September 2025 Update

We are so grateful for your prayers for our family and ministry. God's protection and blessings were evident during our three-month mini-furlough. Though at times emotionally draining, we had wonderful opportunities to connect with ministry partners, friends, and family, and we enjoyed sharing about the work in New Brunswick many times. God kept us safe and fairly healthy as we traveled over 12,800 miles. We also had productive conferences with our BMM family and North America team. 

We arrived home in Moncton physically exhausted yet having received needed emotional and spiritual refreshment. We praise the Lord for bringing in some of the needed monthly support and continue to trust Him for the remaining need. If you would like to view our ministry presentation about the pioneering ministry we have with French Acadians and French-speaking immigrants here in New Brunswick (or see it again), you can access it by clicking here. Please continue to pray that God will stir hearts to join us in this ministry and send more laborers to New Brunswick. Pray too that God will sustain us.

We praise the Lord for taking care of our still fragile French ministry while we were away and for the faithfulness of those who served in our absence. Since returning to Moncton, we've been encouraged by new visitors almost every week. Please pray for these new attendees, that they will continue to attend and grow in their knowledge of Christ. We also ask you to pray for some of our people who have struggled and drifted this summer, that we might be able to effectively point them back to Christ for guidance. 

We appreciate your prayer for the spiritual growth and faithfulness of everyone in our ministry, and for God to guide us as we lead this vital ministry. We are busy with discipleship and Bible studies: pray for my ministry of the Word and in music, and as I prepare four individuals for church membership, including a woman. Cherith is discipling who is scheduled to be baptized on October 5. Pray for Cherith as she leads French Bible studies for the ladies, as she disciples a new believer one-on-one, and as she leads an English Bible study for three career women. Pray too for Josiah’s role in our ministry alongside his 11th grade homeschooling studies.

Thank you for praying for our son Caleb's ministry this past summer. God protected and blessed him with wonderful opportunities. He traveled to churches and camps in many states with a music and missions team from Ambassador Baptist College and then joined us in Ankeny, IA were he ministered to missionary children at our BMM North America team conference. We are also grateful for God’s provision and blessing for his two-week missions trip to Ukraine. Caleb was responsible for creating daily recap videos, and he also had several occasions to share devotionals and special music. The camp hosted 300 children from Eastern Ukraine, and we praise God that 70 to 80 of them made professions of faith in Christ.

Thank you for your prayers for us. We are so thankful for the privilege of serving the Lord and pray that God will help each of us to live every day with eternity in view.

May update 2025

Greetings from Springville, PA! It is such a blessing to be “home” for a couple weeks as we connect with our sending church and several of our partnering churches and individuals in the area.  Springville was our first stop on this 3-month mini-furlough, beginning at the end of April, where we had the privilege of celebrating with Springville Baptist Church and friends God’s faithfulness over 100 years of gospel ministry — both local and global.  What a blessing for our family to continue partnership with this church that has partnered with the Teachout family in missionary service for nearly 90 years — and with us personally for over 30 years. 

This summer marks four years since we began our ministry in Moncton, New Brunswick, and we are thankful for the opportunity to reconnect with many of our team of supporters in the US.  The last time we did this as a family of five—now we are three, with only Josiah traveling with us.  While he certainly misses his friends in Canada, he is having some special experiences as we travel and connect with many special people. It is a joy to spend time with those who “hold the ropes” for us as we serve the Lord in French Canada.  Each visit thus far — in SC, NC, VA and PA — has encouraged our hearts, and we pray that the Lord is using these times to stir hearts regarding the great needs among French speakers in New Brunswick.  In addition to these meetings, we were grateful for a special opportunity the Lord provided through our son Caleb’s involvement in the Missions Prayer Band at Ambassador Baptist College. We had the opportunity to present our ministry and to challenge college students about missions, especially the needs in French Canada. We have a short 5-minute video presentation of our ministry that we are sharing as we travel.  If you have not seen it and would like the link, just let us know — we’d be happy to send it!

A highlight of our summer was celebrating our daughter Adrianna’s graduation from Bob Jones University on May 8.  We were thrilled to host a drop-in open house to mark God’s faithfulness and her achievement.  Adrianna graduated with honors earning two bachelor’s degrees — in Biblical Counseling (with an emphasis in women’s ministry) and in Accounting.  She was also given the Beneth Peters Jones Award. We praise the Lord for His provision, allowing her to graduate debt-free, through her hard work, scholarships, and the love and generosity of others.

