Our Sabbatical From December 2018 through February 2019, our family took a three-month sabbatical to the U.S.A., Mexico, and Chile. Femke was asked to be a speaker at the IPHC Global Assembly in Santiago, Chile in February. Matthew was born in Chile so this seemed to be a chance of a lifetime to take the…
Alleia’s Story “All my life I have been searching for Jesus, and it was not until I found Matthew and New Life West that I got to know Him. Jesus is so awesome and wonderful. He has totally changed my life.” Alleia grew up in the Middle East in a Muslim nation where becoming a Christian could…
Boomers. Generation X. Millennials. These words punctuate every arena of life and culture—in advertising, media, fashion, and ministry. Entire books have been published describing the generalities of these generational groups. We tend to categorize generational, cultural, economic, educational, racial, and other differences when discussing people. The demographic categories we use to describe groups of people…
“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” …
Stories of New Life (Vida Nueva) Every week we have been reaching out to Spanish speaking individuals in the downtown and northern parts of Amsterdam. Last Sunday, we had our first church meeting in our neighborhood (Amsterdam Nieuw-West). It was so encouraging to begin the meeting by hearing stories of people whose lives have been…
New Ministry Focus: Prostituted Women in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. In June of this year, we handed our church over to our associate pastors so that we could start a new church. We prayed for direction but were unsure what it would look like until we met Frits Rouvoet, the leader of Bright Fame. This Christian…
by Matthew & Femke Helland One of the goals of ministry is to empower and equip others to succeed so that when you are not around, the work keeps going on. Here are some stories of some great successes we have seen (and continue seeing). New Life West’s Ten-Year Anniversary In 2006, we started our…
The Hellands in Holland by Matthew & Femke Helland Szandi, Greg, and Iskander: Three Radically Changed Lives “The doctors put screws in my ankles to help me because they said my feet were to flat. They were supposed to give me more stability, but instead I only have pain when I stand very long….
