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Dear Pastor or Praying Friend,
Thank you for taking time to read about England and for considering our ministry in prayer. We are thankful too, for your interest in worldwide missions and in hearing about our work. I hope we can meet you one day.
My wife Natalie and I count it a privilege to be going to England as church planters. We are thankful for our sending church, Turner Street Baptist Church, in Maryville Tennessee, where I have been helping for the past eight years, and where we have enjoyed serving together for the past four. Natalie is from England; we met in 2005 and 2006, while I was there helping several missionaries in the planting of three new churches, and we were married in England in 2007. After coming back to Tennessee and working in my home church together, we are now thankful and excited to be on deputation to return to England permanently. Our church is sending us with the help of Macedonia World Baptist Missions, an Independent Baptist organization in Braselton, Georgia.
I am including some information about England below, with our testimonies and goals, and some pastors’ recommendations, which are also on our website. Please feel free to read our statement of faith as well, and we would be happy to answer any questions. If you are able to help us with monthly support, or if we are ever able to be with you to present our work or as a visit, we would consider it an honor.
Please pray that we get to the field where the Lord has called us, redeeming the time and bearing fruit for His glory. But we want you to know that we are praying for and pulling for your ministry as well. It is a privilege to serve the Savior! "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church throughout all ages, world without end. Amen!”
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Jonathan & Natalie VandenHurk, Missionaries to England
Email reply to us | Forward to a friend | Call: 865.216.4744 | Visit: www.England.Faithweb.com
Please feel free to read more about our ministry in Great Britain...
England -
We are living in exciting, but perilous times. No other generation has seen a greater onslaught of unbiblical ideologies and religions than this one. The spiritual decline in England has grown more rapid in recent years, with less than one-third believing in the existence of God (2008 Crabtree poll) and less than four percent regularly attending any church (two percent in London). The only religions that seem to be growing in England are Islam (because of rapid immigration) and Wiccan (the fastest growing religion last year)!
This being said, my wife and I have been involved in several church works and church plants in England, and are encouraged to say that the Lord can and is still working there. There are many families, and teenagers in particular, who are hungry for the truth. Too many English people are being “turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:4). We need more preachers to give the “sound doctrine” of God’s Word once again to the people of England.
In ENGLAND, there are amazing opportunities to share the GOSPEL with others, which we have successfully used in the past on short term trips:
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Most importantly, through the planting of new Baptist churches and the preaching of God's Word!
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Through Sunday School and one-on-one discipleship!
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Through door-to-door work and letterbox evangelism, legally putting the Gospel into every home!
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Through youth meetings (on Saturday nights, perhaps), impacting a new generation!
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Through government school R.E. (Religious Education) Assemblies - public schools actually invite local religious leaders in, to expose English children to different faiths!
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Through children's Holiday Bible Clubs - we can invite the children we meet at the schools to the church, sharing the Gospel and meeting their families!
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Through church services at local care homes (nursing homes), reaching older generations!
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Through open air preaching, singing and evangelism in city centres, where we can reach the large crowds walking by!
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Through evangelism during major events, like the 2012 Olympics!
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Through teaching English as a second language in the many international communities!
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And through many more open doors (church "teas," morning coffees, moms-&-tots groups...) May the Lord guide us!
There are about 61.3 million people (June 2010 census) living in the United Kingdom's approximately 150 thousand square miles. England alone has more than 52.7 million people in its 47 counties and 35 shires. I have been told that there have been at least three generations in England that are almost entirely without a Gospel witness. Through obedience of God's Word and following the Holy Spirit's guidance, may we have His blessing and favor as we strive to reach these dear people with the Gospel!
Testimonies -
 Jonathan... “My father moved to America from Europe in the 1970’s and was born again in Chicago, Illinois. He and my mother raised me in a Christian home in Maryville, Tennessee, and I was saved as a young child. When I was twelve years old I was called to preach while at Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, after attending Camp Joy in Chattanooga. I was first burdened about being a missionary after hearing a missionary to Africa speak at our church, Brother Chris Lee. In the summer of 2005, I visited England as a New Testament Church Pioneer (a ministry of Temple Baptist Church and Crown College) to help with a new church planting work alongside Pastors Colin Pavitt and Roger Tooley. That is when I first met Natalie, and after a wonderful courtship and after finishing college, we were married on 27th July, 2007, in England. We have enjoyed serving the Lord together in Maryville, Tennessee, but are thankful and excited to be giving our lives to serve the Lord in England.”
