Fineke is down-to-earth, courageous and visionary.
Having left her native Holland in her late teens, she worked briefly with the homeless, but it wasn’t until on a holiday visiting a Dutch missionary friend in Bolivia that God’s specific plan for her really began.
In 1989, you’d have found her on the streets of La Paz with friends, high up in the Andes, helping homeless and addicted young people. They reached out to 17 gangs, often taking men to adult centres. But there was nothing for teenagers, and that’s how Adulam, her first home for boys, opened in 1994.
Adulam was followed by a girls’ home, Talita Cumi, and then another, Jesed (‘loving kindness’) initially for addicted couples, now helping vulnerable children.
For Fineke, rehabilitation doesn’t simply mean ditching bad habits and learning a few skills. It means having a life project that a young person can do something with. The homes are therapeutic communities staffed by trained carers and professionals.
In 2022, Mission Adulam celebrated its 30th anniversary. Fineke has passed on the management role while retaining oversight. Meanwhile, her longstanding prison ministry is increasing too.
In her book ‘My Heart is in Bolivia’, she says: ‘There are people better qualified and more suited for the work I am doing in Bolivia. I am not especially strong and I didn’t build up an amazing CV in the Netherlands. A Christian organisation thought it was too risky to employ someone who had suffered a nervous breakdown. I didn’t have top marks in my Bible school diploma. However I’m convinced the Lord doesn’t primarily look for all these things; He doesn’t ask how capable we are but asks if we will trust Him: if we will believe in His power, His love and His calling for our lives’.
Fineke is right. Those of us who have seen her life over decades recognise the amazing things God has done in and through her. We doubt anyone is better suited than she is.
Of course, she has had heartaches too – sometimes tragic early deaths, sometimes boys or girls falling back into addiction when they return to dysfunctional homes. But many have found Jesus.
Note: The photo shows Fineke with her ‘grandson’