10 Evangelical Leaders Who Died in 2023

When professional soccer player Christian Atsu looked back at his life, he saw a lot of years of hard work. But also evidence of something greater.

“I am working hard, but it is the will of God, the grace of God, that has brought me this far,” he said.

Atsu died at 31 in a devastating earthquake in Turkey in February. His words may, in a sense, speak for all the evangelical leaders we lost in 2023. These were men and women who had a significant impact—planting churches, starting mission organizations, telling stories of faith, helping people pray, and encouraging our faith in a myriad of ways.

And yet perhaps their greatest gift to us is not the things they did, but the times that they pointed us back to what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do. We are grateful for their ministries and labor. But even more for their testimonies to the greater work of divine grace.

Check out the rest of our 2023 year-end lists here.