WINGS Note: Recently The Nederlands Dagblad, a Netherlands Newspaper, published two articles about the fellowship. They cover many topics but are published by WINGS for their content about CSA and factors that impact on the prevalence and treatment of CSA. Part 1 was published in Dutch at https://www.nd.nl/geloof/geloof/1252917/deze-sektarische-beweging-heeft-honderden-aanhangers-in-neder
WINGS post of Part 2 is available at Netherlands Newspaper Article – Part 2
This sectarian movement has hundreds of followers in the Netherlands. ‘We were lights in the world’
Almost nobody knows the Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) ‘church’. The community is under heavy fire internationally, due to stories of abuse, but what about in the Netherlands? The Nederlands Dagblad investigated this very closed religious community. For followers it seems like a safe haven, but ex-members tell how they struggle with the consequences of abuse, isolation and mental coercion.
Aaldert of Soest Friday, January 10, 2025, 11:00 AM modified January 30, 2025, 11:55 AM
He has given up everything. From now on he will have no possessions, no permanent place to live, and the most painful thing: he will lead a celibate life. Nathan* has become a ‘worker’ in the closed religious community in which he grew up. Together with an older companion he is sent out to preach the gospel, both to people within the community and to outsiders.
This is part 1 of a two-part series. Part 2 will be published next week. Read at the bottom of this article why and how we conducted this research.
One year he is sent here, the next year there. The Netherlands is divided into a number of ‘fields’ for this purpose. He stays there with so-called friends. That is how it has been for years in this community: he has no influence on it, certainly not as a youngster. Nathan accepts it all, because for him the goal is sacred: this is the ultimate way to dedicate his life to God.
But the reality is disappointing, he says, looking back on that period, more than fifteen years ago. ‘We went on tea parties, and occasionally led a meeting. That was it. We hardly had any substantive discussions about faith. That was not appreciated. And I had given up my whole life for that.’
Richard Boom is one person who is willing to tell his story in full: ‘I would even like to, they should know who they are dealing with.’
When he starts asking critical questions, a conversation with the then head worker follows, in which Bible texts are thrown at him and he is accused of being a big mouth. The management then pairs him with another senior worker. This is someone who is actually not allowed to go out with younger men because of previous abuse – and this is known. Nathan is convinced that it is intended as punishment for his critical questions. ‘They did everything they could to destroy me’, he says. In the end, he ends up at home with a serious burnout.
Nathan’s story is not unique. There are ex-workers with similar experiences. ‘I was so belittled by an older companion that at one point I started taking sleeping pills during the day to cope,’ says Tim.
‘I had to ask his permission for everything, even opening a car window. During visits he wanted me to be quiet and listen to him. He called people of color ‘blackies’. And during a conversation he talked about how colored people were a mistake in creation. I, as a colored person, had to listen to that. It’s all minor teasing, but if you’re never allowed to confront your older companion about it, it becomes too much.’ At the same time, he had a deep religious conviction during that period: for this work he had to be prepared to do anything.
FBI investigation in America
The community, which has followers worldwide (estimates vary from 150,000 to 250,000), remained completely under the radar for a long time. That changed a year and a half ago, when stories emerged in the United States about large-scale child sexual abuse within this movement. Publications appeared in the media. A hotline was opened for victims, which now has 910 alleged perpetrators in its sights. And the FBI started an investigation in America.
In the Netherlands – and elsewhere on the European mainland – it remains deafeningly quiet. While the movement also has hundreds of followers in our country. The Nederlands Dagblad delved into the Dutch section of this Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) movement. From conversations with dozens of people involved, a picture emerges of a very closed community, with deeply religious people. Ex-members tell almost without exception how they were damaged, isolated, and frightened by this. A number of them also tell about sexual abuse (more about that in a second article about this movement).
“We needed salvation and it was only available through the Two by Two Church”
Most ex-members do not want their (full) names in the newspaper. The reason is that they still have family members in the religious community and are afraid that relationships will be at stake. Someone who does want to tell his story with his full name is Richard Boom: ‘I would like that, they should know who they are dealing with.’
He is furious with the movement that he and his mother became part of as a child and that, in his eyes, still keeps his mother under its thumb. She married someone from the community in the early nineties. Richard was sixteen at the time. He is completely fed up with what is clearly a cult to him (see also box: is this a cult?). As a teenager, he already doubted the message he heard, but at the same time he was afraid that it would land him in hell. ‘We were supposed to be a chosen people. You would be fine as long as you kept coming to the services.’
