Netherlands

The Netherlands is located in northwestern Europe on the North Sea. The official language is Dutch, and the capital is Amsterdam. The country is known for its flat landscape of canals, tulip fields, windmills and cycling routes.

Christianity was the predominant religion in the Netherlands until the late 20^th century. Since then there has been a significant decline. A national survey in 2019 reported that for the first time, non-religious people are in the majority in the Netherlands and only 49 percent of people older than 15 consider themselves to be religious. The vast majority of people in the Netherlands—82 percent—report that they have never or almost never visited a church.

CMF, in partnership with Flatirons Community Church, Lafayette, Colo., planted a Globalscope campus ministry at Maastricht University on the southern tip of the country. The university started in the late 1970s and has exploded in size, with about 16,000 students. Only 49 percent are Dutch; the rest come from all over the world, attracted by the university’s problem-based learning system—all in English—and small class sizes.

The team arrived in Maastricht in 2022 and began building connections with the university and the larger community. In 2023 the team received official approval to launch the ministry. The team now has a campus house and are actively developing relationships and sharing God’s love and authentic Christian living with university students in the Netherlands.