John appointed as an evangelistic elder and the first Mobilization Day of our church

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Now this had become known to the brother council of our church, and they foresaw some problems with their own magisterium, So they had decided to make this industrious young man (John) one official task, namely the position of evangelistic elder. In this case that meant e.g. in, monitor the spread of the Elizabeth usher. Beautiful magazine, but John's ambitions went a little further.

Besides the work of our coffee bar, he had a desire to, so it became allowed to organize an evangelization day in our church. His goal was to make our to mobilize church people a little more, but especially to invite people from the outside. John told about his plan. There was a serious look around. This was quite a plan. What they didn't know was that John had long dreamed about this, and had already worked it out in his mind. At the next meeting he was allowed to tell more about this and then they would see if this was feasible.

John had been inspired by the Lord and His plan for this one day was worked out down to the finest detail, everything had been thought of. we had a large banner made by a real sailmaker with the words of our theme namely MOBILIZATION DAY.

The brothers were speechless at the sight of all this worked out plan. Never before had anyone bothered to set up such a thing, And what was it all going to cost? John knew by now that there was a few thousand guilders in the evangelistic jar and that was why also came up with this idea. Bold, but said this too really believing he: "I guarantee every cent of this will come back." But the eyebrows were again frown. Who were those speakers he wanted to go out- invite? And which choir? what was a Gospel band?

Well, these were all people filled with the Holy Spirit, and that's what John was all about. In order not to shock them too much, he mentioned as speakers Hans Pater, a prospective preacher (but touched and healed during a meeting of Katryn Kulllman in America, Hans Cornelder, who worked with the OASE team in Rotterdam, which was known for providing assistance to addicts. Hans Koornstra had promised to come for the evening shift. We knew him from Vierhouten, where he spoke a lot. He was a real Pentecostal preacher and that was a thing. How would the brother council react to that? To disguise this a bit, because this was written in large letters on the envalop, we had just left it off. After all, Hans Koornstra told them nothing at all. But this was a trick that did not honor God's cooperation. So in submitting all the affirmations from the speakers, John forgot to take off the Pentecostal evangelist's envalop. Oops, what will they say now?

But a brother said, I see no harm in it, let these brothers come. PFFT .. Thank you Lord They had to admit that there was a clever program on the table for him. Everything was thought of. From a pick-up service for the elderly and the poorly running to recordings for the church radio, lunch and children's services. A singing choir for the morning service, a children's singing game for the afternoon service began, and the then popular singing group 'the Lighters' for the evening shift. With dismayed faces, the brothers asked, and what is all this going to cost? But John said with faith and conviction, don't worry, I promise every cent will come back! So this became our first major action that we were allowed to organize from within the Reformed Church. And it was a success! Everything ran smoothly. Each service was a true happening and a great blessing .... The closing meeting was the highlight. A wonderful adoration, a fantastic performance by the Lighters and a great revival sermon by Hans Koornstra. Under worship we saw people raise their hands, something that was extraordinary in our reformed church. People were healed, but most importantly, people gave their lives to the Lord Jesus!

Everyone went home full of blessedness. What a great day it had become. When we got home, it was an exciting moment. Had we gotten out of the charges? After counting the collections, it turned out that we were three hundred guilders short. We didn't understand, we were so convinced that the entire amount of the expenses would be returned.

The phone rang. It was a sister from our church who had been listening on the church telephone. Brother Hensen, what a great day this was, how much I enjoyed it. This must have cost some money. Uh ... yes, said John. Well this sister went on, I have it on my heart to tell each close to it, even if it is a thousand guilders! Thank you sister, but fortunately it is not that much. How many? Three hundred guilders. You can come and get it right away, it sounded ... on the other end of the line. This did not fall on deaf ears. We thanked the Lord for this wonderful provision. He does not shame those who expect it of Him. We hoped that we would be able to organize such meetings more often in the future. But that would turn out differently!