"Marv's Story: Stepping Out in Faith"

Before he was a Christian, Marv Hyder had a busy life – he had a family, a career, he was a devoted athlete and avid fisherman.

Now, Hyder also has a deep passion to see the gospel transform people’s lives. Why? Because it happened to him.

Jon Huizenga, Hyder’s pastor and friend, remembers the evening he first met Hyder.

“In the community of Rockford, I’ve always looked for places where I can connect to people who are not part of a church,” says Huizenga, pastor at River Rock Church in Rockford, Mich.

“I heard about this Friday night informal triathlon group that met at a lake. It happened to be at Marv Hyder’s house.”

“I love to ride bicycles,” says Hyder. “I do a lot of riding during the summer; a lot of swimming. I used to be a triathlete.”

Growing up, he spent Sunday mornings fishing with his father — church was never a priority.

“Before I became a Christian, my life was pretty much about myself without thinking about anybody else,” says Hyder.

Then God turned his life around when Hyder received Jesus at a weekend retreat.

Huizenga has walked with Hyder through that journey. “It’s been really fun to watch Marv, a guy who didn’t go to church at all, to a guy who started coming to church regularly because he received Jesus, to a guy who is a faithful elder at River Rock Church,” says Huizenga.

Christian Reformed Home Missions brings Hyder’s full story of his walk with Christ in a new video, “Marv’s Story: Stepping Out in Faith.”

River Rock Church, a church plant formerly funded by Christian Reformed Home Missions, is now in its 15th year and has partnered with Home Missions once again to plant another new church – LifeQuest Church – in neighboring Greenville, Mich.

LifeQuest pastor and church planter Jon Vugteveen says, “Two things happen when you get involved in something you’re passionate about: you’ll be fruitful and you’ll be fulfilled.”

All across North America, God is working to transform lives and communities, and Home Missions is committed to answering God’s call to join him. Together with supporters, Home Missions is working to start and strengthen churches like River Rock Church and LifeQuest Church.

As Marv Hyder says, this work the church is called to do is for “the Big Guy.”