Canadian Finance Leadership Transition

Canadian Finance Leadership Transition

As we enter the new year we have also entered a momentous transition for our mission as Jack Stenekes has officially retired after 54 years of service with the ministry. Jack began his full-time service with Janz Team Ministries back in 1971 when he boarded a plane with his new bride Pearl to serve the Lord through music ministry in Germany. During his 15 years in Germany, the Lord used him in a multitude of ways to advance the work throughout Germany and beyond.

In addition to his talent as a vocalist, others recognized financial administration and leadership skills in Jack and asked him to oversee the practical functions of the North American office. Jack and his family returned to Canada; he continued to serve with the mission and continue his music ministry. Over the span of his music ministry, he wrote well over 100 songs and recorded 6 solo albums in addition to 4 as part of the Janz Team Singers.

After his return to Canada, Jack served on the board of the mission and was eventually asked to explore possibilities of merging with another organization due to financial and administrative challenges. While researching, he felt the Lord leading him to offer to move back into a staff role as North American mission director to help sustain the mission, a proposal that was enthusiastically embraced.

In the ensuing decade, the Lord worked through Jack’s wise decisions, personal and corporate sacrifice, frugality, efficiency, and good common sense to essentially save the organization in North America and allow for the transition to TeachBeyond that was to come.

When the mission board decided in 2008 to embrace a new vision (and eventually a new name), Jack worked closely with the newly appointed President, George Durance, to facilitate the changes. “Infusing carefully crafted, wise administrative policy with faith, hope and flexibility was what we could call ‘a stroke of genius,’ which it was, but more importantly he was God's gift to us during a critical rebirth of the mission,” according to George.

During the early years of the TeachBeyond era, Jack continued to ensure that the organization had the stellar administrative support from North America that was necessary to see the new vision take root. Over the past 17 years since Janz Team became TeachBeyond, he was a key link between our Janz Team roots and our future from a spiritual, practical, and administrative perspective. Even as he has now officially retired from TeachBeyond, we are so thankful that he continues to make himself available by serving and consulting as a very active retiree. We encourage you to reach out to Jack directly to share your own words of appreciation and will be providing an opportunity for many to do so as part of our gatherings in Manitoba later this month. 

Though we recognize that somebody like Jack can’t be replaced, we are grateful that our next Canadian Finance Director already has a rich history with the mission as well. Barb Loewen has moved into the role of Canadian Finance Director effective January 1 after serving the previous three years as Jack’s assistant. We are also pleased to formally introduce Crissa Laudato, who joined the Canadian finance team in September 2024 after discovering TeachBeyond through social media. Crissa was immediately drawn to the mission and vision, and we’ve seen how the part-time bookkeeping role has been a great fit for her as she continues her studies in finance. Though Jack’s leadership will be missed, we see the Lord’s provision through Barb and Crissa as well as Jack’s ongoing availability as needed.

You can hear more of Jack's story, in his own voice, on a recent episode of Transformed and Transformational:
Ep 161: A Lifetime of Service - A Calling Story (with Jack Stenekes)