The Board of General Superintendents has elected Netherlands native Arthur W. Snijders to the position of Eurasia regional director, effective 1 November 2013.

The Church of the Nazarene’s General Board ratified the election with an email vote coordinated by General Secretary David P. Wilson. Jurisdictional General Superintendent for Eurasia Jerry D. Porter and Global Mission Director Verne S. Ward III prayerfully led the nomination and election process.

According to the 2009-2013 Manual of the Church of the Nazarene (345.4), a regional director "works in harmony with the policies and practices of the Church of the Nazarene giving leadership to the districts, churches, and institutions of said region in fulfillment of the mission, strategies, and program of the church.

"Each regional director is to be administratively accountable to the Global Mission office and the General Board, and in jurisdictional matters, accountable to the Board of General Superintendents."

Snijders succeeds Gustavo A. Crocker as Eurasia regional director. Crocker was elected the denomination’s 41st general superintendent on 26 June 2013, creating a vacancy in the Eurasia regional office, located in Büsingen, Switzerland.

"We are delighted that Arthur Snijders has accepted the election to serve as the Eurasia regional director," Porter said. "He is a missional leader and gifted scholar with excellent knowledge of this challenging and diverse region. He and [wife] Annemarie have demonstrated great passion for evangelism, disciple making, and church planting. We celebrate and anticipate Arthur’s fruitful and effective ministry across the Eurasia Region."

Born in Rotterdam, Snijders currently serves as field strategy coordinator for the Eurasia Region’s Northern Europe Field while teaching at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Heverlee, Belgium. He is also an accomplished instructor and speaker, as well as a trained developmental and life coach.

He previously pastored churches in England and the Netherlands and has led the Netherlands District as superintendent since 2000.

"Arthur Snijders and Annemarie are passionate about the mission of the church," Ward said. "Both are invested in disciple making, church planting, mentoring, and preaching. Arthur brings a passionate pastor’s heart to this ministry assignment along with a strategic mind with great vision. Together they will make a significant contribution to Eurasia Region’s mission."

Ordained in 1989 in England, Arthur Snijders earned a Master of Theology degree at the Evangelical Seminary in Belgium and studied at European Nazarene College. His wife of 30 years, Annemarie, also has a master’s degree (world evangelism) and is a church planter. They have three adult children and reside in Veenendaal, Netherlands.

"We feel honored that the Lord and the church have called us to this place of service and leadership," Arthur Snijders said. "Eurasia Region brings together a challenging diversity — the church in South Asia and India, spiritually alive, fully engaged in compassionate ministries, multiplying through hundreds of new churches and thousands turning to Christ. But also the European church that is seeking to break the stranglehold of a secularized post-Christian society. And we have not yet mentioned the intricate fields of the Middle East and the former [Commonwealth of Independent States] CIS. One [area] calls for courageous leadership enabling giant steps, the other a persistent hopefulness that will not give up, while the next requires a humble heart that lives out the reconciliation of Christ. We need the Pentecostal Spirit giving words of mutual understanding, bridging differences and calling forth faith and deep trust in God.

"As my wife and I open our lives to this diverse family of peoples and nations," Arthur Snijders continued, "we do so as part of a caring and wise team of field and district leaders that has been built over the past years. This makes us very grateful to the Lord and our church."

–Board of General Superintendents

Reprinted from NCNNews.com.

For more information on the Eurasia Region, visit eurasiaregion.org.