Honoring the Founding Father

Yesterday we said goodbye to Jan Kits, founding father of Agapè in The Netherlands. Almost 40 years ago he met Bill Bright, who challenged him to come and help change the world, and so Jan did… Agapè was founded in 1969 as ‘Campus Crusade for Christ’, and Jan led the ministry as a National Director until 1977. Under his leadership a movement among students in Enschede started, and up till today I meet people that have been impacted by this movement. After ’77 he became a member of the Board, only to step down by the end of last year. Yesterday we honored them for this, and said goodbye – not to the man or the ministry but to the role of Board member. Because even now he and Nellie are unstoppable: this morning they left for Budapest to attend a Campus Crusade event there, and they are continuing their work in Siberia in leadership development and FamilyLife. I had a very good conversation afterwards with one of their daughters, who confirmed that her parents have been coaching, helping, discipling others (and especially students) all of their lives.

Jan and Nellie, thank you for your tremendous contribution to this movement!