Jacobus Craandijk

Who is Jacobus Craandijk?

Jacobus Craandijk was a Dutch Mennonite teacher and minister who enjoyed using his spare time for walks while taking notes and drawing.

He was trained at the Amsterdam Mennonite seminary and first served in Borne from 1859, where he met and later married Anna Geertruida Ballot in 1861. He then served in Rotterdam from 1862, where he served on the board of the Rotterdam-based Nederlandsch Zendelings Genootschap from 1864. In 1869 he wrote the book Het Nederlandsch zendelinggenootschap in zijn willen en werken, in which he reported on the goals and more and less successful results of that society since its inception. It upset him to see that each religion set up its own missionary work, which in his opinion, was a waste of resources. In general, it was his aim to persuade people of all faiths to invest in one Missionary society as a way to join forces for good in the third world. To this end he tried but failed to win support for government-sponsored third world development projects. In 1879 Van Craandijk organized and presided over a conference of prominent Dutch Mennonite leaders held at Amsterdam. In 1884 he was called to serve in the Doopsgezinde kerk, Haarlem, where he stayed. In 1897 he spoke at the centennial celebration of the Dutch Missionary society, and he also wrote a memorial boek Gedenkboek for the occasion.