A Big Step Forward in the Netherlands

by Jan Willem

Agapè StudentLife in the Netherlands is expanding! Four volunteers are starting a ministry in Leiden, while in Rotterdam, God has blessed so much that this fall the team sent five staff members to begin work at Utrecht University. With almost 30,0000 students, Utrecht is the largest university in the country.

The Utrecht team is expecting God to do great things.

Five committed people – Egbert & Sieneke Ribberink , Leendert & Marianne de Jong and Arjen den Admirant – are trusting God to provide lodging near the university-no easy task! Due to the large amount of students and the central location Utrecht is a popular city, and people can wait years before finding a suitable flat to rent. But for God this is no obstacle. Leendert and Marianne recently found a home after placing an ad in the newspaper, Arjen’s parents bought a house in Utrecht where he now lives with other students, while Egbert and Sieneke are still looking.

All five have hearts longing to fulfill the Great Commission in this strategic city, which has been a religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8^th Century

The Utrecht University is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe.

I went out with Leendert, and we had a couple of good conversations. First we met two guys who play in a band together. God wasn’t a subject they thought about. They weren’t believers, because ‘you probably only believe when you have been raised up with the gospel.’ I asked them: ‘How could it be that you believe because you have grown up that way? Don’t you decide about everything in life on your own?’

Next we went outside, since many students were out enjoying the lovely weather. We had a nice conversation with a female student. She turned out to be a Christian. One thing she wanted to achieve in life was to share the gospel with many people. ‘Well,’ I thought, ‘It seems we have the same passion!’ My prayer is that she will be open for us to accompany her. She told us she found it very difficult to witness, because she believes she needs to know the answer to every question that might come up. We’ll keep in contact with her, so soon we’ll know how things turn out. ”

For Agape Netherlands, this is a great step forward in reaching our goal for 2020: Multiplying Movement Teams in the top 25 Dutch cities.