After working for sixteen years as an educator, Wilkin van de Kamp served for ten years as a pastor for the German-Dutch Euregio Christengemeente (Euroregion Christian congregation). Since 2010, he has served as pastor-director of Vrij Zijn (Being Free), written more than twenty books, and spoken at international conferences drawing thousands of Christians.
Regarding The Seven Wonders of the Cross, Wilkin explains, "At the beginning of 2004, I started a year-long intensive study of the last eighteen hours of Jesus’s life. I studied what historians, doctors, theologians, and others wrote about the suffering and death of Jesus. I not only wanted to understand why Jesus had to go through such tremendous suffering, but to be close to Him in the most difficult hours of His life."
Wilkin eventually wrote Het Wonder van het Kruis (The Wonder of the Cross), in forty days, spread out over half a year. The book has become a best-seller in the Netherlands and has been translated into several languages.
Heading a national movement, Wij Kiezen Voor Eenheid (We Choose Unity) in the Netherlands, Wilkin hosted the Nationale Ontmoetingsdag van Verootmoediging en Verzoening (National Day of Abasement and Reconciliation) in The Hague on October 6, 2012. He is also a co-founder and ambassador for the Christian, humanitarian, non-governmental organization Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) in Peru. Children receive a free, healthy meal once a day at thirty-three locations in different slums. He and his wife, Aukje, have four sons and four granddaughters.
