Peter Hazenoot

My name is Peter Hazenoot and together with my dear wife Madeleine, I may serve in the kingdom of our God. I was born in 1983 and I was raised in the most beautiful place in the Netherlands: Katwijk aan Zee. I was very young when my grandparents from my father's side past away. I wondered where they would be and how you could get there. Of course, you have to die first to go to heaven or hell, but what else is needed? I asked myself these questions at a very young age. I consider this as the grace of our Lord and also as the fruit of my upbringing. My parents raised us in the knowledge of who God is and they prayed for us with great regularity. We went to church, sunday school, christian bible clubs HGJV and CJV (now called YMCA) and as a christian family in Katwijk suited, we loved to sing often. I was 11 years old when my mother took me to the monthly singing evenings in our church. I enjoyed those wonderful songs and they have brought me great richness in my daily life today.

At a very young age - probably about 11 years old - I could lead a club for CJV Katwijk under the responsibility of the former present of CJV (Dr. Dirk Barnhoorn) together with my broter. We had a great time with each other.

Slowly over time, I started preaching as well. I gave my first sermon when I was 14 years old. At school my teacher once asked: "Peter, what would you like to be when you grow up?" Without a doubt I answered: 'Pastor!' This worried my teacher, because I had trouble keeping up with my class. Yet I persisted. I knew for sure that I wanted to focus on the work of preaching. This involved all matters, even school.

At a certain point in time, my father felt compelled to store all my christian books and things in a box and hide it for me, so I would focus on my schoolwork. I was really happy that I had hidden a bible underneath my mattress that I could still use.

At age 16 I joined pastor Knoester in his work in prison in Scheveningen. Soon the cooperation became more intensive as I started helping with his work among addicts and the homeless. At that time I have learned many things about practical faith in my daily life. I learned how to pray and live by faith. Arie knoester is one of the persons God has placed on my path to help me grow in faith.

I also cooperated with my friend and brother Orlando pedro Tyssen. He was from Aruba and he told me about life in Aruba. He decided to move back and I would miss him a lot. But what we didn't know, God did. He would bring us together again.

We started to evangelize among prostitutes as well. God taught me to carry out love and patience at that time. Often it was cold and we felt the biting wind as we talked to these women or waited for them because we had a meeting. Many declined our offer(s) to help them, with was very demoralizing. Yet we persevered and we were able to be a light for those who were in darkness. Some literally facing death.

Next to all this work, I was in training. First in construction, later on in health care. So when I would do mission work, I reasoned, I could do as much as possible for the Lord. In health care I learned to deal with all the brokeness and suffering in the world. I worked among the elderly who were demented. They had so much pain and grief and I tried to encourage them with words of comfort of our heavenly Father.

In the summer I did mission work on camping site Dabar in Katwijk. For 7 years I evangelized on this camping site with much joy and dedication. I also gave an alpha course through the reformed church in Katwijk aan Zee. This opened the door to the national evangelism foundation 'Naar House'. I lived in Giessen where we lived together and served the Lord. I have served there for four years fulltime as a preacher and evangelist.

At the time I worked at 'Naar House', I noticed my brother and friend Orlando wasn't doing so well. We were still in tough, but not as much as we were before. Sometimes he would call from Aruba and I would know things weren't well. At one point I started to pray for him and I asked the Lord what I should do to help. It became clear that I had to go to Aruba and see him. After many prayers and much consideration, I decided to leave behind the 99 sheep (all the responsibilities and work in the Netherlands) to find the one lost sheep (Orlando started doing drugs again). I didn't know how this was going to happen exactly. I had no money and no acquaintances or friends in Aruba. Still I knew that my Savior asked me to go and that He would help and guide me.

God provided a ticket to Aruba on a miraculous way. I was walking through Gorinchem and a certain mand wanted to give me the whole amount of the ticket. I still needed a place to stay. Orlando had sold his phone so I couldn't contact him. At that time God laid the foundation for the ministry we now have on the island. I ended up staying at the home of a pastor and his wife who are still friends of ours today. Orlando went to rehab in the Netherlands and stayed in the Netherlands to this day. God has made everything work together for the good for those who love Him and who are called according to his purpose.

I married my wife Madeleine in July 2009. Together we serve the Lord and I am so grateful that she assists me in the work I am doing. Her love, joy and help are a big support to me. God has been good to me all the days of my life. We live by faith, which means we believe in relationship based support. We have never been given short or too much. I can write a book about the miracles God has done in my life and in Madeleine's life. But the most important part is that we both know we are in God's hands. It is His love that saved us. We were bought by His precious blood and it is by His grace that we can be called His children.

My wife is also working for the foundation 'Stichting Wereld Evangelisatie Nederland'. She travels with us, works with us when we are in the Netherlands, she thinks along with us and prays for us. She comes from the province Limburg. Her work may not exactly involve education, but in practice she shows the love of God and she works with orphans and the disabled. We are thankful for what God has given us and it is our prayer that God will continue to use us.