Rotterdam, Netherlands – In December, Bob Kagenaar walked into a room for what he thought was a lunch meeting. It was actually a surprise presentation.

And Kagenaar was the surprised honoree.

For 50 years, Kagenaar has volunteered for more than a dozen organizations in Rotterdam, including the Church of the Nazarene Netherlands. For that selfless work, Kagenaar was nominated for – and received – the Rotterdam Volunteer of the Year award.

Nearly 40 people representing the organizations and church he has served gathered for the presentation, including  an alderman on behalf of the mayor of the city of Rotterdam.

In the last year alone Kagenaar has served organizations ranging from a nonprofit that provides jobs for the disabled to the Committee of Consultation for Government and Churches.

He has also served on his local church board until this year, and is still active as the secretary of the Netherlands District Advisory Board.

“Bob has a keen eye for the need for communication and PR (public relations) on the whole of the district,” said Arthur Snijders, superintendent of the Netherlands District. “Regularly he connects the church with newspapers and regional radio broadcasting.”

Kagenaar not only helps connect Nazarene churches to each other, but to other Christian churches in Rotterdam, Snijders added, in his role with GIDSnetwerk Rotterdam (a Christian network organization in the city).

“He is a very engaged person who loves to connect people and is always on the lookout to support initiatives that are social initiatives that benefit people, especially the marginalized people,” said Gea Gort, another member of GIDS. “He is not on the lookout to promote himself, but to promote others.”

Kagenaar acknowledges one of his greatest volunteer strengths is in networking. He developed that strength during his 30-year career with Rabobank, where his last job was to connect the bank with organizations throughout the city for social responsibility.

Kagenaar often uses his experience in banking and financial management (all together for 40 years) for the organizations he serves. Although he retired in 2003, he is busier than ever.

“Volunteer work is so important,” said Kagenaar. “For instance, I’m on the board of a health organization, and they have a few hundred volunteers. They could not work without those volunteers.”

He is passionate about volunteering because it enables him remain active in the lives of others, and puts him in the position to keep learning, he said.

In December, Kagenaar assisted the Rotterdam Church of the Nazarene’s participation in the international youth Taizé conference held in the city. He helped coordinate housing for 60 to 90 of the visiting youth, and find volunteers to run the Nazarene church services held every day between Christmas and New Year’s Day, said local Pastor Stephen Overduin.

During the past three years Kagenaar has helped Rotterdam Nazarene church become a more missional church. His role was to bring the pastor and board into contact with other local mission-oriented organizations, so the church would be tuned in to the needs of the city.

“He has a heart for people and for what he does,” Overduin said. “He has a real classy way he comes across, but he’s the one to clean the toilets at the end of the day.”

 

 

 

  

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