Stories
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October 31, 2019
Being with God on Mission: Church Planters Need Time for Spiritual Formation
Healthy congregations need healthy leaders—but all too often, church planters find themselves on the brink of burnout. This fall, Resonate Global Mission gathered church planters for a spiritual formation retreat so they can thrive in their ministries long term.
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August 22, 2019
'Maybe You Are the Answer'
“The Indo-Pak community is scattered in Southern California,” said Eric Sarwar, pastor of Artesia City Church, a church plant supported in part by Resonate Global Mission.
That makes it difficult for believers to gather in one space to worship together. As a result, many believers don’t have the opportunity to worship God in ways that express their heart—and those seeking faith don’t have the opportunity to hear the Word of God in a language that speaks to their heart.
With Sarwar’s leadership, Artesia City Church is changing that.
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August 21, 2019
A Ministry of Prayer
Houston, Texas, is packed with hospitals. So it’s little surprise that out of the nearly 50 people who attend Filipino-American Christian Reformed Church, 32 are medical professionals.
But Houston’s hospitals are not just a job opportunity for believers of the Resonate Global Mission church plant—the hospitals are also an outreach opportunity.
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August 21, 2019
Providing Meals and Building Community
The Bridge, a church plant in Fergus, Ontario, supported in part by Resonate Global Mission, is passionate about engaging with the community. When the members learned about a recent need, they stepped in.
A Desire to ServeAs Pastor John Vanderstoep sought to partner with other churches in the community, he learned of three in the area that each hosted a community meal on Friday nights. They were looking for another church to fill the other Friday spot each month.
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August 8, 2019
Discovering the Light of the Gospel
Hauwa was never especially interested in religion—until her 10-year-old daughter Kadiatu insisted on attending church.
The daughter of an Islamic leader and wife of a Muslim man, Hauwa had always practiced Islam. But as a determined women’s activist, her daughter’s education came before her Islamic ties. She enrolled Kadiatu in Kabala Christian School, a Resonate Global Mission partner in Kabala, Sierra Leone.
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August 5, 2019
A New Normal of Bivocational Ministry
More and more Christian Reformed Church pastors are bivocational—they work another job in addition to pastoring. For many pastors, a second job is a way to pay bills. For others, a second job is part of their ministry.
“What does it mean to be a pastor? They embody Christ, and they share God’s love with conviction and with reverence, and they usher you into the space before God. It’s beautiful,” said Sam DeJong McCarron, who works as a ministry vocational consultant for the CRC’s Pastor Church Resources.
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July 26, 2019
A Time to Plant
Shamshadeen Mayers felt God call him to be a church planter 10 years ago—he just wasn’t sure when, where, or how to plant a church. But God lined up the perfect opportunity to partner with Resonate Global Mission and plant City on a Hill Church in Bloomfield, New Jersey.
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November 12, 2018
It Takes a Network to Sustain a Church Plant
“I’m not the guy who goes to a conference and says, ‘Oh, I found the secret formula to saving our church,’” said Jeff Heerspink, pastor of F Street Neighborhood Church in Lincoln, Nebraska—one of two Christian Reformed church plants in Classis Heartland.
Located in the urban core of Lincoln, F Street Neighborhood Church does not look or operate like the established churches in its classis that have been around for decades. Jeff and his congregation face unique challenges, particularly in terms of sustainability.
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November 6, 2018
From Addict to Church Planter
Vladimir* tried drugs for the first time as a 15-year-old while living in a small Eastern European town. Twenty years later, your support helped him return to plant a church.
An unstable childhood.Both Vlad’s father and grandfather were dedicated military colonels. Proud to have a son to follow in his footsteps, Vlad’s father sent him to study at a military academy as a young boy.
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October 16, 2018
Engaging God’s Children
The church is called to provide a home for all of God’s children, but sometimes children are overlooked. Thanks to you, a Resonate church plant has been able to show children how much God loves them.
God called Eric and Shumaila Sarwar from Pakistan to Artesia, Calif., to plant Artesia City Church in partnership with Resonate. As they joined the local community of immigrants from Pakistan and India, it soon became clear that God had called them there for a reason.
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September 18, 2018
Meeting the Neighborhood’s Needs with Dinner and a Service
When Roosevelt Park Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., closed its doors three years ago, Allen Pontarelli and Henry Bouma knew the community needed another church. So, they planted Southwest Community Church (SCC) with the support of Resonate Global Mission.
But SCC did not start as a church. It started as a dinner.
A Neighborhood with Needs
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September 18, 2018
Preparing to Plant
Church plants are key to bringing the gospel to unreached areas. But how do church plants work? And who will do the planting? With Resonate’s help, John Granada is learning these things firsthand.
John felt a call to church planting after serving at Vida Nueva, a CRC church plant in Miami, Florida, for 14 years.
“It was a process of discerning a desire prompted by the Spirit,” said John. “I was envisioning, dreaming, and considering how God had gifted me and my family to serve. We were waiting to see what place he would lead us to.”
