Ehllené Bekker, a sister in the Johannesburg church, went all the way to the United States to find her way back to God. She shares her conversion story:

“I had grown up with our dad urging his children to “Maak jou saak reg met God, en laat jou doop!” (Get your case right with God, and get yourself baptised!”) I had received religious instruction, including instruction on false doctrine, from a young age. We were not allowed to visit certain churches because they were not doing things in a biblical manner. So I knew I was lost spiritually, but I needed to walk my own journey first, and not do things based on my dad’s faith.

And then the world called, and I answered. As a teenager on the Cape Flats (in Cape Town, South Africa), I got into a lot of sin, from drinking to seriously contemplating murder. One time, I actually stood with a butcher’s knife in my hand. Fortunately, I could foresee the consequences for my own future, and put the knife down.

In 1996, Henry and I got married shortly after my 21^st birthday, before I moved to Johannesburg to join him. Less than a year later, in 1997, we bought our home, which we still live in, in Roodepoort (Gauteng).

Then, in 1998, we packed a suitcase each, left our home behind and moved to the USA… in pursuit of money, a good career opportunity for Henry and a life of leisure for me! James 4:13 comes to mind.

But before we left, I told an old friend that when we got to the USA, I wanted to find a church. I knew I needed a community of believers if I was to “get right with God!”

Two weeks after arriving in Los Angeles, CA, whilst walking home from a salon on a hot summer’s day, I was approached by two young Hispanic men who invited me to church. They offered to give my number to a South African sister in the church when they knew where I was from. Eugenie called me soon afterwards. We met her and her husband Ken and we soon became friends. Henry and I visited the church and started to study the Bible. But although we attended every meeting that we were invited to, including all the fun activities, we were not ready to commit. Part of it was because we had heard rumours from back home, but mostly it was because of our own hearts were not ready.

As I did not have a work permit, and we did not have any children yet, I had a lot of free time. I only knew a few church members and one other South African couple, so naturally I spent a lot of time with Eugenie.

One afternoon, we were cooking together in our apartment, when completely out of context, I heard Eugenie say, “Uncle Winnie”. I responded by asking, “Uncle Winnie Pienaar?” and she said “Yes!” We were both perplexed and tried to figure out the connection. After further discussions and a phone call home, we pieced the puzzle together. My mom’s reaction on hearing that I am friends with Eugenie: “Oh my word! Eugenie! I have not seen her since she was two years old!” It turned out that, when my late grandmother’s home burnt down, my mom’s younger sister (who married “Uncle Winnie” years later) was taken in and temporarily raised by Eugenie’s parents.

God is amazing! He cared enough about me, to plan every detail of my journey back to Him. He started to put the broken pieces of my life back together, long before I was even born.

On 2 January 1999, we left a relatively warm Los Angeles, to move to a chilly Memphis, TN. We had a phone number, and Kenneth and Rosa Carter, who led the church there, were expecting our call. We delayed deliberately. We wanted to check out some other churches first. It only took one chaotic experience for us to both say, “Let's make the call!” Memphis was like arriving home for me. For the first time ever, I felt like I truly belonged. I quickly made many friends outside the church, but the Memphis church became my family. The one thing I felt from every single member was love. Admittedly, the church was much smaller than the LA Church, and it was easy to get to know everyone and to form deep bonds with them. The unity, the deep love, the true friendships were obvious!

We continued with the Bible studies and God’s love (John 3:16), Jesus’s sacrifice (Isaiah 53:3-7) and the fellowship of the believers (Acts 2:42), which I could see being lived out, made me realise that I had finally arrived home spiritually as well. In May 1999, we decided to make Jesus Lord of our lives, and we were baptised into Christ. The time spent with our brothers and sisters in the Memphis Church, from worship services to baseball games and pizza nights, are some of my dearest memories.

Our situation changed a few months later, and we had to return to South Africa. We did not come back with loads of money as we had hoped, but we had found a treasure far greater – a treasure God took us halfway around the world to find."