In conversation with Henk Dik
The story of Henk and Nelly Dik
As a young believer in the mid-sixties, I occasionally visited the Full Gospel congregation in Rotterdam. They met in the impressive Groothandelsgebouw (Wholesale Building), and later, the church moved to the small hall of De Doelen (a concert and congress centre). One of the youth leaders was a certain Henk Dik.
Now, many decades later, our paths have crossed again. Henk has an impressive track record in the Kingdom of God. For years, he was the founder and leader of a church in Roosendaal and intensely involved with the Opwekking (Revival) foundation. It feels like a privilege to be able to interview him. What follows is our conversation—a look back at history and a glance toward the future.
The start of everything
In October 2025, Henk and Nelly will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary: sixty years of marriage. Their story began in 1961 when they met in the Full Gospel Community of Brother Rothuizen in Rotterdam. It was the start of a lifelong journey full of faith, church work, and an unconditional love for people.
Roots in difficult ground
Henk’s story begins in what he describes as a ‘dramatic’ house church—a mix of Jehovah’s Witnesses and a Pentecostal assembly. As the youngest child, he grew up in an environment where fear and religious coercion were dominant. His mother, a woman of faith, had found this community in her search for God after his older brother developed epilepsy.
‘I found it dramatic,’ Henk recounts about his youth. ‘Everything you wouldn’t want, was there.’ At seventeen, he had to leave high school (HBS) because the church leader felt physical education was ‘of little use’—a decision that drastically changed his future.
The turn came in 1958 when Brother Osborn came to the Netherlands for an evangelistic campaign. Although his house church was opposed to it, Henk went to listen anyway. ‘I was sixteen years old, and I was so deeply moved by the Gospel. I had actually never heard it presented that way before.’
The encounter with Johan Maasbach
Contact with Johan Maasbach, Brother Osborn’s translator, proved crucial for Henk’s development. One Saturday afternoon, he openly prayed to be allowed to go to Lekkerkerk to hear Maasbach speak. He knew this would have consequences.
That evening in Lekkerkerk, he heard a loud voice: ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; I have summoned you and will sustain you’ (Isaiah 41:10). When he returned home, the church leaders informed him that he was no longer welcome at the meetings for the time being. He had been excommunicated.
‘I was actually planning not to go there anymore anyway,’ Henk says with a smile. Encouraged by the words from Isaiah, he regularly attended Johan Maasbach’s meetings in The Hague.
A new home
Henk finally found his place with Brother Rothuizen in the Full Gospel Community. ‘He took me in so lovingly right away,’ he recalls. Rothuizen gave him wise advice: ‘When you come to church, try to keep one ear open. Because if you close both, you won’t hear when God speaks.’
It was in this congregation that Henk met Nelly. Their first meeting led to an engagement in 1964 and a marriage in 1965. Rothuizen blessed their wedding, and from the beginning, they were involved in the church work. They started the youth ministry ‘Christ’s Ambassadors,’ based on the text, ‘You are Christ’s ambassadors.’ The centre of this work was a youth cellar beneath their home on Burg. Meineszlaan in Rotterdam.
The Roosendaal adventure
The move to Roosendaal in the seventies was a leap into the unknown. ‘We didn’t know anyone in Brabant,’ Henk shares. But God had His plans. An advertisement in the Algemeen Dagblad for a ‘luxury mansion for rent in Roosendaal’ led to a new phase in their lives. ‘I was working for an engineering firm and was a representative for a radio station in Ecuador,’ Henk explains about his varied career at the time. But God’s calling became increasingly clear.
The birth of a church
In 1975, what would later grow into a flourishing church began. It started simply: Rob and Joke Alberts from Breda asked Henk for help with a Bible study. ‘Maybe there are more people who would enjoy that,’ Henk said to Nelly. An advertisement in the Brabants Nieuwsblad led to calls from interested people. ‘Suddenly, instead of just the four of us, we were ten, maybe twelve people,’ Henk remembers. When the group kept growing, he contacted local pastors. The Reformed pastor gave him prophetic advice: ‘Keep going.’
In the spring of 1976, they started house meetings on Sunday mornings. Thirty-seven people, young and old, came together in their living room. Within two months, there were sixty. They eventually found a place in ‘De Levensschool’ (The School of Life), a building belonging to a Roman Catholic educational foundation. A striking detail: in the classroom they were given, there hung a large drawing Henk had received from Brother Rothuizen years earlier. It was the story of The Prodigal Son—a perfect symbol for their mission to reach people with the Gospel.
Challenges and growth
From the first Sunday in March 1977, there were weekly worship services, and the church grew steadily, but not without challenges. Henk especially remembers the difficult period during the ‘Toronto Blessing’ movement in the nineties. ‘Suddenly, we didn’t have the Spirit, and they did,’ he describes the confusion that arose.
