Short review of the book Mau. From punk to preacher

It is a special story, Mau, a small town boy baptized more than 60 years ago in the village church who grew into one of the biggest Hash and Weed bosses in the Netherlands and beyond. Until God came back into his life. (I met Mau through social media and also make a recommendation on the back of this Dutch book). The first 25 chapters in part 1 are largely about the underworld in which he lived until 2019. Part 2, chapters 1 to 33 are about his conversion to God and life with God and his growth in faith. To God alone the glory. What is striking is the enormous power of the Holy Spirit and that it brings Jan to Jesus' feet. And how the faithfulness of the Lord is evident from this. And also that grace really is grace. Mau calls on everyone to accept the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. His prayer is that it will be a blessing to many and also his old friends. It is also an encouragement for parents who see their children straying, but also for strayed people who walk around with an enormous emptiness in their hearts. In summary: it is a very readable book not written by a theologian. But by someone who has it in his heart to lead others to Jesus. Mau writes in chapter 31 when he attended a communion with his grandmother as a little boy. “At one point I was so touched that I felt the Holy Spirit very strongly. What was even more special was that the pastor then said, And now I also have something to tell the children. Whooooommm, a warm current went through me like, this is for me.” I was reminded of Psalm 138 verse 8 “The LORD will complete His work for me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Mau was born on an island in the south of the Netherlands and lived in Amsterdam for a long time, but now has lived in Thailand for 25 years. As you maybe know, he had built a global business from scratch and sold it 10 years ago to retire in Thailand. But after a while the new owner emailed him and said that there was quite a lot of question from customers and colleagues about how he had done all that. He asked him if he would like to write a piece every now and then and it would be posted on the website. Mau:" Well, I was doing that until at some point the Lord came into my life. That turned my whole life upside down and I didn't do anything about it anymore. I started to dive into God's Word and started writing all kinds of things about it until at a certain point I thought hey, what if I combine what happened in my life before and after the big change and put it in book form. .The Lord was so incredibly concerned with me that The Lord showed me how I, as a sinner, was loved by Him. That Jesus took away all my punishments on Golgotha so I decided to do it with the intention of showing everyone from the world I come from and the people living a worldly life how everyone, no matter how great a sinner, a criminal or whatever you are that there is hope. God has shown me through His Son Jesus Christ that there is salvation. It wasn't always easy to edit part one over and over again because that’s about my life in the underworld, but it was about the bigger picture. So here is my story in book form about a sinner who by God's grace received eternal life through Jesus Christ alone. May it be a blessing".

"I wish you God's blessing and success in your initiative; and that your story will help many to get to know Jesus, because that is what it is all about." Jaap Dieleman, evangelist.

"An incredible example of God's Grace, a miracle!"

Paul Utley, the Jesus Film Project