About


About

 

OUR MISSION

De Parelpoort retreat centre is a centre who’s vision is to provide a safe and peaceful place for our guests where God’s presence is tangible. A place where people can rest, be refreshed and inspired.

WHO WE ARE

ABOUT
We, Berndt and Manuela Botman are the proud owners of ‘De Parelpoort’. We both share a big heart for God an our purpose in life is to follow God’s voice.

I, Berndt am an electrical engineer and am Dutch, born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. And I, Manuela am a professional artist and am Portuguese, born in Luanda, Angola.

We met each other in a miraculous way at the general course of Wycliffe Bible Translators in High Wycombe – UK 1982.

Although we come from two different cultures and backgrounds, we got together after being a year at the Bible school, and decided to go back to the Netherlands to get married. Now we have a loving family with 4 children, and 2 grandchildren.

In 1994 we inherited this house of Berndt’s parents, a 70-year-old farm, from the 19th century, what we now call ‘De Parelpoort’. Following God’s will we decided to rebuild the house and make it into a retreat centre.

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WHO WE ARE

Berndt and Manuela Botman are the proud owners of ‘De Parelpoort’ They both share a big heart for God and their purpose in life is to follow God’s voice
Berndt is an electrical engineer and comes from Holland and Manuela is a professional artist and comes from Angola with Portuguese parents. They met each other in a miraculous way at the General course of Wycliffe Bible Translators in High Wycombe – UK 1982.
Although they come from two different cultures and backgrounds. They got together after being a year at the bible school, and decided to go back to the Netherlands to get married. Now they have a lovely family with 4 children
​In 1994 they inherited in a miraculous way the house of Berndt his parents, a 70-year-old farm what now calls the Parelpoort. After a lot of prayer, they decided to rebuild the house and make it a retreat centre. 

Guardar

ABOUT

WHO WE ARE

Berndt and Manuela Botman are the proud owners of ‘De Parelpoort’ They both share a big heart for God and their purpose in life is to follow God’s voice
Berndt is an electrical engineer and comes from Holland and Manuela is a professional artist and comes from Angola with Portuguese parents. They met each other in a miraculous way at the General course of Wycliffe Bible Translators in High Wycombe – UK 1982.
Although they come from two different cultures and backgrounds. They got together after being a year at the bible school, and decided to go back to the Netherlands to get married. Now they have a lovely family with 4 children
​In 1994 they inherited in a miraculous way the house of Berndt his parents, a 70-year-old farm what now calls the Parelpoort. After a lot of prayer, they decided to rebuild the house and make it a retreat centre. 

Guardar

ABOUT

STATEMENT OF FAITH

We believe in one holy and loving God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit eternally. God has created all things visible and invisible, has brought salvation and new life to humanity through Jesus Christ.

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Word of God become flesh. He is the Savior of the world, who has delivered us fromthe dominion of sin and reconciled us to God by his death on a cross.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal Spirit of God, who dwelled in Jesus Christ, who empowers the church, whois the source of our life in Christ, and who is poured out on those who believe as the guarantee of redemption.

We believe that joy, peace and love is the will of God. Led by the Holy Spirit, we follow Christ in the way of peace, doing justice and bringing reconciliation. We place our hope in the reign of God and its fulfillment in the day when Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead

HISTORY

In 1994 we inherited by some miraculous circumstance my parents’ house. This is an old farmhouse in a rural area with 1,5 ha of farmland, that my parents bought from a small farmer, and they refurbished and embellished it and extended it with side-buildings in the years 70 of the last century. After my mother died in 2006, my father left the place in 2007. Encouraged by prophetic words* we received and by God’s witness in our own spirits we decided to keep the place and make something of it.
 
End of 2009 I was fired from my job at Rockwell Automation in Germany after about 20 years with that firm. By God’s grace I received a substantial compensation, which was very welcome for the refurbishment. Also Manuela’s mother and our eldest son Johannes made it financially possible to come thus far. After Rockwell I started working as a freelance electrical engineer, and have been fully employed until today.

It has been a long road, because the house needed a lot of repairs. More than once I wanted to sell the place in order to make life a bit easier. But all along the way the Lord has been speaking to keep it and make it a place of His presence. We started renovating and transforming the existing buildings in 2007 and finally in April 2016 we had our dedication service.

So now we present to you our project, called the “Pearl Gate” (based on the verse from the book of Revelation 21v21) in Dutch “De Parelpoort”.