Netherlands Mission Trip

Netherlands Mission Trip Update

Grace Church will be sending a team over to Apeldoorn, Netherlands to support the mission and outreach of Philadelphia Church, a church plant led by Pastor Christiaan VanDijk and his wife Cecelia who made a quick visit to Ann Arbor to meet the team in April.  The Netherlands Mission Team, made up of people from each Grace location and led by Grace Ann Arbor West location pastor Dave Collins will help Pastor Christiaan develop a children’s English language camp for neighborhood kids and help with a coffee outreach in the evenings for adults. The team will be living in the neighborhood within walking distance of Philadelphia Church and will learn from the church about living on mission in a post-Christian secular society where 85% of people do not attend church, and over 50% self-identify as atheist.

The mission of Philadelphia Church is focused on the neighborhood around the church.  Parents there have already expressed interest in the kids English camp, so excitement is building as our team prepares for their departure to the Netherlands on August 4th!  As we consider the best ways to support this mission, please keep these specific prayer requests in mind:

• Pray for open hearts and great conversations with neighbors during the trip. Pray that God will use the team's visit to create greater impact for the church after they leave.
• Pray for financial provision as the cost per person has risen due to increased air travel costs.
• Pray for Pastor Dave as he provides point leadership, and for the Assistant Director Ryan Campbell as they work out logistics and ministry plans over the summer.
• Pray for several on the team who have never been on a mission trip to trust God in new ways.
• Pray for the team as a whole to experience a powerful life change through Jesus Christ on the trip.

We are thankful for the partnership we have been able to develop with Pastor Christiaan and Cecelia and are excited to see what God has in store for Philadelphia Church!