DATELINE CLEVELAND, TN AND BRANDON, FLORIDA:
In the South Africa predawn darkness, calls from Church of God General Overseer Tim Hill and Carl Richardson, finally got through. Since 3 AM South Africa time, Full Gospel missionaries Ellie, 77, and Pieter 86, had been under attack from terrorist trying to break into their Mission Station.
Violent extremism is sweeping through South Africa. Ellie and Pieter, faithful Full Gospel missionaries for 62 years, have been forced to systemically barricade the Mission Station and themselves, behind massive steel gates. The gates had been secured with formidable iron chains.
The inner-compound doors and windows had been fortified. Their bedroom had been turned into a fortress-within-the-fortress as a final bastion against murderous marauders bent on killing them.
At 3 AM, the compound’s “horrifically ear-splitting alarm siren†woke Ellie and Pieter, it’s warning of possible intruders boomed into the early-morning darkness. The police, and an additional security group the missionaries had hired, leaped into action, but their estimated time of arrival, ETA, was eight minutes. Could the now-aged missionaries survive those eight minutes?
Neither Tim Hill nor Carl Richardson knew if their long-time South Africa friends and fellow ministers were still alive or not, but they kept on calling.
“Frankly,†Carl says, “the survival rate of older victims of such terrorists is almost always accompanied with torture and violent death. So, when Ellie finally answered the overseas call, I exclaimed in a voice choked with emotion, ‘Praise God Ellie! You survived the long, dark night.â€
“Yes! Hallelujah!†Ellie exclaimed. "The Lord has protected us! How wonderfully amazing!"
“Just before daybreak†Ellie recalled, “we were able miraculously to hear by cellphone from Bishop Tim Hill - the leader of the International Church of God. He ministered to Pieter and me with such overwhelming compassion and love."
She continued "Oh! Carl, we wept together and then worshiped in the Holy Spirit; such praise to the Lord. We are still rejoicing that men as busy and important as Bishop Hill and you, would in the wee morning hours, wonderfully minister to us so personally. Such anointing and power blessed both of us as we seek do our duties for God to the least, the last, and the lost before we both go to heaven.â€
In the mid 1990s Ellie was named South Africa's "Woman of the Year" to honor her dedication as a trained nurse and midwife. She delivered more than 3.000 new born babies without the loss of a single baby or new mother. She single-handedly reduced the mortality rate of newborn babies throughout that nation.
Her first husband, the late Paul van Zyl, died at age 75 near their mission station after having finished his 107th new church. He had finished the 107th that afternoon, December 1, 2008.
Carl says, "Pasul was an original who is still sorely missed." Several years later, Pieter Van Niekerk, a widower for 10 years who lived several hundred kilometers away, met Ellie. Eventually, they were married.
A CONSTANTLY-MOVING CIRCLE OF CARE
Ellie and Pieter are “praying earnestly†for the Holy Spirit to speak to others to come to South Africa and help raise up a new generation of Christian leaders.â€
Ellie is a Founder of the Maranatha Home for Children in Tonga, the world's capital of HIV/Aids. They feed the hungry by raising nourishing food in their own garden; worked by the orphaned children. In South Africa, this is a BIG deal: meat is served twice weekly throughout the area. Ellie says, “It is a never-ending gateway for evangelism, discipleship and benevolence. The Lord has helped us develop a constantly-moving circle of care."
Doyle
writedoyle@gmail.com _________________ The largest room in the world is the room for improvement.
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Acts-celerate Owner Posts: 6957 6/14/18 12:56 pm
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