Our Lead Pastor, Jacques van Bommel, is a South African native, that grew up in Pretoria. When he finished his term in National Service in 1993, he stepped into ministry working with kids and students leading the youth ministry at Western Christian Centre. In 1998 Jacques transitioned and began working as Assistant Director to Jackson’s Ridge Children’s Ministry Training Centre.

After serving Jackson’s Ridge for 5 years, Jacques accepted the call to found a Children’s ministry in South Africa that would invest its time and resources to assist the local church to further disciple the children in their communities in the most effective way possible. Since then, Reaching a Generation has thrived as it worked to empower churches and children’s ministry leaders/advocates all across South Africa and into Zambia and Namibia.

In 2019, God started speaking to Jacques about putting down roots within our local community – Mokopane. That is when the launch process began for Celebration Church. The vision for this church is to be a local express of Christ, and be a ministry hotspot for Mokopane and beyond. In 2020 Jacques received a Master’s Degree in Missional Leadership from Trinity Bible College and he is currently in the process of completing a Doctorate level programme.

Outside of the church, Pastor Jacques can usually be found painting, reading or outdoors cycling, hunting or fishing. Jacques also has his pilot license and loves to fly. He and his wife Lizzy have two kids, Nicole and Jacques, and two dogs: Cara + Cody. Pastor Jacques and Lizzy are passionate about reaching people who have not met Jesus yet, empowering the local church to developing thriving children’s ministries, and building God’s kingdom through missions.