OLD prejudices .
When I was first arrived in South Africa, I was staying at a Baptist church in downtown Capetown, helping with a 24-7 prayer room that was taking place during the time of the World Cup. One day while in the prayer room, an older man in raggedy clothes came in and asked if someone could pray for him. He said that when he walked past the church he felt like the Holy Spirit prompted him to go inside. As I began to pray he stopped me and asked if I could first listen to his story. He went on to share that his wife was recently murdered and that he and his children were deeply mourning her absence. Not only that, but he had just been mugged, leaving him without his backpack or wallet and no way to get home to his daughters. Stricken with grief, and not knowing what to do, he came inside to ask for prayer. He knew that he had to share his story with someone; as he felt so weighed down with grief, and did not want bitterness to fester.
As it turns out, he and his wife met in the thick of the apartheid. She was black, and he was white, and they fell in love at a time when interracial marriage was shunned, and even punishable by law. So, despite the opposition surrounding them, the two of them fled to a bordering country to get married and begin their lives together. He said that his wife was an amazing woman of faith, and he came to know Jesus through her. They had two beautiful daughters together, who were now left motherless due to this violent crime. By the grace of God, this man left with a smile on his face, and forgiveness in his heart- truly a miracle.
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At the Johannesburg airport I met another white South African man who was around the same age. He was raised in a African country, but when war broke out his parents decided it was best to move their family to South Africa. It was not much later that the apartheid began. He said that during the height of the apartheid he owned a store, and that his black employees were for forbidden to work for him. He was not at all pleased with this, and still allowed his employees to come to work, despite the rules that were instituted.
As I listened to this man and loved him, more of his story began to unravel. He said that over years, on more than one occasion, people have shared with him about Jesus. It all just seemed so right to him.. and he wanted to follow Jesus.. but didn’t know what he was waiting for. So, that day in the airport, he decided to stop waiting- and he put his faith in Jesus. It’s amazing how God used the exchange of our stories in the little time that we had together to lead this man to the point of decision…where he finally made the choice to follow Jesus.
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When I was first arrived in South Africa, I was staying at a Baptist church in downtown Capetown, helping with a 24-7 prayer room that was taking place during the time of the World Cup. One day while in the prayer room, an older man in raggedy clothes came in and asked if someone could pray for him. He said that when he walked past the church he felt like the Holy Spirit prompted him to go inside. As I began to pray he stopped me and asked if I could first listen to his story. He went on to share that his wife was recently murdered and that he and his children were deeply mourning her absence. Not only that, but he had just been mugged, leaving him without his backpack or wallet and no way to get home to his daughters. Stricken with grief, and not knowing what to do, he came inside to ask for prayer. He knew that he had to share his story with someone; as he felt so weighed down with grief, and did not want bitterness to fester.
As it turns out, he and his wife met in the thick of the apartheid. She was black, and he was white, and they fell in love at a time when interracial marriage was shunned, and even punishable by law. So, despite the opposition surrounding them, the two of them fled to a bordering country to get married and begin their lives together. He said that his wife was an amazing woman of faith, and he came to know Jesus through her. They had two beautiful daughters together, who were now left motherless due to this violent crime. By the grace of God, this man left with a smile on his face, and forgiveness in his heart- truly a miracle.
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At the Johannesburg airport I met another white South African man who was around the same age. He was raised in a African country, but when war broke out his parents decided it was best to move their family to South Africa. It was not much later that the apartheid began. He said that during the height of the apartheid he owned a store, and that his black employees were for forbidden to work for him. He was not at all pleased with this, and still allowed his employees to come to work, despite the rules that were instituted.
As I listened to this man and loved him, more of his story began to unravel. He said that over years, on more than one occasion, people have shared with him about Jesus. It all just seemed so right to him.. and he wanted to follow Jesus.. but didn’t know what he was waiting for. So, that day in the airport, he decided to stop waiting- and he put his faith in Jesus. It’s amazing how God used the exchange of our stories in the little time that we had together to lead this man to the point of decision…where he finally made the choice to follow Jesus.
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