Marco van Raalten
Marco was born and raised in Holland, Europe.
	At the age of 19 he entered the mission field, after he received training in Amsterdam, Holland. He served in Gambia, West-Africa as well as several years with a Christian hospital ship of Mercy Ships.
He received further Bible College training on counseling and church planting at YWAM’s University of the Nations in Hawaii, and visited several countries in South East Asia for his field assignment. In 1990 he married his wife Kari. They have served together in Holland as pastors and in Togo, West Africa for three and a half years in church planting work among several people groups.
	They landed in the Parkland area in 2000, where Marco served as the Executive Director of Young Faith in Christ, also known as Youth for Christ. By God’s grace the work grew from 40 kids to close to 1,000 kids that participate weekly in various programs throughout the Parkland area.
Marco became the senior Pastor of Covenant Bible Church in the summer of 2010 and still serves on the board of YFC. Marco has also served the community as a board member with the Farmington Chamber of Commerce, member of the Kiwanis club and as chairman of the St. Francois County Community Partnership.
Marco and his wife have three children: Nate, Kevin and Clarissa. They love the outdoors – hiking, swimming, fishing, biking, gardening and home improvement projects. Their missions background has given them an appreciation for discovering new things in life, which includes a love to meet new people,….. and travel.