Youth Impact: Autumn 2026

Who we are and what our mission is

Hi we are Ben, Leonieke and Elianne Salmons. We got married Dec. 2021 and are as missionaries in Norway at Youth with a Mission (YWAM). And Elianne joined July 2025.

Here Ben is responsible for the finances of the whole of YWAM Norway and Leonieke is part of the Admin and Personnel team in Skien.

Our mission is to let youth know how valuable they are and that their true identity comes from God.

Egypt and England

Hi everyone,

Our last newsletter has been a while….. oops. A lot has happened again.

In March we went with the DTS to Egypt. Here we joined different ministry and two teaching weeks. The staff was very happy with our presence and we had a very good time together. We also had the opportunity to worship God together while we were on the Nile and the last evening we had a super good ministry night where we have seen a lot of breakthrough.

Sadly because of the situation in the Middle-East we had to leave Egypt a week earlier then planned. We then went with the whole group towards England and here we were hosted by a base in England and we had the rest of the teaching.

During this whole travel God has been protecting us and has been providing for us so we could stay in England and have a teacher. We saw the DTS grow even more.

In Egypt there was a family that was living on the base there and we have been able to bless them. The lady that was there said she was very inspired to see us traveling and being in missions with a 7 month old and that it showed her that it is possible to do.

The Send in Skien

Also we had an The Send experience in Skien. This is a shorter version of the big The Send event. At some point there were more then 950 people in the room! This is the biggest Christian event in a long time in Skien. Of those 950 people, 166 said they would go ‘’all-in’’ for Jesus and 25 people said yes to Jesus for the very first time!

After The Send different people have been calling to establish contact and also help people find a church if they hadn’t yet. It has been a very awesome day and God shows again and again that he calls the generations to go!

The All Nations initiative

As YWAM Norway we started the ‘’all nations initiative’’ and we have been to many countries already as a short mission trip. In June Ben, Elianne and I were planning to go to England and Scotland, but sadly Bens residence permit came to late for us to make it possible. But as YWAM Skien we have been in one weekend to 26 countries! And for the Autumn more are planned.

Summer and family news

In the Spring the DTS also graduated and we had a very nice summer party.

In the summer Elianne turned 1 year old and we have been able to make a beautiful journey through America and Canada. Here we visited family and friends. The friends we visited are old staff members of the base. It has been so cool to see how God is using them and how He has been guiding them in the last year after they have left Norway and YWAM and we look forward to see what God will continue to do through them.

Looking ahead this autumn

After the summer holiday we have been starting up at the base as well. This autumn we sadly won’t be running a DTS and that’s why we will use this time to travel through Norway and to continue the All-nations initiative. We already have planned to go to 4 countries and it will be expanded to more.

Ben also started straight away again in his role as CFO with going to the head-base and gather with the National team for 2 days. In November there also will be again the workers gathering where we can come together with all base’s of YWAM Norway.

If Ben and I will join one of the small mission trips in Europe is depending a bit on my health (see below) and how that will continue.

Our next steps

In the last few months we have also been thinking about what our next step is and should be and with that we have made some discissions haha.

In the autumn we each work 50% for YWAM. Ben for YWAM Norway and Leonieke for YWAM Skien and the church we attend in Norway. But, Leonieke will do this only till the Christmas break. This because in February we hope to welcome another little daughter into our family 😁

The Christmas break will also be the end of Leonieke her missionary work in Norway, cause in July 2027 we hope to move to the Netherlands and live and work there for a year. Ben will continue his job as CFO for YWAM Norway (also when we are in the Netherlands) while Leonieke will look for a paid job.

For a while now we have been busy deciding our next step and what is the right thing to do. At the moment we have the feeling that our time in Norway is done. For a longer time we have the feeling that England will be the place where we will settle, raise a family and be a light in the community and be an example for families and people around us.

But first we will move to the Netherlands for +/- a year. We believe that this is an important step for our family, for Ben to learn the Dutch language and culture and also to be closer to Leonieke’s family before moving to England. We are very curious to see what God will do through us in that year in the Netherlands 😁

Besides that it is fun to take the next step it also means saying goodbye to friends and a community we have been building in the last year and going to a new surrounding and community where we are going and need to re-build. But we believe that God will guide us and open new doors for us.

We can imagine that this might rais any questions. In that case, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Also if you just want to know more also then you can contact us 😊

We look forward to all new adventures and steps in the coming year and ask you to keep us in your prayers and ask for a revelation of the next steps and opening doors for us.

With Love, Leonieke, Ben and Elianne

Prayer points

• Wisdom in planning the fall, what do we do and what not
• Finding a good work-life balance
• Good pregnancy and delivery
• Good ending of Leonieke her work
• Good move and a house solution for the Netherlands
• Good and purposeful year in the Netherlands
• Wisdom in next steps towards England
• Seeing Gods guidance in the things we do

Thanking points

• Good trip to Egypt
• The Send results
• All nations initiative
• DTS ending
• New pregnancy
• Elianne
• Family and friends
• Finances
• Possibility to move to Netherlands
• Gods goodness throughout it all

Supporting Youth Impact

The work we do at YWAM is voluntarily Would you like to support us?

This can be a one time thing or monthly. You can transfer the gift to my account: IBAN: NL04RABO0380141043 on the name of L.V.Raket or through the foundation called GA (ANBI certified) IBAN NL29 0300 1801 95 with the description: project Youth Impact.