Susanne Newton

Susanne Newton

Executive Assistant to Doug Stanley & Lindsey Eenigenburg

Life Story

I grew up in Køge, Denmark, a small coastal town founded in 1288. Despite the vast number of stunning old churches in Denmark, most of them remain empty on Sundays.

None of my family or friends were Christians; believers were a rarity, and conversations about God were nonexistent. During my high school years, I adopted atheism. It seemed like the intellectual and enlightened choice.

After graduating, I moved to Los Angeles to work as an au pair, something I had dreamed of and planned for years. It was an exciting and adventurous time, but also a period of immense loss—loss of friends, language, culture, and, at 20 years old, my world was shattered when I lost my mother to cancer.

This launched me into a long search for meaning, belonging, and faith. Today, I see God’s hand all over my path, though it felt quite different to navigate so much loss and change at 20.

I was also married at 20, and we started our family a few years later. Although I wasn’t a Christian at the time, God placed the desire in my heart for my children to know Him, and the best way I knew how was by sending them to Christian schools.

Everything took a turn when my daughter’s theater teacher invited me to join her family at their church. Initially drawn by the music, I found myself returning week after week. Then, on an ordinary Sunday in July, I finally sensed the call of Jesus. His invitation was so clear, and I joyfully embraced it.

Hope for The Village Church

My hope is for us to be a church marked by joy and radical hospitality.