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About
the Author
By D.E.T. Evenhuis
I was born in post-war Holland in 1949, the younger son of Reinder and
Hermina
Evenhuis. A few years prior to my birth, my parents had been in the
Dutch
underground, a dangerous vocation indeed. They had further jeopardized
their
lives by hiding a man for years in a wall cavity of their home. Father
too
experienced a Nazi prison while our nation reeled under a massive
destruction of
life and property. Yet there was one particular matter that disturbed
my father
more than any other, the brutal and senseless murder of almost all of
Europe’s
Jews. Holland and other nations too lost up to 98% of their Jewish
community. My
father’s search for answers as to why this heinous holocaust
had taken place
was fruitless until he attended a birthday party in 1947. There two men
startled
him by insisting that the Jewish people were still in covenant
relationship with
God. Since childhood my parents had been taught that because the Jews
had
rejected Jesus, God had in turn rejected them and had replaced them
with the
Church. Carefully these two men showed further just how flawed this
replacement
theology was. They revealed to him from the Bible that God fully
intended
bringing the Jews back to their land and back to Himself. Father went
home armed
with a list of Scriptures, which after careful study, fully persuaded
him as to
the rightness of the testimony of these two brethren. Now he understood
that
Hitler along with Pharaoh, and Haaman and Herod were instruments under
satanic
control in the devil’s on-going but vain attempt to thwart
God’s plans. Now
for the first time my father realised the error of teaching that
God’s
covenant with Israel was subject to sin or circumstance.
“Thus saith the
LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of
the moon
and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the
waves
thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart
from
before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease
from being a
nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be
measured,
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast
off all
the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the
LORD” (Jeremiah 31:35-37)
When I was a toddler
my parents immigrated to Tasmania, Australia.
My earliest memories take me back to the family altar where upon my
father’s knees I was taught to love and trust God. My
father’s love for
God shone out in his love for my mother, and the family. Every meal
time was accompanied with a reading from God’s word. He
always
maintained a loving care for the Jewish people and prayed steadfastly
for their salvation and for the peace of Jerusalem. After finishing my
schooling, my father who was an excellent smallgoods-maker, taught me
his trade. My brother and sister; fourteen and eleven years my senior,
had long since married and moved to the south of our island. In 1969 I
met my true love Phyllis and we were married in 1971. We were soon
blessed with five precious children; Maria, Lazlo, Daniel, Jared and
Samuel. We were also blessed with good business opportunities and were
in full swing when out lives took a sudden turn. Only three days after
Samuel’s birth and upon my thirtieth birthday, the Lord
called us. We
immediately sold out home and business and moved to Melbourne. In 1980
we began our work in the Jewish community. I also travelled
extensively, nationally and internationally. Our ministry was twofold.
We sought the good for Israel, shared the gospel with Jewish people and
taught about bible prophecy in churches. These were years of great
opportunity and we saw, heard and learned so much through experiences
as diverse as sitting with remote Aboriginal tribal leaders and sitting
down with the President of Israel in his home. In 1988 we were called
back home. I was now able to return to my work as a grazier of a
property purchased by us as an investment before leaving in 1980. After
Samuel’s birth, Phyillis began to have trouble with her
voice. This
puzzled us and the doctors, but a decade and many symptoms later,
Phyllis was diagnosed as having ‘Multiple
Sclerosis.’ We are daily
proving the blessedness of trusting in God in every situation. It was
so good that after a very busy eight years in Melbourne, we could now
return to the quietness of our country home. We were also much blessed
in being able to care for my ageing parents. By 1990 they had both
passed away. After fifty four years of marriage father survived mother
by only tem weeks. That same year we published a book dedicated to the
memory of my father entitled ‘Israel’s
Destiny.’ The quieter lifestyle
too afforded us far more time with our growing family as we saw them
through school, college and university and into their vocations. These
are wonderful times when the whole family comes home. As it was in my
father’s house, the family altar still stands. Here too the
Jewish
people are remembered as we too earnestly pray for them and the peace
of Jerusalem. We just love being grandparents.
We give our special thanks to all involved. We now humbly
present this work to you and wish you the rich blessing of
Israel’s covenant keeping God.
“For this God is our God forever and
ever”
Psalm 48:14
© Copyright Dirk Evenhuis. The book Israel's Destiny is
protected by
Australian copyright law. No part of the book may be used or
distributed for commercial reasons without the written permission of
the author Dirk Evenhuis.
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