Fear of God’s punishment is a theme that regularly comes up in the conversations. Services often talked about how you can be lost, Julia* remembers. That fear of it would stay with her for a long time – even after she had left the community. Linda recognizes this image. ‘It was often about how we as people are weak and sinful’, she says. ‘So we needed salvation and that could only be obtained through the Two by Two church’. When she decided to leave that community, her mother called and said, crying: ‘Child, now you’re going to hell.’ She still finds it hard to think back on this now, more than twenty years later. Leaving is difficult, she says. ‘You completely lose the connection with the life you had built.’
The community, which has followers worldwide, remained completely under the radar for a long time. – image: Getty
Those who come from the reformed world will recognize much in this community. Rules and appearances resemble the way conservative reformed people live their lives: women with long hair and in a skirt, no jewelry, no television. At the same time, there are differences. Reformed people are usually part of larger and recognizable churches. They also have their own schools, institutions, media and platforms on which opinions are exchanged. The Two by Two movement is more under the radar. Nothing is set in stone, because only the Bible counts, and there is resistance to books about faith. All guidelines are unwritten and run via the workers, who therefore seem to have an even greater position than reformed ministers in their own world. More about that position of power later.
Mystery about history
When did the movement start? That question goes back to Ireland, at the end of the nineteenth century. In this region, evangelist William Irvine breaks away from the missionary movement Faith Mission and starts something new. A passage from Matthew 10 plays a central role for him, where it is described that Jesus sends out his disciples two by two.
That historical story is only known to the current followers of the religious community in small doses. Most former members only heard about it later in life, or they discovered it when they did their own research. ‘They used to tell me that this was a made-up story,’ says Joosje.
Why this secrecy about history? It may have to do with the controversial figure of William Irvine himself. He was excommunicated in 1914 because he gave himself an increasingly higher status and had affairs with women. An even more frequently mentioned reason is that the moment of founding undermines the exclusivity of the community. Within the Two by Two movement there is a belief that it began at the moment that Jesus sent his disciples out into the world in pairs. From that moment on, this truth would have been passed on orally from generation to generation. A ‘foundation’ in the nineteenth century would cross that straight line from Jesus’ disciples to the present.
Anyone who left the community was ‘cut off from the body of Christ’, says Luuk.*
‘As a child I was told that the Catholic Church was a splinter group from our faith,’ says Linda. ‘There was also a lot of criticism of church buildings, with all their pomp and circumstance.’
The community itself meets on Sunday mornings in homes. Incidentally, it does not have an official name as a matter of principle. When Jesus sent out his disciples, the movement did not have a name either, is the reasoning. Former members sometimes refer to ‘the service’. Following international publications, this article chooses the designation Two by Two movement.
‘Prepared for battle’
It is Sunday, July 21, 2024. Some 300 Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) supporters are together this weekend for their annual conference. There will be another weekend the following week. Women wear a skirt, most men wear long pants and a shirt. At the end of the afternoon, everyone gathers in a large tent for the evening service of that day. There are people of all ages in the tent, including at least ten to twenty small children. Some people have an earpiece in: they are guests from abroad who are getting Dutch translated.
When the commotion dies down, there is a capella singing from the community’s own collection. There are also prayers and two speeches. The second is given by Bart Hartemink, the main worker in the Netherlands. He walks through the entire Bible: from Zacchaeus to Jacob and Esau, from Elijah to Jesus with his disciples, and from there back to Job. The common thread: God has a plan for everyone’s life. He ends with the armor of God (Ephesians 6) and the importance of prayer. Because not only God has a plan, we also need a plan, he argues. ‘We must be prepared for the battle.’
Then follows a closing song: ‘God’s will is always good / And brings his blessing with it / If we surrender our plans / then his peace descends upon us.’
After the service, the Nederlands Dagblad reports to Hartemink, who is in charge of the community in our country. He is prepared to have a conversation. This takes place later that week with him and his colleague worker Martin Roest in a restaurant along the A28. When asked whether only followers of this religious community go to heaven, Hartemink answers negatively: ‘Salvation can only be achieved through Jesus and we do not have a monopoly on Jesus.’
‘I wasn’t allowed to think for myself. I see that as mental abuse.’
