Welcome to the website of Bijzondere Noden, or in English: the Relief Board of the Netherlands Reformed Congregations (RBN). RBN is the diaconal ministry of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation, a Christian, Calvinist denomination with about 107,000 members.
From church to church
As a Christian organisation, we deem it crucial to take a twofold approach. On the one hand, we provide practical assistance in order to improve the living circumstances of our beneficiaries. On the other hand, we always seek for opportunities to share the Gospel. We do not only want to bring hope in difficult circumstances, but we most importantly want to share the message that there is everlasting Hope in Jesus Christ.
We aim to conduct our work from church to church. Our funds are collected by local, Dutch reformed congregations. We always seek for possibilities to spend our funds through the mediation of local churches in the project area. In case there are no churches in a certain region, we aim to collaborate with organisations who have taken up the diaconal responsibilities of the church. In this way, our projects not only support those in need, but also contribute to strengthening local churches.
Our Core themes
RBN supports projects that focus on one of our three core themes:
Emergency relief
Providing relief assistance in emergency situations
Long-term relief
Contributing to structural, longer-term relief projects
Persecuted church relief
Supporting and encouraging persecuted Christians
Hands of the church
Our church acknowledges the Bible as the inspired Word of God and accepts the three forms of unity (the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dordt and the Heidelberg Catechism) as their main creed. RBN is also called the ‘hands of the church’, for it aims to contribute to relief projects. Whereas the local deacons conduct this work on a local scale, RBN acts on their behalf on a larger, international scale.
RBN has received its mandate from the general synod of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation. The board members of RBN are appointed by the general synod, to which they report their activities. The board members have appointed an office staff, which is responsible for all daily activities, such as communication with partner organisations, informing churches, fundraising and administration.
Contact
Do you want to get in touch with us? Fill in the contact form and we will contact you shortly.
Free digital Biblical Books
In cooperation with various other committees of the Netherlands Reformed Congregations, we offer Biblical books and brochures in fourteen languages. All the books are made accessible as e-books and can be downloaded for FREE. We would like to encourage you to check out the website and use and distribute these works. There is a wide variety of books, like:
- Bible references and Bible commentaries;
- Theological books (apologetics, ethics and dogmatics);
- Books about the church and church history;
- Sermons;
- Books about Biblical themes (e.g. prayer, the Holy Spirit, living a christian family life);
- Bible stories for children.
We continue working on expanding our collection.
