About Our Church

Al Bandstra, commonly known as “Mr. B,”  is a pastor, Christian school teacher, and gardener who was raised a Calvinist on the family farm near Oskaloosa, Iowa.  A product of the Oskaloosa School for Christian Instruction and Pella Christian High, he earned his BA  from Dordt College, and furthered his training in Christian education at several schools, including the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Durango in Durango, Mexico, Seattle Pacific University, and Alta Vista College in Medina, Washington under Drs. Al Greene and Elaine Brouwer.  He was awarded an honorary doctorate in The Theology of Christian Education from Antioch Missions International Seminary in Suji-gu, South Korea where he instructed the students in Christian education from 2010-2017.  He was granted his license to exhort in the Christian Reformed Churches of Classis Pella, now known as Central Plains, in 1994 and was ordained as a commissioned pastor in 1997 while pastoring the Tracy Christian Reformed Church in Tracy, Iowa.

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He has been teaching in Christian schools in Iowa, Romania, and Korea for 55 years, 33 of them in Pella Christian Grade School. He retired from Pella Christian in 2008 to accept the invitation to join the staff of the newly founded Saemmul Christian School in Bundang, South Korea where he taught Bible and English and had the title and honor of being their, “Teacher of Teachers.” He led workshops in Christian schools throughout South Korea, lectured weekly at Antioch Missions International Seminary, and pastored the international Ansan Mission Church.

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Al is single, but God has blessed him with being a “father to the fatherless” with two Vietnamese sons who adopted him for their dad in 1986 and a Cambodian son in 2018 with whom he communicates daily.  He also is blessed with several true spiritual sons who inspire, strengthen, encourage, and motivate him.  Al is also called “grandpa” by many, including the 40 orphans and their director in the Children of Promise Orphanage of Siem Reap Cambodia and a special grandson and his wife and daughter in Sri Lanka.

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Al became the pastor of both the Leighton CRC and the Tracy CRC in February of 2021. Along with pastoring, he enjoys teaching science to the 7th and 8th graders in the Peoria Christian School in Peoria, Iowa, and leading four weekly online Bible classes with pastors, teachers, and students in Korea, Nepal, Cambodia, and Brazil.

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He has a special love and respect for the Leighton congregation since his four grandparents were members of the church,  both of his parents were life-long members of Leighton, and this is where he and his three brothers and sister were baptized, nurtured, and made profession of faith.  His great-grandfather, Hendrick Van De Voort, was a charter member and deacon of the church when it was organized in 1893.