And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5:34)
The main ministry I was involved in while in South Africa was community outreach. Which consisted of literally just walking from house to house and having conversations with people. Sometimes we would help wash dishes or clothes, sweep floors, play games, help take care of kids at a daycare or simply just sit and talk.
My team spent the majority of our time in a smaller community called Plot 89. It is a squatter camp that the government moved from its original location and placed the homes reorganized, on a different piece of land.
We partnered with a church called the Way of Jesus, Pastor Samson and his lovely wife Dora. We would spend our days split into teams with them, a few church members and our translators, in order to break the language barrier as best as possible.
One day my teammates Olivia, Josh and I set out to walk around Plot 89, ready to share the gospel and see where the Spirit would lead. We had been walking for awhile, forming new relationships with locals and revisiting others who we had previously met, since we had been doing ministry there for the past few days.
We walked up towards the top of the plot and down a street where we saw two women sitting, one doing laundry and the other just enjoying the shade and her company.
Perfect! I thought, I can just ask her if I can help her and we can talk with them both while we wash.
As we approached Josh yelled out the usual “CoCo!” to greet her and to signal our entering into her front yard (it’s a South African thing).
We attempted to say hello in Zulu, one of the many languages spoken there, and begin the conversation. The mama’s name was Linette and the younger neighbor girl’s name was Juliet.
When I asked if I could assist her in doing her laundry, she responded with a quick and almost harsh, “No”.
She told me she was washing her “delicates and that I don’t want everyone seeing those, like you do”. (Uh??)
I wasn’t sure if she had just insulted me or was just very determined not to have a strange white girl help wash her underwear but nevertheless we sat down in the dirt next to her washing bucket and began to talk with her. She did not seem super thrilled to be talking with us but we had mastered the art of persistency by this time in door to door ministry.
Liv, Josh and I shared why we were in South Africa, about the church we were partnered with and a little bit about our lives and our faith. Linette and Juliet shared about their lives in South Africa, their friendship as neighbors and that they have always gone to church and knew who Jesus was.
They also explained they believed that the power of Jesus was a thing of the past. Miracles quickly stopped after the resurrection. That the early church was something special, if they even happened. Those stories were ones to be read, not experienced, at least not by people like us.
And if you had asked me about a month earlier my opinion on the subject, I might have agreed with them on some things.
Together we began to read through some stories in John and then to the first few chapters of Acts. We did our best to try to explain the why and the how of these accounts. That the power the disciples had to heal, cast out demons, have tongues of fire, speak prophecy and work miracles was not because of anything of their own doing, but through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in them because of their faith in Jesus.
Despite the Scriptures and intentional discussion, the ladies stood firm in their beliefs. With the end of the day of ministry approaching we offered them to keep the gospel of John books and asked to pray over them before we left.
I asked them to read through the book of John. To take the next 24 hours to study it and think of any questions they might have about the book or just Jesus in general. And we would come back and answer them to the best of their ability.
They agreed.
The next day Josh and I returned with another teammate named Jo, and two of the interns at Impact Africa, Emily and Bailey. We had walked around the plot speaking with and praying over people and decided to revisit Linette and Juliet’s street to see if they had held up their end of the deal.
Juliet was not home, but Linette welcomed us again into her home. She seemed a little happier to see us that day than the day before. But had white cloths inserted into her nose and seemed to be in a little pain. We asked her about work, her daughter being at school and the usual small talk, then we sat down and asked how the reading homework went.
Linette broke into a smile. She had read it all. And was wanting more. More than just one book. More than just the little packet we gave her. She wanted the Word. All of it.
We discussed a few stories, went back to the book of Acts and soon got back on the topic of miracles. She asked us how to tell the difference between magic and miracles.
There in South Africa there is a large presence of witch doctors, also known as Sangomas. Falsely proclaiming healings and doing miracles in the name of Jesus. This is the magic she was asking about.
We read through scriptures that speak of true healing and salvation coming through Jesus alone. There is other power at work in this world and it can be deceiving, but there is peace found in trusting in Jesus to be the true Healer and Redeemer. She still was very uneasy with the idea of the Holy Spirit and His ability to use people like us to accomplish miracles.
