From Kick-Boxer Champ to Victory in Christ

A Word From Rik


Hello, my friend. This is a letter from Rik. “I am 33, and am now in a Belgian prison. I think that I experienced lots of things in my life. In the realm of sport, I achieved the highest level: I became World Kick-Boxing champion in 1991, and with my parents, I began a sports school in the center of Amsterdam for 12 years. After ending my competitions, I ended up in the lowest places of my life especially because my hobby became, with time, my career. At this time, I was working as a “bouncer” man in a certain disco in Amsterdam, seeing that my background in sport gave me no problem to find that sort of job in that my reputation in the boxing ring was known by all.

But, throughout my night life I had to face another world: alcohol, drugs and violence. At that time, my girl friend left me because I drank alcohol and took drugs. For those who looked at me from the outside, I had it all, but everything became more and more extreme. I went out with many bad women. I couldn’t resist this temptation because I consumed too much cocaine. When you are under the influence of drugs, it’s hard to be content. But I also found out that this type of life style costs a lot of money. In the night life, lots of people would receive money from each other, but afterwards they wouldn’t give the money back. So for me, I was then contacted to intervene to see that the debts would be paid. I did a good job of that. Here and there I had to use some violence, but when you are under the influence of whiskey and cocaine it wasn’t a problem. Then finally my violence backfired: I was once stabbed in the back and once shot hitting me about 10 cm under my heart. And I still have a bullet in my tibia and 2 or 3 in my hips!!! So as you can see, I experienced a lot in my life!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, about 7 and a half months ago, a friend asked me to help him concerning a question of money, and I was asked to go look for a certain man who was living in Brussels, Belgium who owed him some money. So I went to his place with 3 other young men. There was nobody at the house except for his wife. She then told us that her husband was sick in the hospital. At that moment, I heard guns being cocked and readied in the house. We were also armed, so then a big gun fight began with about 45 bullets fired which were later found in the house. At the end, there was 1 dead and 3 wounded. Now comes the interesting part: the ones who started the shooting were policemen, and that’s why it got so bad legally for me.

The police had set up tape recorders, so all that was said was recorded. When you listen to it, you can hear the misunderstanding, because they said “gendarme” (French for ‘police’) and we (from Holland) didn’t understand that word which means “rijksveldwachters” in my language (Dutch). All these happenings were investigated in court. So, I was charged with attempt of murder because one of my bullets wounded a police officer. But because I did not know that he was a police officer, I got a lighter sentence. At the time of my arrest, I was locked up in prison with the hardest treatment: in that during the first 6 months, I was in an isolation cell. My parents could come and visit me only after 2 months and that only through a heavy glass ‘see-through’ barrier.

For the rest, I saw no one else, except that I signed up for the protestant service, and I could go there once every 2 weeks for just 1 hour, and that sitting between 2 prison guards. And that’s how I got in contact with Ken Barickman, who is now my friend. He gave me a Bible and a type of Bible study book to read in my prison cell. That was especially important because I was 100% alone in my cell. He also gave me a very good book to read : “Twice Pardoned”. When I finished that book, I really felt that God had my attention. Then, Ken gave me the book “The Cross and the Switchblade”. When I finished it, I knew that there was also hope that something could help me. The strangest thing is that I felt even more alone before my incarceration than I felt then in my cell. But this feeling became stronger the closer I came to Christ. Then, one time I asked Ken how I could know that the Holy Spirit was with me or how He could come to me. I asked that because I read about it in all the books that Ken gave me. At that moment, I took it as a good sign from the Lord.

During my imprisonment in isolation, I could go out for only 1 hour per day in a completely separate court yard. There, you even have barbed wire on top of you. One day, I found a worm there that a bird had dropped; and even that, I took as a sign for me because a bird is the sign of liberty. Then I knelt down for prayer and gave my heart to God. He came to live in my heart where he still is today. When I prayed, there were tears coming from my eyes. Listen, I don’t pray all the time, sometimes I forget, but I still think a lot about the Lord. I read a lot from the Bible and I also watch the Dutch TV show “Evangelistic Call”. Every day I spend time with Christ in whom I now find my passion for life. My favorite Bible passage is II Corinthians 5:17 (because it speaks so much to me) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Even though I am still behind bars, I feel like a happy person because I have His peace, and with God’s help, I will continue. When I will be freed, I want to keep this feeling. I have a nice house, kind parents, a beautiful dog, and a job; so I have all that I have ever needed. I would love to go to a Bible college to learn more about the Bible. And every week, I go to the church service in the prison to sing. I would also like a visit from someone like Ken to talk especially because I have trouble in forgiving. When I arrive in Amsterdam, I am going to find a church where I can go for the good fellowship in Christ.

Rik 19 September 1997
(translated from Dutch by K. Barickman)