Just a few days after Adrianna’s graduation, we had the joy of celebrating her marriage to Brandon True in Greenville, SC. It was such a blessing to see family and friends from near and far who came together for this special occasion. These past weeks have certainly been an emotional whirlwind, and we are profoundly thankful for God’s provision, guidance, and sustaining grace throughout it all. We would appreciate your continued prayers for Adrianna and Brandon as they settle into married life and establish their home in southern California, near Brandon’s family. Pray that the Lord will richly bless their marriage and faithfully lead them as they seek to walk with Him each day.

After completing his first year at Ambassador Baptist College, Caleb was able to spend a couple of weeks with us before joining the ABC’s Men’s Quartet Music and Ministry Team, which is representing the college this summer throughout the South and West. He also plans to help with kids’ ministry during our Team North America conference in late July, before taking a missions trip to Ukraine (details below). Please continue to pray that the Lord will bless, guide, and use Caleb as he faithfully serves Him. 

We are thankful for God’s continued blessings in Moncton through our French ministry, Espérance Vivante, and for the encouraging progress we’ve seen. Before we left, Cherith completed Bible studies with women in both French and English. One of the women she discipled is now actively discipling others—a wonderful answer to prayer! Piano lessons also wrapped up just before our departure, and we held a recital the evening before we left for the U.S. The main goal of these lessons is to equip students to serve the Lord with their musical abilities, so the recital included four students accompanying a congregational hymn focused on Christ’s finished work at Calvary. I also had the privilege of teaching Missiology I at EBBI during the second half of the semester. We are so grateful for the Gadbois family (from Connecticut) and the Maisonneuve family (from Nova Scotia), who are stepping in to help during our absence, allowing us to reconnect with ministry partners. Please pray for them, and for others in our group who are taking on additional responsibilities while we are away. Pray also that the Lord would raise up more workers for this ministry — both to team up with us in Moncton and to help reach the wider French-speaking population of New Brunswick.

We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to trust the Lord to provide the remaining $350/month needed to reach full monthly support. Rising costs of living and high taxes there in Canada account for this shortfall. We are thankful for how God has met our needs —through generous one-time gifts and through increased support from some of our faithful partners. If the Lord leads you to join our support team or give a one-time gift, you can do so by clicking here, searching for “Teachout; Jonathan and Cherith,” and following the prompts.

Thank you for faithfully standing with us in prayer. We continue to rejoice in God’s constant care and provision. One recent example of His goodness was the timely discovery and treatment of a torn retina in my right eye—just a week before we left Moncton! While we never know what each day may hold, we take great comfort in knowing that the Lord does—and that He lovingly cares for His own. We’re truly grateful for His protection in preserving my vision and preventing further damage.

From Caleb:

In the fall semester of 2024, a missionary to Ukraine spoke in chapel at Ambassador Baptist College and presented his ministry. I was shocked by the opportunities for witnessing in Ukraine right now that he spoke about. Ever since he spoke I have had an undying desire to go there to fight in the Lord’s army in any way I can. I have been in contact with this missionary and am planning on going to Ukraine for 3 weeks in August. 

I will be serving at a camp in Ukraine where there will be 300 kids from eastern Ukraine that are completely unchurched and have grown up in orthodox homes. I will also visit a Bible school in Kiev and doing what I can to help/encourage the missionaries, students, and other brothers there along with possibly helping with a VBS.

Would you please pray that I would keep my focus on Christ, that my motivation would remain humbly pure, that God would use me for His glory wherever I am, and that He would provide financially for the trip.

Thank you!

Caleb Teachout

If you would like to help with Caleb’s trip to Ukraine, you can give through this website, specifying his name in the note.

January 2025

We are so thankful for God’s wonderful Gift of a Savior for mankind and for His call to share Him with others in every corner of the globe.  We are thankful that He has led us to Moncton, New Brunswick to minister to French speaking people from both Canada and a number of other francophone countries. 

We praise the Lord for the way He is blessing the French ministry. Before Christmas the ladies and girls spent an evening preparing cards and another afternoon and evening preparing Christmas goodies to share. Then we went out caroling with a small group from Espérance Vivante twice to around 15 homes (including some who are shut-in from the English ministry and two residents of a Catholic nursing home), taking handmade cards and homemade goodies to share. 

With the cancellation of the Christmas parade due to heavy rain and high winds, we encouraged people to give out the bilingual tracts individually.  Going door to door on our street, I invited a Chinese family to church that had just moved in a couple days before.  They began attending with their three children and are now in the new membership class. Another neighbor, B, has also come to several services. We have also been getting to know Ch., a recent arrival from Cameroon, who found our French ministry through the new church sign and has been attending our services faithfully for a few weeks now. Last Sunday, we had two more first time visitors to our French Bible study. 

