help the STEM Board better plan for the future. The Board will review initial survey results at our scheduled March 2011 Board Meeting, with expectation of producing and formally adopting a Strategic Plan at the Board’s scheduled June 2011 meeting.

If we contact you by email and ask you to participate, please prayerfully consider doing so! Thank you!
JUL 30

Live STEM Interview KTIS 900AM

STEM Share President John Pederson and STEM Int'l Founder/President Roger Peterson will be interviewed live on KTIS (St. Paul, Minnesota) Faith 900 AM Radio from 12:00 noon to 1:00pm today, Friday July 30th, discussing short-term mission outreach to restricted access nations.
MAR 29

STEM's 25th Anniversary!

STEM Ministries just celebrated our 25th Anniversary!

Things look very different today than they did when Roger Peterson led the first STEM team of 18 people to Haiti on March 16, 1985.

Now, 25 years and hundreds of mission teams later, STEM is sending a series of relief teams to Haiti in response to one of the worst natural disasters the world has ever seen.

Two of these teams are from Bethany College of Missions. One went over spring break and has now returned; the other will leave in May. STEM Ministries is now a part of Bethany International with a whole range of new partnering opportunities that will take STEM to the next level of excellence in short-term missions.

Bethany International recently designated a page on their website to celebrate this major anniversary with STEM. Copy and paste: http://www.bethanyim.org/stem-25th-anniversary into your web browser to see more!
JAN 16

KKMS-AM 980 Haiti Interview

STEM Founder/President Roger Peterson is doing a live radio interview this morning on Twin Cities Talk Radio KKMS-AM 980, concerning the earthquake catastrophes in Haiti, and STEM's response to the earthquakes. Roger is being interviewed by Pastor Tom Brock.
JAN 14

KTIS Haiti Interview

STEM Founder/President Roger Peterson furnished a radio interview this morning, on the earthquake catastrophe in Haiti. Pieces of the interview will be run this week on KTIS-AM 900 and KTIS-FM 98.5 (Mpls/St.Paul), and on the radio Skylight Network (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Florida).
SEP 22

STEM Live on KTIS 98.5FM Radio

On Tues. Sept. 22, STEM Founder & Pres., Roger Peterson, was a part of 98.5FM KTIS Radio's "2009 Fall Fundraiser Sharathon." STEM Ministries has partnered for the past several years with St. Paul, Minn.-based KTIS to send mission teams to Belize, Katrina-hit Gulf Coast states, and Iowa (flood clean-up).

You can still support KTIS' efforts to raise their $5,000,000 annual budget by visiting ktis.fm
AUG 14

New STEM & Bethany Missions Partnership!

STEM Ministries and Bethany International announce the formation of a missions partnership.

STEM Ministries, a nationally-recognized leader in Christian short-term missions, and Bethany International, a mission training and sending agency for career missionaries, are joining their respective short-term mission and career mission competencies beginning September 1, 2008 to expand the mobilization of short-term and career missionaries. STEM brings 24 years of recruiting, training, and sending thousands of short-term missionaries into more than two dozen locations around the world to the partnership. Bethany brings 63 years of training, sending, and supporting more than 700 cross-cultural missionaries into 40 different countries. Its Bethany College of Missions and Bethany International Ministries focus on mobilizing a new generation of missionaries.

STEM Founder and President Roger Peterson notes, “Our partnership with Bethany will allow STEM short-term mission teams to penetrate places we never dreamed possible. Bethany will help ramp up our administration of these multiplied short-term mission efforts, and also provide opportunities for training and career placement to those short-termers in whom God places a longer-term vision during their STEM short-term outreach.”

Bethany CEO Dan Brokke notes, “STEM has pioneered church based short-term missions and has laid a foundation, both in relationship with church and with field mission leadership, to provide high impact mission service opportunities. We look forward to mobilizing together with STEM a whole new generation of short and long-term missionaries.”

Rev. Roger Peterson
Founder & President, STEM Int’l
http://stemintl.org/

Dan Brokke
CEO & President, Bethany International
http://bcom.org/
NOV 21

Hurricane Devastates Dominican Republic

First reports back from STEM partners in hurricane-hit Dominican Republic.

THE NEED
Hurricane Noel devastated the Dominican Republic in early November. The entire country is currently in a state of emergency.
- Over 16,000 homes have been destroyed
- More than 78,000 people are displaced
- At least 87 are confirmed dead
- 48 people are still missing
- Floods and mudslides have affected 80 percent of the country
- 95 percent of the plantain, banana, and tomato plantations have been damaged
- 40 percent of the water-supply distribution has suffered severe damage
- 60 percent of the 122 aqueducts have suffered severe damage
- At least 100 communities are still inaccessible because of damage to roads and bridges
- Cases of Malaria and Dengue Fever are rising rapidly in impacted areas
- Rats have infested many communities, spreading sickness and disease, even causing several deaths

MEET THE NEED
Harvest Holistic Ministries in partnership with STEM Ministries

HOW TO HELP
1. Give a financial donation to ministry in the Dominican through Harvest Ministries. The greatest need in the DR is money for simple resources such as food, drinking water, and medications. Our partner churches are unable to meet many of these simple needs of their people because of lack of funds. They are in desperate need of resources to minister to the people of the DR. Any donations of financial support would be greatly appreciated. If you feel led to support financially, please send donations to:

STEM Ministries
P.O. Box 386001
Minneapolis, MN 55438
You must specify that the funds are for the “Dominican Republic: Disaster Relief.”

