The three-part interactive Bible study material from ICP -More color in the church- has been included by MissieNederland in the Churches Toolkitfor Remembrance Slavery Past.See how you and your church can reflect on the commemoration year that starts on July 1, during Keti Koti.
For example, there will be a national memorial service on Friday 30 June, led by the Council of Churches in the Netherlands, in the heart of Amsterdam. There are no more seats available in the church, but the service is also being streamed by the EO.
Micha Nederland offers a church package, aimed at organizing a special service (for example on Sunday 2 July) or a theme evening.
Do you want to dive deeper into the theme with your church, in small groups? Then order the free material from ‘Meer kleur in de kerk’, which ICP has developed to help churches start a conversation about themes such as racism, diversity and reconciliation. This allows you to work together in three evenings or over a longer period.
This really gives a lot of (new) insights. Brings the subject closer by empathizing. Especially the conversation with Hans and Sara made an impression. What it does to someone when you have to search for your identity in a new country.
Important announcement: Unfortunately, the ICP Network Day that was supposed to take place on Saturday June 17 will not take place on June 17. Due to a low number of registrations, we have decided to move the day to the next season.
We think the theme is very important and the planned contributions from workshop leaders, employees and artists are super precious. We want as many people as possible to enjoy this and that is why we are giving it another chance in the autumn of 2023.
As soon as the date is final, we will announce it immediately.
For pastors and church leaders, Monday September 18, 2023, Utrecht
Conversation about faith with other believers: open and unprejudiced?
How do you give multicultural faith a chance with your church? Think about it with other Church leaders and interested people during a full-day conference filled with talks and hands-on workshops.
The theme is topical and urgent. About 25% of the Dutch population now has a migration background and there are more than a million migrant Christians in our country. Yet there is still (too) little attention for how you can shape believing together between different cultures in a good way.
In the morning, Prof. Dr. Benno van den Toren will talk about having an ‘open and uninhibited’ conversation about faith with people of other faiths. Pastors Jurjen ten Brinke and Eric Rufyiritana will also talk about the journey of discovery at their multicultural churches: how do you overcome obstacles and get congregants on board with a new vision?
Speakers with and without a migration background lead the seminars of the afternoon program on, among other things, welcoming Christians with a Muslim background, anti-racism and believing together with Ukrainians. Participants are also challenged to think about the (im)possibilities of their own local context.
The conference is organized by: Intercultural Church Plants, Stichting Gave, Stichting Evangelie & Moslims, the Protestant Church in the Netherlands and Stichting Geloofsinburgering.
Practical
• Location: Protestant National Services Centre, Joseph Haydnlaan 2A, Utrecht • Date: Monday, September 18, 2023 • Time: 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, walk-in from 9:00 am. • Participant contribution: €39 (tea, coffee and delicious Arabic lunch. Early-bird discount until September 1st: €29. Students €19. • Bring someone! Mention immediately upon registration: €9.
Register now for the Network Day in Veenendaal on June 17!
Are you curious about what the Network Day will bring us? We asked Godwin Arhin a few personal questions, so that we can get to know one of the keynote speakers a little better.
1. Can you tell us about your family?
My family currently consists of my wife and daughter and 4 foster children. We have a nice but busy life and really have to plan everything, otherwise it won’t happen. We love adventure but can also enjoy the silence.
2.Which family tradition is most precious to you?
We think it’s important to eat together! During dinner we discuss the day and then find out about the fun and sometimes less fun things that happened on the day.
3. In which language do you prefer to worship God?
Preferably in Dutch. Although I speak English very well, it is still very nice to be able to worship God in Dutch and especially on songs by Eline Bakker. (Jezus overwinnaar)
4. What is your favorite Bible verse?
Job 8:7 And though your past was insignificant, your future will be all the greater.
5. As involved in ‘More color in the church’; what do you hope the material of ‘More color in the church’ will bring about?
I hope that people become more aware of the multi-colored love of God and that we can really love our neighbor as ourselves. For through mutual love people will know and see that we are His followers.
More information and registration for the Network Day in Veenendaal on 17 June
Intercultural Church Plants (ICP) Netherlands comes with a three-part online Bible study, ‘More color in the church’. The interactive material is suitable for small groups in the church. The series of studies will be presented during Opwekking and will be available via the website www.meerkleurindekerk.nl.
