Living out of the deep conviction of Missio Dei takes away stress. Our work in the Kingdom is ultimately God's business. Through His Spirit, He enables us to do what He calls us to do. Our responsibility is to put our all on the altar for Him to use.
Short bio of Dr. Anna Maria “Anne-Marie” Kool – May 2010.
Dr. Anna Maria “Anne-Marie” Kool was born in Oud-Alblas, a small village 25 km East of Rotterdam, near the windmills of Kinderdijk. She speaks Dutch, English, French, German and Hungarian. Her father was a farmer, he served in the Dutch Army in Indonesia in 1947-49. In his mid 30ies he changed career for health reasons, and enrolled in a evening program for surveyor and a real estate broker. Although his entrance qualifications hardly met the standards, he was among the few who passed the exams and started his own business, while continuing his work on the small farm. Her father was always very active in local politics.
After seven years dating her, he married her mother, who grew up on a farm during the Second World War, assisting her parents who were hiding Jews for the Germans, while in the other part of the farm German soldiers were living, for which her grandparents received a high award. She ran with her father the private business in real estate, as his right hand, secretary, manager and Jill of all trades.
Her four siblings are living and working in the Netherlands. Corien was first trained as a professional nurse, then pursued MA studies in Political Sciences at Amsterdam Free University and ran a family business, three women fashion shops, with her husband Mark. After fulfilling several responsibilities in the Christian Democratic party at local and national level, she now serves as a member of the European Parliament, and vice chairperson of the European People’s party. Her second sister Tineke gained an MA degree in household sciences, and after marrying her husband Rien, they followed in the footsteps of her father and took over their private business in real estate. Heleen, her third sister is a midwife, and runs a private midwifery business. Her youngest sister Willemien, was trained as a primary school teacher and then changed career for supermarket manager of a large food chain.
Anne-Marie attended high school in a neighbouring town near the village where she was born. She graduated from Utrecht University with a MA in Theology, with a major in Old Testament. During her studies she served on a voluntary basis in the Dutch branch of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, and taught two years at a Bible School. She was called to be one of the first unofficial staffmembers of IFES behind the iron curtain in 1985, and left for Hungary in 1987, officially to pursue PhD studies, researching the History of the Hungarian Protestant Foreign Mission Movement, unofficially to assist the local Christian student movement.
In 1993 she defended her PhD thesis at Utrecht University. a few months later she returned to Hungary, officially invited by the Reformed Church in Hungary, seconded by the Reformed Mission League of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. She was appointed director of the Protestant Institute for Mission Studies in Budapest, which was established in 1995. She taught courses in a variety of topics related to mission studies at various Hungarian theological seminaries. In 1998 she was also appointed Professor of Missiology by the President of the Republic of Hungary at the Reformed Theological Academy of Pápa. In 2006 the Mission Institute was incorporated into Károli Gáspár Reformed University as the Central and Eastern European Institute for Mission Studies in Budapest. Since 1994 she has been active in a variety of networks for theological and missiology education in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 1998 she has supervised PhD students pursuing a degree at Utrecht University, and since 2003 MTh students working on a Master Degree in Missiology at the University of South Africa.
She is passionate about training and mobilizing the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world, and revitalizing the traditional churches Hungary and neighbouring countries to regain their responsibility in local, urban and rural settings as well as in global missions. She loves to mentor and encourage young people, she sees herself especially as a facilitator and catalyst and with her extensive experience in Christian mission in Central and Eastern Europe is a consultant to many who pursue ministries in the region.
Anne-Marie serves as Regent at Bakke Graduate University since 2006 and has been President of the Central and Eastern European Association for Mission Studies, an academic network of mission scholars and reflective practitioners since 2002-2015. Anne-Marie’s interests include gardening, biking and skating.
