Sunday, August 21, 2011

A Visit From South Africans


Yester night at six o’ clock p.m. Brother and Sister Henry Chetty (Their last name is pronounced with a short “t” and long “ee” sound) from Durban, South Africa came for supper. We were expecting them not only for the meal, but for church too, as Brother Henry was preaching for this particular service. They had come with a local Brother, from the Manitowoc area, I think. (This Brother had often serves as a ferry around WI for Believers from overseas.)

We got a little carried away in our conversation ‘round the table, as some of us were still sitting and talking about South Africa when members of the congregation began to arrive. We were discussing gardens, houses, how monkeys stole and ruined the gardens, how South African meat tastes like paper (?) and the couple’s grandchildren. As I listened, I became very thankful that I live here in America, which, though in a failing condition, is still much more prosperous than other countries. Our cozy, little, two-story house would be considered a mansion compared to the houses in Durban.

However interesting the conversation was, people were still here for church and we needed to get things started. I asked my younger sister to start the pre-service cd in the sanctuary (aka: our living room) and slipped upstairs to get my shoes. When I came down, yet another family had come and the gathering in the dining room had still not dispersed into the living room. It was time to start playing the piano for me, so I did just that as people began drifting into their seats.

After the song service, Brother Chetty preached a wonderfully encouraging message that brought our minds back to the reality of the spiritual realm as well as the power of God. After the service someone asked that Brother Chetty give a few testimonies. He did and they proved very encouraging! The one that I liked the most went as follows:

One day (in India) a sister was getting wood to start her fire. When she was nearly finished she put the wood on her head (don’t ask me how) and began walking back to the house. As she was walking, an elephant came out of the brush and began to chase her. She dropped her wood and began to run but tripped over her sari and fell.

By the time she was up again, the elephant was upon her. Just before its first foot came down on top of her, she said, “Peace, be still.” The elephant froze in place; she rolled out from under it, and went home.

Three days later, there were some brothers at her house for one reason or another and they offered to go with her to help get the wood for her fire. She took them to the place where she normally gathered wood, and the elephant was still there - frozen in place, with its first foot up, like a statue.

The Brothers there asked the sister to release the elephant, as it was one of God’s creatures too. I don’t remember the exact wording but it was something like “Be free in the name of Jesus Christ.” The elephant put his foot down and walked away.

As a conclusion to this little report I would like to quote Mathew 16:19: And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be

loosed in heaven.”

1 comment:

Elisabeth said...

What an amazing testimony!!