‘People left because it was happening somewhere else and not with us,’ he recounts about one of his low points. One morning, when their youngest son Gideon was in the hospital, and yet another letter had arrived from someone leaving the church, he broke down in his car. ‘Lord, if I’m honest, I don’t enjoy this anymore,’ he prayed through his tears. Then he heard a voice ask, ‘But for whom are you actually doing it?’ It reminded him of his life motto, which he shared with Nelly before their first kiss: ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.’
Nelly’s wisdom
Nelly played a crucial role in maintaining unity during difficult times. ‘Every day she would say to me: “Henk, guard your heart and confess the unity,”’ he shares. ‘Sometimes I would get completely grumpy about it, but that saved us.’ This wisdom didn’t just help Henk, but also the leadership team to stay united, even when a second church started in Roosendaal and went in a different direction.
Reconciliation and grace
A special moment came later when the leaders of this second church returned. ‘Listen, God didn’t confirm it. God did confirm your work,’ they said, and they returned the entire amount from the sale of their building. ‘I didn’t have a feeling of “see, we were right,”’ Henk reflects. ‘I found it so moving that they came to acknowledge that their work hadn’t been blessed.’
Living with loss
Church life also brought confrontations with sorrow and loss. The first deaths in the congregation touched Henk deeply. He is especially haunted by the story of a woman who died of cancer at thirty-seven.
‘“Henk,” she said on her deathbed, “I don’t understand it all. I don’t grasp it all. I know the Good Shepherd is here, but I don’t see Him. But I do hear the tapping of His staff.”’ These words taught Henk to help people in their suffering by keeping their gaze focused on God. ‘Death is indeed the last enemy, but death is not the victory,’ became his conviction.
The special gift: Gideon
When Nelly was in her forties and pregnant with their fifth child, they were advised to have an amniocentesis because of the increased risk of a child with a disability. Nelly’s answer was clear: ‘Our whole life is dedicated to giving to God, of ourselves, and also to accepting from God what He gives us.’
Gideon was born with Down syndrome. When a church member asked why God had given this to them, Henk replied: ‘Why shouldn’t God give that to us?’ ‘It has enriched our family and our life, and it still enriches us,’ Henk says about his youngest son. ‘It showed us vulnerability, and also that even in the imperfect, there is a more perfect plan of God.’
Wise lessons
After decades of church leadership, Henk has learned some core lessons he gladly passes on to young preachers:
- Take time for development: ‘I would now tell young preachers: take time to develop. Study and let others help you.’
- Ensure connection: ‘What I find dangerous with young preachers now is that you become so independent that you think you don’t need anyone anymore.’
- Guard your priorities: He points to ‘the tyranny of the urgent’—the danger of always being busy with urgent matters at the expense of what’s most important. ‘Jesus hadn’t visited all the cities and hadn’t healed all the sick, but He did say: “It is finished.”’
The power of authenticity
A special moment occurred when their son Marc, who works in television, was interviewed about being a pastor’s son. Marc said: ‘My father is no different on Monday than he is on Sunday.’ For Henk, this was the most beautiful confirmation of his life: authenticity in faith and life.
Open Doors and Opwekking
For five years, Henk worked for Open Doors, training Bible smugglers from America. Later, he was involved with Opwekking for 28 years. ‘Opwekking is not a church, and I was happy to contribute to that,’ he says about this period, which brought him into contact with the broader evangelical landscape.
The secret of perseverance
When Henk retired at age 65, he was able to successfully hand over the church leadership. ‘I thought it was a beautiful moment to be able to transfer it,’ he reflects. ‘And to be able to let go.’
After moving to Putten, Henk and Nelly once again used their gift of connection. They arrived at a church that was ‘a drama,’ but partly through their dedication and warmth, and together with some committed people, it has developed into a ‘very warm congregation.’
The final message
When asked for his final message to the church, Henk’s answer is clear: ‘Encourage people to persevere in following the Lord. Our wedding verse was: “If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, you will bear much fruit.”’ ‘I would always want people to continue bearing fruit. And that doesn’t stop when you’re 75, 80, or 85. It’s about how you finish—that is what truly counts.’
A legacy of love
The story of Henk and Nelly is one of faithfulness, perseverance, and unconditional love for people. Through peaks and valleys, they have held fast to their calling to connect people with God and with one another. ‘People are central to us. To this very day,’ Henk summarizes their life mission. In a time of church division and individualisation, their message remains relevant: stay close to God’s Word, but also close to one another.
Their story doesn’t end with their diamond wedding anniversary. As Henk himself says: ‘My life story isn’t over yet. I am still experiencing so many things.’ And so they continue, hand-in-hand, still serving and connecting, until the completion of their earthly calling. ‘Persevere, keep bearing fruit,’ remains their message. Because ultimately, it’s not about what you do, but how you finish. And that story, Henk and Nelly are still writing, day by day, in love and service to God and their neighbours.
@Wim van Putten