DUTCH ASTROLOGER FINDS JESUS

A well-known Dutch astrologer turned to Christ several months before he died. This is reported by evangelist Leen van Slooten in the Dutch edition of Joel News. Simon Suiker, a former barber's assistant and practising clair-voyant, was consulted by top politicians, business people, lawyers and soccer players. The astrologer, who was on drugs, led a homosexual lifestyle, and was diagnosed HIV-positive, was in hospital for surgery, and heard from a good friend that her sister, Joyce Bootsma, had found Jesus. Suiker was desperate. "I'm searching for God, and sometimes pray through the night. I really need to talk to your sister," he said. At first Joyce was hesi-tant to visit the astrologer, but she felt God wanted her to go to the hospital and pray with him. At his bed she led him to Jesus. "He was convinced that he had to break with his occult activities," Joyce said. Leen van Slooten and his team visited Suiker for weekly follow-up talks. "When I met him, he was exhausted, and asked our help to find peace," Leen said. "There were many people who hated him, because it turned out that he had taped a number of his telephone consultations with powerful people, and was accused of having sold these tapes to a journalist. He was crying when he asked forgiveness and mentioned all the names of the people with whom he had a troubled relationship to God." "He read a lot in the Bible, and during our visits we shared the Lord's Supper," said team member Mauritz Dijkgraaf. "Simon told us: 'God has warned me several times to get out of the occult because it would ruin me, and it's His grace that I finally got out.'" Source: Leen van Slooten and team, Joel News International, JNI 605