Bevan and Laura Stein have been serving as full-time missionaries in Slovakia since 1996 with International Messengers.
“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16
Whether it’s strengthening a historic mission’s movement in Slovakia, delivering humanitarian aid to war-torn Ukraine or providing Sudanese refugees in Uganda with hope, this verse motivates Bevan and Laura Stein to care for the “least of these” our brethren. Inside you will find 5 ministries they have created and currently oversee in 3 countries through 2 different 501C3 organizations.
Bevan and Laura Stein’s Story
Bevan received his M.Div. from Wesley Biblical Seminary in 1995. Together, with his wife, Laura, who holds a Masters in special elementary education from Regent University, they came to Slovakia shortly after the end of communism and the break- up of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Their goal was to help develop and strengthen a historic mission’s movement in that country. The Steins adopted and raised 6 mixed- ethnic children from Slovak state-run orphanages.
Prior to coming to Slovakia, Bevan was a Methodist pastor for four years and Laura was an elementary teacher for 8 years. Prior to this they worked at a boy’s home in Virginia for troubled youth from the inner city.
Bevan was born in Indiana and grew up in the mid-west. He first began preaching at the age of 15. He felt a call to missions when he was 20 and served on his first mission trip for six months in 1986 in Zaire, Africa (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) when he was 23 after graduating from Asbury University in 1986.
Laura was born in San Antonio and also grew up in the mid-west. She first felt a call to missions in 1983 and served on several short-term mission trips. She prepared for a life-time in missions by studying elementary education, graduating from Asbury University in 1987.
Bevan and Laura were married in 1988, completed their masters degrees in 1995 and signed on to serve with International Messengers in Slovakia in 1996. For the last 28 years they have given themselves entirely to their ministry, which eventually spread to include multiple forms in multiple countries.
WHAT MAKES HEAVENLY FATHER’S LOVE MISSION SO SPECIAL?
WE TREAT OTHERS THE WAY WE WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED, WITH KINDNESS, TENDERNESS AND GENUINE AFFECTION.
Children are more than a project to the Heavenly Father’s Love Mission. They feel what we feel – hunger, fear, sorrow, pain. We want to turn their tears into joy, their sorrow into rejoicing, their mourning into dancing. We want these children to feel valued, loved and cherished. This is going to take more than food, clothes, clean water, a roof to sleep under. While that’s a good start, HFL wants them to know that they have a future and a hope, a purpose and a meaning.
Right now there are 36,000 children who need food for their body, a hug for their soul, education for their minds, and one more thing – YOU!
DO NOT HINDER THE LITTLE CHILDREN, LET THEM COME UNTO ME, FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
It’s a wonderful thing to receive but it is more blessed to give than to receive. In giving, we receive the most. There is never one so poor as the one who has nothing to give!
How much one gives is the measure not of one’s wealth but of the size of one’s heart!
SLOVAKIA: WHAT WE ARE DOING
-
Providing summer camps for orphan kids which are rich in games, hiking, crafts, and also Bible teaching and worship. Besides giving children the moral basis, they need for life we are leading the children to put their faith in Christ and become his disciples.
-
Providing hippo-therapy to children with disabilities at our ranch in central Slovakia. Our goal is not just to help them overcome their physical disability, but also the stigma and feelings that are attached to it.
-
Serving as a chaplain to up to 1,100 bikers, who would never enter a church. This means sharing Christ in a hostile environment. One has to earn the right to speak to them by commitment, availability and genuineness.
Ukraine: WHAT WE ARE DOING
-
As the national coordinator for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Slovakia for humanitarian aid to Ukraine, I work with the Slovak Lutheran bishops to organize 386 churches and 7 private schools to prepare “boxes of blessings.”
-
As the owner of my own commercial 18-ton truck, I take supplies for all organizations who contact me. This includes the Slovak Lutheran Church, the Baptist Church, Catholic Church, Convoy of Hope, IN Network Slovakia, the Slovak Ambassador to Ukraine, Campus Crusade for Christ, and many others.
-
I provide logistics also to other organizations, such as border contacts, customs paperwork, arranging distribution through my network inside Ukraine, finding supplies to be taken and looking for sponsors and resources in the EU, etc.
-
Physically delivering aid in Ukraine to the final recipients, praying with soldiers, meeting the people in the trenches and on the front line of the war who are rescuing survivors so I can provide aid to them.
-
I have made 27 trips, carried nearly 2 million EUR worth of aid, fed over 4 million people
UGANDA: WHAT WE ARE DOING
-
Feeding refugee orphan and widows who have fled from Sudan and South Sudan.
-
Training widow women to work with their hands doing hair styling, sandal and basket making, knitting and sewing, to help provide for themselves.
-
Clearing land to plant crops to help feed our children and teach our young men how to farm.
-
Providing essential preventative health care and treatment for life-threatening illness among the orphans.
-
Registering the refugee women and children with the local authorities so they have documentation. This helps the women be able to find work and helps the children be safe from kidnappers who would force them into the child sex trade.
-
Teaching children reading, writing and math who are far removed in the refugee camps from schools.
-
Providing trauma counseling to widows and orphans who have witnessed atrocities committed against their families.
