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Gospel-centered missions

Providing hope through
Education, Care, & Discipleship

Mars Hill Ministries serves refugees, strengthens schools, and equips ministry leaders across Africa and the Mediterranean with the hope of Christ.

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"God determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live — so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him."
Acts 17:26–27

Who We Are

Decades of ministry. A new frontier.

Led by Jamison and Kelli Creel, Mars Hill Ministries is built on more than 20 years of ministry experience across the Mediterranean — including leadership of a Christian school near Bethlehem that grew from 200 to over 700 students.

Sensing God's call to a new season, in 2020 the Creels expanded their ministry to the refugee crisis in Greece — one of the most significant spiritual crossroads in the world: where Europe meets the Middle East, and millions of displaced people are searching for safety, stability, and hope.

Alongside their work in the Mediterranean, the Creels have extended their vision to sub-Saharan Africa — partnering with schools, training pastors, and discipling the next generation of African believers in Uganda, Zambia, and beyond. Two continents, one mission: bringing the gospel to those who need it most.

Jamison and Kelli Creel with family in Athens
25+
Years in Middle East Ministry
10+
Nations Reached
1,000s
Students Educated & Discipled
10,000+
Refugees Served Annually

Refugee Care

Where Europe meets
the Middle East.

On the Greek island of Samos — just off the coast of Turkey — thousands of refugees arrive from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Gaza. We meet them with meals, English classes, genuine community, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Refugee Care

Four pillars of
ministry on Samos

English class at shipping container site
01

English & Language Classes

Using shipping containers as classrooms near the refugee camp, we teach English and German — giving people practical tools for their future while opening natural doors to Bible teaching and relationship.

Gospel teaching under canopy near camp
02

Gospel Witness

Every Thursday we focus on Farsi-speaking refugees from Iran and Afghanistan. Every Saturday, Arabic-speaking refugees from Iraq, Syria, and Gaza. We share the gospel clearly, regularly, and relationally.

Worship gathering in the ministry center
03

Hospitality & Community

Refugees come to the center for meals, board games, movie nights, tea, and coffee. These ordinary moments build the trust that makes the gospel welcome — places where people feel known, not just helped.

The new Hope House packed with worshippers
04

Discipleship & Church

Former Muslims who come to faith join the ministry — cooking meals, teaching, evangelizing, and baptizing others from their own communities. We are building churches among Middle Eastern people in Greece.

"People who were once impossible to reach are being baptized in the waters of Samos."

Former Muslims from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and beyond are coming to faith in Jesus Christ — and many are now serving alongside us, sharing the gospel in Farsi and Arabic.

Schools

Equipping the
next generation

Much of sub-Saharan Africa has been widely evangelized — 90% of Ugandans and 95% of Zambians identify as Christian. But discipleship and Christian education have been deeply neglected. Many believers blend Christianity with local traditions and have little knowledge of Scripture.

Mars Hill Ministries partners with existing schools and builds new ones — consulting on educational processes, training teachers, improving facilities, and placing volunteer foreign educators and administrators. The goal is twofold: raise academic standards and ensure that children who can read and write can also read and understand God's Word.

We currently partner with schools in Uganda and Zambia, with plans to expand further across sub-Saharan Africa. Each partnership is an investment in a generation of young men and women who are literate, biblically grounded, and equipped to engage their culture for Christ.

"Empowering the next generation to engage culture for Christ."

Students singing and dancing at Itara School

"Africa is the world's youngest continent — and the next generation is ready to be equipped."

90% of Ugandans identify as Christian. Mars Hill Ministries is working to ensure that faith is built on the Word of God — not tradition, not prosperity gospel, but Scripture.

Pastoral Training

A growing church in need of
deeper roots.

Africa is the world's youngest continent, and the church there is growing fast — but sound biblical teaching has not kept pace. Many pastors lead congregations with little formal theological training, and prosperity gospel and hyper-charismatic teaching have filled the gap, leaving believers without the solid foundation they need.

Mars Hill Ministries is answering that need directly: we teach in seminaries, fund and run Bible training conferences, educate young ministry leaders, and promote Bible study small groups across multiple countries — building long-term gospel infrastructure from the inside out, one pastor and one congregation at a time.

Our Focus

  • →Teach in seminaries and fund Bible training conferences
  • →Educate young ministry leaders in sound biblical theology
  • →Promote Bible study small groups in multiple countries
  • →Disciple pastors toward Scripture-centered, gospel-faithful leadership
Teaching at a theological university

The Vision

Raising the next
Generation of Pauls

Just as Paul was equipped in the Greco-Roman intellectual tradition to engage the greatest thinkers of his day, Mars Hill Ministries invests in raising up a new generation of African pastors and ministry leaders who are theologically grounded, biblically literate, and ready to disciple their own people with the whole counsel of God.

Join us

The greatest need
is people.

Whether you pray, give, go, teach, or serve — there is a place for you in this mission. God is moving people across borders to hear His Word. Will you help us deliver it?

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