Holland Park has a long history of service and spreading the Good News of Jesus on our street and around the world.

From our mentoring at Mauldin Elementary and Mauldin Middle to our mission efforts in Eastern Europe, Honduras, and Haiti, we want to see the Best Life made known to all.

Local Missions Foreign Missions Missions Update

LOCAL MISSIONS

Mauldin Middle School Mentoring

Holland Park is here for the next generation, and each week dozens of our family members spend their lunch break at Mauldin Middle, encouraging and celebrating a great kid. We are thankful to partner with Mentor Upstate to train and rally around adults as they choose to be a constant friend and listening ear to a young person. The training only takes about an hour, and the weekly commitment is 30 minutes during your student’s lunch period. There are ALWAYS kids that need someone cheering them on. Contact the church office if you are willing to serve in this way.

MISSION BACKPACK

Mission Backpack is a program of outreach to help children in our community who often do not get enough to eat when they are home on weekends and school breaks. 49% of the children attending Greenville County Schools qualify for free or reduced-price meals. This is about 35,000 school-age children. Many of these children have little or nothing to eat at home on weekends and school breaks. Children are selected by the school social worker/counselor from among those who qualify for free meals and are identified as being at high risk for hunger during out-of-school times.

Holland Park volunteers provide donations of specific non-perishable food and/or monetary donations. Each week several volunteers bag food supplies for the weekend and transport them to Mauldin Middle School. We have committed to 25 bags each weekend. Linda Lunsford is the HPC coordinator.

We are partnering with Loaves & Fishes which is the organization that sponsors Mission Backpack in the Greenville area. They provided the information to support the program and helped us coordinate with Mauldin Middle School.

RELEASED-TIME CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Holland Park participates in the Released-Time Christian Education program by hosting classes once a week from September through March. We partner with Mauldin Middle School through Christian Learning Centers of Greenville County to share the hope of the Gospel and show them the love of Jesus through teaching, encouragement, and relational investment. Our hope is that, when these students move on to high school, Jesus might have stirred their hearts with affection for Him. We want nothing more than for these students to know Him, pursue Him and seek after Him with all of their being. If you would like to volunteer with Released Time, please contact Cindy Payne There are both weekly opportunities and case-by-case volunteer opportunities.

Foreign Mission History

In 1992, The Holland Park Church (then Northeast Church of Christ) first began consideration of full-time support for foreign national missionaries. This was and is in keeping with Jesus’ instructions to:

“Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Matthew 28:19-20

It was felt that this was an impacting and cost-effective approach to Mission work. Holland Park does not typically send American families to foreign locations for extended periods of time. We don’t believe it’s best to “micro-manage” our national missionaries. Our call does include prayer, spiritual support, and at least one trip each year to each mission point to encourage the work and provide help where needed. We do provide guidance on any spiritual and doctrinal issues.

WE NEED YOUR HELP. Holland Park requests your prayers for these efforts to further the Kingdom. For more information or to get involved, contact the Holland Park office. Bob Davis oversees our foreign missions efforts.

HONDURAS

Two nationals from Honduras were selected after detailed screening of over 20 graduates from Baxter Institute in Tegucigalpa. A 5-year plan was developed to add one additional national missionary in a foreign country each year from 1992 to 1997. The work in Honduras eventually led to the addition of other full-time nationals. At present Holland Park supports 5 nationals in Honduras, one in Choleteca (Luis Castellanos) in the south, one in Siquatepeque (Marco Tulio Castellanos) in the central area, one in La Lima (Arturo Torres) in the north, Gracias de Limpera (Jesus Aguilar) in the west and (also in the West) Rene Rosa in Lepaera de Limpera. In 2010 we began to shift our focus toward developing independent churches in Honduras. To that end we are working with four churches in that country: Santa Rosa de Copan in Western Honduras, Alto del Porvenir, near San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras, Villanueva, also near San Pedro Sula and Nacaome in the Southern part of Honduras.