Yet almost all ex-members say that they experienced something different in the past. Marlies: ‘We were the only ones, the lights in the dark world. There might have been a single lost sheep of Jesus in another church. Yet that certainly did not apply to the church as a whole, because those people would then be drawn to the service.’
Anyone who left the community was ‘cut off from the body of Christ’, says Luuk*. He still remembers a moment during a Sunday morning service. ‘A woman said: ‘Anyone who leaves this community is cursed.’ It is really not true that everyone thinks like that. But she was not contradicted either.’
“It’s fair to say: there are those who think like that,” Hartemink acknowledges. “But it’s not true. We don’t have a monopoly on the truth, nobody does.”
Sexually transgressive behavior
Back to Nathan’s story. When he asked critical questions, he was paired with an older companion (who has since passed away) who should not have been sent out with a young man again because of sexually transgressive behavior. The goal was to teach him a lesson, Nathan thinks, and the current head workers fully admit this when asked. Roest: ‘It should never have happened.’
Sexual abuse did not occur within that relationship, because Nathan did not give his older companion the chance. ‘I was not pleased and was a head taller. He did make all sorts of innuendos.’ A second article in this research production will delve deeper into sexual abuse, and the role this older worker played in it.
Nathan does see himself as a victim of abuse of power and spiritual coercion. This not only concerns his time as a young worker, but also the period before and after. ‘I was not allowed to think for myself’, he summarizes. ‘Whether it was about certain habits, appearances or, more importantly, the way the Bible was used, the community attached more importance to the rules of the workers than to God’s word. From a young age I learned that it was not the intention to question the ideas and actions of the workers. I see that as spiritual abuse.’
A former member from abroad who is now a therapist specializing in domestic violence and child protection, says that since the publicity in America, many former members of the faith community have come to her. According to her, their stories reveal a pattern of emotional and spiritual abuse. ‘Particularly the misuse of Bible verses to make a point or to silence dissenting opinions.’
This difficulty with critical questions is also evident in another episode. Around 2020, a group of critical members formed within the Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) movement, calling themselves Siloam. They wrote a letter to the then Dutch head worker Hendrik Ferreira and two other European head workers, also called overseers (Ben Crompton from the United Kingdom and Peter Zürcher from Switzerland). In it, they asked all kinds of questions about the rules or about what they saw as radical positions, such as the refusal to baptize certain people or the ban on television.
“You are building this relationship on completely the wrong foundation.”
In the response letter, which is in the possession of this newspaper, the overseers make it clear to the members of Siloam that they count on their obedience and loyalty. For example, in a passage about baptism, which shows that workers sometimes determine that someone is not yet ready to be baptized. ‘We as workers may not always make the decision that you would make as friends, but the person concerned (the person being baptized, ed.) will never suffer loss if that decision is accepted.’
Elsewhere in this response letter it talks about the Wednesday night meetings. ‘We all want to be encouraged, admonished or corrected, don’t we? These meetings should not be turned into a meeting for discussing issues or bringing up personal matters.’
The overseers from the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany go even further in a letter from 2023, in which questions are raised about the appointment of Bart Hartemink as leader in the Netherlands. The ordinary members are not supposed to interfere with that procedure. ‘The friends have always left the changing of an overseer to the older workers’, they write. ‘You may disagree with that, as well as with our interpretation of Acts 15 and 16, but we will not discuss that.’
In an interview with this newspaper, chief workers Hartemink and Roest admit that workers within the community have sometimes abused their power. ‘That is not what we advocate’, they emphasize. ‘Acts 15 states that the elders and the entire congregation made a decision together. Unfortunately, you have to conclude that this has not always happened among us.’
Another example of this abuse of power: a correspondence between a prominent worker and a young woman. She has entered into a relationship with someone who does not belong to the community and therefore does not attend Sunday services. An older worker contacts her about this. He writes that the friends and the workers together form ‘the body of Christ’, and that choosing her boyfriend is in fact a choice against Jesus. ‘You are building this relationship on a completely wrong foundation’, he adds. ‘If you continue with that, you are going to have a hard life.’
Horrible, Roest admits. ‘We are allowed to advise if people ask for it, but we cannot enforce anything.’
Appreciation for simplicity
There is also another perspective. Namely that of religious people, who belong to this community with heart and soul, and for whom the critical media attention is painful. After a request from the community itself, this newspaper will talk to a group of seven loyal members. They each tell how precious the community is to them. They hear God’s voice in it, feel his Spirit, experience security and connection with each other.
