1Who is Tom de Wal?
God gave a mission: to establish Frontrunners Ministries. This describes the organization that De Wal and his wife Femke started in 2016. “The task of Frontrunners is to raise up a generation that is fully committed to God’s Kingdom; a generation full of faith and power of the Holy Spirit,” according to the website.
Then it helps that (32, born in Oosterhout) once wrote that he could perform “the same works as Jesus and more”, such as A.D reported earlier. For example, he organizes ‘healing services’, in which people are cured of all kinds of physical ailments. For example, YouTube videos show how De Wal would suddenly make a deaf boy hear again “in the name of Jesus” and how a woman’s shoulder pain would spontaneously disappear. There is no evidence that De Wal actually healed people. The terms and conditions for the services state that visitors to the services cannot hold Frontrunners “in any way liable” for the results after visiting a deliverance or healing service.
These services are therefore controversial. In recent years, several reports have been received by the Health and Youth Inspectorate (IGJ). Following on from this, then outgoing minister Pia Dijkstra (Medical Care, D66) warned in 2024 about De Wal’s practices. But she could not actually take action against him, she told critical MPs, because of freedom of religion.
The organization is now growing steadily. For example, De Wal has wanted to have a megachurch built in Dussen in North Brabant for a number of years, to the dissatisfaction of local residents. That requires a lot of money. Millions of euros in donations flow every year to the foundation behind De Wal, the business magazine revealed Quote earlier: in 2022, for example, around 4.2 million euros. During services, De Wal calls on people to honor him by donating money; Possibly, he says, they can sell their car, for example. One couple who actually did this later received an Audi from De Wal: God spoke “to them to sell their own car and sow the money in Frontrunners,” wrote DeWal on Instagram. “God recently spoke to us to give them a new car.”
In addition to the services, De Wal wants to open “a hundred new churches” in the Netherlands. Last weekend one of them would be opened festively, with a healing service, in Eindhoven.
2What exactly was De Wal planning?
Initially, De Wal wanted to hold a ‘revival week’ in Eindhoven: between January 9 and 11, he would organize a series of healing services in that city. Visitors there would receive “breakthrough” and “healing.” In addition, a new church affiliated with De Wal would be opened. But the meetings in a Van der Valk were canceled by the hotel due to feared unrest: several local action groups had announced that they would protest against De Wal because he also prayed for homogenization – he himself denies this.
After the cancellation in Eindhoven, De Wal moved the healing service to a church in Tilburg. The police arrived there shortly after the start of the service. When De Wal then continued the service on the street, he was arrested.
3Why did the police in Tilburg intervene?
There were two reasons for this, said Mayor Onno Hoes Friday evening on Radio 1. “There was no permit for the event and there was a risk of disturbing public order,” because counter-demonstrators would also come to the service. De Wal would sell tickets for the service, which, according to Hoes, made it clear that this was an event for which a permit had to be applied for.
But in the general local ordinance of the municipality of Tilburg ticket sales are not mentioned as a ground for making a meeting subject to a permit requirement. Moreover: the tickets for the service were free, it turns out announcements from Frontrunners Ministries. And what about freedom of religion? Hoes responded to a question from the radio presenter that the municipality had “not gotten around to that”.
4Should the municipality of Tilburg intervene?
“Not based on what I know now,” says Paul van Sasse van IJsselt, special professor of law and religion at the University and advisor to the Council of State. According to him, freedom of religion had “top of mind” should be with Hoes. “This is about the separation between church and state and its constitutional anchoring, for example in the freedom of religion and assembly. That is an important historical asset. It seems that the argument about events has been used to end a church service.”
It is not up to the state to determine whether De Wal’s healing service was a church service or something else, he says. “If the organization itself says so, then the government must in principle assume that. And even if it is clearly not the case, that it is merely a label on something completely different, the government must act very cautiously.”
Moreover: a mayor broke up – which makes the raid a “unique situation”. “Church services may only be entered in exceptional circumstances if someone has been caught red-handed. But then it must involve serious criminal offences. That does not seem to be the case here.” There has never been a reason to give mayors the power to ban church services or have them raided by the police, says Van Sasse van IJsselt. “There is a good reason for this. Otherwise you could end up with a situation where mayors enter the religious domain for political reasons.”
Also read
The church shelter in Kampen has been going on for almost a year. The family keeps it going thanks to TikTok, private lessons and 50 volunteers a day
The journalistic principles of NRC