Greetings! I’m Mart Novak, the founder and executive director of Breaking the Barriers. On behalf of the board and myself, I’d like to welcome you to the webpage! We hope you find the site very beneficial, for whatever calling God has given you in His kingdom.

Just a few words about myself. I spent my early years growing up in inner city, Chicago.  Following high school in Holland, MI, I did construction work at a French youth camp in the Cevennes Mountains in southern France, an undergrad at Hope College, taught in Denver, and did my graduate studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.  After pastoring in Orlando 6 years, our family moved back to Michigan where I planted and pastored a church for nearly 30 years.  I am married to Bonita, and we have 4 adult children.  

In June of 2025 I stepped down from pastoral work in order to tackle the issue that has hindered the growth of the church for over 1,600 years:  

• While the gospel spread rapidly by the followers of Jesus throughout the Mediterranean world in the first centuries, by mid-4th century the rapid growth was in decline. While Jesus gave the responsibility of spreading gospel to all His followers, today very few Christians speak to others about the most important event in the history of the world.  

• Two of the most important questions in the church today are: What led to the decline? And, how do we restore the rapid spread of the gospel today? 

In John 4.35 Jesus tells His followers: “Open your eyes and look!  The fields are white and ready for harvest!”  And then the whole population of the city of Sychar turns and believes in Him! Jesus was illustrating to His followers what they could expect to take place after His Resurrection & Pentecost — scores of new believers from the nations coming to Christ.  And what was meant to continue for the rest of history, nearly came to a halt by 400 AD.   

If there are fields of lost people waiting to be harvested, it means there are 100’s of 1,000’s in whom the Holy Spirit will work, if we are willing to start the conversation and plant the seed! 

If lost people are to come to Christ in large numbers again, all of His followers will need to:

1) Understand the worldviews and beliefs of the lost

2) Truly believe and live in the transformative power of the gospel

3) Learn how to communicate the gospel in today’s culture

Breaking the Barriers rests on the following premises: 

• Jesus’ resurrection and Pentecost prepared the way for the gospel to spread rapidly and the church to grow exponentially. 

• This is accomplished through the ongoing testimony of every believer, empowered by the Spirit, to carry out that mission.   

• This results in new believers spreading the gospel and teaching those who come to Christ to do the same.  

This pattern, lost in the 4th century through the instantiation of an ecclesiastical hierarchy and the institutionalization of the church, must, with urgency, be restored.    

What does Breaking the Barriers do to bring this about?  It…  

1. Decodes ways to break through barriers that keep lost people from Christ  (Worldview & Apologetics)

2. Trains individuals and churches how to overcome their own barriers in order to communicate the gospel winsomely, boldly, and effectively, to as many as possible  (Evangelism)

3. Trains Christians how to befriend and help new believers follow Jesus and share their faith  (Discipleship)

This has always been Christ’s vision for how the world would be transformed and restored. 

It’s our vision to bring this about.

For Christ & the rapid spread of His Kingdom! 

Mart Novak 

Executive Director, Breaking the Barriers