Meet the pastors, staff members, ministry leaders and elders of Thousand Hills Hilversum
Pastoral Leadership Team of Hilversum
Sebastiaan van Wessem is the lead pastor at Thousand Hills. He grew up in the city of Hilversum, and has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Amsterdam and a Master of Theology from Continental Theological Seminary / University of Wales. Sebastiaan is the founder and coordinator of the Europe Advance church planting network and serves as the General Secretary of the Dutch Assemblies of God (VPE). He regularly preaches both in the Netherlands and abroad, visiting places as far apart as the United States, Brazil, Suriname, Spain, Belgium, Austria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Follow Sebastiaan on Facebook and Twitter
Jim Rossi is the Senior Associate Pastor at Thousand Hills. Originally from California, USA, Jim spent almost twenty years living in Brussels, Belgium where he taught at the Continental Theological Seminary before moving to the Netherlands almost six years ago. Besides helping Thousand Hills, Jim currently serves as the Vice President of Azusa Theological Seminary located at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam. Also, he is currently a PhD candidate in Old Testament at the VU and the Field Moderator for the USA Assemblies of God – Netherlands field. Jim has been in ministry for 40 years and married to Dar for 38 years.
David and Margaret White have been Thousand Hills members since July 2007. Originally from Scotland, they moved to The Netherlands in 1987 and in 1999, spent a 2-year period in North Carolina, USA. David formerly worked as Clinical Quality Assurance Auditor in the pharmaceutical industry now retired and started his own Quality Assurance consultancy company. He is experienced in church development in the USA and The Netherlands. Margaret has experience in Christian pastoral care, and David is the business manager for Thousand Hills.
Local Staff and Ministry Leaders
Koen Prinzen was born in Amersfoort and raised in Soest. He is a graduate from Azusa Theological Seminary and has been involved in worship and preaching for several years. He serves Thousand Hills in the areas of church and leadership development, teaching, and developing new ministries. He is also one of the worship leaders for the Sunday morning celebrations. Besides working for Thousand Hills, Koen studies at Tyndale Theological Seminary for a Master of Divinity. Follow Koen on Facebook.
Rudy and Tjitske Volkerink have been involved with Thousand Hills since the start. Rudy grew up in Ommen in the east of Holland and has lived in Hilversum for twelve years. Since his teenage years he has been volunteering in churches in many practical ways, and when he was asked to be the caretaker for Thousand Hills, it was a natural development for him. He serves our community with dedication and passion. Tjitske works for Stichting Hulp in Praktijk, a Christian organisation that assists churches in developing benevolence ministries, as communications manager. She also assists our Lead Pastor in effective communication of the vision of Thousand Hills.
Jan-Willem and Jobine Gunnink have been part of Thousand Hills from the beginning. Together they run a Christian career consulting organisation. Jan-Willem serves on the Board of Finance and Policy. He is also the Coordinator of Life Groups, the small groups that meet within Thousand Hills, and he is extremely passionate about his role in promoting a supportive Christian community. Jobine leads the outreach ministry ‘A Taste of Heaven’, and is dedicated to working with the hurting and broken. She is also involved with pastoral care in Thousand Hills.
Henk and Marina Groenesteijn are both closely involved with Thousand Hills. Henk grew up in the Netherlands, while Marina is from Uruguay but has a Greek background. The couple have lived in Crete, where they served in an international church for several years. Their children Danai and Gavriel were born there. Henk is now the coordinator for KidsQuest, our children’s ministry at Thousand Hills, and both he and Marina love to serve the church community with their gifts.
Marcel Koning joined Thousand Hills in October 2006 and since January 2007, he has served as Worship Pastor. Marcel held many musical leadership positions before coming to Thousand Hills, including directing several international tours for Continental Singers and working as a choir director of Forever Worship alongside international worship leaders such as Ron Kenoly, Brian Doerksen, Darlene Zschech and Travis Cottrell. Marcel is married to Annemarie.Together they have two beautiful boys, Nathan and Mattias.
Jochem Naafs grew up in Doetinchem, a city in the east of the Netherlands. He has always been passionate about working with young people, helping them to grow in their relationship with Christ. Jochem is the coordinator of Mosaic, the teen ministry at Thousand Hills. Besides inspiring young people to become more like Jesus, Jochem loves to hang out and plan adventurous activities with them.
Eva van Wessem is a member of the staff and has been involved with Thousand Hills since the very beginning. She is married to our lead pastor Sebastiaan. Originally from Austria, she has spent most of the last few years living in Hilversum. Eva works as an office manager, but she also spends one day a week in the church office and is involved in communications and pastoral care.
Joanna Gulcher grew up in South Africa and is from Dutch descent. She has been part of Thousand Hills from the early days. Joanna supports Jan-Willem in the task of leading the Life Groups at Thousand Hills, as well as lending support to our office staff with her many skills.
Elders
Leon and Marjan Besters live in Baarn. They have been involved with Thousand Hills since 2006. Leon is an IT team manager for Universal Music while Marjan works as a nurse in a Salvation Army hospital in Baarn in a hospital. The couple focus on healthy relations in the Church and on prayer activities
Alex and Patience Irete are Nigerians and have been in the Netherlands since 2008. Alex works in Lagos, Nigeria for a Dutch dairy company that has a number of operations in Nigeria, and he us currently based at the company’s Head Office based in Meppel. Patience takes care of the home front and she places particular emphasis on prayers and bible study. Alex likes to read, teach and motivate others.
Martijn and Joke Haaijer have been a part of Thousand Hills since 2005. Martijn works for the local government, while Joke works as an office manager for an interdenominational Christian foundation. The couple also have considerable experience at working with youth and training youth leaders, and they are closely involved with youth ministry at Thousand Hills as well alongside their responsibilities as church elders.
Eric and Wendelin Velu live in Bussum. They have been a part of Thousand Hills almost since the beginning and have really found their home in this Church. Eric is a producer and director for TV and Wendelin works for a private investigation bureau. Eric is involved with the youth ministry at Thousand Hills.