LUGANSK, UKRAINE

In 1993 a rather strange request reach our mission ministry. A doctor and recent convert in Lugansk, Ukraine sent a letter requesting someone from our congregation to come over and “teach me more of the Bible”. This kind of request could not be ignored. So, in the spring of 1994, a group of 14 members, armed with humanitarian aid and the sword of the Spirit, went to Lugansk to honor the doctor’s request and perhaps teach other interested Ukrainians. About 150, mostly students from the Institute attended our “English classes using the Bible as a text”. The effort lasted about 2 weeks with only two baptisms. A bit disappointed, some in the group promised to return later in the fall. To our amazement, our students continued to study the material and the Bibles we left with them. In the fall, 14 were ready to be baptized. The church was registered later that year. At present, a congregation with its own building exists there. Interestingly enough, the first convert in 1994 is the current evangelist and is studying at the Sunset School of Preaching both online and in Donetsk. With the war of recent years in Eastern Ukraine, there have been no on sight visits. Contact is still maintained through e-mail.

CROATIA

Shortly after the effort in Ukraine began in 1994, a request was received from Zagreb, Croatia asking for support for two nationals who were working part-time for the church there. Their full-time support was started later in 1994. One (Mladen Dominic) has established a congregation in Varazdin located in northern Croatia. The other evangelist (Vlado Psenko) was located in eastern Croatia in Vukovar where he and his wife had a very popular radio and TV served Croatia and other surrounding countries. Vlado sadly passed away in early October of 2022.

HAITI

In 2011, Holland Park became concerned with conditions in Haiti after the major earthquake. Two of our members visited Haiti in July of that year where they were introduced to Hope for Haiti’s Children, an orphanage dedicated to showing orphans the love of Jesus. As a result, individuals from our congregation are now supporting 43 orphans. Plans include the establishment of at least one congregation in the future.

Foreign Missionaries

IGOR and ZOYA KOROLYOV

Igor was converted in 1994 during our first mission trip to Lugansk, Ukraine. His wife Zoya became a Christian one year later. Igor has preached for the congregation for several years. A meeting place in Lugansk was purchased in 1999 that, after some modifications, now includes a worship area with seating for about 50, two classrooms, and a kitchen and bathroom. Additional renovations and improvements by the members have made the building much more inviting. Attendance averages around 15 to 20. Many members have moved away to find jobs. Igor and Zoya visited Northeast in the spring of 2000 and again in 2007. They have a son, daughter-in-law, and one grandchild of the first of 2010. In 2009 Igor decided to pursue some formal Bible training through the Sunset School of Preaching and dedicate himself to full-time ministry. Igor may be contacted at igor1@live.ru

LUIS CASTELLANOS and FAMILY

In 1995, Luis and his wife, Ruth, started a work in southern Honduras in Choluteca, near the Nicaraguan border. There is a church there now with their own meeting facility. Included are separate classroom facilities. Attendance on Sunday morning averages about 150. Luis was instrumental in securing funds to build housing in a “new city” after the Hurricane Mitch struck Central America in 1998. He does a lot of leadership training and has a very active youth group. They have 3 children. Luis can be reached at dace65@yahoo.com

MLADEN DOMINIC and FAMILY

Mladen and his wife, Renata, worked with the church in Zagreb, Croatia for several years. His work started there, under the overall supervision of Brother Jovanovic. With Malden’s technical background, he produces weekly radio programs, edits the church bulletin and teaches Bible classes. With our approval, Mladen moved to northern Croatia in 1998 and began a congregation in the city of Varazdin. Attendance in Varazdin is about 25 to 30. In October 2009 the church in Varazdin had the grand opening of their new church building. The building was purchased almost a year earlier and had been undergoing a renovation process. The new facility has seating for 52 worshipers, 4 classrooms and a kitchen. At the end of 2009, Mladen lost some of his personal support from a contributing church. His prayer and ours is that the Lord will soon provide for this shortfall. For more information you may contact Mladen at the following e-mail address : mdominic@icloud.com His website is: http://www.mladenforchrist.com

Mladen and Renata visited us in the spring of 2000 and Mladen visited us a few times since. The Dominic’s have 4 children and are an excellent model for other young Croatian Christian families.