Working together on racism, diversity and reconciliation
Christians are called to love and reconcile with one another, even across ethnic and cultural barriers. In practice this is not so easy. The theme of racism evokes feelings of pain, shame and resistance, also within the church. How do we initiate real change?
ICP Nederland has developed an interactive series in collaboration with presenter and creative Godwin Arhin and media house Living Image. The three-part small group material challenges the participants to actively work in small groups from a Biblical perspective on the themes of racism, diversity and reconciliation. More color in the church will be launched during the Opwekking Conference on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 10 p.m. on the main stage.
Interactive and personal small group material
With this small group material you are assured of a number of fascinating, varied sessions, without having to spend a lot of time on preparation. In this way you can delve into this difficult subject in an accessible way.
This small group material is:
personal: the theme is treated by people who share their own experience about diversity and racism;
professional: the material has been developed based on years of experience with the theme and in collaboration with an educationalist;
interactive: video, Bible study, assignments and podcasts alternate and encourage the group to actively get to work.
With the online series, ICP will make a small group leader’s manual available on the website. The material can be started at any time from May 27.
Intercultural Church Plants Nederland
Intercultural Church Plants Nederland is een netwerk van interculturele kerken in Nederland. De missie van ICP is om – vanuit een profetische roeping – met kerken op weg te gaan richting culturele en etnische veelkleurigheid binnen de gemeentes. Dit doet ICP NL onder andere door het organiseren van trainingsdagen voor voorgangers, leiderschaps- en aanbiddingsteams, door begeleiding en intervisie, door het geven van preekbeurten en workshops etc. ICP Nederland werkt in verschillende verbanden samen met, en weet zich ondersteund door, onder andere de Protestantse Kerk van Nederland, Stichting Opwekking, Micha Nederland en SKIN. Het project is financieel mogelijk gemaakt door Verre Naasten en Missiefonds, de commissie missionaire steunverlening van de Nederlandse gereformeerde kerken, door Opwekking en door fonds Kerk en Wereld.
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Note for editors
For more information, please contact Hans Euser, director and network leader of ICP Nederland by e-mail hans@icpnetwork.nl or by telephone 06-36015061.
As of May 1, ICP core team has a new member: Patrick van der Plaat. He introduces himself to you…
Let me introduce myself. I am Patrick van der Plaat. Together with my wife Janine and our three children, Joshua (20), Rebecca (18) and Sara (13), we are back after not living in the Netherlands for many years. Originally I do not come from a religious family, but I got to know God at a somewhat later age. After a search I eventually ended up at a bible school in Veenendaal (ETH) where I was prepared to lead the church as a pastor. During that period I also met my wife who is from Brazil. This soon led to a marriage in which our three children were born.
Over the past twenty years, I have lived and worked abroad for more than fifteen, mostly in the role of pastor for the Church of the Nazarene. Having lived in both Brazil and Australia as a family, the multicultural has simply become part of who we are. That also made the step to ICP a logical one for me. Besides the fact that my family is multicultural, I also like to see more and more color in the church and to be able to contribute to it..
In addition to being a pastor, I am also a writer and I love making music. I think it would be very nice to work with you within the ICP network and to share some of my cultural experiences.
As ICP we are very grateful for the arrival of Patrick. We look forward to a fun and fruitful collaboration!
Are you or do you know a (refugee) young person? A warm welcome to the Gave camps 2023. You will experience an unforgettable holiday week with young people from different cultures. Together you get to know God and each other better through sports, games and other activities.
No matter how different we are, Muslim or Christian, Dutch or African – we spend a midweek together around a camp in Lunteren.
What do you do at Gave camp?
Chill out in a beautiful camp house and nice environment;
Exercising together;
Game activities;
Learning from each other’s culture;
Deepening in God through Bible study and conversation.
The holiday week is relaxing and fun. One refugee youth said: “This is my only stress-free week.” In addition, the camp is also educational and even a life-changing experience. “The refugees who had a firm faith in God were an example to me,” said a Dutch participant.
For refugee and Dutch youth
Refugee youth and Dutch youth are coming along. Everyone speaks Dutch or English. We organize camps in different age categories:
On June 17, 2023, ICP is organizing a network day for everyone who helps build the intercultural church in the Netherlands. Welcome to ICF Veenendaal, De grote Pekken 3 in Veenendaal.
