Without the financial support of Home Missions I would not be able to start a new church in Passaic, N.J. I appreciate very much that Home Missions has made it possible for me to attend training and conferences to enhance my understanding of new church development. Home Missions has also connected us with churches willing to support us with prayer and resources.
—Marco Avila, pastor, Nuevo Horizonte CRC, Passaic, N.J.
Home Missions does a good job of assisting new churches, the local classis, and others explore church planting possibilities. In addition, Home Missions is making strides in partnering with the Reformed Church in America and other denominations to further kingdom witness in the United States and Canada.
—Denise Stevenson, CRHM church planting and development leader, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Home Missions has been one of the best branches in our denomination to instill a vision for reaching people who don’t know the Lord. Their investment in me has forever changed my life and ministry.
—Al Breems, pastor, Oasis Community CRC, Moreno Valley, Calif.
Home Missions s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s leaders in established churches to think and plan missionally, providing them with relevant resources and expert guidance that is tailored to their specific needs. A Home Missions-sponsored trip to Willow Creek in 1996 stirred us up. Home Missions then supported and encouraged us as we’ve sought to remove obstacles that hinder unbelievers from coming to Christ and believers from becoming more like him.
—Carrie Mulder, ministry coordinator, Crestview CRC, Boulder, Colo.
Home Missions helps godly CRC people united by a heart for the lost pray together, work together, celebrate together, fail together. Home Missions helps God’s people taste the joyous fruit of receiving the lost son, the lost coin, and the lost lambs of God.
—Paul Vander Klay, CRHM board member and pastor, Living Stones CRC, Sacramento, Calif
Over the years our church has benefited from conferences, trainings, materials, and personal consultations with Home Missions’ representatives. Our most recent benefit was to tap into Dan Ackerman’s consultation expertise as he led us to re-develop and update our church mission and shared values. The experience was both inspirational and invaluable as we saw God at work throughout the process. This is clearly one of those things Home Missions does very well!
—Jacque Bolt, ministry coordinator, Kelloggsville CRC, Kentwood, Mich.
I have been involved with Home Missions for the past 10 years as one part of a church-planter couple. Home Missions has provided the best support possible for us. They encouraged us at our low points and challenged us to never settle for second best. They provided a firm base from which to take the risks necessary to be church planters.
—Barb Van Giessen, church planting spouse, The Journey, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario
It’s exciting to witness God’s blessing on the East’s partnership with Home Missions. This partnership has enabled our region to add 23 churches in the past 10 years. We’re thankful for the work of our regional team leader, Rev. Duane VanderBrug, who upon his retirement last fall passed the baton of leadership to Drew Angus. With several new church plants ready to be launched and three major fields just waiting to be harvested (New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.), we’re thankful for Home Missions’ support.
—Beth Fylstra, CRHM board member, Allendale, N.J.
Home Missions has been an encouraging presence for me. Additionally, Home Missions’ funding enabled me to employ and nurture a missions-minded student. Home Missions is a missions catalyst, a rich kingdom resource, and at key times, a friend who understands.
—Peter Schuurman, CRHM educational ministries leader and former campus pastor, Guelph, Ontario
Home Missions focuses on the aspects of ministry to which I have always felt called. The gang at Home Missions has been a crew of servants, doing a lot of the nitty-gritty research, administration, leadership, and training that helps people like me work as missionaries in North America—and they pull it off in a refreshingly relational way.
—Marc Holland, church planter, Sacramento, Calif.
About the Author
Don McCrory is senior
writer for Christian Reformed Home Missions.
