
My story
I was born in January 1947, in Copenhagen, Denmark. I was born again through receiving Jesus as my Savior in April 1973. I am the father of 9 children, plus 3 adopted children, and have 7 grandchildren.
Before TFI
The first two years of my life were spent in an orphanage. I became a street kid at 10, and at 13 I got kicked out of school and started working. I started smoking and drinking. At 15, my mother kicked me out of the house and I went sailing on cargo ships for two years. This was a blessing in disguise. I learned that authority counts and rules are to be obeyed. I received my diploma as a mechanic on 10,000 hp engines and went sailing as sole engineer on a coaster (small cargo vessel). There I saved enough money to pay for my high school and a university entrance exam, in a two-year accelerated course. I got married at 18. Then I studied to be an engineer in mechanical construction and rationalization and graduated in 1971. I started to work in the Aalborg Shipyard as responsible for the pipeline conception. (If you are interested, you can read my stories on: http://johstardust.blogspot.com/)
I became the Vice President of a 10,000-member student organisation, youth counsellor to the municipality, and a successful engineer (Aalborg is the third-largest city of Denmark).
In April 1973, a team from TFI Denmark came to my house, invited by my Danish wife. I had no intention to talk with them, having been a Marxist-Leninist and then a Maoist. However, after a discussion of six hours, at 2PM. I finally asked Jesus into my heart in an if-You-are-real prayer. The same morning, four hours later, I woke up and knew I was saved. Hours later, I left with the TFI team for Copenhagen to become a missionary.
Why I am a member of The Family International
After a month of memorizing the Scriptures, studying the basics of salvation, the Holy Spirit, prayer, hearing from Heaven and studying Bible prophecy, I became convinced that TFI had the best of all the isms. TFI had simple, easy-to-understand principles, uncomplicated methods to reach the peoples of the world, and very few doctrines that could hinder an open-minded, open-ended communication with anyone from all walks of life. But most of all, TFI members had the love of God in their hearts and a tangible proof of it in their actions, and they were willing to share it with me. I took it in with gladness and will give it out again with joy. Freely I have received, freely I will give! (Mat. 10:8).
How I live my faith
For me, living my faith is to live according to what God shows you to do. Our members here in Togo live cooperatively to make life cheaper and the burdens lighter. We pray daily to seek first the Kingdom of God, we tithe, we preach and teach God’s word through our mission, we give to the poor and needy through our NGO (non-governmental organization), and we sell devotional books and multimedia through our company.
Personal timeline
- 1973
- Traveled to Christiania, Copenhagen, to receive training as a missionary.
- 1974
- Worked in TFI printing in Skillingsfors, Sweden.
- 22 November 1975
- Mikela and I get married in Copenhagen.
- 1976
- In Malmö and Örebro (Sweden).
- August 1976
- To France, created the Marseille Poor Boy Club, & later transferred to Toulouse.
- 1977
- Invited to Nice & Monaco to work in High Society Outreach and work with the Paris Show Group.
- 23 January 1978
- Philip, our first boy, is born.
- 1979
- In Paris working on the French TFI Mail Ministry.
- February 1980
- Cofounder of Musique Magique, in Cote d’Azur. I build the studio.
- 1981
- I became Camp Coordinator of Musique Magique.
- 1982
- Traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for undercover missionary work. In Penang, Malaysia, where I created a Christian mail ministry with 3,000 subscribers.
- 1984
- In East Malaysia, Kotakinabalu.
- 1986
- In Johor Bahru for 8 months.
- 1987
- To Thailand in Hatyai, Songkla and Suratani.
- 1989
- Eaubonne, Isle de France. Constructed studio and renovated TFI community house.
- 1990
- To Bourg-en-Bresse and then to Givor and Condrieux.
- 1991–1993
- Metzhereche. Created music team, which sang in France, Germany, and Luxemburg.
- 1997
- Become distributor of Aurora devotional productions for France.
- 1997
- Traveled to Timisoara, Romania, with 2 million francs worth of medical equipment.
- 1998
- Traveled to Bucharest, Romania, with Diamond Association and truckload of aid.
- 1999
- Traveled to Sarajevo, Bosnia, for Mine Awareness.
- 2000
- Relocated to Togo, where we sang on TV and made a CD. We founded the TFI Mission.
- 2001
- We founded the CSFi – TOGO Association for development and help toward orphans.
- 2007
- Our association CSFi – TOGO is awarded government recognition as a NGO.
- 21 February 2008
- Active Togo Sarl is created and registered N° 0829 / N°CC 081335-Z with the Togolese Government.
- 2011
- Signed a program agreement with the Ministry of Development.
- 2000 to the present
- We continue the TFI mission, the NGO CSFiAfrTg, and our import/export business in Togo, Benin & the Ivory Coast.
Missionary experience
- My family and I have been teaching the Words of Jesus on three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—and have lived in 12 different countries.
- We created the mission center in Togo for spiritual input for the people wanting to know more. We also felt we needed to create a NGO for the physical needs of children and in particular orphans. This is how we started CSFi – TOGO (Comité de Soutien de la Famille International).
- Christian outreach
- This has been the overall emphasis in my 40 years as a missionary: preaching, teaching, and encouraging the rich and poor, in high and low places, to the educated and the not-so-learned but spiritually rich populations. Where God guides, He always provides.
- Humanitarian aid/volunteer work
- I’ve been in Togo since 2000. We founded an NGO through which we give full aid for education to 200 orphans, educational help to 2,000 rural children, and medical help to 22,000 children per year. Our NGO also builds schools and renovates orphanages and rural medical centers.
Stay in touch
- johstardust@gmail.com
- johstardust
- Blog
- active-afrique.com/csfi-afrique.org
- Joh K. VILSBOL
- johstardust
Members
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Jean-Yves Marc Deroubaix
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Fatima Sara
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Curtis Peter
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Alf
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