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 PrintableVersion Dutch Courage - In Sickness and In HeathDUTCH COURAGE: in sickness and in health It was in 1976 that Dirk van Zuylen's world suddenly seemed to collapse. Married with two young children and in the prime of life, Dirk was diagnosed with acute kidney failure and the prospect of dialysis for seven hours a day, three days a week. In the same year, his young son developed diabetes and his third child was born. This autobiography traces the story of how Dirk and his wife, Sandra, cope - and how they wrestle with the question of why God has allowed them to suffer in this way. There is nothing particularly unusual about Dirk's early experiences - his birth in wartime Holland; his emigration to Canada and subsequent return to Holland; his conversion to Christ as a teenager; his growth as a Christian (helped by the Navigators, an American-based mission organisation with whom he eventually works full-time); and his marriage to Sandra. The author goes on to describe the onset of kidney failure and his treatment. He offers no easy or superficial answers to the question of suffering. In fact, his theological conclusions are not particularly explicit. This meant that I very much appreciated the chapter by Sandra, originally a magazine article, which has a helpful explanation of spiritual lessons they both learnt. In some ways, I would have liked to have heard more along these lines. However, the account as a whole is straightforward, honest and personal and it may well be a help to those in a similar situation who would like to know they are not alone. Mary Davis© Evangelicals Now - April 2000 |
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