My Salvation Testimony - 25 May 2009 - 1 Year

This might seem lame but I’ve had it on my heart for over a month now to sorta just write out my salvation testimony and some random stuff!! This is a big deal for me, cause its not like I just flicked on the Jesus switch...its more than that...its a new life!!

Today, 25 May 2009 I celebrate one year of recommitting my life to the Lord...wow has it been fun!!

I was quickly searching my computer for a word document that I might have composed last year recording my first couple of weeks but stumbled upon something even juicier, I could not believe it!! It’s a document entitled “my walk with GOD” – it only has two entries (haibo) – the first was on the 18th Feb 2008:

“18 Feb. 08: God has a purpose for my life
I think God wants to use me, I want him too. I hope I’m not being lazy, just sitting back and waiting for him to swing doors open for me!? So, I must pray, read the bible and talk to others about what God might want, need or expect of me.

I’m kinda stuck right now, went to church last (NG, Summerstrand) night and the pastor lady read a bible verse…’we must cut out the evils from our lives, i.e. non-believing friends etc.’, huh?? A lot of my friends are non believers, or luke-warm to ice cold Christians, what now? How will God show me whom to turf out of my friendship circle, what if I am the only one left standing? Just writing this makes me feel like a unfaithful friend, but at judgement day I want God to pick me for Heaven, so is this a sacrifice I gotta make?”

Flip!! Was I really crying out then already to know Jesus more intimately? Exciting stuff!!

Anyway, my testimony (as I had it before finding the above):

I found Harvest Christian Church in middle 2005 – a guy called Ray told me about the church and I was keen on checking it out – at this stage of my life I was going to NG Klema every now and again, but when I went back home to EL for holiday’s etc. I would be very amped on church and my walk with God would usually intensify...that was always strange...come to think of it.

So, my very first experience of Harvest was at a Sunday morning service...quite promptly after praise & worship I realised that I had never been to the 6th Avenue Shopping Centre...ha ha...I must have gone back that night, hoping there would be more young people and indeed there were. I cant remember exactly how I felt and all but after talking to Fred the other day, he assured me I looked very insecure...I can relate to this though!! I was very quickly introduced into a cell group and was really enjoying it but I wasn’t making any friends and so after 4 months of that I just gave up on cell.

Fast-forward...2008!! Out of the blue (approx 2 years later) I get an sms from Vovo, one of my old cell mates asking me to come to cell again...I was very happy to oblige cause man 2008 got off to such a rough start with me having to basically redo 3rd year for one 6 month module...you gotta love accounting!! So much so that I had actually started falling into a mild depressive state and started going out more regularly than before...not good!!

So I stuck around in cell, went every Thursday and was always very excited to attend the big Joshua Zone celebrations – the ‘Joshua Zone’ is Harvest’s young adult zone – but I always had this longing, to just belong – I wanted what a lot of those people had and in all honesty, I did not know what they had cause from my perspective we were all Christians and happily going to heaven no matter what you got up to from Monday to Saturday...cause Sunday is church day.

Anyway, so it was about the second congregational of the year (or first) and it was great and all – remember seeing that very huge all guys cell (Fred & Ash), yoh, desperately wondering what it was that even those guys had...this is also were I learnt that my good friend Melvin had found the church...hmmm...a previous random meeting in the beginning of the year would never have lead me to believe that we would meet again in a church...but praise God...HE IS GOOD!! Ja, so...congregational was done and they guys upfront offered prayer and to my surprise I found myself in that line...I remember 3 people pray over me and I got 3 words: 1. gain more self confidence, 2. I need Christian friends and 3. I need to disciple my existing friends...hectic God...what you going on about?

So, I left that for about a month thinking well what now?

25th May 2008...I remember getting a sms from Dave Walland sent to the Twenty20Destiny society members – yes guys, even in my ‘state’ I was attending Christian things and really enjoying God’s presence, even if...[brace yourself, gonna tell this story]...1st Twenty20 event was the drumming thing – after which I went to Nelia’s house...praise God, another convert (ha ha)...oh ja, flip man and Melvin was there...yet another convert...and partied and stuff. So yes, I was literally the definition of luke warm Christian with 1¾ of my feet in the world!!

Coming back to the significance of the sms...I got this sms about the Twenty20 prayer @ NMMU on Tuesday morning - meet outside Madiba’s. WHAT!?! You okes are crazy praying in public...was what I was thinking!! Gonna pick up this story just now again...

Harvest @ 18:30 that night: it was like any other service I suppose but after the sermon there was like extended praise & worship...I had a friend with me that night and after she had left at about 20:30 I went back into the service (dunno why) and I knelt at the front of the church and just submitted to God, saying you put those 3 things in my heart...HELP!! What now??

That point right there ladies and gentleman was where I became saved/born again etc. – not very glamorous (ha ha), but it worked!! ;-)

At this point in my life I was struggling with a lot of things that guys hack at (read Every Young Man’s Battle – not gonna get gory here) and yes...I even smoked...tisk tisk!!

That night after getting back from church I knew my life was changed...I just knew it. I hadn’t publically made the declaration or had someone chat to me but I knew something had started...this felt so exciting but I could not explain it, almost instantaneously God took all that was bad right out of my life...so much so, that I had only realised the next Friday that I hadn’t even smoked once that week...say what and I HADNT EVEN NOTICED!! Right now, say: GOD IS AMAZING!! And...all those guy troubles...vanished...just

gone...gone!!

