Dear brothers and sisters. My name is Marco van Renssen, and this is my graduate profile. Studying at CRTS has been an immense blessing, and I thank the Father for the capable training we have received here in preparation for the work we desire. As I approach the end of my studies, my prayer and desire is to serve as a humble servant of God’s kingdom wherever He sends. Allow me to tell a little more about what brought me here.

I grew up in the beautiful suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. Since I was young, my parents and grandparents gave me the greatest gift they could give: A faithful example of love and service for the Lord. From a young age, I was interested in becoming a minister.

I learned English for the first time at the Reformed school of our church, the Gereformeerde Laerskool Bellville (try pronouncing that out loud!). When I went to High School, I entered an English-language public school, where I encountered secularism, evolutionism, feminism, and the LGBTQ movement. Those days challenged and formed me as I learned how to walk in wisdom toward outsiders, witness in love, and defend the faith.

In those days, I also had more and more conversations with my uncle, who is in the ministry. These had a formative effect on me, as I came to understand more and more the depth and the beauty of the grace of God. It contradicts our transactional nature, which wants to earn and achieve things for ourselves, by giving us complete forgiveness at no merit of our own, only through trust and faith in Jesus Christ. This was humbling, convicting, and life-changing.

While Cape Town is beautiful, it is also a place of poverty and brokenness. If you ever land at Cape Town Airport, you might be struck by the large areas of informal settlements. Unemployment rates are very high. In the neighbourhood where I grew up, people would take the train from the informal settlements and wait at the station for the chance of work. Many homeless people live around there as well. For a time, our church would hand out meals there and spread the Gospel.

It was in those people that I saw the true hunger that is in every person. No amount of money or charity can fill the emptiness in the soul of someone who is lost, whether rich or poor. The only true and lasting comfort is the good news of Jesus Christ.

After graduating from high school in 2018, I went to Stellenbosch University to study biblical languages. I majored in Hebrew, Greek, and Philosophy. During the breaks, I spent some time working at a butchery and then at the Reformational Study Centre. There was a span of eight months between the end of the academic year in South Africa (December) and the beginning of the academic year in Canada (September), during which I worked full-time for the Reformational Study Centre, translating Dutch.

Seminary was a wealth of experiences for me, and a time of rapid growth and learning. I had several PTP mentors, to whom I am all thankful: Rev. Hilmer Jagersma (Fellowship); Rev. Jake Torenvliet (Flamborough); Rev. Julius VanSpronsen (Edmonton Immanuel); and Rev. Tony Zekveld (Brampton). It was a joy delving into God’s Word under the supervision of these mentors, and I still benefit from their example and counsel. I also had the privilege of teaching catechism in Ancaster and Grassie, which I greatly enjoyed.

Meeting so many brothers and sisters in the Canadian Reformed (and sometimes United Reformed) Churches has been an immense blessing that accompanied my permission to speak an edifying Word in the churches. After growing up in a small federation in South Africa with only a handful of churches, meeting so many saints on the other side of the world – worshipping the same Lord and confessing the same Gospel – has been a great joy to me.

Wherever the Lord leads next, I will let Him walk in front. I hope to present myself to Classis Ontario West in June to be declared eligible for call.