I was 25 years old when I first gave my heart to the Lord. Looking back, I now realize that God had an incredibly special plan with my life, a hopeful future, although I did not always experience it as such. Let me tell you about my journey.

I started studying mechanical engineering in 1986, and through the grace of God, I became the Engineering Manager of Engen Petroleum Company at 29 years of age. Unfortunately, due to wrong lifestyle choices, I later lost everything
that I deemed important. I did, however, lose track of God’s amazing grace in my life, even after I survived three horrible car accidents that left a mark on me, physically and emotionally.

We serve a God of miracles – This I realize even more today as I am telling this story.

A few years later I decided to enroll in theological studies to upgrade my CV and improve my chances of employment. What I did not take into account, however, is that this was exactly where God wanted to be. With this being said, I
have to admit that I was still stuck in the snares of addiction that led to devastating consequences – I ended up homeless and struggling to survive. These negative experiences really shaped the man that I am today, but I am getting
ahead of myself.

I remember a dream I had during that time – A dream that really upset me. A friend of mine interpreted this dream for me and confirmed that God had special plans for me and that He called me for a specific purpose. I was not yet ready
or equipped to succeed in these plans. This made me desperate to equip myself and be ready. At this point, I did not realize that God equips the called, and that He does not need me to equip myself. He was in control and already
at work on my behalf.

In 2007, I was fortunate to obtain employment at an international company. This enabled me to get back on my feet financially, and off the streets. However, a few months later my contract was terminated, resulting in me going back
the streets, struggling to survive. But God was not done with me yet.

I was later offered a job in Iran as a General/Construction manager – I was so excited and thought this was the dream come true, but I did not heed the warnings against it. This new role required to travel regularly between Iran and
Dubai. During one of these business trips, I was unknowingly caught with an expired visa, which I thought at the time to be still valid. I was arrested on the spot and immediately deported back to Dubai. Luckily, my visa for Dubai
was still valid.

While I was still in Dubai, I was privileged to have met my late wife, Corné, a middle-school teacher in Oman – She was an incredibly woman of God, the best faith-warrior that God ever had. She believed that all things would work for
the good for those who love Jesus, according to Romans 8:28.

When my employment contract expired, I relocated to Sohar to be with Corné and her son.

In an effort to generate some form of income, Corné and I created another radio station aimed at the locals in our country of residence. Unfortunately, the idea was just too abstract for the local people to grasp, and we could not
find sustainable advertisers. Our policy with this radio station was to not broadcast any religious or political programs – I did not want to encourage the Muslim religion in any way. During this time, I also met a Jordanian preacher
who became a very good friend of mine, who agreed to broadcast a sermon live on Rainbow Gospel Radio. Unfortunately, his life was threatened the very next day, whereafter he withdrew himself. It was too dangerous for him to do any
kind of Christian broadcast on RGR. We had no clue what was still ahead for us.

I felt the urge and passion in my heart to make Rainbow Gospel Radio work, but nobody wanted to help or support us in the endeavour. They thought it could not and would not work. I studied the concept of internet radios for months
to be able to do it myself. Corné started doing research on the internet and various other websites.

Our favorite Bible verse, Romans 8:28, carried us through this journey, clinging to the vision for Rainbow Gospel Radio.

The name “Rainbow” was the name given by my late wife, Corné. The rainbow is a sign of God’s covenant with Noah. The colors also symbolize all the different nations of the world.

For security reasons, the registration of Rainbow Gospel Radio was done via South Africa – The website was managed from the Middle East. Rainbow Gospel Radio started broadcasting Gospel music on 18 August 2013. At the beginning of
November 2014, we began with live broadcasts and pre-recorded messages. Corné and I were missionaries in the Middle East, in the middle of the Muslim stronghold, and we had to take the safety of all the people involved into consideration.
Our broadcasting studio was 20 meters away from the largest mosque in our town, making it extremely dangerous to broadcast the Word of God.

On listeners’ demand we later decided to include secular programs into the schedule. This was only done after serious thought and prayer. The secular programs, with Christian guidelines, are on the program schedule at different times
during the day. The main goal of every program is to reach out to our listeners, who can participate on our Rainbow Chat page on Facebook, while listening to the live broadcast.