ARTURO TORRES and FAMILY

Arturo, his wife, Rosario, and their family, joined our mission efforts in Honduras in 1997. They began their work in Nacoame with Santos Ramirez. After a few months, we asked him to relocate to La Lima to assist with the congregation there after one of our evangelists relocated to the Guadalupe congregation in San Pedro Sula. He agreed and moved in December, 1997. He worked with Je’sus Aguilar until Brother Aguilar moved to Villanueva in 2001. Since then Arturo has been the only minister at the La Lima Church. Attendance averages about 60 each Sunday. They have 4 children and one granddaughter. Arturo’s oldest son is currently studying for the ministry at the Baxter Institute in Tegucigalpa. Arturo can be reached at misiontorres67@hotmail.com

JE’SUS AGUILAR and FAMILY

Je’sus and his wife, Emma, began working in La Lima in 1992. In 2001 they moved to a small village, Villanueva, a few miles away to start a new congregation. They met in a rented house for a couple of years, bought some land and began meeting in a shelter on the new property. In late 2006 a new building was completed with the help of a group of Christians from Trenton, MI. Attendance averages about 60. A few years ago, Jesus and his family moved to the town of Gracias in the Limpera department of Western Honduras. They are currently in the process of building a church building in la Puerta Belen near Gracias. This new building will seat 100. Jesus can be reached at jaguilarjap8@hotmail.com

MARCO CASTELLANOS and FAMILY

We began supporting Marco Castellanos part-time in 1995 and full-time support in 1999. Marco has planted churches in Macaruya, an area in Siguatepeque, a congregations in El Provenier and Buena Vista. All three are located in the mountains of central Honduras. Marco is currently working full time with the church in el Porvenir . The el Provenir church building has recently been completed with a seating capacity of 75. Average Sunday attendance is about 55. He and Norma have 5 children and one grandchild. Marco can be reached at marcotguev@yahoo.com

VLADO and RENATA PSENKO

As mentioned above, Vlado Psenko passed away on October 3, 2022. Here is a synopsis of his ministry. Vlado began work with the church in Zagreb in 1994. He organized “Poetry Sessions” (Prayer, Poetry and Song sessions) a few years ago as an outreach of the church into the community in and around Zagreb. Attendance reached as high as 280 for one of these sessions. Several conversions can be directly attributed to these efforts. He has preached for the Downtown Church of Christ in Zagreb and is very active in counseling. Attendance averages about 25. He received his B.A. degree in Bible. Vlado and his wife Renata recorded 3-minute radio messages which were aired 5 days per week on 6 radio stations in Croatia. Radio Vukovar (one of the radio stations) is the 12th most popular station in all of Croatia. Vlado also recorded 15-minute messages for broadcasting in Zagreb. Their love was in both radio ministry and their recently developed TV ministry. They have no children. Vlado and Renata have visited the US on two occasions.
As of January 2010, Vlado and Renata relocated to Vukovar, a town in the Eastern part of Croatia near the border of Bosnia and Serbia. They were renting a building for worship which is within walking distance from the center of Vukovar. Vlado was also actively involved in recording television programs that aired throughout Croatia and neighboring countries.

You may read one of Vlado’s newsletters HERE.

RENE’ ROSA and FAMILY

Jose Rene Rosa has been a long time friend and co-worker of the Holland Park Church. On numerous trips to Honduras he has served as our driver and translator. After teaching at the Baxter Institute in Tegucigalpa, Rene returned to Santa Rosa in Western Honduras. In early 2013, Rene and Jesus Aguilar worked together to plant a church in Lepaera, Limpera in western Honduras. Both of these men are evangelists at heart and partners in spreading the Gospel. The Lord has worked through them not only in Lepaera but in the town of Gracias and la Puerta Belen also in western Honduras. In February of 2014 Rene became an official part of the Holland Park Mission family. His desire is to plant churches in every town in the five departments of western Honduras. Rene can be reached at renzohn@yahoo.com