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Global – Local – Discipling – Church Planting
Global Partners
Reformed Church in America Global Partners
We support five RCA missions around the world. We list only three here, because the other two are in sensitive areas of the world where the work ought not be publicized electronically.
Yakuv and Vima Gurung
The Gurungs serve Nepali-speaking people both in Nepal and the United States. Yakuv focuses his work on raising up and training local leaders and church planters with the goal of planting 50 churches in Nepal by 2025 and to establish a network of Nepali-speaking of churches in the U.S. within the Reformed Church in America.
Wayne and Miho Jansen
The Jansens invest in developing local Christian leaders in Japan. Wayne is a seminary professor and provides theological and practical training for seminary students in the United Church of Christ in Japan.
Shelvis and Nancy Smith-Mather
The Smith-Mathers serve in Uganda through a Christian organization called RECONCILE. Their work centers on conflict transformation and trauma recovery for the war-torn people of South Sudan.
Additional Global Partners
Words of HOPE
Words of HOPE proclaims the gospel through media in order to build the church in hard-to-reach places. This organization helps us share the message of Jesus with people who otherwise might never have a chance to hear the gospel. We have partnered with them for many years and have taken a primary role in helping build additional language areas.
Doug and Priscilla Higby
The Higbys serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Doug serves as the International Coordinator for Language Technology Use and Priscilla serves as the Academic Publishing Manager. Together they employ their skills and current technologies to advance Bible translation so people can encounter God through his Word.
Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Yacolba – Yucatan, Mexico
What began as an annual medical mission trip to Mexico has grown into a full-fledged partnership. Annually, we send a team to serve in a medical clinic and to work with a clean water project serving the Mayan peoples of the Yucatan. The clean water work is paired with the leadership of a dynamic local pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church who is both making disciples and planting churches.
If you’re interested in learning more about joining our next team, contact us today.
Local Partners
We are one of sixteen anchor congregations in Grand Rapids partnering with Family Promise to end homelessness in our city. For us, this partnership runs deep. We have been invested since 1997, and in that time Family Promise tells us that we have:
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- Provided 88 weeks of hosting families overnight
- Offered 26,400 volunteer hours
- Served 9240 meals
- And provided a total value of $970,615 to families emerging from homelessness
Join us in ending homelessness in Grand Rapids – contact us to learn how to volunteer.
The Other Way is a Christ-centered community development organization focused on the Westown neighborhood in the near west side of Grand Rapids. They’ve been doing great work since 1967, and we’ve been a partner since the beginning.
We partner with Bethany Christian Services to welcome, guide, serve and equip people coming to our country from very difficult circumstances. Over the past 10 years we have welcomed over 75 people. Almost all of these people spent 5+ years in a refugee camp somewhere in the world because they had to flee their own country for fear of violence. The Bible is quite clear on this issue. In Leviticus, God said, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34). We take this so seriously that we employ a part-time Refugee Ministries Coordinator, and he would love to chat with you about how you might join us in welcome these international friends seeking a stable and peaceful life.
Join us in Welcoming Refugees – contact us to learn how to volunteer.
Mulick Park Collaborative
We partner with Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church and Mayflower Congregational Church to serve as reading tutors for elementary students at Mulick Park Elementary School. Every student is a scholar and must be equipped with the necessary skills to achieve academically. Reading is at the top of this list. Studies tell us that if students don’t achieve reading level proficiency by fourth grade, the likelihood that they will drop out of high school increases significantly. If a student drops out of high school, the likelihood of incarceration also increases significantly. So, if you want to invest in a safer and more just community – help kids learn to read! We also have other opportunities to help throughout the year with school supplies and monetary donations.
Contact Deborah McCreary, deborah.mccreary1@gmail.com, (616) 334-9083.
Discipling Partner
3DM
The vision of 3DM is to change the world by putting mission and discipleship back into the hands of everyday people. Through a variety of practical equipping that includes learning communities, coaching, small group huddles, and an ongoing community of practice, we are learning the ways of missional discipleship and seeking to become a people who more intentionally organize our lives around mission.
Church Planting Partners
Church planting is one of our core commitments. We plant churches, and we support church planting efforts beyond our walls.
Our Church Plants:
New Ground Church
Planted in 2013, New Ground Church became a fully organized congregation within our denomination in November of 2019. We rejoice at what the Lord is doing in and through this church.
City Chapel
Planted in 2017 in collaboration with Zion Reformed Church and LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church, City Chapel is a church in the city and for the city.
Church Plant We Support:
Holy Mountain Community Church
Holy Mountain is a Sudanese congregation meeting at our Greenhouse campus at 2600 Breton Road, Grand Rapids, 49546.
Church Planting Initiatives We Support:
European Church Planting Partnership
We joined Harbor Churches (Hudsonville, MI), Centerpoint Church (Kalamazoo, MI), and Community Reformed Church (Zeeland, MI) to partner with the University Church of Debrecen, Hungary to plant two churches on the campus of the University of Debrecen. This project of mutual learning and resourcing resulted in a new mission organization called the European Church Planting Partnership. As a Pioneer Partner in this work, we continue to support the ECPP in many ways.