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Church planting
in Bergen op Zoom

Making disciples
in Noord-Brabant
and Zeeland

About

Meet Daniel & Heather.

Daniel Boyd

a third-generation missionary to Holland

I was born in Iowa, but grew up on the mission field. My parents were missionary kids from France and the Netherlands. As a teen I experienced a spiritual crisis as I struggled with worldliness and God’s claim on my life. In 1994 I was baptized and I dedicated my life to His service.

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Heather Boyd

a second-generation Christian from Dubuque

My parents were new Christians when I was born and my mom and dad were regular people working regular jobs. They were also very faithful to church, which is an important lesson they taught me.

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Cole, Luke and Joel

third culture kids

Our boys were born in Iowa before we moved to Holland. Now they have a culture of their own... born in America, school and Church in Dutch, and speaking English at home. Sometimes it's hard to have friends in both countries, but most of the time they love it!

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Daniel

I was born on May 11, 1981 in Des Moines, Iowa.

My parents arrived in Holland in 1983 as missionary church planters with BMM. I was two. I grew up in a row house in Veghel together with my brothers, Mark and Nathan. I enjoyed most aspects of growing up "third culture" and had the unique privilege of knowing my grandparents ons the field. Herb and Ruth had opened the Dutch field for BMM in 1954 and my mom's parents, Rusty and Norma were missionaries with EBM to France. I was six when I made my profession of faith. I was confronted with my own terrible sin (I was a pretty stubborn kid) and my dad recognized the opportunity to help me realize my desparate need for a Savior. That afternoon in Waterloo, Iowa I confessed my sin and my understanding that Jesus Christ had died on the cross for my sins and risen again and I asked Him to save me. During my teen years I struggled with worldliness and whether or not my faith was real. This spiritual struggle lead to my decision that I needed to be baptized and I surrendered my life to God. In the months and years that followed God placed a desire in my heart for missions.

In 1999 I graduated High School and moved to the United States to attend Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa. I graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pastoral studies. In the fall of 2003 I attended seminary at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary and graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Arts degree in 2004.

Read Heather's biography... our story...
Heather

I was born on February, 20, 1979 in Dubuque, Iowa.

I have two older brothers and one younger brother. My dad worked in a local bakery that produced Sunbeam Bread, so I wasn't allowed to eat any other brand growing up. My parents were new Christians when I was born, but they were very faithful to church. I even remember walking up the snow covered hill to get to church when the roads were impassable.

I was saved when I was five years old. One day on the way home from church I just kept thinking to myself that I really needed to get saved. I had grown up in church and knew what I needed to do. When we arrived home I sat down on the couch, confessed my sins and asked the Lord to forgive and save me. I was baptized shortly thereafter.

I attended public school in Dubuque, IA and attended Faith Baptist Bible College when I graduated in 1997. I received my Teaching degree in 2001.

Daniel and I met in the kitchen of FBBC, became best friends, and started dating my senior year. In deciding to pursue a relationship with Daniel I realized that God was changing my future as I had envisioned it. God specifically used a sermon from Luke 14 to challenge and comfort me with this change of direction. I realized that night that God had been preparing me for this all my life. We were married on August 3, 2002 in my home Church in Dubuque.

Read about our family... our story...
our three boys

Nicolas or "Cole" was born in Cedar Rapids, IA in 2005.

Luke was born in Dubuque, IA in 2008.

Joel was born in Dubuque, IA in 2010.

Our three boys are a true blessing from the Lord and we love our parenting task, but covet your prayers for them as they go to public school and make friends in this Godless society.

our story...
the rest is history

Before we knew each other God gave Heather and me the same life verse: Psalm 73:28. This Psalm has been a driving force behind our life choices and commitments and God has used its truth to direct our hearts and thoughts time and again. As we have drawn near to Him, and learned to trust Him with all the circumstances of life, a desire has been cultivated to declare all His works. As we learned to work together and follow God, He also gave us the desire to
declare all God's works to the Dutch people.

At Urbandale Baptist Church (in Iowa) we learned to work together and complement one another in ministry. When He moved us to Cedar Rapids in 2004 to join the ministry of Good News Baptist Church, He taught us to encourage and strengthen each other during exciting ministry oportunities, juggling ministry and family responsibities, and even facing some leadership conflict. In 2006 we applied to BMM and deputation taught us endurance, patience and the importance of family. God used all the changes, challenges, victories and heartaches to teach us that it is good to draw near to Him and in every circumstance make Him our refuge. As we learned this our desire to simply declare all His works intensified.

In 2007 we were asked by the Dutch field to consider coming to Holland in the summer of 2008 to run teen camp. Good News Bible Camp is a one-week ministry that Heather and I had hoped to spearhead once we made it to the field. It was our first opportunity to really "do something" as missionaries with BMM. It was a wonderful first experience - even though Heather stayed home with the boys - to see how God would use us to impact the lives of 31 Dutch teens.