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September 18, 2018
Church Family Helps Provide Comfort in Life and Death
Olivia* was 14 when her mother passed away after never fully recovering from a car accident. That was just the start of her grief—but God met her at Destination CRC, a Resonate church plant in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Grief and Doubt
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September 13, 2018
Bridging the Gaps Between Campus Ministry, Church, and the Community
Rev. Geoffrey and Rev. Ashley Van Dragt planted a campus ministry in Seattle, Washington, seven years ago. Now, they’re planting a church.
Geoff and Ashley started Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF), a joint effort of Resonate Global Mission and InterVarsity, at the University of Washington in 2011.
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July 11, 2018
Exploring Ministry Calling as a Team Effort
We don’t have to discover God’s call on our own. Sometimes God speaks to us through many different people. Just ask Karlos Palacios.
Karlos is a church planter at Iglesia Comunidad de Fe Poinciana Christian Reformed Church, a Resonate Global Mission partner church plant in Poinciana, Florida.
Karlos said his calling to ministry started with service opportunities in his church, The New Horizon CRC (Paterson, New Jersey). As he joined the choir and read Bible verses during services, people soon recognized his leadership abilities.
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July 10, 2018
Two Churches Are Bridging the Racial Divide
Two churches are tackling Oakland, California’s gentrification and racial division head on: they’re merging.
Bernard Emerson started The Way Church in Oakland three and a half years ago. One year later, Resonate Partner Kyle Brooks planted Oakland Communion. This year, the two congregations joined to form Tapestry Church.
“We come from different church traditions and different church backgrounds,” said Bernard. One church is Baptist; the other is Christian Reformed.
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June 1, 2018
Equipping the CRC of Sierra Leone in Word and Deed
Sometimes equipping the global church takes place before a community even considers that the Spirit is at work there. Such was the case in the village of Medina, Sierra Leone.
Like the Islamic holy city in Saudi Arabia that Medina is named after, almost everyone living in this community adheres to Islam. But when the people looked for assistance in developing their community to reduce poverty, they turned to Christian Extension Services (CES).
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May 17, 2018
Used Tires in Detroit
Note: Read the introduction to the Used Tires series to learn the meaning behind the metaphor.
Detroit, Michigan, is a city known for its poverty and resulting crime. Many neighborhoods, blighted from downturns in the once-booming auto industry there, could be described as “used tires.” But as Mark Van Andel saw beyond that and began serving in the Brightmoor neighborhood, he has partnered with Resonate Global Mission for church planting support.
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April 13, 2018
Growing Community, Open Doors for Friendship
Most church planters make it their goal to open their doors to new neighbors, but this takes on a whole new meaning when you get over a hundred of them at one time.
With a new townhouse community under construction right next door, members of Friendship Community CRC, in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, are excited about the opportunity to minister to their new neighbors, and they are partnering with Resonate Global Mission to do this.
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April 12, 2018
Embedded Faith: From the Philippines to Texas
Ronnie Lopez’s passion for the Reformed faith stems from his time growing up in the Philippines. That’s where, 50 years ago, he met Vince Apostol, Resonate Global Mission’s first missionary to this country, and became a member and seminary student in the CRC of the Philippines.
“It’s embedded in me,” Lopez said of the Reformed worldview. “And the moment you understand it, it leads you to a life of gratitude in the Lord.”
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March 26, 2018
Lifelong Lessons in Nigeria Lead to a Mission-Shaped Congregation in Florida
Scott Vander Ploeg looks back on the time he spent serving in Nigeria as one of the most “stretching and rewarding” years of his life.
Scott and his wife, Andrea, served with Resonate Global Mission at Veenstra Seminary in Donga, Nigeria, in 2001-2002. This was an internship during Scott’s studies at Calvin Theological Seminary.
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December 22, 2017
Church Plant Responds to the Neighborhood’s Needs
True to its name, members of F Street Neighborhood Church make it their goal to serve the neighborhood around them—a neighborhood where 88 percent of students at the nearest elementary school qualify for free or reduced lunch and 72 percent are minorities. These figures include Alexis and Taylor (names changed), two sisters who have been coming to the church for about two years.
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December 21, 2017
God Has Long-Term Plans for Short-Term Church Plants
The majority of Christian Reformed church plants Resonate has worked with over the past decade are still serving their communities. In fact, 144 churches planted in the last 10 years are thriving. However, sometimes the call to plant a church turns out to be temporary and the church folds after a few years. In these situations, church planters have found that even when a church stops meeting, their efforts have not been in vain.
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December 20, 2017
What Does Church Planting Look Like Today?
An Increase in Satellite Campuses and Unconventional Meeting SpacesIt’s opening weekend for the latest superhero movie in Vancouver (B.C.). Bucket of popcorn and 3D glasses in hand, three enthusiastic fans slip into the theater early, hoping to get a good seat. To their surprise, there aren’t previews on the screen in front of them but a group of people standing in line to take bread and wine.
Welcome to the world of church planting.
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December 12, 2017
God Works in New Ways through Christmas Story
How many times have you heard the Christmas story? Too many to count?
For some, the Christmas story will be new this year and God is still doing amazing things through this story.
Ben Katt, Resonate Global Mission’s regional mission leader for the Western United States, recently recorded two examples of this while visiting Anchorage, Alaska on his podcast, Replacing Church. Ben visited Parachutes, a drop-in center for high-risk teens that partners with Resonate.
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