The house meetings on Sunday morning (see also box) are especially important to them. They appreciate the ‘simplicity’ of the community. ‘Precisely because it is not about a name, a building, a payroll with employees, something else becomes central’, says one of them. ‘Namely the connection with God.’
They dare not say whether their community is the only true one. ‘It is not up to us to decide that.’ However, in this conversation it is said twice that this community comes ‘closest to the Bible’. That does not mean that everything has to stay the same. This community is also developing, they emphasize. ‘My daughters simply wear trousers when there are workers in the house.’
That last remark is a reaction to the mandatory rules and appearances that many ex-members encountered. Dress codes, no make-up, no going to school parties. ‘At one point, we were even told that we were not allowed to read comic books anymore’, Joosje remembers. ‘I found that terrible, because I devoured Donald Ducks.’
‘They spat at me and called me a dirty skirt-wearer.’
These rules were emphasized, and women in particular were addressed. A number of sources start – independently – about former head worker Piet Blokker, who gave a speech about dress codes. ‘It was 30 degrees, but even three-quarter sleeves were not allowed’, says Richard. A number of women also say that workers addressed them about the length of their skirts or sleeves. Angela* remembers that she once came home from gym class at school, wearing jeans. There were workers visiting. ‘I was planning to change at home. But one of the workers, who saw me in trousers, started crying because of it. I felt guilty about that at the time.’
At school – they all attended public or broad Christian education – they did not always have it easy because of their religious background. Many ex-members talk about bullying. Women suffered the most. ‘They spat at me and called me a dirty skirt-wearer’, says Julia.
Bullying was less common as the children led double lives. ‘At school I was someone different than at home or in the service. I couldn’t bring those worlds together’, says Auke*.
Every summer the community in the Netherlands gathers at a conference site. – image: Getty
Tim, on the other hand, took his faith so seriously as a child that he consciously started behaving differently from his classmates from the fifth grade onwards. ‘I didn’t laugh at jokes, didn’t go to children’s parties, didn’t participate in extracurricular activities and avoided crushes. I felt guilty when I joined the group, because I had to be ‘different’.’ When they talked about it, children were told that they had to put up with the bullying. ‘It was part of it. You would get rewarded for it in heaven.’
Worker Martin Roest finds it distressing to hear stories of bullying. At the same time, he adds, that is the reality in schools. ‘I don’t want to trivialize it, but children are hard on each other. The fact that you are a Christian can be a reason for being ridiculed.’ He himself had that experience in primary school. ‘But fortunately my parents handled that very well.’
From farmers to scientists
The Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) community is very diverse in background and education level: from farmers to scientists, from construction workers to a pilot, a manager in the financial sector, or a spokesperson in political The Hague. Of course, they are not all yes-nodding followers of the workers. The international media attention leads to the necessary unrest and discussion internally, and some drop out.
The head workers indicate that there are still around 600 people affiliated with the community in the Netherlands (‘although we do not keep a membership list’), but some ex-members estimate that there are now only around 400 left.
“I had to rediscover my whole identity as a Christian.”
Some ex-members have come out relatively unscathed, while others still say they suffer from it – even after many hours of therapy. ‘It took me years to break free from the influence of this group’, says Auke. ‘And when I hear songs from the collection, an irrational fear still comes over me.’
Some ex-members ended up in a more open Christian community, where a world of faith opened up for them. ‘I had to rediscover my entire identity as a Christian’, says Sanne*. She points out that within the religious community it is not taught that Jesus is God, and she actually finds that the most reprehensible thing. ‘Because of that I never really understood the Christian gospel.’
Others have abandoned all forms of religion, or found an alternative way of believing. Auke: ‘I can’t do anything with the Bible’s image of God anymore. It has been destroyed, because I associate it with that time and that group.’
*The names of Nathan, Julia, Angela, Luuk, Auke and Sanne are fictitious. The other first names in the article are their real names. All full names are known to the editors.
Two by Two Movement in Five Characteristics
■ Workers and friends
The members of the community are called ‘friends’. They are not officially members of anything. The leaders are called ‘workers’. They give up all their possessions, must live celibate lives and are sent out in pairs to a region, where they usually stay with friends. Women can also become workers (the so-called sister workers), but the leader of a country or region (the ‘overseer’) is always a man.
