Story of Transformation | an unexpected journey to bring the gospel home

Mitch Craig is part of our twelfth church planter cohort (2026-2027). Here’s a bit of his journey from sensing God’s call to plant to their first service.

Every believer has a running list of family members, friends, and neighbors they pray will one day come to know Jesus. As Mitch Craig started gathering a group to help launch The Vine Church in his hometown of Milford, MI, he saw those very prayers answered in real time.

Mitch welcomed anyone willing to be part of something bigger than themselves to join the launch team. Uniquely, this core group included not just committed believers, but nominal Christians and even a few non-believers who simply wanted to support the mission. Through training, relationship, and experiencing the power of community, several of those non-believers came to faith in Christ before the church’s doors officially opened.

Among those deeply impacted is Mitch’s father—his childhood wrestling coach and a blue-collar tradesman of 40 years. Once guarded about his faith, Mitch’s dad has experienced a softened heart and now clearly articulates his personal trust in Jesus.

An Unlikely Missionary and Surprising Mission

Growing up on Milford, Mitch didn’t dream about church or planting a church. For years, his entire identity, focus, and future were wrapped up in the grueling, relentless sport of wrestling. Driven by the dream of competing in the Olympics, Mitch poured every second of his life into training, earning a D1 scholarship to Michigan State University and eventually transferring to another school to pursue his passion alongside his trusted coach.

Then came the devastating blow. A career-ending knee injury brought his athletic pursuits to a screeching halt, leaving him stripped of his identity and unsure of his purpose.

His girlfriend (now wife), Brittany, was applying for physician assistant school and needed volunteer hours on her resume. When a former volleyball coach invited her on a medical mission trip to Brazil, Brittany decided to go. At the time, neither of them were Christians.

“I thought it was silly at first,” Mitch admitted with a laugh. “But then I thought, ‘I’m not sending my girlfriend to Brazil alone!’ So I went with her.”

The moment his feet touched the ground in South America, Mitch felt something significant happening. While attending a service in a small cinder-block church in a rural fishing village, he watched local villagers weep and becoming Christians during an altar call in Portuguese. Afterward, the pastor presented the gospel in English. Mitch and Brittany became Christians.

Upon returning from the missions trip, Mitch and Brittany joined a local church and got involved in the work of the church. They got married. Mitch felt a call to vocational ministry. He served a church plant in Michigan for a number of years and was on pastoral staff at a church in Texas. Then God surprised them with a clear call to return home to Milford in 2025 to plant a church.

The Hard Work of Planting

Getting settled, raising money, casting vision for a new church, and recruiting people to be part of that church isn’t easy. Mitch explained, “Building a launch team is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life… and I’ve done some hard things.”

Balancing bi-vocational life—delivering dumpsters early in the morning before turning his attention to church planting and ministry—Mitch embodies the tireless work ethic required to build something from scratch.

The Vine Church officially launched on October 11. Mitch will baptize his dad later this month.

To learn more about The Vine Church and stay connected with their story, visit thevinechurchmi.com.