Body of Son Dutch Evangelist Henk Binnendijk Found In Sea
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – The Dutch fishing town of Katwijk is in mourning after the son of the Netherlands’ famed evangelist Henk Binnendijk was found dead in the North Sea.
Cees Binnendijk, 53, was one of the evangelist’s five children. The circumstances suggested suicide, and police ruled out a crime, several sources said.
Son Cees had an appointment in Katwijk Wednesday, October 7, but did not show up, according to police investigators.
A day later, his bicycle was found at a beach entrance in Katwijk, prompting a search and rescue operation involving lifeboat teams, police, fire brigades drones, and sniffer dogs.
More than a week later, the body of Cees, who worked at the municipality of nearby The Hague, was found in the sea near Katwijk, police said.
OUTPOURING OF GRIEF
The discovery of his human remains close to the area where he and his father lived, sparked an outpouring of public grief in Katwijk and beyond.
Evangelist Henk Binnendijk, 86, made numerous television programs for Dutch evangelical broadcaster EO focused on spreading the Gospel.
He wrote television history in the Netherlands in 1994 when interviewing rockstar and painter Herman Brood, who later committed suicide.
Binnenijk retired in 1999 and was appointed Knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau by then Queen Beatrix.
Confirmation of his son’s death came days after fellow evangelist Johan Vreugdenhil wrongly claimed that Cees Binnendijk’s human remains were “washed up in Scheveningen”, The Hague.
CONTROVERSY
The alleged discovery was also reported by Revive, a Christian website.
The family quickly denied “that Cees body was found,” and evangelist Vreugdenhil later apologized.
“This was another lesson for me not to blindly copy messages, even if they come from a reliable source. I immediately deleted the message. My sincere apologies to all concerned and I ask forgiveness for doing wrong,” Vreugdenhil wrote.
However, police were later forced to crush Binnendijk’s hope that his son was alive. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.
Several years earlier the Dutch evangelical world was also shaken by apparent suicide of the son of another evangelical leader. It comes amid reports of depression among family members of prominent Dutch evangelical preachers.
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