THE BEGINNING
In the spring of 2008, 31-year old Henk Stoorvogel invited three of his friends for a dinner at his house. Henk: ‘I was pastoring a local church in the Netherlands. The church was flourising, while my soul was whitering. I felt worn out and lonely. I was just working and had neglected my friendships.‘ Henk spoke about his loneliness to his wife, Ruth, and she advised: ‘Why don’t you invite your old friends and go on an adventure with them? And whilst you are doing this, invite other men, so they can have a good time too.’
At the dinner Henk shared with his friends, Theo van den Heuvel, Pieter Cnossen and Jan Stoorvogel:
‘Shall we create a black box adventure in the wilderness? It will give us a chance to renew our
friendship, and will be an opportunity for other men to travel to their core and get to know God in
pure and raw ways.‘
THE NAME
Henk had just read the novel ‘The three Musketeers’, by Alexander Dumas. Henk: ‘The book tells the story of the Musketeers, the elite troops of the king of France. There are three main Musketeers, but the actual hero of the story is the fourth one, D’Artagnan. I loved the concepts of serving the King, supporting each other and the fact that the fourth one cherised high aspiration for personal growth. Hence, we called our new movement ‘The 4th Musketeer’. Our core activity would we called ‘Xtreme Character Challenge’.
The 4th Musketeer was shortened to 4M and Xtreme Character Challenge to XCC. Henk: ‘We deviced
XCC as a 72 hour adventure in the wilderniss for just men. Raw, pure, cutting edge. It was a challenge
with unknown outcome, beautiful scenery, little sleep and deep connection. A true test of the
character.’
transformative power
The transformative power of the XCC was so intense that the movement soon attracted thousands of attendees in the Netherlands. In 2013 the Dutch leadership decided to pursue a global presence of the XCC. Branches were started in countries like the USA, Great Britain, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Egypt, and Poland.
Also new focus areas were launched, like Arise (women-only outdoor adventures) and Muskathlon (sports events aimed at supporting people in extreme poverty, liberating victims of human trafficking, and strengthening persecuted people groups). In South America, Legendarios was started as a result of men joining XCC in Kentucky, USA. In all countries we soon saw that the impact of XCC was not just a Dutch novelty, but a global experience.
The balance between extreme challenge and intense connection time and again led to deep breakthroughs in the lives of men and women. The combination of stunning scenery, outdoor living, embarking on real adventure, letting go of control, team effort, deep sharing, and raw, authentic spirituality helped many thousands of people change out of their deepest core.
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‘Throughout the years the impact of XCC has been above and beyond anything we had ever imagined. My biological father rejected me before I was born. I grew up with a father wound. I thought I was alone in my pain and anger. I learned that many men around the world go through similar issues and stages. We can help each other by being open and vulnerable. We can turn to God together and find healing. I see XCC as a language that transcends boundaries and culture. It is a language that communicated to the hearts of men.’
- Henk Stoorvogel