I am a seeker and have journeyed from being a youth welfare worker in the Netherlands to a spiritual director and chaplain in New Zealand. It has been a fascinating journey with interesting explorations along the way.
Although the church was not part of my upbringing, my experience of the ‘Divine Presence’ stems from a young age. During my high school years, I had a lot of freedom to do as I pleased. I was also curious about some rules and regulations that my peers - from reformed protestant backgrounds - had to adhere to.
My high school years proved to be a great place to start exploring the Christian faith as well as diving into philosophy, which I continued during my vocational studies.
Over the next fifteen years, I lived in the Middle East, New Zealand and in Scotland. Living in a Muslim country made me aware of my personal beliefs and heritage. The mosque was around the corner from where we lived, so there was a daily reminder, a practical call to faith. It was here that I seriously searched for meaning and purpose of life, through reading and a lot of personal conversations.
In New Zealand, I visited a diversity of churches, to no avail. Nothing seemed to stick or hit the right note for me, ‘or fitted with my idea of church’. Moving to Scotland brought some changes, and here I found like-minded people. This resulted in conversations, and eventually, I was baptised and confirmed in the Episcopal Church of Scotland.
When I returned to New Zealand, my journey led me to become a secular Franciscan and to ordination as a Vocational Deacon in the Anglican Church, where I was involved with parish ministry, rest-home ministry as well as hospital chaplaincy. A few years ago, I graduated as a spiritual director, together with training for industrial chaplaincy with on-site support and Critical Incident or trauma responder responsibilities.
My journey of transformation and deepening awareness of the presence of God is never-ending, and I invite you to join me on my travels.
