Recently, I was invited to a beautiful Macedonian supper in the company of our Dutch friends Dr Peter Pilon and his wife Els. As English, Macedonian and Dutch exchanges were made over platters of roasted peppers and okra, ajvar, home-made rolls and slices of fried hake among other Macedonian delicacies, it became obvious that our hostess wanted to ask our guests about their experience with God. Peter told us briefly how he and Els had become Christians and I was so touched by some of the details that I decided to share their testimony and something of their current work for God.
Peter and Els
Peter grew up in Veenendaal and was affiliated with the Reformed church until his student days, when he devoted his time and energy to his studies and other pursuits at that time. He met Els, they married and Peter duly set up his GP practice in his home town, Veenendaal. Els came from an atheist background, nevertheless the Reformed church baptized and confirmed her and they attended the services from time to time. Life continued normally for seven years until one day Peter was in the hospital and was called to the bedside of a dying man. This man was so afraid of dying that he was crying out in fear. Peter was deeply shocked to find it was an elder of the Reformed church he was accustomed to attending. ‘How could a ‘Christian’ be so afraid of death?’ Peter asked himself. ‘Was this man really a Christian or just a nominal Christian?’ So impacted by this event, he started to search the Bible diligently for answers to death and eternity. The search continued in vain for a year because Peter could not seem to grasp the simple truths of the Bible. No wonder Paul wrote in Romans 10 regarding the people of Israel, ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ (verse 14).
Interestingly, it was a Dutch Messianic Jew by the name of Hannah Stranders, who came to teach the truth in Veenendaal. Her custom was to explain in two evening sessions Biblical truths concerning both the Old and New Testaments with an illustrated chart. Peter and Els went together the first evening, but Peter was called away halfway through the second evening to deal with a complicated heart-attack emergency. When he returned home, he remarked a difference in Els’ eyes. On asking her what had happened, she told him she had been born again. She had understood that she was far from God, but Jesus had died for her sins to open up the path to God. He had taken her punishment on the cross and now she could accept the forgiveness offered. Peter was very disappointed. He had been searching the Bible for a year and could not find out how to be born again, yet here was Els who had simply been born again before him on this particular evening. Jumping into the car in a state of indignation, Peter raced to the church, ran to the door and began knocking it, crying out, ‘I want to be born again!’ He had just arrived in time as the team were packing up. That evening, Peter knelt in prayer with a few of the Christians there and also received Christ as his Saviour. He was finally born again in a moment of time for all eternity (See John 3:1-21). His spiritual understanding was now 'alive to God' (Romans 6:11) because he had received the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9-11).
This is only the beginning of the story because that evening, both Peter and Els embarked on a journey. In their hearts was a burning desire to tell others of their need to be born again. As a doctor, Peter often had the opportunity to be with patients in their dying moments. Perhaps what he revealed about that struck me the most: people who are dying always tell the truth! In those final moments, Peter was able to direct many to the Saviour with the assurance that they would be with Him on the other side. Not everyone has time to reflect in their dying moments and this inspires Peter and Els to bring the Bible to people in countries all over the world. In 1993, they were evangelizing at the Bulgarian border when they received a “Macedonian call”: “Come over and help us!”. A young Macedonian woman who became a Christian in Sofia through the witness of Sudanese students(!) had married a Macedonian farmer and found out that the country was spiritually empty. So Peter went immediately to Macedonia and ascertained that the only Bible available was the Orthodox translation, which was a large, expensive edition. In order to make the Bible widely available in a smaller version, without the Apocrypha and with a more precise translation based on other reliable original texts, a Bitolian professor by the name of Dr Konstantinov accepted the task of producing a translation over a period of five years. Peter & Els founded a foundation for mission and this Loukas Foundation (www.stichtingloukas.nl) was then able to print 80.000 New Testaments and 47,000 Bibles initially and have them distributed freely throughout Macedonia, followed by 16,000 revised copies. People finally had free access to God’s Word in their mother tongue in a country where Christianity had many of its early roots.
Peter and Els’ latest project is the City Bible Project which produces an edition of the New Testament with a short introduction of the Good News and the city name on the cover (www.citybibles.com). The demand for these New Testaments continues to grow. They are now being produced in ten countries in eleven different languages. If any of my Macedonian readers would like a free New Testament, please contact me at: o...@y...o.uk People’s lives are being changed through God’s Word. The results of this couple’s vision are not only visible in the here and now, but will have eternal repercussions. For me their lives and hearts are an inspiration. God bless you, Peter and Els!
