Do not be afraid for I am with you ... with My holy right hand - Isaiah 41:10
What an involvement of the our Creator and Lord. When fear creeps up on us or overwhelms us, may we realise that there is also another, greater reality: God's holy right hand.
What a challenge, especially for survivors who must dare to grow through severe trauma. In recent months, we see them making great strides, and occasional hesitations to persevere. What prayers, wisdom from practitioners and love from network friends are needed in both situations. Cool that we as Friends of Esthers get to have this ministry!
Hoeve De Binnentuin continues
Since September 2023, a core team of Friends of Esthers has been praying and taking steps of faith, richtkng the purchase and move to a (residential) farm in the middle of the Netherlands.
The purpose of this locatke is to provide (temporary) safe shelter for survivors - to unwind and opportunities for intense trauma processing. We also expect it to contribute to making Friends of Esthers' work even more effective.
We now have good news! At the last minute (just after 31 March last year) the breakthrough came and on 2 April we had the final confirmation in, from a Christian entrepreneur to buy the Blue House in Amsterdam.
Honest conversations and various trade-offs to be made went hand in hand with prayer, both on the entrepreneur's side and on our side. The entrepreneur chose to invest in God's Kingdom; perhaps not the most profitable move by the world's standards, but for us, this investment opens the door to being able to better help survivors and continue and expand the work.
Meanwhile, the purchase contracts have been signed and we expect to move into Hoeve "De Binnentuin" this summer. After passing the notary, the Blue House will be rented back to the Terpstra family so that Aline's psychological practice can continue, the community work can continue and adult children can stay there to study. What a miracle!
Still exciting....
Recently, donations for the Hoeve have also kept coming in, small and large. We are very grateful for that!
As we informed in an earlier newsletter, the money needed for the necessary renovations has come in amply. Meanwhile, we are in the process of having tenders drawn up, which show that the costs are higher than expected. However, as things stand, this difference will be covered by the additional donations received for this purpose.
Unfortunately, we are not quite there yet financially. When planning, we assumed that the proceeds from the three houses would be enough to buy the Hoeve. There was an uncertain factor in this because you never know in advance exactly what a house will fetch. The selling price of The Blue House is slightly lower than hoped for and the additional costs for transfer etc. are higher than budgeted. The estate agents who are still going to sell the other two houses do not expect these to yield more than they are budgeted for. In short, there is an expected deficit of 75,000 euros.
This deficit seemed to be covered because of an assumed commitment of a large donation, however, this unfortunately did not materialise. The current state of affairs is that an additional €75,000 is needed by 1 August 2024. If you are considering giving, but would like more information on these figures, please feel free to request a meeting with us, or come to one of our info evenings.
Meanwhile, the commitment to survivors continues unabated. We welcome loyal donors who contribute financially every month. This lays a nice foundation; some 3,500 euros per month depends on occasional donations. Your prayer or regular monthly contribution in this regard is most welcome.
Next year, we would then like to start converting and furnishing the big barn, into spaces for offices and weekend shelters, among other things. We hope to be able to tell you more in detail about this later, for now we are concentrating on buying the Hoeve and what is needed to get started.
With this message and the amounts, we do not want to pressure anyone, but give correct information and be open. We trust that God Himself will touch hearts and that He will provide through this. How and at what time, in this we really trust Him!
Review of the process
The information evenings we held in Amsterdam last six months have also been a blessing. Especially in making new contacts and building networks for e.g. prayer and renovations.
We got to tell a whole new group of people about our work, Esther's process and plans for the future. Beautiful how God can use everything.
As a core team, we ourselves have also grown in friendship, partly through the ordeal and getting to know each other's character and the things where development is still needed. In retrospect, we also really needed this time as a group, before the move to the place where we are going to rub shoulders together - each in his/her own way and with his/her own talents.
Strengthening networks - information evenings for potential new network friends
To get out of the cult, a survivor needs a network of friends in addition to a trauma counsellor. People with warm hearts, who sympathise and want to stand beside this person with perseverance, practically and in prayer. All our aid seekers currently have too small a network and could well use any addition, even if only a few hours a week availability through online media. Every person who is willing helps in recovery.
To find new network friends, we will hold an information meeting in Utrecht on Monday evening 24 June. An explanation will be given about our work and how you can help as a network friend. There will also be room to ask questions.
Further future dates can also be found on our site. You are welcome to come yourself and bring someone along. Please register via the contact page on Lichtoplevens.nl ('register meeting'). After registration, you will receive the exact address where the meeting will take place. Maybe you know people near the region where the evenings are held (in a radius of about 50 km). Would you draw their attention to these evenings? And do you know some people who are interested, but nothing is planned in the neighbourhood, please contact us, we would be happy to come along!
Together, we can help the work of Friends of Esthers grow, on behalf of helping survivors. Would you take a (half) hour to go through your list of friends and acquaintances? Thanks in advance!
Prayer letters
For more information on the progress of assistance, see our prayer letters which come out quarterly or sign up for them via the contact page.
How did it go with 'the investigation report'?
As mentioned in the February newsletter, the Hendriks Committee report was discussed on 6 March amid a packed agenda of the Justice and Security Committee. Some of our readers took the trouble to send an e-mail to MPs about it, for which we are very grateful!
Prior to the debate, representatives of the 20-GGZ treatment group had a disappointing conversation with the Christian Union (read here a reflection of their findings), to call on them to make an effort for an independent second opinion.
Despite the fundamental criticism from all interest groups, very few MPs were critical of the report, read here the stenogram of entire committee meeting. A massive call for a second opinion, the only logical response to such a poor report, unfortunately failed to materialise.
One MP did stand up for this and one motion submitted for this purpose. We will send you via the newsletter and/or a notice under 'news' on the site www.lichtopsrm.com inform when it is clear when this motion will be voted on.
Thank you for your commitment to helping survivors of satanic ritual abuse.
With warm regards,
On behalf of the Friends of Esthers team
Aline Terpstra, GZ-psychologist BIG
Esther, survivor satanic ritual abuse
Gerard van der Schee
Werner & Myrjam de Jonge
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