It’s almost time to turn the page on 2025… As a new year begins I am excited for Trinity Church. We are healthy, growing, joyful and blessed. Our Church is filled with amazing people from around the world, each with a story of God’s goodness and sovereignty. Trinity Church is an amazing place and each of us is truly blessed to be here, together. But, before we begin the new year, it is good to pause and reflect on the goodness of God in this past year.
On January 4th, 2025 I landed at Schiphol Airport where I was warmly greeted by Tinashe Ndoro. Pastor John Johnson recruited me to come to the Netherlands for 90 days to help Trinity Church, a place Nicole and I loved and had served 25 years before. I had heard the stories of recent events and it made my heart sad to know that there was a divide, there were hurt feelings and many people had left the church. I expected it to be a hard three months but I knew my God was able to heal and I knew that He had sent me. I immediately fell in love with you and I can only describe what I experienced as a “bubble of anointing.” God’s favor was on us and in only a few short weeks a transformation took place in the halls of Trinity. Joy, peace, hope and purpose began to spring up everywhere. New ministries began. Old faces returned. It was a season of ministry I will never forget. When it came time to return to my home church I felt the pull to stay. I heard the plea of many asking me to come back. “God would need to do some miracles,” I said. Four months later I accepted an invitation to return, this time to stay. God made the impossible, possible. He is the Way Maker.
When Nicole and I returned in the Fall we had fresh stories of God’s miraculous power to provide. After the despair of house hunting had turned up nothing for weeks God used Carol and Marie Alvine to make a way. We live on the very street where Nicole heard God speak to her four months earlier. Of all the streets in the Hague, God provided a place for us in exactly that same spot! God is good and His goodness has continued to spread throughout our Church. Our leadership is healthy and strong. Attendance is good. Giving is good. Ministries are thriving. This goodness was in full display on December 14th where we celebrated eight baptisms and a very full children’s ministry Christmas celebration. What does it look like to have the Favor of the Lord on your church? It looks like Trinity International Church of the Netherlands. Thank you to all of you who have loved us, trusted us and served with us in this new season. 2025 was the Year of the Lord’s Favor. On Sunday, December 28th, we will celebrate the year with stories of God’s faithfulness and with gratitude for the God who loves us. I look forward to the year ahead, but I will never forget the year that was.
Pastor Dan
