Born Again

Our road to God started differently.

Ina grew up in a church that believed in predestination – as in you have no choice, God decided before you were born that He wants to use you to populate hell or whether He created you to be His child. 

I grew up in a church that also believed in the ridiculous theology above, but they never mentioned it to anybody – and I can understand why.

I always knew that my relationship with God needed something, but I did not know what that something was.

Every opportunity I got, I would grab the “wish bone” from a cooked chicken and wished that I would find a way to have peace between God and me.

One day, one of my colleagues invited me to a Gideons meeting. Here I found so many people talking openly about God and their relationship with Him. That bothered me because I thought they were too blasé about it, but somehow, I enjoyed their fellowship and the atmosphere and kept on going to follow-up meetings.

Then, one day, a Gideon gave me a booklet to read. I put it in my cupboard without reading it.

The Gideons had annual gatherings at various places and I was invited to go. “Unfortunately,” I was not able to attend. I sulked, went to our bedroom and took out the booklet, the EE3.

I ran out of our bedroom, shouting at Ina “I am going to heaven when I die, I am going to heaven when I die!”

Ina looked at me and surprised that I only found that out now. I lined up all the children and go them to say the “sinner’s prayer”. Still today, they are all serving the Lord.

I bought Ina a Living Word translation of the Bible. She said the whole house is full of Bibles, why am I buying another one? My answer was that this is your personal Bible. I never realised what this move would do.

I worked at a petrochemiocal plant in Sasolburg and often went home when I had a chance, sometimes at 11 but always for lunch. Every time I went home, I would find her in her pajamas, sitting on the bed and with wide eys would make exuses for not brushing her teeth and still in her nighties.

That was the most wonderful sight I ever saw. 

I also gave her a small Gideon Bible and to my surprise, one day when I opened it, I saw her signature and the date at the back where she submitted to God. This was one of the most wonderful days of my life!