On May 21, 2011 we boarded a plane to Belgium. Really. It was cheaper to fly to Brussels than to Amsterdam. Within a month we found a car and an appartment and after the summer Cole started elementary school. Within just a few months Heather was doing language training and we served the Evangelical Baptist Church of Veghel while my parents went on furlough. A new and welcome adjustment in ministry in the country we had been preparing for!

In 2013 Heather and I moved to Bergen op Zoom to join John and Anna Kay Haskell in a small church plant. We loved working alongside them and in 2015 they retired to the States and we became the lead Church planters.

We have been serving in Bergen op Zoom since. We continue to run teen camp, a young adult retreat and an occasional retreat for couples. The BMM missionary team also organizes a Men's and Women's conference in March and October. Through it all we continue to simply declare all God's works to the Dutch people!

See our timeline

Timeline of major events

From Ankeny
to Bergen op Zoom.

August 3, 2002

We got married!
Active members of Urbandale Baptist Church during college and seminary.

July 2004

Moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa after graduation.
Internship at Good News Baptist Church and
an internship with Paraklete counseling.

July 2006

Baptist Mid Missions Candidate Class.

December 2007

Four week Survey trip to the Netherlands.

July 2008

Invited by the Dutch field to run Teen summercamp in the Netherlands.

January 2010

Baptist Mid Missions Launch Seminar.

May 20, 2011

Moved to Veghel, the Netherlands.
Interim pastored the Church in Veghel for six months
Heather started Dutch Language training.

June 2013

Moved to Bergen op Zoom.
Worked together with John and Anna Kay Haskell.
Heather followed a specialized language acquisition and perfecting course

July 2014 - February 2015

End of First term. Beginning of five month furlough.

May 20, 2015

Installed as missionary pastor of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Bergen op Zoom.

July - August 2017

End of Second term. Beginning of five week Family-First furlough.

April & June 2019

Selection & appointment of two elders and four deacons.
A major step forward in the Church's development

March 2020

Covid-19. Our services were on lockdown for two months. In June we started two services, which lasted until november 2020.

August - October 2022

End of Third term. Beginning of three month furlough in de Mid-West and Pennsylvania.

February - April 2023

Daniel was asked to take on the responsibility of European Coordinator. We accepted at the end of April

Vision

Why we do what we do
and how we plan to do it.

Partnerships

Shared vision with local Churches is a vital link in the chain for missions to succeed. Our partnership with Baptist Mid Missions is another vital link.
Prayer is what connects us as we collectively ask the Father to do more than we ever could individually (Eph. 3:20). This is not a one-way street: we pray for and share the global vision of Baptist Mid Missions and the local vision of our Supporting Churches for their communities.

Family

Our family is our first responsibility. My qualifications for ministry depend on and grow out of my familial duties. We may not sacrifice family on the altar of ministry. We try to create a safe haven for our kids and ask others to specifically pray for our family's spiritual protection.
We also prioritize family during furloughs, so that our kids will grow up knowing and loving their grandparents, uncles and aunts, and sixteen cousins. Most of our extended family lives in Iowa.

Biblical methodology

Scripture is our basis for developing missionary methods and we believe that our mission is to plant New Testament, independent, and indigenous Baptist Churches in the south of Holland. The local Church is where disciples of Christ learn to walk worthy of Him (holiness), produce spiritual fruit (love & service) and increase in the knowledge of Him (relationship). (Col. 1:10)
Church planting is the heart of our mission and strategy. Read more...

Simplicity

The Great Commission is beautifully uncomplicated: make disciples. Going, teaching and baptizing are verbs describing how to accomplish the mission.
Dutch people tend to over-complicate things. I strongly believe in minimizing (doing less, well) and simplifying faith, discipleship, and Church growth. (Eph. 4:1-16) Read more...
God certainly calls us to do hard things, but that doesn’t mean those hard things aren’t simple matters of obedience and faith.

Strategic

We aim to develop SMART goals in order to maintain forward momentum in ministry. Each strategy is a prayerful statement of faith regarding what we believe or envision possible in a particular timeframe.
We are ever mindful that as we plan, God is the One who directs our steps (cf. Pro. 16:9). "We write our plans in pencil and God holds the eraser," as one missionary put it.

Growth events

Making disciples happens primarily in the local Church, but Heather and I have also seen the value of retreats, conferences, and camps in our own lives.
BMM-Netherlands invests in a one-week summer camp in July, weekend retreats for couples in February and young adults in April, and mini-conferences for men on the first Saturday of March and women on the first Saturday of October. These are "growth events" that assist local Churches by providing solid Biblical teaching, training, and strengthening for disciples.

Photos

An impression of
our life and ministry.

  • All
  • Family
  • Church Planting
  • Children's Day club
  • Camp
  • GoDutch

Articles & Quotes

Noteworthiness.

News

keep current with us.

Latest Prayer Requests

Archived updates

A listing of our last five prayer letters.

Prayer letter signup

We send an e-update at least once per quarter.

contact information

connect with us.

e-mail:
daniel@boydsineurope.com
address:
Holleweg 177, 4623XD Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands
phone:
+31 (0)611-708-669

five week summer internship

goDutch.