Nelly completed her YWAM training school in Holland and came to Thailand to serve the refugees in 1987. Her knowledge of bookkeeping was so needed and she executed her job with great commitment, quality and joy. She loved the challenge of solving problems and the quality of her work and her commitment never wavered in all the years she worked alongside us.
Nelly truly cared about others. She cared for those around her and she cared for those in need. While working in our Bangkok office she made regular visits to the prison on behalf of the Dutch Embassy to visit those from the Netherlands/Indonesia who were in prison. One of the last things she did before she passed away was to designate funds especially for certain S.E. Asian prisoners whom she knew were in need.
Over the period of 20 years that we knew Nelly, she lived in Bangkok and then Cambodia and in 2002 retired in New Zealand. In December 2004 South East Asia was hit by the devastating tsunami. Nelly responded to the need and returned to Thailand to set up the accounts for “We Love Thailand”, a consortium of Christian organizations who were all working together to help with relief and restoration in Southern Thailand. She also set up accounting systems in Vietnam and in Indonesia.
Once again Nelly retired to New Zealand and finally, at the age of 73 and brimming with energy, she returned to Bangkok for what turned out to be the last year of her life.
In all those years we saw consistency in her life…she loved God, she cared about people, she served faithfully, she always had a ready smile and was a woman of prayer. Challenges found her turning to God and trusting Him to work things out. She was an example to all of us of living each day well and finishing well! She finished the course and she kept the faith!
Nelly was diagnosed with lung cancer in July and on December 4, 2007, God called her home. She spent her last days with her children, Marion and Eric, and grandchildren, Marieke and Sebastian and her brother and sister, Jan and Corry. She is greatly missed by us all.
As a young American missionary trying to navigate the intricacies of Dutch culture, Nelly was a tremendous blessing and encouragement. She patiently slowed down her Dutch so that I could learn sentence after sentence. The fact that I can now, 26 years later, fluently preach, teach, converse and lead worship in this beautiful language is partially thanks to Nelly (and Marion) who befriended this foreigner and gave me a love for the Dutch culture.
When Nelly left YWAM Heidebeek I was sad to lose this kind woman yet blessed that this unassuming yet formidable Dutch woman would uproot herself to follow the call of God to Thailand and beyond. What an inspiration!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Belinda van de Loo
YWAM Heidebeek
Worship Ministry/Call2Worship
My wife Lora and I were touched by this “gorgeous” lady. She was incredibly gracious and exuded Christlikeness. Nelly served us, our children, and countless other YWAM wayfarers who visited Thailand. You are missed Nelly.
Mike Bordon