Borrowing a screwdriver

Paul and I went to borrow a screwdriver from a seminary student while we were in Pretoria. We had screwdriver on the brain, to do a little repair job on our broken heater, but the Lord had a testimony to heat up our spirits, even though our heater was beyond repair.

Johan and Lourika were the seminary students who told us of how the Lord had brought from a careless, money loving lifestyle, to sacrifice their money and lifestyle to obey the Lord to have a fruitful life.

Johan is the son of a pastor, and the grandson of a pastor, but he had made his decision to be rich. He was doing a good job at it too, making million rand deals, from the sound of it, when his father in law, who was only in his 50's, died, and he was reminded of how short life is. He began to pray, and read the Bible to find out what the Lord wanted him to do.

First of all, he realized his corporate life could not be pleasing to the Lord, so he resigned.

That caused a few ripples at home! His mother in law was furious, and his wife was quite upset. And she soon discovered she was pregnant, just to add to the fun.

He was now in a high pressure situation, with no job, no plans, and expecting his fourth daughter. The Lord gave him peace, so he told his wife and mother in law that he was at peace, but they were not too impressed.

He continued to read his Bible, and came to Jonah. Jonah's story seemed over-familiar to him, but as he read, things popped out that he hadn't noticed before. He felt like it was his story--running from God, getting into trouble, and then seeking the Lord's will. He felt that the Lord was telling him to go to Nineveh too. He couldn't leave the country without a visa, so he figured "Nineveh" must refer to someplace in South Africa.

Pretoria is the city most like Nineveh. It's a government seat (that could be 3 cities in S.A. as we have 3 capitals, Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein) a center of learning, and a center of sports and commerce. It also has a place called "Wonderboom".

You know that gourd that Jonah sits under? In English it's translated a gourd, but in Afrikaans it's called a "wonderboom" or a wonderful tree. In Pretoria there's a whole suburb named after a wonderboom, and Paul has preached in Wonderboom school, and everything.

And then Jonah went east of Nineveh, so Johan looked at what is east of Pretoria, and there was Betshan, the seminary! Now, for a man in his 30's to start over and go to seminary is daunting, to say the least. He told the Lord that he was willing, but he said that the Lord would have to show his wife.

He expected it would take months or even years for the Lord to get through to his wife, as she was not one to read or live by the Bible. He was surprised when she called him home from work (he had found a temporary job) one day to tell him the Lord had answered all her concerns.

Lourika was worried that:

--here was a the new baby coming
-- they had no medical aid (insurance)
--not enough income
-- soon would have to move

The Lord met her and answered her doubts through Proverbs 30:24-28, a passage Paul calls "The Four Little Wise Things". The ants, locusts, conies, and spider reminded her that God provides all our needs, even for little things. She was crying, amazed at direct answers to her concerns.

One more verse assured them when they read in Zecariah 1:1,7 and the 24th day of the 11th month corresponded with their interview with Betshan, to see if they were accepted, but they knew in advance they would be.

There was so much more to this testimony. I wish there could be a picture, but my batteries ran out, and Evangel's batteries were flat too so we have no pictures, but you can just picture a beautiful family, eager to see what God has next for them.
was reading in Proverbs about the four little wise things.