John Wagenveld’s ministry, Multiplication Network, works with 6,000 couples planting churches in more than 45 nations. He himself has lived and traveled in some 100 countries.
And one of his favorite places is City on a Hill and its Café. “We love this place,” John told our Christmas Dinner guests.
Multiplication Network is one of 46 ministries and nonprofits working in affordable, collaborative space at City on a Hill. “So many communities don’t have a living expression of the body of Christ – men and women who are pointing to Jesus, who are modeling what it is like when Jesus is King, and that’s the one thing Multiplication Network is trying to change,” John said, explaining his ministry’s worldwide mission.
And when it needed an office, John turned to City on a Hill. He testified to three reasons that it is a great place for ministry.
First, it’s more than just office space. Down the hall is a small kitchen and a newly renovated board room to use when needed. And ministries cooperate on other costs, like copy machines.
“So there’s this sharing of resources,” John said. “I think that’s a good thing.”
Second, he said, “The stewardship of this concept is fantastic. If we were to try to compare any other place to find a business office, we would be paying a lot more.” And that means more of Multiplication Network’s donated support can fund new churches around the world. “City on a Hill is directly impacting, through its stewardship, that we can put those dollars to work and impact the nations.”
John said his third reason for loving City on a Hill is his favorite.
“I love most the concept of community,” he said. “This place brings together a lot of people who are all serving Jesus through different programs. Loving on children, loving on the elderly, loving on people who have different skill levels or learning difficulties, or people who are trying to bless the nations.
“And we come together and there’s a sense of community here, and that is most dramatically expressed by having the most awesome coffee shop in Zeeland!”
John said what’s special at the Café is more than the white chocolate raspberry muffins, the other baked goods, the coffee, the lunches.
“All this is just symbolic of the sense of community. You have no idea how many people I’ve met with, be it in my office or right down here in the coffee shop, over one of those lattes.
“It’s not so much about the coffee – although the coffee’s great. It’s about the community. And I believe that God is there,” he said.
“Theologians sometimes say we have the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Spirit has us. But now theologians are also saying, if you have the Holy Spirt and others have the Holy Spirit, and image bearers of Christ are meeting together, the Holy Spirit is in the encounter.
“And the Café allows for that encounter to take place, and from there, many conversations on strategy, of resourcing, of donations, are happening that are impacting the world.”