Since this month there has been a new national aid point for people who are stuck in a cult. Arjan van Dijk is a cult expert and has set up the new aid point. He makes a striking statement in the Reformatorisch Dagblad about the religious organization Frontrunners Minces of the controversial prayer Tom de Wal from Oosterhout.
Zo says Van Dijk in the newspaper That it is difficult to estimate how many closed groups or sektes there are in the Netherlands. The last study in the Netherlands to Sektes was done by Bureau Beke in 2012. Then they found 200 sekts in our country, of which there were abuses in 84. Van Dijk adds: “I fear that it has not diminished. Thanks to social media, these types of groups have received a broader recruitment channel. A movement like Frontrunners from Tom de Wal makes a lot of use of it.”
The question now is whether the attention of the Aid Point consequences for the Wal, which recently said it would like to start a new church in Eindhoven? To get an answer to this question, Omroep Brabant van Dijk approached in response to the article with some follow -up questions. But a spokesperson for the Fier Foundation, which includes the Aid Point, says that the foundation makes no statements about specific groups. “We also do not share anything about our clients and who may have contacted the aid point, in connection with privacy.”
Controversial services
Understandable, but because Van Dijk mentions Frontrunners as an example in the article, the religious organization therefore seems to be in the picture at the new aid point. The healing and liberation services that Frontrunners organizes throughout the country are controversial. In the services, people could ‘cure’ from diseases such as MS and cancer and ‘freed’ from ‘demons’ such as autism and homosexuality.
Auxiliary point under control
Victims of unsafe situations and compelling control within closed groups, including sektes, can go to the new aid point under control. Here people who are stuck in such a group or family and friends who are worried about a neighbor, confidential with professional care providers.
The aid point is financed by the Ministry of Justice and Security. The chat is open during the week from four o’clock in the afternoon to six in the morning and during the weekend from eight in the evening until es o’clock in the morning.
Are you a victim or are you worried about a neighbor? Then click here for the chat.
11 million in gifts
Frontrunners has an ANBI status. ANBI stands for a public benefit institution, these are organizations that have to intend at least ninety percent the public benefit. Examples are hospitals and environmental organizations. De Wal has collected millions in recent years. In addition, Frontrunners received more than 11 million in donations and gifts in 2023 and 2024, according to the annual accounts of the organization.
He wants to spend part of this money on the construction of a new mega church in Dussen, but local residents are not happy with that. In December 2024 he moved in his permit application for the new building and is currently organizing events in the former party center De Rietpluim. Later he probably wants to build a new church, but he has not yet applied for a permit for that.
In addition, De Wal has announced that he wants to open a hundred new churches. Starting with one in every province. In January 2026 he started a new church in Eindhoven under the name ‘Goed Nieuws Eindhoven’.
In the podcast op Hoop van Zegen, journalists from Omroep Brabant dive into the religious organization of Tom de Wal, Frontrunners Ministries.
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