A Year of Learning, Surrender, and Trust
A year-end ministry letter from Todd Miechiels
As this year comes to a close, my heart is full of awe and gratitude for God’s faithfulness, grace, and patience, and for all the prayers, encouragement, and support we’ve received. This has been a year of discovery, learning, surrender, and trust; letting the Lord shepherd this ministry at a slower, more human pace, and learning again to depend on Him for daily bread.
As we enter this season of year-end and early-year giving, I wanted to share an update on the ministry and extend a simple invitation to pray with us about the support needed in 2026.
This season, more than any before, has invited me to slow down and settle my own soul so I can be present with others. The ministry has become quieter and more rooted, creating room for people to discover or rediscover the beauty and power of knowing, sharing, and stewarding their stories, and to encounter God without hurry. As this work deepens, I’m finding myself pouring into leaders and individuals who, in turn, walk with others. It has become a quiet, relational form of mentoring, discipleship, and story stewardship that continues to grow as God opens doors.
I’m noticing the fruit of our perseverance in the form of a growing awareness and curiosity across our community, including academic, church, parachurch, and contemplative spaces. This awareness has been met with tangible generosity and accompaniment, including the gift of a dedicated room for story ministry and leaders willing to engage, observe, and discern alongside us.
These moments are not grandiose or loud. They feel like the quiet, faithful work of soil being prepared and long-sown seeds beginning to rise. And the fact that these leaders and communities—intergenerational, cross-cultural, and multi-denominational—are all within ten minutes of one another makes it all the more striking, as if the ingredients for something shared are already in the soil.
These relationships feel like long-prayed-for kairos opportunities, moments for people in the same community to gather and experience a taste of what intentional and persistent story ministry can offer. They remind me to stay awake, steady, and ready, trusting that some of these relationships may already be offering a quiet threshold and a shared path to serve alongside others with excellence and reverence.
A brief glimpse into the story ministry space at St. Peter Chanel.
“Todd’s regular presence at St. Peter Chanel is helping us cultivate a space for formation, reflection, and testimony. What we’re seeing here is both rare and deeply needed in the Church today — a slow, pastoral rhythm that strengthens individuals and the wider community. I’m confident that as this work continues, it will be a beacon and a blessing to other churches and ministries who long for this kind of space.”
Rob Montepare, Director of Missions
Moments of listening, prayer, and presence from the past year
with new friends, locally, nationally, and around the world :)
We continue to ask and trust God for the daily bread that sustains this work, through monthly support that steadies us, and through project-specific gifts that make Story Ministry possible when God opens a door. As you consider your year-end or early-year giving, I simply invite you to bring this ministry before the Lord and listen for how He may be inviting you to partner in this season.
For those who feel led to respond, gifts may be in any amount in multiple ways at:
Peace, Hope, and Love,
Todd Miechiels
P.S. Many of us know someone, often a friend or relative who serves as a trustee of a family foundation or donor-advised fund, who may be quietly discerning where to come alongside meaningful work in the year ahead. If the Lord brings someone like that to mind, please feel free to share this letter with them.