Announcing the new EMENA Area Director
I am deeply grateful, as I know you are, for the leadership Edward de Kam has shown throughout his many years as the EMENA Area Director. After 30 years of dedicated service with Youth for Christ, Edward has decided to retire at the end of this year. Let’s continue to keep Edward and his family in our prayers as they step into this new chapter.
Over the past year, I have prayed for God’s leading and provision for a new Area Director. I believe that the Lord has led us to Marieke Klaasse. Edward recommended her for the role and I have consulted with the Area Leadership Team and the Youth for Christ International Board of Directors. This appointment has also been ratified by the National Directors of EMENA. Marieke has accepted this new role and the plan is for her to start January 1, 2025.
Marieke has been actively involved in ministry since 2007. After a decade of missional pioneering work in the Dutch and Scottish church, she joined Youth for Christ, where she currently serves as the acting Regional Director of Western Europe, the coordinator for EMENA Young Leaders and the Director of SuperWoman worldwide. Additionally, since 2010 she has operated her own small business in the Netherlands. Marieke is married and a mother of two girls.
“I feel incredibly honoured and humbled to have been given the position of EMENA Area Director. Working alongside Edward over the past few years, I have learned a great deal about what servant leadership means, and I look forward to applying that knowledge, along with my expertise, to strengthen the Youth for Christ ministry in the EMENA Area and worldwide. I thank God for the remarkable Area Leadership Team with whom I will be working and for the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from my colleagues on the World Leadership Team.”
Marieke’s talent and passion for reaching young people with the message of Jesus is undeniable, and we are very excited to see what the Lord will do with her in this new stage. Her willingness to go where there is a need and her ability to adapt to the local culture has helped shape her character and leadership.
Thank you and please be praying for Marieke as she takes on this role,
Dave Brereton
International Director of Youth for Christ