On October 9, 1929, Wayman Mitchell was born into a world of economic depression and church decline. He grew up in Prescott, Arizona, in a broken home during his youth. After his military service, he married his wife Nelda, and after their first child died of pneumonia, they took their first hesitant steps toward God. This soon became routine, and it was only when Mitchell was challenged in his faith by a Mormon that he realized his own responsibility to know God's Word. When he began studying the Bible as a result, he discovered the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

During a church service in 1955, following a prayer of conversion, Mitchell was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other tongues, just like the apostles on the Day of Pentecost. This was a completely new and overwhelming experience for him; the fact that he knew almost nothing about the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues proved that God was at work in him. At that moment, he received a prophecy that God would move "in the nations of the world and the islands of the sea."

Following this service, Mitchell did not instantly become a man of mass revival; for the first few months, he didn't even quit smoking. But God was working in him. His calling to preach came shortly thereafter, and when he spoke with his pastor about it, the pastor advised him to go to Bible college.

When Mitchell arrived at Bible college, it turned out to be completely different from what he had imagined. Instead of learning how to lead sinners to repentance, he was subjected to all sorts of administrative theories and religious doctrines. It was so bad that many on the school's faculty looked down on divine healing, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the ministry of revival. Ultimately, while he gained a foundational knowledge of God's word at the school, he was practically unprepared for the daily realities of life. After Bible college, Mitchell received his first ministry position as youth pastor of a church in Phoenix. The only thing he achieved there was infuriating the religious people because he preached to the youth about sin—and in the presence of their boyfriends and girlfriends, no less. Fortunately, an offer soon came to take over a church in the town of Wickenburg, a church with a troubled past. Here he learned many things from evangelists and other pastors about sparking revival and discovered spiritual truths that proved to be keys to church growth.

After this church, Mitchell was sent from one "problem church" to another, each time to clean up the mess. The denomination's leadership viewed him as a "country boy" whom they would never give a full-fledged church, but who was good enough to fix problems caused by others. Over time, Mitchell developed a vision different from that of the leadership. He felt no obligation to please the "establishment" and realized that programs are not the way to win people. The leadership had always focused on things like Sunday school and Christian camps, but Mitchell saw that these were merely support systems for the church, not the center of ministry. The principle of sending young men to Bible college was also soon reconsidered by Mitchell. Several men who had a burning desire to make a difference for God returned from Bible college burnt out and spiritually dead. From that moment on, Mitchell decided to train the men himself in practical ministry.

Then Mitchell was offered another "problem church," and in 1970, Pastor Wayman Mitchell took over this small church in Prescott, Arizona. This church of 35 people had endured many problems prior, but Mitchell found people there who made themselves available and wanted to reach out to sinners.

During that time, a great revival was underway among hippies, giving rise to the "Jesus People" movement. These "Jesus People" began marching through the streets by the thousands, telling everyone that Jesus had changed their hearts and set them free from drug addiction, emptiness, and aimlessness. Even major newspapers in the United States reported on this. *Time Magazine* stated: "Jesus is alive and well in the radical spiritual fervor of a growing number of young Americans. This is their message: the Bible is true, miracles happen" (Time Magazine, June 21, 1971). *Reader's Digest* recounted gatherings in Houston, Texas, where 11,000 young people came forward to repent and live for Jesus (Reader's Digest, March 1972). Prescott happened to be on a busy hippie route at the time, and the church reached many hippies with the gospel.

Mitchell trained the people in the Prescott church based on his experience, and eventually, the Prescott church was able to send some of these men to other cities to start new churches. Thus, the foundation was laid for a growing movement. Over time, the churches sent out from Prescott became strong enough to send out couples of their own to other cities. Mitchell regularly received open doors to work abroad as well, and soon men were sent to countries such as Mexico, the Philippines, and Australia to plant churches.

The open door in the Netherlands came in 1978 in the form of a small Bible study group in Steenwijk. The group consisted of about 30 people and longed for a pastor.

One of the disciples then took over the leadership. Mitchell supported him in building the church and regularly persuaded him to attend the semi-annual Bible conferences held in Prescott. In this way, the vision of the CFM was planted within the Dutch fellowship. The church subsequently moved to Zwolle and began to grow there.

Eventually, this church was also strong enough to send men out to other cities. In addition, Gospel Church The Door in the Netherlands took on the responsibility for a semi-annual European Bible conference.

The CFM churches in the Netherlands bear the name "Evangelie Gemeente De Deur" (Gospel Church The Door).

People often continue to come to The Door because they have been brought into personal contact with Jesus Christ through the preaching. And because The Door still holds to the vision and mission of proclaiming the gospel through discipleship, evangelism, music and drama and sending couples out into the mission field.

Currently, The Door has various churches both in the Netherlands and abroad.

In 2009, Seyle and Sajida Thorlu-Bangura were sent out from The Hague to start a church in Amsterdam Bijlmer.
They started the work in their living room. As attendance grew, they had to relocate. The first location of The Door Bijlmer was on Bijlmerdreef. The church continued to grow, and after 6 years, it moved to Kromwijkdreef in 2019. God is still moving and building His church.