Besides continuing the Bible studies with several ladies in our French group and discipleship with a couple young career women from the English church, Cherith has six piano students. We had our fourth Winter Music Recital on December 17 with 11 participants taking instrumental lessons from 3 teachers.  It is a joy to see the progress of the students from year to year and to see fruit as some of them begin to participate in music ministry through special music and accompanying.

The Lord brought our family through a bout with a bad cold/flu after Christmas — everyone but me came down with it. We continue to pray for the Lord to send help for this French ministry, if only so that there would be someone to take my place if I am sick. We asked for prayer that God would provide personnel to replace us during the months of May through July when we are back in the USA to connect with our support team.  We praise the Lord for two couples that we had contacted who are willing to help this summer.  

We want to ask for prayer for a Central African pastor and his family that we have known since before we had them as students in our Bambari, CAR Bible school.  They have served God faithfully in a local church in Kouango (where my Grandparents, parents and we have ministered) and are now continuing their theological education at the Seminary in Bangui.  Last year, when we learned of a financial need they had (medical issues and seminary costs), we were able to send financial help through a special gift we had received. The Lord answered prayer for their physical needs and they moved to Bangui to begin classes at the seminary in September.  Recently, I spoke with Pastor Denis and he told me that even with our help and the help of their church in Kouango, they still need the funds to complete the tuition costs of seminary as well as funds for a used computer.  They are to submit typed papers but without a computer, if unable to borrow one, he is writing out his papers by hand. We would appreciate your prayers for God’s care and provision for this dear family. 

God gave us the blessing of having our family of 5 all together for Christmas, though of course, it went by way too quickly. Adrianna arrived from Bob Jones University on December 20, giving us a few days with her before her almost fiancé, Brandon, arrived the night of December 25. We appreciated having a little time to meet and get to know Brandon before he and Adrianna flew to California on January 1 for time with his family. The next day, Adrianna shared with us the exciting news that she had accepted Brandon’s proposal for marriage. They both love the Lord, have sharp minds and both desire to use their gifts in missions.  We praise the Lord for what He has done and pray He will guide and bless them as they prepare for a wedding, following Adrianna’s graduation from BJU on May 9. 

Caleb arrived December 14 from Ambassador Baptist College and returned January 11.  While here he jumped into church life and ministry joining us for the Christmas cantata, singing and playing trumpet for special music at church, helping remodel the kids’ ministry room at church and more.  He and I gave out a stack of the bilingual Christmas tracts at the Saturday market in Dieppe. He also reconnected with several friends in both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.  Adrianna and Caleb sang a duet for special music in the English service.  

Josiah, who also sang in the Christmas cantata, enjoyed having his siblings here, especially with opportunities to play pond hockey and go ice skating while they were here. Both boys were glad for some time to get to know Brandon.  It’s always an adjustment for each of us when they leave, but God is good and we are thankful for His sufficient grace.  

November update

Monday was Remembrance Day for Canadians and thousands gathered in memory of those who have paid for our peace and freedom, many with their lives.  Remembrance poppy pins, worn on lapels, are placed near cenotaphs at the end of these gatherings, in honor of the fallen, the wounded and those still serving.  We are reminded of the sacrifice made by our Savior which makes it possible for everyone from every corner of the globe to find true peace for today and for eternity. It is a great privilege for us to be included among the soldiers of the Cross, bringing that message to French (and English) speaking Canadians here in Moncton.

In September, our French ministry, Espérance Vivante, completed three years of Bible studies and one full year of French worship services.  Cherith restarted the weekly French ladies’ Bible study after the summer break, and also began an English Bible study with three young ladies in the church needing to be discipled. We are grateful for those whom God has brought us to minister to, including a few new people since August. We had a nice turnout to go apple picking as a group activity in September.  It was a fun opportunity for our rather international group (7 countries represented that day) to experience a very Canadian tradition.

Before the cold weather set in, we were able team up with the open air evangelist in our church on Saturday mornings at the Moncton Market where we could pass out tracts and have discussions with market goers before K would preach the Gospel standing on a milk crate.  There were a good number who took the tracts, some good discussions and lots of Gospel seeds planted.  We are preparing now for an exciting evangelistic outreach on November 23 when close to 100,000 people descend on Moncton and Dieppe for the Santa Claus parade with 80 floats. The tract we gave out last year was only in English, but since Moncton is officially bilingual (the only city in Canada classified as such), we determined that this year we would have a bilingual tract to hand out. With none available, I translated the tract we gave out last year (with authorization) and formatted a bilingual Christmas tract for our outreach, a tract that should be understandable to anyone receiving it. It also has contact and website information for our French ministry (Espérance Vivante) and for the English ministry (Emmanuel Baptist Church).  Please pray that we will have a good team of volunteers to get out many of the 5,000 printed tracts and that God will greatly use this outreach.

