In December 1977, a 17-year-old Dutch immigrant landed in Canada mid-Grade 12 with little more than an accent, a dream of flying, and a family history of starting over. By fall 1979, Remi van Wermeskerken ('80) stepped onto the campus of Trinity Western College in Langley, choosing between two aviation schools and quietly hoping someone would give him a chance.
“One interview did not go quite as I expected,” he recalls with a grin. “But thank the Lord that TWC worked out. If they had not accepted me, my life would probably have taken a very different course.”
A life already shaped by movement
Remi’s path to Trinity Western had already crossed continents. As a child, he lived in Washington, DC, where his father was posted with the Navy. He loved it. Returning to the Netherlands was harder.
“At the end of the day when school was out, kids came running out and started bullying us,” Remi remembers. Their American accent made them stand out. The family eventually tried to immigrate back to the United States but did not qualify. Canada became the open door.
He arrived in British Columbia six months before finishing high school and knew almost immediately what he wanted.
“I wanted to become a pilot,” he said.
His time at Trinity Western laid a foundation for Remi's future and gave him the technical training that God was going to use for his glory. The deeper transformation in his life came later, though, in a way he never expected.
Two French Canadians & a steady faith
After graduating from Trinity Western's aviation program, work was scarce, so he joined the Canadian Air Force and became close with two French Canadian Christians preparing for aviation missions abroad.
“They just lived Christ and they were never condemning,” he said. There was no pressure. Just steady friendship. They invited him to church, and one evening at a large outreach service something shifted.
“That is where I gave my heart to the Lord,” he said.
Looking back decades later, he speaks with quiet conviction. “If I could live my life over again, I cannot think of anything I would change other than accepting the Lord at an earlier age.”
The phone call that changed everything
After coming to faith, Remi assumed mission aviation would be straightforward. Instead, he was advised to earn aircraft maintenance credentials first. He completed 18 months at BCIT followed by an 18 month apprenticeship.
Mission Aviation Fellowship initially planned to send him to Tanzania. He carried a quiet hope for Indonesia, where his mother had been born.
“I did not say anything to MAF,” he said. “I just prayed about it.”
Halfway through his apprenticeship in 1988, Transport Canada changed its regulations. Apprentices could now complete training overseas under MAF supervision.
“And MAF said, ‘We really need someone in Indonesia right now. Remi, are you willing to go?’” he recalled.
“I could not have planned it better myself,” he said.
He departed for Tarakan expecting to serve as an apprentice. Instead, he arrived to find there were no other full time expatriate mechanics.
“It turned out my job was manager of maintenance,” he said.
A worship leader & 370 love letters
In 1990, while in language training in Indonesia, Remi attended a local church where he met Tjandra, the worship leader.
“Just seeing her and hearing her the first time, I realized this was someone I wanted to ask on a date,” he said.
After six months he was reassigned to Kalimantan. They began a year-long courtship, copying pages from a premarital workbook and mailing responses back and forth.
“We had something like 370 letters in one year,” he said. “From the first moment, we clicked. We had the same goals in life, to be missionaries.”
They were married in 1992 and raised three children alongside decades of missionary service.
A legacy built quietly
Over the next 30 years, Remi helped launch and lead aviation programs in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Suriname.
In Indonesia, he helped establish a floatplane program along major river systems where roads were unreliable. He built docks, constructed fuel sheds, trained local staff, maintained aircraft, and conducted medical evacuation flights.
In Papua New Guinea, he flew Cessna aircraft across mountainous terrain to support Bible translation teams and remote communities. He transported coffee harvests so farmers could bring their crops to market.
Later, in Suriname, he served as director of maintenance, training Dutch pilots and logging hundreds of supervised hours so others could reach certification thresholds.
His work increasingly became one of multiplication.
Meanwhile, Tjandra sensed a growing need among pastors and church leaders who carried trauma from remote regions. During a furlough in Canada, she completed professional counselling training in Surrey.
When they returned overseas, she taught counselling at Bible schools and worked directly with ministry leaders.
“Pretty well every student needed healing,” Remi said.
She helped leaders name their wounds and work toward restoration. Today, the couple sponsors former students pursuing counselling training so they can continue that work in their communities.
Their legacy is measured not only in flight hours or infrastructure but in access to medical care, education, and pastoral support.
A family still serving
As of 2025, Remi and Tjandra live in British Columbia but continue their missions involvement.
“When God puts missions in your heart,” he said, “it is something you will never be able to walk away from.”
For a young immigrant who once struggled in French class and resisted faith, God was working all along. And Remi, with steady hands and open skies before him, chose to say yes.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students for life. Uniting faith and reason through Christian teaching and scholarship, TWU is a research institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities and sciences as well as in several professional schools. TWU has its main campus in Langley, B.C. and campus sites in Richmond, B.C. and Ottawa, Ont.
Learn more at twu.ca or follow @TrinityWestern on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. For media inquiries, please contact media@twu.ca.