After spending 12 years in Germany - as Bible couriers
behind the former "Iron Curtain", as youth
pastors, as well as being involved in a new church plant
- the time had finally come to fulfill a 16-year-old
dream: Asia!
Philippines
In May 1988 we burned our bridges and moved to the Philippines.
Being based in Manila, we witnessed the eruption of the
Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. We felt compelled to move to the
area that was hardest hit by the ash and the mud-flows
to work with the evangelization of the Aeta-Tribe that
had been forced from the jungles to the refugee camps.
Together with many teams from all over the globe we witnessed
the planting of 6 churches among this tribe. We were also
involved in leadership training, as well as our first
discipleship schools. Those were unforgettable years,
but nothing could have prepared us for what was to come...
Ever since reading the book "Anointed for Burial"
we had wanted to work in the war-torn nation of Cambodia.
After the country opened up in the early nineties, we
moved to the capital Phnom Penh in November 1992. In
the natural, those were the toughest years, living in
a nation were all infrastructure was destroyed by the
many years of civil war, and were violence, crime and
corruption were a way of life. But in the spiritual
realm we got to witness the raw power of God that made
us think we were living back in the days of the Early
Church. We were involved in the formation of a network
of churches and set up a one-year Bible school to cope
with the huge demand for church leaders. Four years
later we left with a sad heart for two reasons: The education
of our children, and the necessity for the local churches
to develop into indigenous works.
Through the faithful leading of the Lord we ended up
on the island of Penang, Malaysia in November 1996.
After Cambodia this seemed like paradise to us. Good
schools and medical facilities, shopping malls, parks
and beaches. The children made friends, played sports,
took piano lessons, and studied hard. We were involved
in renewal ministry in several churches, and started
up our training schools again. Though we missed some
of the "glory days" we had experienced in
Cambodia, we are thankful for five fruitful years in
Malaysia.
In May 2001 we moved on to the city of Chiang Mai in
northern Thailand. There were several reasons for that
move, the main one being the tremendous outreach possibilities
for the students in our training schools. Through a
restructuring of training within the Vineyards worldwide
we closed down the school for a time, and were
getting involved in the formation of a Vineyard Community
here. The trainingschool is back up and running, and in 2008 we opened the "Chiang Mai House Of Prayer".
These recent years have also been very special
for our family, with two children getting married, and
three grandchildren being born. Read more about our
involvement here under "Projects".