That is when we asked about the cloth in her nose. Linette explained she had been having headaches, chest pains, burning in her throat and felt sick. She was using some sort of drug on the cloths in her nose to try to ease the pain. Despite her still on the fence of this area of her faith, she agreed to allow us to pray for healing over her.
So she removed the drugs from her nose. And bowed her head to approach the throne of God in confidence.
We laid hands on the beautiful Linette and spoke truth over her. We pleaded that the Lord would find favor in His servants, in their obedience and faith, and grant their requests in this moment to see His power embodied for His name sake. After the prayer ended we asked Linette how she felt, and there was no signs of immediate healing but I was so thankful for the opportunity to be a display of boldness in what I believe.
We again left at the end of the ministry day, promising to return on our last day at the Plot to say our goodbyes and pour into her one last time. After seeing her eagerness and hunger to grow, Josh had the BRILLIANT idea of buying Linette her own Bible. Bibles are expensive and not always accessible to those in the squatter camps. So this was a simple yet astounding way we could provide for our sister in Christ.
Blessing Linette with this was something Josh was so passionate and excited about. He had Jo and I both highlight verses in her new Bible that the Lord had used in our lives. We also each wrote a note in the front pages of it to encourage her and pray over the way the Bible would be used in her life.
The next day of ministry at Plot 89 came and we were so excited to gift the living Word to our new friend Linette. So once again Jo, Josh and I set out around the homes talking and walking. Jo did have a minor injury that day by falling down a small hill on some rocks, but I’ll let her be the one to tell her side of the story on that one.
We walked Jo back to the church and let her rest because of her fall. Casey decided to swap places with Jo and join us as we headed to Linette’s before the kids got off the bus from school. Josh had brought a soccer ball and we were planning to play soccer with them at the field, which also caused me a small injury (Jo and I tend to do things together, for better or for worse).
The three of us were welcomed with smiles and hugs by Linette. What an example of friendship and love she had become to us. As we got settled in the dirt and plastic lawn chairs under the tree in her front yard, I could hardly contain my excitement for what was about to happen.
Josh pulled out the Bible from his backpack and handed it to her. You should have seen the JOY on her face when she realized she was holding her own Bible for the first time. She repeated thank you after thank you to us. Oh, how the gratitude overflowed from her heart to ours.
We had the privilege to sit down and open up the Word together. Turning pages, sharing verses the Lord had used to teach and challenge us and just enjoying the special moment that this was.
Linette had one more thing to tell us before we headed back to the field to meet the kids. She told us that her pain was gone. No more headaches. No more burning or soreness or sickness. After we left she was reading her Bible and said the pain left her body.
“I used to not believe in miracles, now I am one”, she said to me.
I will never forget that. That is the power of the God I serve. Yes, the physical healing is amazing. But more than that, there was a healing of her heart. A softening and understanding more of who her Heavenly Father is. THAT is what this is all about.
I couldn’t help but thank my Jesus for moving mountains in my heart through the willingness and surrender of this mama. Tears began well up in my eyes and I hugged my sweet friend tight.
The next time we were back at Plot 89 was our last time. That morning Jo had the idea to take a Polaroid picture of Josh and I to give to Linette put it in her Bible to remember us by. So that is exactly what we did.
One last time we took the walk up the hill to enter through Linette’s metal gate to that tree we sat under day after day. Our mama Linette was in the house and was more than excited to see us when we called out “CoCo!!”. We gave her our picture and she asked to have it taped right in the front of her Bible.
How could we say no to that?
By the time we left that day, she was talking about leading a Bible study and sharing the scriptures with Juliet and her other neighbors. Imagine that. A disciple making disciples.
That was a hard goodbye. Lots of “I’ll miss you’s” and “When will I see you again’s?”. Which is a hard question when you don’t really know if you’ll meet again on this side of Heaven. I hope to see Linette again one day on this earth. To hear about her leading those around her deeper into Truth and being a missionary in her very own Plot 89. I believe Linette is out there right now being a light to those around her.
I hope I will always remember Linette. And as long as she’s got that Polaroid picture, I hope she remembers me too.
When I met Linette she was unsure about what she believed and was missing parts of the story.
Now she has the Word of God in her hands and has a story of her own to tell.
