Celtic Christian Mission

OUR CALL

In the early fifth century, Patrick, a sixteen-years-old boy, was kidnapped from his home in Britain and carried off to the island of Ireland. He served his captors for six years in Ireland before making a dramatic escape and return to his homeland. Patrick’s faith in Christ grew ever stronger during his imprisonment, and upon gaining his freedom he committed himself to a career of service to Christ and His church. Soon Patrick had a dream in which an Irishman came to him and gave him a letter entitled, “The Voice of the Irish.” As Patrick read the letter, he seemed to hear the people of Ireland calling him to come and minister to them. Patrick’s ministry to Ireland in the years that followed developed a dramatic Celtic faith that impacted Europe for centuries to follow.

Today, some 1,600 years after Patrick’s ministry, another call from Ireland—as well as the other Celtic nations of Europe (i.e., Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany)—has been heard. Though these nations were once strongholds of the Christian faith, they have now succumbed to the growing secular influences of Western Europe and forgotten about their Christian past and the faith that Patrick preached. As an effort to respond to this pressing need for the re-establishment of Christianity in the Celtic regions, Celtic Christian Mission has been formed.

In 2012, after leading numerous short-term mission trips to various locations around the globe, Dr. Rick Cherok, a long-time professor at Cincinnati Christian University, led a group of concerned people in the development of Celtic Christian Mission. Dr. Cherok noticed that a plea to help the physical poverty of many Third World nations received generous support from well-intended Christians (as it should!). Yet, a similar plea for support to alleviate the spiritual poverty of a region where few are physically malnourished or lacking in the basic necessities of life often fell upon deaf ears. Realizing that the spiritual poverty of the Celtic regions is every bit as real and serious as the physical poverty of the Third World countries, Dr. Cherok called for the formation of Celtic Christian Mission as an effort to respond to the spiritual needs of Celtic Europe.

From its birth in 2012, Celtic Christian Mission has affirmed the following seven points as the key goals of this organization.

Education: Educating people about the spiritual condition of the Celtic territories and the need for Christian workers and church plants in these areas.
Ministry: Establishing contacts through which meaningful ministry opportunities within the Celtic regions can be undertaken.
Church Planting: Planting churches after the New Testament pattern and strengthen existing churches among people in Celtic countries.
Leadership Training: Recruiting, supporting, and educating Christian teachers, leaders, and missionaries to promote the spread of the Gospel to people in Celtic areas.
Spiritual Development: Supplying Bibles, Christian resources, and other materials that will encourage the spiritual development of people living in Celtic territories.
Funding: Develop programs and ideas for raising the necessary funds for establishing and sustaining ministry opportunities in Celtic countries.
Evangelism: Working for the spreading of the Gospel by all means according to Christian principles to people in Celtic nations.

Our hope is that you will become a fellow worker with this ministry (3 John 7-8) by offering both your prayer support and financial support so that the name of Christ might again be praised and glorified throughout the Celtic lands.

Rick Cherok

Executive Director

Dr. Rick Cherok completed a PhD in United States Religious History from the Kent State University. He has taught Christian History, including Restoration History, at Cincinnati Christian University and Ozark Christian College for over two decades. In addition to contributing numerous essays and articles to a variety of publications, Dr. Cherok has published a book titled Debating for God: Alexander Campbell's Challenge to Skepticism in Antebellum America. Dr. Cherok has served on the editorial board of the Stone-Campbell Journal for over fifteen years and is currently the Lead Editor at the College Press Publishing Company. Dr. Cherok is also the founder and Executive Director of Celtic Christian Mission, and has led hundreds of people on short-term mission trips to various locations around the world. His favorite pastimes include reading, travel, watching baseball, and hanging out with his beloved Border Collie, Aidan.