■ Baptism and making ‘the choice’
There are two moments when people can consciously connect to the community. For example, you can make ‘the choice’ at a young age. This means that you stand up in a special meeting and indicate that you choose God and this community. This often happens at a relatively young age: 8 to 12 years old. In addition, friends are baptized as ‘adults’, but they are usually still teenagers. This always happens during the annual conference.
■ Various services
The heart of the community is the Sunday morning service. About ten to twelve people come together in a house. There is singing, prayer, and those who have made ‘the choice’ all share something from the Bible. Communion is celebrated every Sunday. There are also ‘gospel services’ on Sunday evening or during the week. These are led by workers and take place in a small room. Although there is not much advertising, these services are open to outsiders. In the summer there is a conference for the entire community in the Netherlands.
■ Finances and foundation
The workers live without possessions, and are supported by the friends. Although workers have a bank account, this is usually done via envelopes with contents. Around the annual conference they hand in whatever they may have ‘left over’, and each worker starts again with an amount that is sufficient to live on for the first period. Although it is almost impossible to find – the movement has no website or clear address – the Nederlands Dagblad came across the Stichting Algemeen Beheer Baten en Verwinstingen after some research. This foundation manages money for those who are called to ‘do the gospel work as intended in, among other things, Matthew 10’ (the chapter in which Jesus sends out his disciples two by two, ed.). The foundation manages money from legacies, among other things, but it is not clear how much money is involved. There are no indications that people are getting rich from it.
■ International character
The Two by Two movement is a worldwide religious community. There are countries with many followers (such as Scotland, Ireland, the United States and Australia), but it can be found in many countries and on all continents. Conferences are organised in all these countries or regions, which are also attended by many foreign workers and friends. The community has a relatively high number of international marriages, because in this way people sometimes meet a foreign life partner from their own religious community.
Is this a cult?
Publications in the media usually refer to the Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) movement as a sect (in English sect or cult). Although this article does not take this qualification for its own account, various characteristics of a sectarian movement can be recognized, Arjan van Dijk states after reading this article. Van Dijk used to work for the government agency Sektesignaal and is now helping the expertise center Fier to set up a new help center for sects and closed groups. Experts use five main characteristics, Van Dijk explains: excessive dedication, a closed character, authoritarian leadership, coercive control over members, and damage to the individual or society. He clearly reads some characteristics, such as the closed character and excessive dedication. With other characteristics – such as authoritarian leadership – the picture is ambivalent.
The more sects or groups meet the five characteristics mentioned, the more often abuses occur, says Van Dijk. This can involve criminal acts such as sexual abuse, financial exploitation or labor exploitation and withholding medical care. Sometimes there is also psychological abuse such as alienating family or friends, denying individuality, extinguishing critical thinking, manipulation and peer pressure. ‘We also encounter these abuses in the ongoing research that we are doing at Fier in preparation for the help center that is to be set up.’
About this research
Why did we investigate this?
In the past year and a half, alarming reports about the Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) movement have appeared in international media, such as the Associated Press (AP) and the British broadcaster BBC. Former members came forward with harrowing stories of mental and sexual abuse. But these articles said nothing about the Netherlands or the European mainland, while the movement also has followers there. After contact with a former member, the Nederlands Dagblad decided to conduct an investigation to bring possible abuses in the Netherlands to light. We want to do justice to possible victims by hearing their story and making problems discussable. The dynamics in the Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) movement are also relevant to a broader target group. The Netherlands has an estimated 80 to 250 sects or closed religious communities. Moreover, some dynamics, such as abuse of power and mental coercion, are also visible in regular churches.
How did we investigate this?
For this research, the Nederlands Dagblad spoke extensively with fourteen Dutch ex-members of the Two by Two (Twee aan Twee) movement. The responsible workers were also interviewed and a group discussion was held with seven members involved. Various books have been published internationally about the movement, mostly written by ex-members. The only Dutch-language publications about this community are by Jildert de Boer, who followed the community intensively for a period as an outsider. His books were consulted for this article and the ND also spoke with De Boer himself. Finally, the newspaper spoke to foreign parties involved, including the American founders of a reporting center for sexual abuse within this movement.
Would you like to share something about life in a closed (Christian) community with the research editors in response to this article? Then visit nd.nl/onderzoek to find out how to contact us (confidentially). You can also email the author directly via vansoest@nd.nl .
An information evening will be organised for members and ex-members in July 2024. It will be an intense meeting, where a number of victims will also speak. – image: Getty 
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