Mission Partners in the Netherlands

BIO:

Jack is Dutch, and grew up in Rotterdam; Pat was born in Hackensack, New Jersey and grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania.

 Pat graduated from Moody and Geneva Bible College, taught for 7 years (two of those years in Peru, teaching M.K.'s), before meeting Jack in '84.

 Jack graduated from Princeton University, Grace Seminary and the Evangelical Theology Faculty.

HISTORY:

We have been on the field since October of 1988. During our first term (through ‘93), we teamed up with colleagues to start a new church in Landgraaf. From 1993 -2001 we helped a mission church in Maastricht recover from meltdown. Jack also served as Field Leader for the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France from ’93-’99. Since 2002, Jack teaches at the ETF (Evangelical Theological Faculty in Leuven, Belgium), which is a one-hour drive from our home in Maastricht. His doctoral research, completed in 2010, is now published as Emerging Leadership in the Pauline Mission, for which he received an international award for excellent leadership research from the Jepson School of Leadership at Richmond University (VA). Since then, he continued teaching at the ETF in practical theology, with a focus on church leadership. He is currently preparing several books on the topic, some in Dutch, others in English.

MINISTRY

Our main ministry is to train European church leaders to strengthen and multiply churches. To accomplish this, we serve in the following ways:

Jack teaches and trains church leaders at several levels:

• At the ETF seminary, he teaches practical theology. He mentors a small group of students, and coordinates the student internship program.
• On a consulting basis, he coaches local church leaders to strengthen leadership development in their churches, teaching at various venues on church leadership.
• At our local church, Jack contributes by preaching occasionally, being a mentor for the pastor, and helping out in practical ways.

Pat serves in creative ministries:

• She plays the piano as part of the music team
• She serves on the church’s mission committee, helping to shape the church’s missions policy and bringing the missionaries before the church for prayer.
• Pat’s activities with a patchwork group and volunteer work.

CURRENTLY:

Vision: equipping Christians to be leaders of churches and Christian organizations through teaching and research at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Leuven, Belgium (an internationally oriented ministry)

Goals

1. continue faithfully in a regular teaching schedule (teaching practical theology and church leadership)
2. co-author a book entitled New Ways in Gods Mission (in Dutch, potentially later translated into English), about renewal and church leadership in a culture where many churches (incl. evangelical churches) have plateaued or are declining.
3. Reach out locally by building good neighbor relationships.

See our blog, with regular updates https://passingthebaton.wordpress.com/

as well as a prayer page https://passingthebaton.wordpress.com/prayer/

Jack and Pat Barentsen serve with Biblical Ministries Worldwide in the Netherlands.

Click Here to read their Update Letter