Our plans are coming together for a three-month mini “furlough” next summer to visit our faithful ministry partners.  It’s hard to believe that in July it will be 4 years since we moved to Canada.  God has helped us to nearly complete our travel itinerary with meetings already scheduled in most of our supporting churches.  Lord willing, we will be able to connect with many of our individual partners as well as we visit SC, NC, VA, WV, PA, OH, MI and NY.  Financially, we have been struggling due to Canada’s expensive immigration process and very high taxes.  Over the past couple years, we have spent over $10,000 US and much time in our quest for permanent residency (PR) in Canada.  The good news is that it looks like we have finally been approved for PR and our cards should soon be in hand.  Besides immigration expenses, high taxes have raised our support estimate bringing our support level down to 93%. While we have had to function with less support, the Lord has provided for our needs through faithful supporters and several one-time gifts.  Please pray that God will provide for this increasing need.

Another matter that we would ask you to pray for concerns the need for laborers.  While we have clearly seen God’s hand in bringing us to New Brunswick to minister to the French population here, we cannot understand why there aren’t more laborers targeting this portion of God’s harvest field.  Personally, we have always felt strongly about ministering on a team, yet God has brought us to a place where we minister alone.  The spiritual needs are tremendous among French Canadians, yet working alone, we are extremely limited in what we can do.  Please pray the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers to NB, specifically to team up with us. Along with that, since we do not have teammates, we need replacements to cover our ministry here while we are gone next summer to report in our churches during the months of May through July.  Please pray that God will provide so the ministries we have started will be able to continue without interruption.

Thank you for keeping our children in your prayers as well.  Adrianna, in her senior year at Bob Jones University, is heavily involved in student life and leadership as the ISC (Inter-Society Council) women’s director as well as leading Missions Advance, the student organization that gathers to learn about missions and pray for missionaries.  Caleb went directly from a two week Paris Olympic outreach in France to begin his freshman year at Ambassador Baptist College where he is enjoying his classes as well as taking voice lessons and being part of several musical groups. He is also enjoying many opportunities to serve in his local church including soul winning outreach, running sound board/livestream, song leading and teaching youth. Josiah is in 10th grade and helps in our Saturday market outreach, sings in the choir, and is happy to lend a hand where there is a need.  Please pray for God’s guidance in the lives of our children, especially as they look toward the future.

Update July 2024

We are grateful for your prayers for our ministry over these past couple months.  God has supplied sufficient grace and strength and we are thankful for His hand at work. While attendance in our French ministries has been down somewhat recently with summer travel, it is exciting to see the people God is bringing faithfully who study His Word with interest. Cherith is having weekly Bible studies with a woman who is struggling, and continues to work with several others.  Our Bible studies sometimes reveal faulty understanding of the Scriptures. One reaction we have heard a number of times is "That is so true. I see it now -- I never understood that before!"  This summer we have scheduled a number of opportunities for relationship building and service opportunities.

Praise the Lord for the safe return of the couple from Ivory Coast and Ph’s return from northern NB. Praise the Lord for D and Ph’s graduations from French universities here, for Caleb’s graduation from HS and for Dr. B. receiving high recognition by the Université de Moncton for his outstanding teaching career at the university. We thank God for what He has done for these individuals and for their part in our ministry. Pray for Dr. B. as he participates in our French ministry and for ongoing opportunities to reach out to his unsaved family and former colleagues. Praise God for the opportunities for building relationships in our French group this summer through special activities, including a pizza and film night this Friday.

Our friend Mt from Québec drove in from Nova Scotia to lead the service and preach while we were away to SC and Québec last month.  He announced his engagement to B (a 2022 EBBI graduate) from Nova Scotia. They are planning an October wedding, as they continue their monthly involvement in our French ministry. Praise the Lord for His direction in Mt and B's lives to serve Him together. Pray for them to know God's clear direction regarding their future ministry.

Praise the Lord for His help for the Maritime G.A.M.E.S. the end of May, when young people presented various ways they are developing their God-given gifts. Our boys participated and we helped adjudicate and give feedback. Praise God for His work in hearts through the good messages by the evangelist speaker, and for a number of decisions that were made. Pray for the Youth and Junior Camp ministries in NB and NS this summer, for decisions to be made and for Caleb and Josiah as they help. Pray for their own spiritual growth.

Praise the Lord for Adrianna’s completion of three online classes while under a heavy workload, and for a missions trip with her church’s youth group to Utah in June. Pray for Adrianna as she continues her summer internship along with one online class and as she serves with the youth group at church.

