New Bible school in the Northern Netherlands wants to be a blessing to the local church: “we started with eight students”

After two years of preparation, the Worship & Ministry School Hoogeveen is in its first school year. Eight students started the ministry or workshop track in September. Teachers Mark Hobers and Niels Vrieling tell us how things are going so far.

Mark Hobers (35) is a worship leader and oversaw the worship team at Stadskerk Emmen for many years. He sings and plays acoustic guitar. Three years in a row he attended a worship conference of the well-known worship leader Tim Hughes in Birmingham, to be equipped. “I was able to immediately apply what I learned there and share it with the musicians I accompanied. But what I discovered most of all is that God is much more interested in who I am, in what my relationship with God is like, how I can grow in intimacy with Him, what my image is of Him as Father. It was as if a mirror was held up to me. These topics are the foundation for the ministry you can build. And every year I saw passionate people setting aside time to grow in worship and I thought: We should also have this in the Netherlands.”

It took a while to get there, says Mark. “My dream was gathering dust on a shelf until God opened a door. I came into contact with Niels Vrieling’s mother about two and a half years ago. Geralda turned out to have the same dream as me.” The Worship & Ministry School Hoogeveen was founded together with Geralda’s husband Ronalt.

Green light

You would think that Niels (24), as the son of Ronalt and Geralda, was involved in the founding right from the start, but that turns out not to be the case. “I have only been back for a few months from my three-year training in America at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. Before that, I did a university bachelor’s degree in Popular Music and Worship and theology in England. When I returned, I was asked if I would like to be involved with the school. I then started investigating what God wants from me and when the lights were green, I made the choice to be part of the team.”

Niels has been playing drums since he was eight, he sings, plays acoustic guitar and recently also plays piano. He has had a desire to serve God through music since he was a teenager. “I remember being at some worship event when I was fourteen. In the car back I was so impressed with how the worship team could bring people into the presence of God. I then picked up my phone and wrote a manifesto saying that we needed to equip the musicians and worship leaders to bring the Kingdom of God.”

Eight students

The school started with eight students. “Nice and small,” says Mark. “We think that’s absolutely fine. Of course we believe that more will start next year and that it will become an annual training with a slightly larger group, but there is also strength in the small.”

The training consists of thirty days of lessons, on Friday afternoons and evenings from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Mark: “We have a very varied program, every teaching day is different. The focus is on time for worship and prayer, education and meeting during a delicious meal. We also work in smaller groups on, for example, an assignment. The students also receive individual coaching, even outside of class days. Niels: “The students each have a coach who meets with them regularly. The coaches closely follow the students’ personal process. They encourage them and stimulate their growth.”

Coaching

Both men have experience with personal coaching. Mark regularly coaches worship teams in various churches, sometimes for a longer period. Niels supervised seven students in America. “The youngest was eight years old, the other closer to sixty-five. It is very beautiful and also humbling that you can take people with all lifestyles, in all walks of life, by the hand and bring them to God.”

The training is about intimacy, identity and authority. “This is the foundation of your ministry. That is why we pay very conscious attention to this. It really is the core of our Bible school,” says Mark. The first experiences are good. Niels: “We see the most beautiful things. It is beautiful to see what God does in people when they dedicate their lives to Him, set aside a year to follow Him, and grow in their ministry.

Strong desire

One of the students is Ruben Westendorp (22) IJsselmuiden. “In my own church I was given a ministry in which I want to grow. Last summer I felt a stronger desire to learn more about the Word of God. This also applies to my friend Mirjam. As a couple, we have a calling on our lives in the field of prayer and worship and therefore attend the Worship & Ministry School in Hoogeveen.

I notice that God has given much freedom, restoration, strength and new callings to the students through the school. God has confirmed the calling on my life and has shown who I can be in Him. I have grown a lot spiritually. As students we receive and learn a lot and we also share this in the municipalities where we are placed. Mirjam and I both have a heart for our peers and a desire to pass on everything we learn to them so that revival arises among them. We also dream of setting up a Prayer Room, which will help people come to faith and have a strong desire to truly go for God.”

Mark and Niels: “Ultimately, our dream is that everyone, including pastors and leaders of municipalities, knows: this is there in the Northern Netherlands, in Hoogeveen. We want to invest in you for a year, so that with everything you have received here you can once again be a blessing to your local church.”

Worship & Ministry School | HOOGEVEEN (worship-and-ministryschool.nl)