Supporting Churches Multilingually

Ever since Synod 2023 approved Thrive as an agency of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the organization has been working to support CRC congregations in a holistic way. 

Thrive’s mission is to “equip churches and ministry leaders with the encouragement, connections, and tools they need to flourish.” Over the past two years, Thrive has strategically refined its organizational structure to foster effective and organic communication, thereby strengthening its partnership with local congregations. 

As a part of these efforts, Thrive now has four Korean-speaking staff members who can assist and support Korean ministry leaders, as well as six Spanish-speaking staff members to ensure Thrive’s offerings are accessible to the CRCNA’s Hispanic congregations. 

Rev. Chris Choe, Thrive’s Korean connector, brings 21 years of pastoral experience in Korean immigrant churches to the role. He deeply understands the unique needs of these congregations and works alongside Thrive’s ministry consultants to help address the practical challenges of Korean churches. He also provides interpretation to support the two Korean classes (Hanmi and Ko-Am) in their communications with the denomination, and he offers consultation regarding the recruitment of Korean pastors.

Catheryn Jo, another Thrive Korean connector, translates denominational updates into Korean in a timely manner and shares them with Korean pastors and churches. She communicates closely with the Korean Ministers’ Association (KMA) leadership and local congregations, ensuring that the needs and voices of Korean churches are heard at the denominational level. In addition, she introduces stories from the Korean community to the broader CRC by writing and sharing articles. In this way she helps to enable the full CRC to listen, celebrate, and pray together. She also reviews and translates denominational resources produced by agencies and ministries, identifying materials that can be effectively used in the context of Korean immigrant churches.

Sandy Woo serves at the denominational call center, responding promptly to various requests through the CRC’s toll-free line (800-272-5125) and through the chat function on crcna.org. She assists callers with the purchase of denominational publications such as Dwell and Coffee Break resources, connects inquirers with the appropriate departments, and provides interpretation services, ensuring that churches and members receive timely and effective support.

Elaine Lee, Thrive’s U.S. West regional connector, serves nine classes in the western United States (excluding the Korean classes): Classis Arizona, Red Mesa, Rocky Mountain, California South, Greater Los Angeles, Columbia, Central California, North Cascades, and Pacific Northwest. Having immigrated to Los Angeles at age 11 and having served as a Resonate missionary in Mexico for 25 years, she is able to minister not only to Anglo and Korean churches in these classes but also to Hispanic congregations in their own language. With many Venezuelan congregations joining through California classes and with Hispanic churches from diverse backgrounds growing rapidly, her wealth of experience and dedication play a vital role in helping the denomination pursue unity in diversity.

Rev. Lesli van Milligen, director of Thrive, brings a rich background in language education and cross-cultural ministry to her leadership. With experience in both English and Spanish, van Milligen is able to engage in and facilitate meaningful conversations across linguistic and cultural contexts. Her passion is to ensure that pastors and ministry leaders feel seen, supported, and connected, regardless of their language background. She is deeply committed to accessibility and shared learning, cultivating environments where leaders can flourish, collaborate, and respond faithfully to God’s mission in their local contexts. 

Aura Guerra-Artola, serving as Hispanic connector, accompanies and supports Hispanic congregations across the CRCNA. Her work focuses on building strong relationships with pastors and churches, sharing resources, and helping leaders navigate opportunities for growth as they serve their communities. Because she engages with pastors and congregations in their first language, she is able to foster open, heartfelt communication. She provides translation support, maintains regular contact, and listens closely to the needs of congregations working to help immigrant families feel welcomed and rooted. She said she is continually inspired by the dedication of pastors and their families and considers it a privilege to walk alongside them in ministry.

Gloria Hunt, one of Thrive’s administrative coordinators, supports Thrive programs through a wide range of behind-the-scenes responsibilities, including email communications, data tracking, event registration, and many other administrative tasks that keep things running smoothly. Much of her service to Spanish-speaking congregations centers on written communication. She frequently assists by translating letters and documents and by helping ministry leaders who have questions to connect with the people or departments who can help with those questions. In these ways she helps to ensure that Spanish-speaking churches receive clear, accurate, and timely support.

Julia Rathbun, safe church ministry consultant, equips congregations to prevent abuse and to respond wisely and compassionately when harm occurs. Her role includes training, consultation, and guiding churches through the CRCNA’s established processes, as well as collaborating with classis and congregational leaders to cultivate healthy, safe ministry environments. She also works to ensure that Spanish-speaking members and congregations have full access to safe church support by connecting them with resources and offering consultation in matters of abuse prevention and response. Her hope, she said, is that language will never be a barrier to safety or to meaningful participation in denominational processes.

Sandra Gonzalez, regional connector, serves a multiethnic region and said she cherishes the opportunity to collaborate with ethnic-specific connectors across the denomination. As a bilingual leader, she is able to offer support to Spanish-speaking pastors and churches whenever needed, helping to make communications smooth and ensuring that leaders and congregations feel genuinely heard and supported.

The growing number of Korean- and Spanish-speaking staff members and the increasingly specialized roles they carry out are the fruit of decades of intentional effort within the CRCNA to embrace and embody diversity. As of 2025, Korean congregations make up 12 percent of all CRC churches, with predominantly Spanish-speaking congregations making up 4᠎ percent of CRC churches. Supported by the work of these Thrive staff, these churches are continuing to grow, bearing fruit in the gospel, and becoming a source of strength for the denomination as a whole.