Son Follows Father’s Footsteps into Mission

James Zwier recalls the many times he tagged along when his father, Joel, would take him to see how the Christian Reformed Church was helping people in the Dominican Republic.

Joel Zwier was working with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, helping communities to develop economically, socially and spiritually.

"I would go with him on Sunday morning and visit families and see diaconal training. It was an enjoyable father-and-son thing," says James. "I admired and was proud of my dad's work."

As his father would talk to a farmer or village official or immigrant from nearby Haiti, James would stand in the background, quietly listening.

He was happy that his dad took him along. But he didn't really consider this type of work for a career. "I never thought I'd do this," James said recently. "It's good; it's okay, but it wasn't for me."

But the Lord had other plans.

As James took classes at Calvin College and as he remembered the trips with his dad to villages and farm fields and churches and the satisfaction that his dad seemed to get from his work, James started to wonder if a career that followed in his father's footsteps might be for him.

As he neared the end of college he still wasn't sure, but he contacted CRWRC to see what kinds of opportunities might be available. He learned about an internship program that would take him to Eastern Europe or to Laos, a country in Asia of which he knew very little

When he landed in Laos, he realized that he was going to need to work closely with the Laotian government on development projects. Along the way, he met and married his wife, Sarah, who also had been working in Laos.

As an intern, James helped to bring clean water, job training, agricultural assistance and health care information to people in the villages. Just before leaving Laos to return to the United States he did a survey in villages where he and others worked.

"The results of the survey were dramatic – incomes nearly tripled from 2006," he says in a recent newsletter. Nearly 90 percent of children were attending school and the number of adults who learned to read jumped from 51 to 72 percent.

When he returns to Laos in 2009, it will no longer be as an intern but as a program adviser with CRWRC.

"I really love this work. I see it making a difference in people's lives," James says.

Joel Zwier has been working for CRWRC since 1976, starting in Nicaragua, then moving to Honduras, and eventually to the Dominican Republic, where he is country director, working with various partners and teaching leadership development courses. "It is enjoyable working with our partners and other organizations," he says. "I see myself as an encourager, a prodder, as someone who walks alongside."

One current project involves a small coffee plantation village on a mountainside about 800 feet above the Caribbean Sea. "The CRC here is taking its first steps to transform the community," says Joel Zwier in his June 2008 newsletter.

"Last year, 19 latrines were built in the community to help reduce sickness and parasites. This year two literacy classes have begun to teach the people to read and write."

Recently, father and son happened to be in the U.S. at the same to visit with CRWRC staff in Grand Rapids, Mich. Both father and son are low-key. But the smiles they share as they talk about their work reflect a close bond.

James and Sarah are visiting CRC congregations to tell the story of their work in Laos.

Before they return to Laos they will stop off in the Dominican Republic to visit James’s parents. It will be a homecoming for James, who grew up in the Dominican Republic.

Joel and Patricia Zwier have four children, two girls and two boys. One daughter has worked in Latin America as a teacher. As for himself, Joel Zwier says working for CRWRC is "what I've wanted to do. I've met a lot of fascinating people. I enjoy the work. It is meaningful."