Hero buys back closed churches to protect them from desecration

In the Netherlands, Wim Annen, a 74-year-old Christian entrepreneur, has bought four disused churches in Gelderland, the country's largest province, in five years. He has no intention of stopping...

This is the fourth disused church that 74-year-old Wim Annen has bought. This time it is the Catholic church in Meddo, a village in the Dutch municipality of Winterswijk in the east of the Netherlands. The aim? To prevent it from being converted into flats or a shopping centre.

In an interview with the daily Nederland Dagblad, the entrepreneur said that he wants to keep the churches he buys as a place of reflection because they are "more beautiful than a billiard hall or a carpet sales centre". At the same time, he is convinced that, even though church attendance in his country is in sharp decline, "faith has not disappeared".

He says that in the aftermath of the pandemic, and now with the threat of war in Europe, many people have found that "they can't do it alone". "I think the need to go to church will increase again," he told the newspaper. After buying the one in Meddo, where services have not been held for over a year, Wim intends to buy three more buildings in the Achterhoek area again this year.

When asked about his motivation, he did not hesitate to testify about his spiritual conversion five years ago. It was through trials in his personal life that he realised 'how lost he was'. By buying back the closed church buildings, the entrepreneur found the best way to thank God for the grace of his conversion.

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