Mrs Dirkje MacPherson
Dirkje Heikoop was born on 15 February 1930, the third in a family that would number eight children, all born in the Netherlands. At first the family lived in The Hague but moved to Scheveningen in 1935 where the parents conducted a fruit and vegetable business.
The hard times of the depression that commenced in 1929 held Holland and much of the world in its crippling grip. That period was followed by the even harder times of World War 2. When the trying period of German occupation had come to an end, many Dutch citizens migrated to more
peaceful shores, at a distance from the cold war that followed the peace treaties of 1945. The family of Mr and Mrs Johannes Heikoop and seven of their unmarried children set their eyes on New Zealand. Even in those early days they managed to make contact with the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in New Zealand. Mr and Mrs Murdoch MacPherson, then farming at Tokomaru Bay, north of Gisborne, were very helpful to the Heikoop family in facilitating their emigration plans.
Migration transport was still mainly by ship, which in 1952 took the Heikoop family as far as Sydney. After a voyage of about 5 weeks, there followed a five-hour flight by seaplane over the Tasman Sea, from Sydney Harbour to Auckland Harbour. One thing the family had left out of their reckoning whilst still in Holland was the much greater distances in New Zealand compared to what they were used to in the Dutch Lowlands. Having landed in Auckland they managed to engage two taxis to take them to their final destination. They little realized that about 350 miles and ten hours separated them from the MacPherson’s home at Tokomaru Bay. (It was in the schoolhouse at Tokomaru Bay that the Rev J P MacQueen had preached the gospel in 1935 and baptized the MacPherson children.)
Having overcome tremendous obstacles of distance, the final barrier of language was a great problem for Mr and Mrs Heikoop, who were now in their fifties and did not know English. In spite of this hurdle they were always attentive on the public means of grace set up in Gisborne in the 1950s. However, they always complained that they could not understand the preaching, which was a great trial to them. But during one service, when Rev William MacLean was officiating on the Saturday of a communion, Mr Heikoop found, to his great astonishment, that he could understand every word. He got such encouragement from the Word preached that he applied to the Kirk Session and was permitted to sit at the Lord’s Table the following day.
The new language, however, was only a small hurdle for the younger generation. Dirkje became friendly with Ken MacPherson and they married in September 1954. Initially Ken carried on his farming activities north of Gisborne, where they were far removed from the means of grace and educational facilities. Eventually he managed to purchase a farm at Ngatapa, which is about 30 minutes from Gisborne by car. From then on Mr and Mrs MacPherson and their growing family were able to attend the means of grace regularly. Dirkje came before the Kirk Session on 14 April 1979, as she had for some time been spiritually exercised about her duty to remember the Saviour’s death. The truth, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28), had been blessed to her soul. The text on this particular day of preparation, “Say unto my soul, I am thy
salvation” (Ps 35:3), also became a great encouragement to her. She was admitted to full membership and was enabled to be a consistent witness for Christ until the day she died.
With chest pains developing over a long period of time, she at last needed a coronary-bypass operation. However, the operation was not very successful and further problems developed, and she needed further surgical intervention. She was able to sit at the Lord’s Table for the last time on Sabbath, 22 October 2006. The next day she was flown to Hamilton, where she was admitted to Waikato Hospital for proposed surgery. However problems occurred during pre-operation procedures and, after lingering for three days, she passed away on Friday, October 27, to, we believe, her eternal rest. Her remains were interred in the Taruheru Lawn Cemetery, Gisborne on November 1.
Our sympathy is extended to Dirkje’s husband Ken, an elder in the Gisborne congregation, her only surviving sister Annie, her daughter Ann and her seven sons and her many grandchildren. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord” (Rev 14:13). May the children and grandchildren be partakers of the same grace!
(Rev) J A T van Dorp
Protestant View
The Onward March of Rome
John Bunyan was somewhat precipitate in anticipating the early demise of Giant Pope. With his iron fist concealed in a velvet glove he still strides though the United Kingdom in pursuit of the aim spelled out by the former Anglican churchman – later Roman Catholic Cardinal – Henry Manning (1809-1892). Addressing the Jesuits, he said concerning England (by which no doubt he meant the United Kingdom!): “It is an head of Protestantism, the centre of its movements and the stronghold of its power. Weakened in England, it is paralysed elsewhere. Conquered in England, it is conquered throughout the whole world. Once overthrown here, all else is but a war of detail. All the roads of the world meet in one point, and this point reached, all the world is open to the Church’s will” (see Michael de Semlyen, The Foundations Under Attack, p 30). We know that truth will triumph in the end but it may lie in the street for many days.
Even though the hold of Rome on those brought up within her bounds in Scotland has been greatly reduced and the present upsurge in those attending chapels is the result of immigration from Roman Catholic parts of Europe, the influence of Romanism in the corridors of power and in the popular media is still strong. The former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has certainly not been
governed by biblical Christianity in his public policy, and has acted in contradiction of the official stance taken by Rome on several moral issues. But it seems that he has been nurtured by Roman priests in his endeavour to find his spiritual home ultimately in Romanism and no doubt, if that is his intention, Rome will find a way by which to accommodate him and secure the resulting publicity coup.
Mr Blair has been a regular attender at Roman Catholic masses, although allegedly prevented from “taking communion”. One of his final acts while prime minister was to visit the Pope, bringing him no fewer than three portraits of Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), who did so much to Romanise the Church of England through the Oxford Movement, before defecting to Rome. While in Rome he also achieved the distinction of being the first prime minister to visit the College in Rome which trained priests for underground mission work in England in post-Reformation times. Recently the present Prime Minister presented the Pope with a volume of sermons preached by his father. No doubt the Pope appreciates any token of respect from those at the head of nations, though some may suit him better than others.
Meanwhile the new First Minister of Scotland has, in the Scottish Catholic Observer, undertaken to try to persuade Gordon Brown to incorporate in his proposed Bill of Rights the removal of the Act of Settlement from the Statute Book. He asserts that, even if there is no Bill of Rights, this Act, which secures the Protestant character of the Throne, should be repealed, “because it is a blot on our culture”. It appears that Mr Salmond has been campaigning on this issue for a number of years and that he engaged himself to Cardinal O’Brien to use his influence to this end. Now we can guess why the spokesmen of Rome in Scotland swung behind the Scottish Nationalists in the recent election and why the Cardinal is now advocating the extension of the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
The breaking up of the United Kingdom, the disestablishment of the Church of England of the 39 Articles, the removal of the Act of Settlement, and further incorporation in the European Union, achieved by the deceit which has characterised the movement all along, are no doubt all part of the one process on the way to the achievement of Cardinal Manning’s aim. Whatever God has in mind for our people in the short term, we are thankful that it is written that the day shall surely come when “that Wicked shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thess 2:8-10). We pray that many souls will be delivered from this and all the other delusions which stalk the land today. HMC