We're so glad you've found us!!  
Take a look around to learn more about these exciting opportunities 
to get involved in global missions!
(we are currently updating our site with photos and videos -- check back soon!)

TerpstrasInAfrica
We are Jon and Donna Terpstra 
and we are the founders of:
TerpstrasInAfrica 
It's Our Mission: Period!  
and GROWTH Ministries.  

Who are we? Well, we wonder that sometimes too!  
Sometimes it depends on where are we more than who are we.
Husband, wife, parents, welder, teacher, restaurant owners, truck driver, stenographer, humanitarians, missionaries.        To everything, there's been 
a season.
 
We have lived a great portion of our lives in Michigan and have been doing mission work/humanitarian aid in  
Africa since 2005. 
In 2009 along with our youngest son Eli, we moved to Nigeria to live.  It was a year that totally changed our lives.
Although we are now living in Michigan, we continue to travel back and forth to Africa on different projects throughout 
the year. 


Jon's current work has been focussed on food production: hydroponics, food dehydration, fish farming and fish smokers.
There are a great many videos posted on this website to give you some idea of his work.

We would love to share our 
work with you --  
 contact us  
at  any time.


 
It's Our Mission: Period!
No woman should be dis-empowered simply because she is a woman.

The Need: 
In many cultures, women are SET ASIDE, considered UNCLEAN and DEFILED simply because of the natural process of menstruation. The result is an immense burden of SHAME that women carry: shame in their bodies, in their sense of self, in the core of their identity.

We believe that this generation has the capacity to bring about a CHANGE in their perceptions, and that women are the agents of that change. It starts with a shift in mindset: 
            “My period is NOT a CURSE.”  

Our goal:
  • Empowerment: to discover that their period is something they can manage rather than a crippling curse to be endured.
  • Freedom: for women to remain in school and at work during menstruation. Currently, young women in high school miss an estimated 156 school days -- that’s 17% of their learning -- because of the lack of necessary supplies.
  • Sustainability: women are provided the education they need to make their own marketable product, as well as the ability to, in turn, teach other women.

It's Our Mission: PERIOD! 
grew from the awareness of the desperate need for basic hygiene products for women in undeveloped nations. This project continues out of necessity and compassion for young women in undeveloped nations. After hearing of the need, we determined to make it our mission to help them – 
Together, we can bring change 
to her world.
www.its-our-mission-period.org
GROWTH
God Revealing Our Ways 
Through Him,
is a ministry outreach of TerpstrasInAfrica (TIA) 

The ministry focus is  seeking God’s ways and purposes
in the lives of all believers.
Here in Michigan, the ministry has focused on women;
but GROWTH is for ALL of us. 

You see, the outreach of GROWTH has nothing to do with gender, but rather the heart of any believer who is ready to follow where God leads.

​Locally here in Michigan, GROWTH is a community outreach drawing women of all ages to come together with the common bond of just that - being women.  

We share our lives and love one another as we seek to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus.  It is our desire to bring women together from various churches, denominations, etc., to focus not on our differences -
but on our common purpose 
of living for God.

Together ~ It's Better!
www.growth-ministries.org

​Should you be interested in having a GROWTH meeting in your area, please contact us!
info@growth-ministries.org
616-262-3862
TerpstrasInAfrica and its outreaches of It's Our Mission: Period and GROWTH  
​have been recognized as a 501c3 non-profit organization that has qualified for tax-exempt giving by the IRS.