Conversation with
Anneke Best
Part 3
What you are reading is a special trilogy about Jan and Anneke Best. How can you summarize their life story in one sentence? Sailor, sailor, missionary. There is a world of adventure behind that. Together they share inspiring stories about their work in the ports on seagoing ships. Special moments of faith and grace that they experienced as a couple.
Sea, love, and faith
Anneke’s testimony complements the testimony given by her husband Jan. Together with her husband, they remain faithful to their ministry of bringing the Gospel to sailors, even in their old age. To get a complete picture of their lives, you can also read Jan Best’s testimony.
The story of Anneke Best
When Anneke Best looks back on her life, she sums it up in three simple words: “With ups and downs.” Behind those words lies a story of love, loneliness, faith, and growth—the story of a woman who learned what it meant to remain faithful to a sailor and what it takes to follow a calling together.
A wedding day in minor key
The “ups” began for Anneke when she met Jan. “I am lucky to have Jan,” she says without hesitation. Yet their start together was anything but a fairy tale. Jan was a helmsman and was due to leave for nine months at sea in January. Two weeks before their wedding day in December, Anneke’s mother underwent surgery. “She was closed up and never came out again,” she says. “We visited her in the hospital as bride and groom. It was a terrible wedding day. Everyone was crying, and we couldn’t cancel anymore; after all, everything had been arranged. Instead of a party, we had a bread meal, and then everyone went home.”
The loss of her mother was a wound that continued to hurt for a long time. “It was really something that bothered me,” she admits. It was a sadness that she couldn’t easily share, because Jan simply wasn’t there.
The world of a sailor’s wife
Anneke married a sailor, but she only discovered what that meant in practice after they were married. “I only found out after I was married,” she says. “When he was away, there was no email or cell phone. He was completely cut off from the world. After three weeks, you would receive a blue letter, but by then he was already in a completely different place.”
That loneliness was the hardest part. “Being alone,” she says, was the biggest challenge. “During the week, when everything outside is quiet and everyone is at work, it’s okay. But on weekends and Sundays, when I was alone… And there was no babysitter, so I couldn’t even go out for a bit. People did come to visit, but they were couples, and the men didn’t always enjoy themselves without Jan.“ On top of that, they had moved to Heiloo, away from her familiar Zaandam. ”I hardly knew anyone there. That took a lot of getting used to and was very lonely for me.”
From loneliness to understanding
But it was precisely that experience as a sailor’s wife that later became her strength. “Now I can understand the sailors,” says Anneke, referring to the sailors she and Jan would later visit. “I can understand the lives of their wives.” That understanding of the home front, of the women who were waiting at home, made her work on board the ships all the more valuable.
She quickly understood the power of small gestures. Whereas her husband, Jan, still had the opportunity to go ashore for a gift when he came home from sea, the sailors she met often did not. So she started collecting beautiful scarves, necklaces, or dolls for the children at the thrift store. That way, the sailors still had a tangible memento to take home with them.
Together on a mission
When Jan and Anneke later visited ships, each had their own task. “Jan would go to the captain and I would go to the mess room to sing with the Filipinos and pray with them,” she says. It was a ministry they carried out together, each with their own gift.
One of the most remarkable stories Anneke shares is that of Savio Fernandez. In 2016, they went to a ship where there were only Hindus on board. “They had no need for a Bible, so we walked down the gangway disappointed.” But then they were called back by a helmsman from India, Savio Fernandez, who was interested in the gospel.
“He couldn’t stop reading,” Anneke says. “He had to stand watch at night and was so engrossed in reading his Bible that he thought, ‘Oh, I have to go back to work. That’s how he was engrossed in the Word of God.“ That one Bible had a snowball effect: Savio came to faith, started Bible study on board, and others came to faith. ”His wife thought he had changed so much. His whole family came to faith. And now he is a pastor in India and spreads the gospel on YouTube.”
Another moment that touched her was the Chinese captain whose wife had prayed. “A day later, we received an email from his wife: ‘For fifteen years, I have been praying with my father that someone in the world would bring the gospel to my husband. And you have done that.’ Fifteen years of prayer. That makes you pause for a moment.”
A new frustration
For the past two years, however, Anneke has been unable to accompany him on the ships. Her health does not allow it. “Now he has to do it all on his own,” she says, and the frustration is evident in her voice.
They also miss the spontaneous moments. “They often ask, ‘Are you staying for lunch?’ Because they all live in such a small world, they need people from outside. Then something happens. They bring things with them and you see them perk up. They are completely happy with everything.”
Spiritual renewal
Parallel to the work as alderman, Anneke has also undergone her own spiritual journey. They come from the Assembly of Believers, but in recent years their eyes have been opened. “We are now doing the ‘Vrij Zijn Bible School’ online for a year. We have been in the Assembly all our lives and still new things are coming to light.”
It was a revelation. I had wanted to attend the Vrij Zijn Bible School before, but Jan said, “I’m eighty, I’m not going back to school.” But now I had convinced him that we would do it together.
The new insights touched them deeply. The story about women who should remain silent in the congregation, for example. “He just sat next to me: ‘That’s not right, that’s not right.’” Later, Jan looked it up and found that the translation was indeed incorrect. “We also have to let go of many things we’ve heard all our lives. That’s also happening through that Bible school.”
A man who changed
When Anneke is asked about people she admires because of the change in their lives, she mentions Jan, her own husband, without hesitation. When she started dating him, he came from a wealthy family. “He was really full of himself, just from his imagination. He had been everywhere, all over the world. He had a uniform and he drove a sports car. Everything I didn’t aspire to. I was just from a poor, religious family.“
Jan came from a different world. ”He also had servants on board who did everything for him. Then he thought: when I’m married, she’ll be the same.“ She laughs: ”No, so…”
Jan has undergone enormous spiritual development. “Yes, a sailor and a believer. Everything I wore couldn’t be too spiritual. But fortunately, all that has changed.”
In the Assembly, Jan often spoke during the Lord’s Supper, led songs, did just about everything. “In the Living Gospel Church where they are now affiliated, it took some getting used to: doing nothing and sitting in the back. He sometimes has things that make me say, ‘Why don’t you bring that forward?’ But he’s too modest for that.”
Looking ahead
Lately, Anneke has been reading a lot of Derek Prince’s books. “They are very clear. That teaching.” But more importantly: “We have also gone back to the Word, because books are also just someone’s own impression. In the past, we were – well, I can’t say – bombarded with books. We have become a little more cautious about that. Let the Word speak for itself.”
When she looks back on her life, on the ups and downs, she sees a common thread: a God who remained faithful, even in loneliness; a husband who changed; a ministry they were able to do together.
Within the church, she continues to develop: she learns, grows, and discovers. Looking back on her youth, she sees a big difference. “When I see those young people being baptized now,” she remarks, “I wonder: what did I learn back then? You had to memorize a lot of Bible verses, but you weren’t taught the why—the meaning and context of those verses.”
She has that insight now. And that, at her age, is perhaps the most valuable “growth” of all.
@Wim van Putten