 Natalie... "I was raised in England in a Catholic family, but was saved at age twelve after reading a Gospel record of Luke that was given to me at a youth group meeting. When I was fifteen I met Pastor and Mrs. Colin Pavitt from the Lifegate Baptist Church, which was started thirty years ago by Mr. James Ray in Corby, England. I began attending and was able to grow in the Lord there. I graduated from the Lifegate School of the Scriptures and was involved in my church’s evangelism efforts, as well as ladies’ meetings, open air work, and church planting. I have taught Sunday School for about nine years. I met Jonathan in 2005, and moved to America with him after our wedding in 2007. We look forward now to a lifetime of serving the Lord together in England.”
Goals -
God has placed on our hearts the ministry of church planting in the country of England. This is an exciting work and an exciting time. Using the King James Bible, we will be working with and starting independent, mission minded, Baptist churches.
Our first term in England, however, will be spent with veteran and British pastors near London, as we pray about the Lord’s guidance as to where to start our first new work. London is quickly becoming a gathering place for people from all over the world, especially with the Olympics coming to London in 2012.
(As the missionary immigration laws get stricter in England, we are thankful for an open door. As Natalie's husband, I will have permanent residency for the first six years and can then apply for dual-citizenship into the European Union.)
LIFELONG GOALS:
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To glorify God in all we do and see His name exalted.
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To win the lost to Christ and see them discipled in His Word.
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To plant New Testament churches in England.
A BIBLICAL APPROACH:
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Exalting the Lord Jesus Christ, and not ourselves...
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Evangelizing the Lost...
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Establishing Local Churches...
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Equipping English Leaders, and...
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Enlisting Others in the Lord’s Service!
Recommendations -
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Pastor Tim Townsend
“I have had the privilege of knowing Jonathan for over fifteen years. During this time I have witnessed both his spiritual growth and love for Christ. Both he and Natalie are faithful fellow laborers in our church. I know they will be greatly used of GOD in England. I would highly recommend them to any church that desires to be fruitful.”
(- Pastor of Turner Street Baptist Church in Maryville, TN, our sending church. For the past eight years my family has been involved in the ministry here. We are thankful for their desire to send us to England.)
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Pastor Tom Hatley -
“Jonathan & Natalie are truly a special couple, who I believe the Lord will use to reawaken England to the Gospel of Christ…Even as a young boy, Jonathan had a love for Christ, for souls, and for missions. I recommend the VandenHurk’s to partner with any Local Church as a Missionary to England. They will be a vital part of your missions family.”
(- Pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, where I served until graduating high school. He was was a great encouragement when I was called to preach as a young teenager.)
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British Evangelist
Colin Pavitt -
“Jonathan and Natalie are a fine Christian couple with a great heart for the souls and the country of England. They have been a wonderful blessing to Lifegate Baptist Church, England. I would heartily recommend them for missions support. Their commitment to Jesus is complete and I believe their burden to serve Him is totally within the will of God.”
(- Mr. Pavitt has been involved in pastoring, church planting, open air work and evangelism. He was Natalie’s pastor for many years in England at Lifegate Baptist Church.)
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M.W.B.M.
Natalie and I are thankful to be sent to England as missionaries through our local church, but are pleased and honored to have the help, support and approval of a faithful mission organization, Macedonia World Baptist Missions, in Braselton, Georgia. MWBM has assisted local indpendent Baptist churches in the servicing of their missionary families since 1974. They are a faith-run organization, providing services to assist the local church without any type of service charge or administrative fee to the missionary. They have been a tremendous encouragement to us!
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How can we help?
 Thank you for praying for our ministry. But we want you to know that we are praying for and pulling for your ministry as well. We would be honored to help with anything if we can. We have experience with missionary themed Bible schools, for example, and would be willing to help with any VBS or children’s Bible clubs when we are visiting your church's area. We also have some picture storybooks about famous missionaries from Great Britain (like John Paton, Hudson Taylor, etc.) We would love to have a positive impact with your youth.
 Natalie is honored when the opportunity arises to share her testimony, poems, or ladies’ meeting messages while on deputation. She could also bring some real English tea bags to your church to share with the ladies. (Email Natalie here).
If you can put us to work doing anything else, please let us know.
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