The end of June we traveled to Québec for a Broeckert family gathering. We were 13 in all, including Cherith’s parents and all but one of her siblings. We praise the Lord for that time with family, some who we hadn't seen since 2017. 

That Sunday, we were able to join the Eglise Baptiste de Saint-Augustin for services and fellowship. This was the church that sent their pastor and 15 others on a missions trip to Moncton in October 2022 to help us with our French ministry. It was great to reconnect with them and meet others, including the parents of the 4 children we hosted in 2022. Their connection to the Teachout family goes back many years to their Bible school training when they studied under both my Uncle Richard T. and my cousin Raymond T. What a blessing to see them serving the Lord faithfully and teaching their children to know and love God. 

We were thrilled to get to a French Christian bookstore in Quebec City where we stocked up on some French Bibles, books and tracts, unavailable here in NB. 

After Québec, Cherith’s parents spent a few days with us here in NB, including Sunday when they were able to connect with people in both the English and French ministries. We visited the remains of the first European (French) settlement on Prince Edward Island with them and learned more about the tumultuous Acadian history in the Maritimes, leading to the strong Acadian identity with culture and the French language we see around us.

Praise the Lord for the opportunity God has given to Emmanuel Baptist Church to reach out to the Acadian and foreign francophone population through the completion of EBC's first bilingual church flyer. Pray for God to use the bilingual church flyer to draw French speakers to Himself.

Much has happened and big changes are in store for our family regarding Caleb’s future, but God’s goodness and faithfulness have been evident. We are encouraged that He is never surprised and we have seen His guiding hand at work. Your prayers for us during these times are much appreciated.

The Lord opened the way for the four of us to travel to Greenville, SC by car the beginning of June for Caleb’s high school graduation from the Bob Jones Academy of Home Education.  We are so grateful for God’s work in Caleb’s life and for His leading to prepare for full-time ministry.  It was so good to see Adrianna again and have our whole family together for three brief days. On our trip back to New Brunswick, we saw friends and family and had a good visit with Pastor and Mrs. Rosenau, from our sending church.  It was as our re-entry papers were being processed at the border that we received unexpected news.  As we were handed our paperwork allowing us to live and work in Canada, we were told that while Caleb was now qualified to work in CA, unless he obtained a study permit, he would not be allowed to attend any post-secondary school including EBBI (the Bible institute here.)

We were shocked but the Lord helped us as we began to process all the implications and we soon began to see His hand leading and preparing all of us for this change. Though our hearts hurt to lose Caleb (at least for now) in our home and ministry (as he was serving in the local church and had begun to get involved in leading worship in the French services) and at EBBI, we are grateful for God’s clear leading for him to attend Ambassador Baptist College in NC this fall, not far from where Adrianna is at BJU. Currently away for three weeks of summer camp (camper, then two weeks as assistant counselor), he’ll have only 4 days to pack up and say goodbye here before leaving for two weeks of Paris Olympic outreachJuly 31. Lord willing, we will drive down with his things to meet him in Charlotte, NC upon his return from Paris, and see him settled at Ambassador.  

Praise the Lord for the great turnout for Caleb’s graduation open house, including unsaved neighbors from across the street and a special visit from a couple that drove up from our home church in Springville, PA. Pray for the salvation of our neighbors, M and C, and for good opportunities for us to witness to them. Praise the Lord for His clear leading in Caleb’s life and for the many opportunities God has given him to serve and use his gifts for the Lord this summer. Pray for God’s protection and continued clear leading for Caleb as he serves Him this summer and as he prepares to leave home this fall.  Pray for God’s provision for his college expenses.

Praise the Lord for His blessing of the continuing ministry in Bambari, Central African Republic where one couple graduated from the four year Bible School program and thirteen couples are enrolled to continue. Praise God for the completion of the school year for the new Christian school in Bambari.

Pray for Pastor D and his wife L as they prepare to move from Kouango to Bangui to begin studying at FIBAT, BMM's seminary there.

Praise the Lord! We just received an email that we were drawn today (July 18) and are invited to proceed with our application for Permanent Residency for Canada. Pray for us as we work on gathering documents required for the application, including police certificates from the countries we have lived and medical exams for each of us. If we get all the documents together before our French language tests expire August 3, we will not have to retake the tests.

Finally, we would appreciate prayer as we begin to plan and prepare for Home Ministry next summer as we will be completing four years in New Brunswick.  Pray that God will guide as we set up our itinerary to connect with as many of our partners as possible in the time available. Pray that He will provide us with someone to replace us here during our absence here so that we are free to leave.