Maria Jacoby, the Area Financial Manager for Agape Europe, works with the financial managers in each country.

Maria Jacoby, the Area Financial Manager for Agape Europe,
helps leadership make wise financial decisions.

Maria sat in the boardroom of one of the biggest banks in Estonia, wishing she could tell the CEO what he really needed to hear. She looked at the luxurious conference table, the plush chairs, the man’s expensive suit, and thought, Sir, your finances are in order, but let me tell you what is not in order – your heart. You really need Jesus!

Of course, she could never say that. Maria, a financial consultant with Arthur Anderson, was paid to discuss finance, not explain the gospel. Yet as she met with the top people in fields like banking and media, they opened up to her. She could see the emptiness in their hearts and knew nothing would satisfy until they knew God.

Maria herself had grown up in a home that celebrated Christian holidays, despite the communist system then controlling her country. Her grandmother was a believer who radiated love for Christ, and who often talked to the young girl about Jesus. So Maria believed in God.

A neighbouring family kept trying to convert her, however, and told Maria all the rules she had to follow to be a Christian, “I was a free-spirited person,” says Maria today, “and I fought the idea of all these rules.”

Maria’s home town of Tallinn – a seacoast city once part
of the Hanseatic League – is today the bustling capital of Estonia.

By the time Maria went to university to study finance, life had begun to feel very empty. She began looking for God. First she dabbled in Transcendental Meditation and Eastern religions, but they didn’t satisfy. Then, in her second year, she heard about a message on the reliability of the Bible. She believed the Bible was true, but had never heard any evidence.

She went to the lecture, given by the very first STINT team in Estonia. This was back in 1993, when Estonia had just recently opened to the West. The audience turned out to be Maria and five American STINTers. But the topic intrigued the young Estonian, and she asked many questions afterward. Then the speaker asked a question of his own.

“Maria, do you believe Christ died for your sins?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Have you invited Christ to take control of your life?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Then you are already a Christian!”

“NO!” Maria shot back. “That is not possible. The Christians tell me that you have to do all these things and dress in a certain way to be a Christian, and I don’t do this, so I can not be a Christian!”

The American listened patiently to her arguments, then said, “Look, Maria, God is interested in your heart, not your external appearance.”

Meeting the Bankers

Relief and joy flooded Maria’s soul. This was the God she had been searching for – a God who was interested in her heart! From that moment on she got involved in the Agape ministry. Now that she knew her true identity, she determined to make up for lost time, and began inviting all her friends to hear the truth about God.

Maria really liked finance, her field of study, and upon graduating joined Arthur Anderson. The prestigious international firm had just entered Estonia and was hiring promising young graduates. Thus, at the age of 21, Maria found herself sitting in the boardrooms of some of the most famous companies in her country, discussing finances.

But the more she talked to these people about their financial affairs, the more she became aware of their empty hearts, and the more she wanted to talk about their deepest need – a relationship with God and forgiveness in Christ.

“I realised that in order for future generations of leaders to have this emptiness filled,” says Maria, “we need to reach students today. So I asked to join the staff of Agape. God was calling me.”

Tallinn’s mediaeval city centre has been classified
as a UNESCO world heritage site.

First Estonian staff member

Maria became the first Estonian staff member in 1996. She spent two years in campus ministry in Tallinn, then moved to Tartu to join the campus ministry there.

In 2001, at a Leadership Training course in Kandern, Germany, Maria’s heart turned in a new direction. She met Constantin Jacoby, a German student leader from Frankfurt also attending the training. Constantin had a deep walk with God and eagerly shared his faith at every opportunity.

The young couple married and Maria moved to Frankfurt, full of hopes and dreams of a new life. Three months later the dreams turned to dust. Her beloved husband died in a tragic drowning accident.

“I stayed in Frankfurt,” says Maria, “even though life had lost its colour and its music. I was just barely hanging in there.”

Maria struggled to understand God’s plan. “I’m in Germany,” she thought, “I’m a widow. What do I do? What is my call in life?”

Serving God With her Degree

Then Kenneth Nordqvist, at that time the Area Financial Manager of Agape Europe, invited her to join the Area of Affairs team as an accountant. “What a crazy idea!” she thought. But as she prayed, God renewed her call to ministry. “But God,” she said, “my heart is broken! I’m hurting. I can’t minister to anyone.“ Then the Lord reminded her that she still had her head, her degree, her financial skills. Joining the Area of Affairs finance team fit perfectly.

So in June 2004 Maria joined the Agape Europe financial team. Soon she made an exciting discovery. “When I gave up the financial world to come on staff,” says Maria, “it was hard. I really enjoyed the financial work. But God gave it back to me. When I realised I could serve God with my degree, and my profession, I was very excited. It all came together!”

Constantin would be proud.

The Area Financial Team provides financial information and
reports to the leadership, so they know how much money is
available and how it is being spent.

From left: Maria, Duane Walters, Karen Wilhelm, Anna Miller

Behind the Numbers

But even as she uses professional skills, Maria’s greatest desire is to reach people for Christ and help fulfill the Great Commission. She keeps that picture ever before her. “I see behind the numbers,” she says. “We take the burden off staff members and leadership. I wouldn’t do this if there were not a greater purpose behind it, which is to reach Europe for Christ. This is my purpose – I just happen to be using finances and accounting, for these are the skills I have.

“If the staff can’t get support donations into their hands, they can’t do their job and share the gospel. If the leaders don’t know how much money they have, they cannot do their ministry projects. Things have to run smoothly in the background, or the ministry will not happen.”

Maria Jacoby has learned that she can offer to the Lord whatever she has – even her degree in Finance. God enters her offerings into His heavenly account book, then multiplies them through the power of the Holy Spirit. And the sum total? Vastly multiplied Kingdom work for all of us.