Senior Staff
About Mark & Henriette
Mark was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, while Henriette grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark. Their paths crossed for the very first time during the summer of 1983 when they joined Project Kibbutz, a Christian discipleship program in Israel. They spent two years living and working on a kibbutz, located only miles from the Lebanese border. It was a pivotal time in their personal growth, as they immersed in an international Christian community on team and learned all about lifestyle evangelism. This was really the springboard which launched them into their globally nomadic life among the nations for 30 years.
Following the years in Israel, they both joined a small team that was training in the UK in the fall of 1985 with the goal of launching a new missions effort in Kenya, East Africa. It was an intensive time of learning about missions, while serving in a local church community. In 1986, they and a small team moved to Kitale, Kenya and started ICM (International Christian Ministries); a ministry that is today training, equipping and educating indigenous church leaders across the African continent, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. One particular joy was to start a church leadership training program among the Sabaot – an unreached people group on Mt Elgon, on the border of Kenya and Uganda. It was also during their time in Kenya that they took the bold step and decided to get married (in 1988). In 1990, they were blessed by the arrival of their first son, Daniel, who was born in a small missions hospital near Nairobi. It is no secret that they thought they would be in Africa for the rest of their lives – but there was more ahead.
In 1990, they left their beloved Africa to move to Europe, and for the next few years spent time working with Intercessors International, a prayer movement/network spanning many nations around the world. Mark traveled extensively in Europe and engaged church leaders in both the Middle East and the former Communist block. It was an eye opener to the desperate need of this once Christian continent, now so secularized and in real need of re-evangelization after 2000 years. They spent a few years in Switzerland and the Netherlands where Mark completed two degrees in theology and missiology, while doing a missional community among the inner-city people of Amsterdam. It was also during this time that they had the joy of seeing their family grow with the addition of two more sons, Stephen and Benjamin.
After spending a short period in Southern California in 1997-98, during which time they worked with Saddleback Church and helped establish their outreach program in Africa, they returned to Europe in the summer of 1998 and took on the responsibility as Eastern Europe Director for Christian Associates International, a non-traditional church-planting and leadership development ministry in the cities of Europe. Throughout the 1990s in Europe, Mark and Henriette’s hearts were increasingly impacted by the post-modern landscape of Europe, with 2-4% Christian presence. They began rethinking the nature and function of the Church, mostly wrestling with the theological and cultural aspects of the Church, much like they did while living in Africa and the Middle East.
2001 brought the du Bord family back to the United States. Since they had never lived here for more than a temporary stay, they knew this would be for a longer season. Needless to say, both they and their growing boys needed a bit of stability after a very nomadic lifestyle with many moves across international borders, and lots of transition along the way. They joined ranks with Church Resource Ministries and invested themselves for a number of years in working alongside church leaders in the US, and also headed up a local team of ministers in Arizona. It was also during this season that Henriette got acquainted with and came to love working with Mending the Soul Ministries, and facilitated several healing groups for women whose lives have been shattered by abuse and trauma.
In 2010, they joined ranks with Global Training Network and left the US in early 2012 to move to the Middle East. Mark served for 3 years with an existing church before starting a new international church early in 2015. The church is located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Mark & Henriette have three grown sons. Daniel graduates in 2015 from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island with a degree in criminal justice, while Stephen has been studying at London School of Theology in the U.K., and Benjamin has been serving with YWAM in Asia, Europe, and the USA.