Peter grew up in Veenendaal and was affiliated with the Reformed church until his student days, when he devoted his time and energy to his studies and other pursuits at that time. He met Els, they married and Peter duly set up his GP practice in his home town, Veenendaal. Els came from an atheist background, nevertheless the Reformed church baptized and confirmed her and they attended the services from time to time. Life continued normally for seven years until one day Peter was in the hospital and was called to the bedside of a dying man. This man was so afraid of dying that he was crying out in fear. Peter was deeply shocked to find it was an elder of the Reformed church he was accustomed to attending. ‘How could a ‘Christian’ be so afraid of death?’ Peter asked himself. ‘Was this man really a Christian or just a nominal Christian?’ So impacted by this event, he started to search the Bible diligently for answers to death and eternity. The search continued in vain for a year because Peter could not seem to grasp the simple truths of the Bible. No wonder Paul wrote in Romans 10 regarding the people of Israel, ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ (verse 14).
Interestingly, it was a Dutch Messianic Jew by the name of Hannah Stranders, who came to teach the truth in Veenendaal. Her custom was to explain in two evening sessions Biblical truths concerning both the Old and New Testaments with an illustrated chart. Peter and Els went together the first evening, but Peter was called away halfway through the second evening to deal with a complicated heart-attack emergency. When he returned home, he remarked a difference in Els’ eyes. On asking her what had happened, she told him she had been born again. She had understood that she was far from God, but Jesus had died for her sins to open up the path to God. He had taken her punishment on the cross and now she could accept the forgiveness offered. Peter was very disappointed. He had been searching the Bible for a year and could not find out how to be born again, yet here was Els who had simply been born again before him on this particular evening. Jumping into the car in a state of indignation, Peter raced to the church, ran to the door and began knocking it, crying out, ‘I want to be born again!’ He had just arrived in time as the team were packing up. That evening, Peter knelt in prayer with a few of the Christians there and also received Christ as his Saviour. He was finally born again in a moment of time for all eternity (See John 3:1-21). His spiritual understanding was now 'alive to God' (Romans 6:11) because he had received the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9-11).
This is only the beginning of the story because that evening, both Peter and Els embarked on a journey. In their hearts was a burning desire to tell others of their need to be born again. As a doctor, Peter often had the opportunity to be with patients in their dying moments. Perhaps what he revealed about that struck me the most: people who are dying always tell the truth! In those final moments, Peter was able to direct many to the Saviour with the assurance that they would be with Him on the other side. Not everyone has time to reflect in their dying moments and this inspires Peter and Els to bring the Bible to people in countries all over the world. In 1993, they were evangelizing at the Bulgarian border when they received a “Macedonian call”: “Come over and help us!”. A young Macedonian woman who became a Christian in Sofia through the witness of Sudanese students(!) had married a Macedonian farmer and found out that the country was spiritually empty. So Peter went immediately to Macedonia and ascertained that the only Bible available was the Orthodox translation, which was a large, expensive edition. In order to make the Bible widely available in a smaller version, without the Apocrypha and with a more precise translation based on other reliable original texts, a Bitolian professor by the name of Dr Konstantinov accepted the task of producing a translation over a period of five years. Peter & Els founded a foundation for mission and this Loukas Foundation (www.stichtingloukas.nl) was then able to print 80.000 New Testaments and 47,000 Bibles initially and have them distributed freely throughout Macedonia, followed by 16,000 revised copies. People finally had free access to God’s Word in their mother tongue in a country where Christianity had many of its early roots.
Peter and Els’ latest project is the City Bible Project which produces an edition of the New Testament with a short introduction of the Good News and the city name on the cover (www.citybibles.com). The demand for these New Testaments continues to grow. They are now being produced in ten countries in eleven different languages. If any of my Macedonian readers would like a free New Testament, please contact me at: o...@y...o.uk People’s lives are being changed through God’s Word. The results of this couple’s vision are not only visible in the here and now, but will have eternal repercussions. For me their lives and hearts are an inspiration. God bless you, Peter and Els!
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