My first week as a new person
Monday – life was great, it just felt so different.
Tuesday – went to that wacky public prayer thing, thinking God...plz lemme get lost in a crowd I cannot pray in public...NO WAY!! There were about 20 people and I met Lance – my first Christian friend whom invited me to Wednesday night outreach.
Wednesday – went to outreach, met another bunch of awesome people. Got invited to SonSurf and...here it comes, just laugh...I distinctly remember Lance being in that cell – the one from congregational with all the cool guys and Melvin (ha ha)...and so when Lance asked me if I was in a cell...what else was I gonna answer but NO...I had been waiting for this day for like forever...seriously...Fred & Ash’s cell seemed like the celebrity cell – probably cause it was (still is) just bursting with God’s intensity...really gotta thank the okes though, that cell attributed a lot to where I am today in my walk with GOD...even though I was pathetically quite...emphasis on ‘was’.
Thursday – my new cell – sorry Debbie (old cell leader) – I met Niel (amongst many), all I remember is him looking at me and saying, “Jus bru, I’m so happy you are here” – that ne...meant the world and a half to me!! (Arbitrary but ja)
Friday – went to Bongani’s cell on campus...ja, 3 cell’s in one week!! I remember actually sharing my salvation story that night...was awesome...

Looking back real quick – I can see how God started putting people into my life, after that first week I had met a ton of great solid Christian okes...I love all my brothers!! And sisters!! Also, my self confidence started building up, but was still shallow...and for quite some time...ha ha, my self confidence that is!!

Week 2 – was Harvest’s first week of revival, I was in church every night and growing so so close to God and pretty quickly at that. Remember being wacked by the Holy Spirit that Friday night and being so drunk in the Spirit...I was just so free and God was (still is) my absolute everything...a week and a bit ago I was just going about life, but here I am giving God my all...fantastic!! But eish, these night’s of revival and not spending anytime with my ‘friends’ (I had a very tight bunch of 3 friends...VARA) lead people to believe that I had run off and joined a cult – I really don’t use this word lightly because some people really did think this. I remember that Sunday breaking down and wondering why...God, everything is going so good...why cant people just see the change in me and well...join in!! But alas, friendships have never been the same, but I trust God is leading me into places from the past where I am now starting to restore lost ties...amen!!

From here onwards things get a bit more non-specific...dont wanna write a screen play!!



One year later and Jesus is still rocking my world...I’ve been able to start stepping out in the most amazing ways!! Things I wanna still write about: Transkei Mission, JZ camp, Groundswell – my baptism, Gogo’s shack, healings etc...

Love you all so so much...REEZY :-)

Heaven...WOW!!

So, visited a friends’ cell group tonight: Dirk Naude and Mandi-Rae Wood, by the way...they rock big time and Jesus thinks they pretty amazing and so do I!! There cell was intensely huge tonight (hmmm...Jesus had a plan) and a friend of ours, Robyn Harvey was at the cell – she was a first year at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry ‘last year’.

Mandi had an awesome word and then Robyn was asked to ‘lead us to heaven’...wow...here is my account, as much as what I can now remember.

He had some awesome instrumental soaking music playing in the background and Robyn asked us to imagine a pink elephant...we did that and she encouraged us by saying yeah, pink elephants don’t exist, its our imagination...we have the mind of Christ...and anything we were to experience from hereon forward was from God, as we relaxed our bodies and concentrated completely on what our thoughts were showing us.

Robyn told us to go to a happy place; I have this grassy hill with a cross and that Jesus would meet me there...and He did, He came walking from the ocean that was surrounding me, all the places in my experience are nature intense and beautiful!!

Then Jesus took me off to an awesome jungle area, green and an awesome river, there he gave me a gift...it came in sort of a jewellery box...it was an amazing coin of some sorts, a precious coin – cant necessarily remember the significance now – something on the lines of, Jesus was giving me my dreams, giving me the power and authority to take hold of my dreams...

Then Jesus took me off the meet with the Holy Spirit...gotta just live the Spirit and his freeness...the Spirit took me off to a canyon, and then we rose up, flying towards this cliff, we entered this cave inside the cliff and started hovering above these canals in the cliff and I saw hundreds of sheep, at one point I thought I was in Noah’s arc, but then the sheep turned into people...but they weren’t too happy looking...next thing we were standing on top of the cliff and the Holy Spirit was telling me favourite memories he has of me – day I got saved, baptism, time I prayed for the sick people in the emergency room etc. and He gave me two gifts – first gift was a scarf, he danced around me, sort of teasing me with the scarf wrapping it around my neck – the scarf was many beautiful colours, each one representing a (spiritual) fruit. The second gift was a necklace, and he told me that as this necklace adds beauty to ones appearance, so if I ‘wear’ the Holy Spirit, my appearance would become absolutely beautiful!!

I then went off to visit Papa (Father God), He was so at peace, busy sculpting this beautiful wooden horse (was like a miniature rocking horse) for me – I remembered how Jesus was a carpenter and Papa told me of course, Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing, I asked Him what He was doing and He told me He was just busy running the universe – but in such a awesome way, not boastful at all. He gave me the horse and explained how I always dream of riding horses and assured me that when I come home one day I would be able to just ride horses for like forever.

He then kept tickling me on my stomach and I was laughing...he explained that, that’s how He created me...he made me ticklish and so hence He was tickling me and just having a blast!!

Then we went off to play some games, we played some rugby and hockey – I sucked at rugby, but had loads of fun with Papa and enjoyed the Hockey but got hurt and He just encouraged me and took me in His arms and I was all better.

I asked Papa to show me something about me and he showed a stage, I was preaching to a group of young people – a dream of mine, but never actually prayed about it because it’s just way big...God showed me that my possibilities are endless and He sees my full potential.

I asked Papa to give me a gift for someone and He gave me this awesome, beautiful diamond ring for this girl I study with...

Then we came back...

[Tried to remember all as best as possible, but might have left some stuff out.]