A year ago in May God birthed a dream in our hearts to reach the Netherlands with the gospel, love and grace of Jesus through Christian radio.
We fell in love with Holland back in 2010 when we moved there for a one year contract with Ferdinand's job. Little did we know at the time that God was preparing the soil of our hearts and planting a seed to carry out a greater purpose for this country. For those who might not know anything about The Netherlands (also referred to as Holland) think of Amsterdam, the nations capital. It is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah with street level brothels in the Red Light District and hashish cafes on every corner. It has become a calloused society and tolerant of every extravagant lifestyle choice. The percentage of Christians has declined to its lowest in history with less than 1% of the population proclaiming Jesus as their personal savior. One of the main reasons for the decline in Christianity is disinterest amongst the younger generations and a feeling that religion is a personal decision and beliefs are not to be discussed or projected onto others. Most of the country defines themselves as atheist or agnostic and Islam is now on the rise as the predominant "religion" with 6-8% claiming to be devout Muslims.
A year ago while on a return trip to visit friends in Holland, we were riding in the car with our two young children and appalled as we listened to the uncensored radio with vulgar songs promoting sex and drugs and every other unimaginable that you wouldn't want your young child exposed to - yet this is acceptable in the Dutch culture. We came home from that trip and immediately followed the leading of the Holy Spirit to start an online Christian radio station called 100% Grace Radio, complete with Dutch DJ, Christian music (including Lifepoint Worship!), preachings and inspirational messages. A year later this radio station has become a global outreach with hundreds of thousands of people listening throughout the world!
While the radio has turned into a Global outreach, we still have a heart to reach the Dutch people. Through a series of God orchestrated events we have connected with a sister ARC church in Holland, Thousand Hills International Church. We were blessed with the opportunity to help them launch their first satellite campus and now we will play an active role serving the church. Ferdinand will be updating their IT infrastructure to support simulcast and web streaming. He will also be creating and launching the website for ARC Nederlands to help connect the local churches to be more unified and effective together and to reach more people through shared resources, support and encouragement. Jennifer will be helping with event planning and the English speaking women's ministry.
Being missionaries in Europe is a hard concept for people to grasp. We aren't moving to an impoverished country to meet basic needs of food, water, clothing or shelter. It sounds glamorous, and while we will surely enjoy the beauty of the country, the people there need Jesus now more than ever. How much harder is it for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven? They don't think they need God. These are the people we are trying to reach!
Throughout this journey our prayer has been for open AND closed doors to guide us in His will to fulfill His FULL purpose through us. Often times we have been required to FIRST take the step of faith BEFORE we can see the blessing on the other side. With every open door our default answer has always been "Yes". When the Holy Spirit tells you to go, you go. You move forward through open doors in steps of obedience that require a faith that stretches you beyond your comfort zone into an area of full reliance on God. This is where the good stuff happens. The growing pains. God uses these moments of surrender to grow us in faith and trust and hope and patience and whatever area of your life that needs to be refined so that you can be mature and ready to for the next step that He has for you!
People say they want to be used by God, but I have learned throughout this journey that allowing yourself to be used by God requires you to take risks. If you are living life in such a way to arrive safely at death, can I suggest that God is not a God who uses those that are complacent and comfortable. He likes to use those that will do things beyond what is humanly possible in a way that can only bring glory to His name.
We fell in love with Holland back in 2010 when we moved there for a one year contract with Ferdinand's job. Little did we know at the time that God was preparing the soil of our hearts and planting a seed to carry out a greater purpose for this country. For those who might not know anything about The Netherlands (also referred to as Holland) think of Amsterdam, the nations capital. It is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah with street level brothels in the Red Light District and hashish cafes on every corner. It has become a calloused society and tolerant of every extravagant lifestyle choice. The percentage of Christians has declined to its lowest in history with less than 1% of the population proclaiming Jesus as their personal savior. One of the main reasons for the decline in Christianity is disinterest amongst the younger generations and a feeling that religion is a personal decision and beliefs are not to be discussed or projected onto others. Most of the country defines themselves as atheist or agnostic and Islam is now on the rise as the predominant "religion" with 6-8% claiming to be devout Muslims.
A year ago while on a return trip to visit friends in Holland, we were riding in the car with our two young children and appalled as we listened to the uncensored radio with vulgar songs promoting sex and drugs and every other unimaginable that you wouldn't want your young child exposed to - yet this is acceptable in the Dutch culture. We came home from that trip and immediately followed the leading of the Holy Spirit to start an online Christian radio station called 100% Grace Radio, complete with Dutch DJ, Christian music (including Lifepoint Worship!), preachings and inspirational messages. A year later this radio station has become a global outreach with hundreds of thousands of people listening throughout the world!
While the radio has turned into a Global outreach, we still have a heart to reach the Dutch people. Through a series of God orchestrated events we have connected with a sister ARC church in Holland, Thousand Hills International Church. We were blessed with the opportunity to help them launch their first satellite campus and now we will play an active role serving the church. Ferdinand will be updating their IT infrastructure to support simulcast and web streaming. He will also be creating and launching the website for ARC Nederlands to help connect the local churches to be more unified and effective together and to reach more people through shared resources, support and encouragement. Jennifer will be helping with event planning and the English speaking women's ministry.
Being missionaries in Europe is a hard concept for people to grasp. We aren't moving to an impoverished country to meet basic needs of food, water, clothing or shelter. It sounds glamorous, and while we will surely enjoy the beauty of the country, the people there need Jesus now more than ever. How much harder is it for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven? They don't think they need God. These are the people we are trying to reach!
Throughout this journey our prayer has been for open AND closed doors to guide us in His will to fulfill His FULL purpose through us. Often times we have been required to FIRST take the step of faith BEFORE we can see the blessing on the other side. With every open door our default answer has always been "Yes". When the Holy Spirit tells you to go, you go. You move forward through open doors in steps of obedience that require a faith that stretches you beyond your comfort zone into an area of full reliance on God. This is where the good stuff happens. The growing pains. God uses these moments of surrender to grow us in faith and trust and hope and patience and whatever area of your life that needs to be refined so that you can be mature and ready to for the next step that He has for you!
People say they want to be used by God, but I have learned throughout this journey that allowing yourself to be used by God requires you to take risks. If you are living life in such a way to arrive safely at death, can I suggest that God is not a God who uses those that are complacent and comfortable. He likes to use those that will do things beyond what is humanly possible in a way that can only bring glory to His name.
