Miracles happen in Rotterdam. A small, inward-looking congregation is blossoming. Gloom about survival turns into hope, confidence and a desire to be meaningful to the neighbourhood. Prayers are answered. Close the doors? No, God has a plan for Rehoboth Church.
The Agniessebuurt is a Rotterdam neighbourhood with many problems, poor and vulnerable. Here stands the Rehoboth church, home to the Rotterdam-Centre congregation. The once lively congregation with a thousand members has become so small that it cannot continue to exist in its current form for much longer. What would the neighbourhood miss if the Rehoboth church closed? The confrontational answer was that the congregation meant little to the neighbourhood, while conversations with the neighbourhood team and others made it clear that there is plenty to do here.
God has a plan
Closing the door was also not at all what the congregation wanted, says interim supervisor Cees van Breugel. "We believe that God has a plan for this congregation." Van Breugel helps the congregation discover how it can be engaged in God's mission. And that started with prayer. "As a congregation, we started praying, there was a prayer letter and the prayer circle was revived. At every meeting, we take time for prayer. Not as a formality at the opening, but really going to God together. A culture of prayer has grown and that is the key."
Missionary centre
It turned out there was still a lot to be thankful for. The congregation has a large building with plenty of space, there is still some money, a church council and a pastor. And together with other congregations, there was the diaconal initiative the Umbrella. The congregation may be small, but the commitment is enormous, according to Pastor Ester. "Two services on Sundays, it's all running, young to old working together. There is tremendous motivation and also missionary drive." From that sum rolled the recommendation to renovate the church and turn it into a missionary-diaconal centre.
And then everything happened. "We prayed for God to put a partner in our path and we got six! Miracles are all happening." The new building will soon house several mirgrant congregations, an ICF congregation, an Arab group and diaconal centre The Umbrella. Part of the building will be set up as living quarters for people involved in missionary work or managing the building....
Hope and courage
Rev Ester notes that church members are very happy with the plans. The desire is for people to join and eventually come to faith and join. An Alpha course has now started. "We still need to grow into it to also put that desire into practice. We want to learn from the ICF congregation, for example. It is great to see that all these different nationalities are church together and that the gospel goes beyond our borders. That is also how the older generation experiences it."
People in Rotterdam have the faith and guts to take steps. There is new hope, new courage, confidence. Their secret is prayer.
Want to know more about Rehoboth Church or support the missionary-diaconal centre? Read here more about the project.
The municipality has been guided and supported throughout the process from the Support centre for local churches.
This article appeared in Passing on May 2024