Times were tough in that two-room shelter in the middle of nowhere. I remember how hungry we were, how Corné worked her magic to make soup from a single cabbage. If we ever gor our hands on a chicken, we ate the whole thing… bones
and all. Having one meal a day was a luxury. Luckily, we had an underground source of water, which helped a lot, especially in the demanding heat of the desert. We had nowhere else to go, and besides, we were still in hiding. I remember
when we had to go to town to get supplies, we had to use a different route for each trip, either traveling alone or together, leaving Corné’s son at the shelter in the field. On one such trip, we were driving our Kia back to the
shelter, when we realised that we were being followed. Our God was still faithful – While trying to get away from our followers, our vehicle’s tyre burst, but instead of rolling the vehicle, we came to a straight standstill – safe.
We saw the followers drive past us, realising that God was once again protecting us. Even though our living conditions and circumstances was extremely difficult and trying, we were content and kept focusing on broadcasting the good
news on RGR.

As if matters could not get worse, our internet at the two-room shelter one day had a connection problem. The radio sensors where at two points at the top of a pole next to our shelter – and believe me, that pole was high. We had no
ladder, but I had to get to the top to fix the connection so that we can continue broadcasting. In my attempt to get to the top, I constructed a make-shift ladder to help me get to these radio sensors. Unfortunately, I lost my balance
and fell backwards. For a few moments I could not breath at all, the wind completely knocked out of my chest; then I heard a voice telling me to breath. Corné was hysterical when she found me and wanted to take me to the hospital
– This was a challenge for two reasons: 1) we were in hiding, and 2) we did not have medical aid. Our landlord eventually transported us to numerous hospitals, who did not want to help me, as I did not have medical aid. The landlord
eventually booked me into the last hospital under his name, where I was admitted, treated and discharged a week later.

The ambassador tried to find out why I was arrested but was told that I was only detained – this was on Sunday, 13th of March 2017. On the 15th of March, Corné and her son was dropped off before the South African Embassy in Muscat
at 03:00. They slept on the sidewalk until the gates of the embassy opened in the morning. While at the embassy, Corné called me every day; she and the ambassador even visited me in prison on numerous occasions, bringing much-needed
supplies – not only for me, but for other prisoners as well.

While I was in these terrible conditions inside the prison, God gave me the opportunity to minister to other inmates, whether it was through supplying them with necessities or ministering to them from the Word. It was not easy for
me to stay positive in there. I cried a lot and asked God many questions.  Although I knew that God did not give me a spirit of fear, I was afraid – no, I was terrified – I was terrified to go to sleep, to go take shower, and
to leave my personal belongings in my cell. I was scared for Corné and her son. I was scared for us. Yet, His grace was sufficient for me.

On the 27th of April, I was finally on my way home, cuffed with only a t-shirt and pair of shorts. I had to steal a pair of sandals, as my feet were full of cuts and blisters. I was taken to a venue in Mascat, close to the airport,
where I was held with 50 other people in a ridiculously small room. During that night, we were taken to an underground holding cell, where I was the only Western individual. Although this holding cell was bigger, it was wet and freezing
cold. Throughout the night, groups of people were routinely removed from the cell and placed on their respective flights – Until I was the only one left. I cannot explain to you how scary that was; being completely alone in a cold,
dark and wet cell, not knowing what was going to happen and whether I was going to make my flight. I only truly relaxed once my flight was airborne and I realized that I was finally going home. I was sobbing when the flight took
off and when it finally landed in Addis Ababa. I had to run to make it to my connecting flight to South Africa, something that was extremely difficult to do seeing that I had numerous physical ailments that prevented me for running.
I was so anxious about possibly missing my flight to South Africa. Luckily, I made it just in time – Finally I was on my way home.

On the 28th of April 2017, I finally landed in South Africa. Relief flooded over me when I saw my mother, pastors, friends and Rainbow Gospel Radio presenters waiting for me. I was immediately taken to a Free State hospital for much
needed medical care and treatment, after which I went straight back home and continued broadcasting.