Career
Govaars (as "Lieutenant Gerrit J Govaars"), together with the English officers Captain and Mrs Joseph K. Tyler, commenced Army work in the Gerard Doustraat, Amsterdam, on 8 May, 1887. Operations soon spread throughout the country and reached Indonesia (then the "Dutch East Indies") in 1894. Further advances were made in 1926 in Surinam and in 1927 in Curaçao.
Govaars composed a number of hymns that the "Leger des Heils" employed in their activities.