Matthijs & Simone Laan
In a world in which many people know the church only as a (hypocrite) institution, we may bring people in contact with Jesus in a refreshing way. We hope that they will be drawn to Him.
Church planters
Matthijs and Simone Laan have five children. For eight years they have lived and worked in Zambia as missionaries. After two years of talking, praying and discovering the door back to Holland opened and they are now resided in Maastricht (southern part of Holland). In Maastricht they continue their missionary work in a way that fits well to their way of living and how they are formed as a family during the time in Zambia.
Family Laan is involved in a so called missional community, a group of people who -with the Gospel as starting point- reaches out to others. The missional community consists of people pf various ages, cultures and backgrounds which is built over the past few years. The desire of Matthijs and Simone is that in the future there may grow a new missional community around their family.
A missional community mostly means to be connected to different people and cultures. They come together on a regular base, mostly outside: in this way participating is easily accessible and everyone sees the variety of the people. Sometimes the activity is focussed on getting to know each other better with for example a family game on the Pietersberg. But in the shared rhythm of the missional community, there are also activities in which –young and old- discover more from the Bible and in which we celebrate who God is. All activities are as open and easily accessible as possible. In the heart of the community there is prayer and discipleship, so how we can listen to God personally and how we can be obedient.
Matthijs and Simone desire to have an open and hospitable home, in which people can relate to one another and to God. That when one has his doubts about Gods existence, they all will shout, just like their youngest son Silas: “But don’t you know that?! God is here and He is good!”
