When this notorious burglar walked past my father’s car, Evangelist Sije Evert Voordewind, he stopped for a moment and read the text that was written on a sticker. He read the text from the Bible: Jesus says”: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will give you rest.”

As he read, something happened to him. The Holy Spirit convinced him of his wrong actions. He couldn’t cope any longer; he walked to our front door and rung the doorbell. When one of my parents opened the door for him, he said: “what do I have to do to be saved…” My parents believed that every man can be saved for ever, only by Jesus Christ. Therefore, this man was told the road to salvation and so this notorious burglar came to repentance. He stopped with burglaries.

This reminds me for example of that notorious prostitute in our village. People said about it: “Those Voordewinds can convert just about anybody but they’ll never convert M.” Really?

So my mother invited this woman - who regularly sold her body at the famous Woeste Hoeve - to our house. And… she came! It was know that those who entered our house would be hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Also this woman. While she was sitting on the sofa, my mother played a record of the well-known evangelist Johan Maasbach. The title of the record sounded something like: “God so loved the world.” While this woman was listening to Maasbach, my mother went to the kitchen to make coffee. How it took her by surprise as she re-entered the room to find this “helpless” woman kneeling on her knees and reciting the sinners prayer with the evangelist. She prayed for forgiveness of her sins and invited Jesus Christ into her life! She opened her (smeared) wounded heart to him and He cleansed her. Wow! So you see again, what is impossible in humans, it is possible for the Living God. My mother was moved to this sinner. She believed in her conversion. And… what she believed happened.

Concerning the gospel of the bible, The Living God, I am grateful God that I had the privilege at young age to be raised with the gospel

As from the cradle all children in my family attended the gatherings/meetings with our parents.

My parents never brought us to the daycare, the Sunday school or any other room during the services.

We always stayed with them during the service. As from that I was a baby, I’ve been listening to the happy messages in the Pentecostal and Gospel communities in various cities and towns.

At home there was always much talk about the bible as well. It was predominantly my mother who taught and read us many messages from the bible. It was years later when I received my own bible. When I finished Christian elementary school “De Spreng” in Eerbeek (Gld.) all (of) the students received a beautiful blue bible inscribed with white lettering “Great news for you” from Mr. de Haas. That was in June 1978. That little bible was very precious to me because the words inside the pages gave me comfort and grip during difficult times. And I had certainly difficult times at that time. There were many traumatic things happened in my childhood and our family. No, those times were not easy but I always sought refuge in the Lord Jesus. Also did my family.

I had always enjoyed reading the bible but I especially enjoyed reading from that beautiful copy that was handed to me at school. Encouraging Bible texts I wrote somewhere so that I could reread it later. I especially loved the “Gospel of Luke”. By reading the bible and praying I had faith that everything would be alright. Yes, the Holy Spirit was already working on me in my early youth. I will never forget the time that I was praying on my knees in front of my bed when the Holy Spirit suddenly touched me. He convinced me that I could devote my young life to the Lord Jesus. And I obeyed. I gave my 13 year old life to Jesus who had given his life for me on the cross at Golgotha! Never have I regretted that decision.