2. Form a team to go to the Dominican Republic
- Because of the severity of the situation in the Dominican, no STEM teams will be sent there until spring 2008. However, if you’re interested in being one of the first teams to help, now is a great time to start the process.
- Teams that go during this rebuilding process will need to be very flexible with the schedule and projects. Be ready to serve, sacrifice, and share God’s love to many people who are in a broken time in their lives.
- The first tasks for STEM teams to the DR are disaster relief and recovery, motivated to be a blessing and to demonstrate love and care — with no strings attached — thereby earning the privilege of sharing the gospel.

Read more about STEM outreaches in the Dominican Republic at http://www.stemintl.org/trips/opportunities/teams/locations/dr
SEP 28

STEM CEO Addresses Annual IFMA/EMS

STEM Founder/CEO, Roger Peterson, provided the opening morning address for 300+ delegates at the annual IFMA/EMS Conference held in Minneapolis Sept. 27-29. The conference theme was a milestone theme: "Short-Term Missions — Long Term Impact?" This was the first time in the rich and long history of the IFMA (Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association of North America, Inc.) that short-term mission was the focal theme topic of this important annual gathering of mission CEOs and other mission leaders from the United States and Canada.

In his plenary address, Roger provided general but highly relevant 2006 and 2007 overview information on the U.S. short-term mission movement, thanks in part to David Armstrong of ShortTermMissions.com, who provided Roger with data from 80,000 basic searches (Jan-Apr 2007) performed on the ShortTermMissions.com website.

Professor Robert Priest of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago IL, provided the opening EMS (Evangelical Missiological Society) workshop, and was also responsible for helping organize other academic presenters in the area of short-term missions. EMS membership is composed primarily of educators and professors of mission from the various evangelical academic institutions located in North America.
AUG 23

STEM Successfully Completes Financial Audit Review

The Audit Review Committee (ARC) announces acceptance of STEM’s 2006 Annual Audited Financial Statements prepared by Babcock, Langbein, and Company. Earlier today the ARC made their unanimous recommendation to the STEM Board of Directors to approve these Statements at the September 6, 2007 meeting of the STEM Board of Directors.

On December 31, 2006, STEM’s total assets stood at $235,412 (compared to $135,631 the prior year).

At year-end December 31, 2006, STEM’s total revenue was $1,323,827 with total expenditures of $1,189,849 for a net “excess revenue” of $133,978 (compared to a negative –$29,093 the prior year).

We give the Lord thanks and praise for a stronger financial year in 2006!
APR 20

Use of Year End Bequest Announced

A long-time STEM prayer and financial supporter, Mary M. Seth, 99 years old, went home to be with the Lord one year ago March 2006. Mary had named two mission organizations in her Trust — one of which was STEM. So when the matters of Mary’s estate settled on December 27, 2006, STEM was honored to receive her final gift for $116,115. STEM now announces that a significant portion of this generous bequest will be used during 2007 and 2008 to create a much-needed web-based STEM Team registration process, to be integrated with handling of other STEM Team information.

This financial blessing comes at a crucial time for STEM; in 2006 STEM was privileged to send 590 short-term volunteers. However, this year in 2007 we are already scheduled to send more than 850 short-term volunteers — that’s an substantial one-year increase of 44%. Using Mary’s generous gift to help accurately and quickly process increased amounts of Team-related information will help STEM speed up administrative operations for increased numbers of people, while maintaining fidelity and integrity within the overall process. Ultimately, it will help send even greater numbers of short-term volunteer workers into many parts of the world that still need to know — through our tender words and selfless deeds — of God’s love, freedom, and salvation available only through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Glory to God!
JUL 13

STEM in Finland

STEM Founder Roger Peterson will be keynoting the "Finland Youth Mission Conference 2006" Aug 8-10. Up to 5,000 youth plus adults are expected to attend. Roger presents "GodSpace 2007" in six sessions -- an overview of the entire world that God Loves. Finland has a population of 5.2 million people, with an estimated 1/5th (1 million) "Great Commission Christians."
FEB 16

Katrina "Clean-Up" Donations

Make a "Recruit Katrina Clean-Up Teams!" donation on-line! Simply click the “Donation/Payment/Support” button at the top of this page (anytime, 24/7!) — or call us toll-free at 1-877-STEM-646 (during normal business hours). You can also mail your donation to STEM, P.O. Box 386001, Minneapolis MN 55438.

STEM needs your financial help to rapidly contact, recruit, and send up to 17 one-week "clean-up" teams to Slidell, Louisiana, between April 02 and July 28 in 2006.
OCT 15

Donate Household Items

Donate items lying around your house — and get a tax deduction! STEM has a partnership with The Charity Group, that allows STEM to receive cash for your donated items. It's a simple process that doesn't take much of your time. Go to http://stemintl.org/donations/give#assets and click on The Charity Group link or logo. Complete the form describing your donation. The Charity Group will send you packing materials and a receipt. It's that simple. Items need to have a value of at least $75.
SEP 15

Guyana Added

STEM Ministries has added Guyana, South America, as a new mission field for STEM Teams. Churches or organizations interested in sending teams to Guyana should contact STEM Team Operations.
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