In 1982 we lived in Springs. Our neighbour, Emily Vosloo, wanted to take us to Christian City in Elandsfontein near Germiston and she was hoping that the Lord would open our ears. I said to myself in my mind that I belong to Roman Catholic but I accepted her to take us to Christian City. When we arrived there, one deaf lady told me that I must not pray to Mary. I told her that when she looks at the photo of her parents and remember that they are her parents. It was the same with Mary and she is the mother of Jesus and I remember her as Mother of Jesus so I said to her to 'leave her alone'. Then someone asked me to fill in the card what problems we had. I wrote that Donald, my husband, had back problem and I had toe problem. When the service started I noticed there was a big screen and a piano and the singers. I thought that was pop singers. One thing I did enjoy was the worship and praise. After the service there was an altar call and we went on to the stage. When the man came to me, I told him I believed in Jesus Christ. The man didn't pray for me and moved on to the next person. I noticed another man was on the floor and I didn't understand. Steve said I was born again but I still didn't understand what it meant.

When I saw Fr. Cyril (D), I told him the truth that we went to Christian City with our neighbour and told him not to worry.

One year later the Lord told a person to come to me but he was busy. Then the Lord told him again to come to me. Finally he came and told me that there was an interpreter at Christian City. So we went there and saw the same deaf people. I sat in front as I was short and could hardly see the interpreter. After the service there was an altar call. I went forward and asked the person what I should do. She told me not to worry as she would pray for me. When I closed my eyes, she laid her hands on my head. Suddenly I saw a small fire (like a tongue of fire) coming straight to me. The fire didn't go east or west but straight to me. When the fire came inside my head, I heard a powerful whistle. When I woke up, I found myself on the floor. She told me to copy her in Sign Language but I still didn't understand. When I got up, I felt very wobbly and couldn't stand up properly and fell down again (like a drunk person). When I went outside for a smoke and lit the cigarette, it tasted funny. I tried again but it still tasted funny after a week. When I came to the last cigarette in the box, I noticed there were the eyes of the devil. I told Don I wanted to stop smoking and asked him if he wanted my last cigarette. He said yes so I gave it to him. Then I went to the stoep (patio) and prayed to the Lord to help me stop smoking. He did! I haven't smoked ever since. Praise the Lord!

For weeks I couldn't sleep well at night and my body was hot and cold. I thought I was going to have flu.

When I was restless, I heard the voice of the Lord speaking in my heart "PROVERBS" TWICE. When I woke up, I went to the Bible, knelt down and cried to the Lord that I was afraid.

I cried a lot and didn't know what to do. Don woke up, went looking for me and found me in the lounge. I told him that the Lord spoke 'Proverbs' and showed him the Bible. For the first time we read the Bible but didn't understand what it meant. I prayed to Him to show me to go to the church. I was so upset that I didn't understand what was going on. I kept on praying. The Lord told a pastor in South West Africa (now Namibia) to go back and help me. That was the first time my prayers were answered. The pastor invited us to his fellowship and he explained the Bible to us. We stayed there for a year then moved back to Springs. We looked for a new fellowship and found the church "New Life in Christ". We made new friends and I taught five women Sign Language. It was so beautiful to watch them worship in Sign Language. We stayed with them for a long time and Ps. Tommy (H) left. So we moved to another new fellowship and the new pastor and his wife invited us to come to their house for tea. So we went and had tea with them. They were Maureen and Frank (H). Maureen told me to read PROVERBS and I was surprised. The Lord showed through the couple that I was required to read 31 chapters in the Proverbs in one month. One chapter a day for 31 days! We stayed with them for a long time until Don went on pension. He wanted to move to the Cape but I didn't want to move. Eventually I accepted and we both moved to Dana Bay, Southern Cape. After one year it was ok but afterwards I became homesick for our family and friends in Gauteng. The Lord had been very good to us and brought us to meet new friends. We joined a new fellowship "Joshua Generation (Joshgen)". We have been there for 2 years. The new home group was ok as there are hearing people and we are the only ones who are deaf. One man, Francois, from the next door told me to take my laptop to the church and home group so that a helper types in the sermons on the laptop instead of writing on papers which really help us a lot. Now we feel much better.

Since then I have not smoked again. Thank you Lord for changing my life and I am really a child of God through Jesus Christ. I am so happy that I belong to Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God.

He answered my prayers!