The theme is ‘Gracism – growing as a church in equality’. A great day with an inspiring program, skilled speakers, powerful worship and various workshops around the theme. A very topical, sensitive and also uncomfortable subject, especially in our churches. But we want to be a church where everyone fits in and where everyone feels welcome. To get there we have to become churches where everything is discussable. Come and join the conversation, grow and enjoy our colorful God and His Kingdom. Bring your teams, visit the day together and grow as a church, learn from each other.
Practical info: ICP Network day ‘Gracism – growing as a church in equality’
Date: June 17, 2023
Time: walk-in 9:30, start program 10:00, end 16:00
Price per person: €22.50 (Money should not be an obstacle to participation, so please contact us if that is the case. Email: office@icpnetwork.nl)
A strong statement by John Piper in his book “Let the nations be glad!” He describes why worship is so important, especially when we are engaged in missionary community building. For as important as we consider our mission, they are a means to an end: “Let the nations praise you, O God; let all nations praise you! Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy!” (Ps 67:3-4).
We would like to invite you to our Worship Vision Morning on April 15 in Veenendaal. View the invitation here:
Quote from John Piper’s book:
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.
Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God.”
Worship is the purpose of our missions, but it’s also the fuel, Piper says.
“But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!” who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the Lord…I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High” (Ps 104:34, 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.”
Let’s put it loosely: Missionaries (or evangelists, or church builders, or followers of Jesus) will never cry, “Let the nations be glad!” if they themselves cannot say from their hearts, “I rejoice in the Lord…I will be glad and exult in thee, I will praise thy name, O Most High.”
If you don’t know the real meaning of worship, if you don’t walk the path of worship to God’s throne yourself, if you have no idea what it’s like to be in God’s presence in worship…or if you just kind of forgot how in worship your heart is first served by God Himself… then how can we lead the nations in that, bring the people to that place, into God’s presence, in His glory…?
Watch this short video and get inspired…
Piper concludes, “Missions begin and end in worship.”
At ICP we have a dream: all nations before the throne of God, in worship, focused on the Lamb. All nations, tribes, languages, colors, backgrounds… One heart, one voice, one Body.
On Saturday 15 April we are organizing a Vision Morning in Veenendaal. A morning for worship leaders, musicians, technicians, pastors, leaders; worship teams who want to delve together into worship in today’s intercultural church.
Last weekend we had the second Training Weekend with 10 intercultural teams participating in the two-year ICP Team Training. In these two years, we meet four times for a weekend to learn and grow as cross-cultural leadership teams. In between these weekends, the participating teams can follow extra lessons and do exercises together via our Online Training Platform.
The theme of this second Team Training Weekend was: ‘Making Disciples’. Very challenging and stimulating…
“What a special time I had. I am impressed by the love of God the Father for me and I have received a renewed passion to pass on this love and that fatherly heart, to distribute it to all peoples. Jesus taught and showed us a lot about living with each other and sharing your heart so that someone else can get to know God through that heart. During the training weekend I became more aware of the fact that I cannot give what I have not first received. And that the genuineness of my heart and attitude greatly helps those around me to receive my message about God. Enough to ponder. And also enough to be thankful for.” (Reaction team member ICP)
We are very grateful that we can organize such a wonderful training together with the permanent trainers and voluntary employees. We are already looking forward to the third Training Weekend. But now let’s reminisce with a few photos.
ALast January, a group of 15 intercultural couples started in ICF Utrecht. The meetings were interactive, educational, and fun. There was a lot of laughter about recognizing each other’s situation!
An intercultural relationship is different Claude and Corina Mushikangondo and the Utrecht couples first thought together about why an intercultural relationship is different. Actual circumstances are often challenging, for example due to language and integration problems, residence permit stress, arrears in the labor market for the foreign partner, etc. This affects the interaction between partners; it can cause friction.
For example: usually the Dutch partner bears almost the entire burden of administrative and regulatory matters. Quarrels go off the rails more quickly if partners do not master the language equally well. The way partners invest in their marriage is also different. Integration requires major efforts for non-Dutch citizens. Dutch partners invest by supporting their spouse who sends money to relatives. Important to recognize that! It also became clear that there are major cultural differences in communication styles. Fortunately, most people knew their partner’s rules of communication.
Embrace Biblical culture The group also discussed the top two topics intercultural couples argue about: gender ratio and money. Claude challenged the men to take on their role based on to let go of the Bible (Ephesians 5) and tradition and culture. It evoked many reactions and also beautiful testimonials.
Why this training? The purpose of this group is to strengthen intercultural relationships, by stimulating mutual exchange and group loyalty and raising awareness of the challenges of intercultural marriage. The vision is for the couples to encourage and support each other. The leadership of the congregation is also involved, so that they can provide better marriage pastoral care when there are problems. Jasper de Kok, predecessor of ICF Utrecht, was there and Bert de Jong, elder and himself in an intercultural relationship. They thought it was very positive and were happy that this could take place.
Two participants about the workshops: “We enjoyed the time together and had enough material to talk about afterwards. We hope there will be more sessions with other interesting topics. I personally also enjoyed the women’s and men’s group at the first assignment.”
“We also enjoyed the training very much. It were very helpful topics and what was especially remarkable that we had so much in common with the other intercultural couples. It was eye opening to see that I often thought some things in our marriage were just issues we only have, but it is often cultural! We hope there will be more sessions like this.”
During Pentecost (May 27-29) a faith-building conference will be held in the east of the Netherlands for Arabic speakers. The goal is to worship God together and share the Gospel with ‘newcomers’.
The Gave Foundation supports this initiative of ‘The Peacemakers’ – a foundation of ten Arab churches in the Netherlands. This year’s central scripture is: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The conference is open to Christians, but also to Muslims. The program is accessible and the organizers have the desire to offer everyone a home. In addition to singing, prayer and proclamation, there is a lot of room for mutual encounter. The children and teenagers (up to and including 15 years) have their own programme.
Date and location
The program starts on Saturday morning 27 May and runs until Monday afternoon 29 May. The conference includes two overnight stays and meals are fully provided. The conference center is ‘De Kroeze Danne’ in Delden in the east of the Netherlands.
Gave supports the children and teen work at the conference. With a team of volunteers we provide a substantive program with a biblical theme, sports and games. We are still looking for people for this. Sign up or visit our website for more information!
When: Saturday morning 27 – Monday afternoon 29 May 2023
Where: ‘De Kroeze Danne’ in Delden
For whom: Arabic-speaking newcomers (Christians and Muslims)
Costs: adults (50 euros), 12-17 year olds (30 euros), 3-11 year olds (20 euros) and <3 years (free)
Spoken language: Arabic and Dutch
Contacts
If you have any questions about the conference, please contact the ‘The Peacemakers’ foundation: Farid Shamoen (06-40220642) or Maher Salib (06-81929916).
Does racism play a role in our intercultural churches? What do we believe about this and how can we deal with it?
With a wonderful group of pastors and pioneers, a sensitive theme, a delicious lunch and deep conversations, the ICP network morning on March 17 was another gem.
Paul Hagayi was there to lead us through a time of worship. Hans Euser and Godwin Arhin took us on a story about unity in diversity, about inequality in hidden places and about handles for a problem that affects the whole world – Racism and discrimination, also in the church.
Godwin shared his personal story with us. As a man of color, as a father of white foster children, as an employee, and as a church member, he has much to say about the inequality that exists in our systems, and sometimes in our personal patterns.
Awareness and understanding are important steps in a process towards unity in diversity. But it doesn’t stop there. We want to grow and change. As an intercultural church in the Netherlands, we want to offer a place to people of all nations. And then we run into some challenges. How do we deal with that? What can we do?
ICP develops conversation material for small groups around the theme of ‘Racism and the Church’. Godwin is also involved in this. During the Pentecost conference of Opwekking we will launch the material and we can take the visitors of the conference into this story.
In Utrecht during the Network Morning, we discussed this subject in small groups. We brainstormed and shared new insights with each other. We are grateful for the voice of the pastors and pioneers. Grateful that together we form a network that has a shared mission and grows ever stronger towards the unity that God has in mind for His church.
Do you want to know more about the project on Racism and the Church? Then please contact us.
We would like to invite you to keep June 17 free in your agenda. Then we organize the ICP Network Day for the entire network and we discuss this important subject together.
More information about this day will follow as soon as possible. Keep an eye on the website.
