Chapter Five: Testimonies of the DCC Members
5.4 Testimonies
5.4.3 Testimony Three
At the home of the third respondent (T3), while most people put pictures of their own families on display, one will find a photo of Fred and Nellie Roberts. In this case the Roberts are considered family and thus given an important space in the home of T3's family. T3 has been a member of the DCC for seven years.
Her family were staunch Hindus. T3's sister visited the DCC with her aunt and had subsequently converted to Christianity. This led to the chain of events that caused the conversion of T3 herself.
T3 remembers that her mother maintained a prayer room in their home. This particular room was treated with extreme reverence. The family could not enter the room with shoes on. T3 recalls that she often meditated and fasted. She even became a vegetarian for three years, for religious reasons. T3 remarked that she believed she was "born a Hindu and would die a Hindu"; however on one particular day, she explained: "something went into my mind. I asked myself, if man's hands are full of sin why do we worship what those hands made?" This question referred to the room full of idols that the family worshipped. She kept asking herself "who is God?" while her sister continually invited her to go to church with her.
T3 recalls a "traumatic event" that took place when she was six years old.
During a family Hindu ritual she watched as a family member slaughtered an animal and then smeared the blood on her (T3's) stomach. After this they wrapped a cloth over the smeared blood. In the morning she unwrapped the cloth, which stuck to her body as she tried to remove it. She explained that this ritual was practised as a vow made to the Hindu gods and goddesses. She remembers being tormented for many years by the events of that night, and questioned, "how could that be God, I didn't feel good or loved, instead I felt tormented and afraid." In her final year at school, T3 questioned her mother about God. Her mother advised her, "don't question just believe".
At first T3 started going to church with her sister but was not baptized. T3 describes her first experience at the DCC as observing the actions of a cult.
She was put off by the act of speaking in tongues and recalls asking God, "what have you brought me to?" She was disappointed because she believed that she was desperately searching for the "true God" but her search seemed to be in vain. After several visits together with her sister, T3 explained that she began to experience the "calm and peace and love" that she had always searched for in her religious quest.
At this stage her parents were still Hindus. They were "saved" when an Indian evangelist from India, D.G.S. Dhinakaren, and his family visited Durban. T3 remarked that when an Indian pastor from Mauritius spoke to her parents they received an "instant conviction" and immediately converted to Christianity.
She notes that she had never enjoyed a close relationship with her father yet for a month before she and her parents were to be baptised they enjoyed their closest experiences as a family: she describes this time as the "most perfect time they ever had". The family was baptised on the 12th of May 2002 (they remember because it was Mother's Day). The peace was shattered soon afterwards when T3's father met with an accident one month after his baptism, which was so severe that doctors could not assure the family of his survival. T3
states that her father was on life support machines and sustained several skull fractures and head injuries and recalls, "we thought we were going to lose him".
The family prayed in the car on the way to the hospital. After several months in hospital T3's father was released, despite the doctor's initial advice that the family should prepare for his funeral. She believes that this was due to "God's will to heal him". During the period of her father's hospitalisation the DCC home cells131 prayed fervently for his recovery. The DCC leadership ensured that the family had food vouchers and the finances needed to sustain the T3 household.
T3 added, "it was amazing to see how extended your family becomes when you are Christian".
At the end of 2001 T3 was diagnosed with TB; after she suffered from severe knee pains a visit to the doctor revealed that water had built up in her knee area. She explained that she "felt in the midst of spiritual warfare" during this time. According to T3 several tests for TB were conducted and she tested
positive.
T3 was put on TB medication. During this time she lost weight, reacted severely to the TB medication and eventually couldn't walk without assistance. At night she barely slept, while during the day she was restless and could not eat. She experienced alienation from her community as a result of her TB diagnosis.
After a year of daily TB medication, doctors realised that a misdiagnosis had taken place. T3 explained her journey of faith,
When I was misdiagnosed with TB I lost faith in doctors, God taught me to have faith in him for my healing. Just as the Israelites had to go through the desert for forty years when they could have gone to the Promised Land sooner, so I had to go through the desert experience, to learn about faith in God.
After reading a story in a newspaper about a lady diagnosed with cancer, T3 was convinced that "God is bigger, if I truly serve a living God, if I put my faith in
131 Home cell groups are small groups comprising families and individuals who are members of the DCC living in the same area. They share testimonies, participate in Bible studies and "the lesson of the week" from the DCC bulletin.
him he can do it". T3 believes that her healing began when she began to trust in God. She emphatically stated: "God miraculously healed me, I had allowed Him to take over emotionally but when I allowed Him to take over physically I believe my restoration began." According to T3, despite her father's accident and her TB misdiagnosis, "God made a total restoration".
T3 notes that attending the DCC gave her the coping skills necessary for life in general, and for the working world in particular, adding: "at church you learn to be a better worker, you learn how to set goals, you learn about commitment, perseverance and standing despite difficulty". The DCC collects the curriculum vitae of members who require employment; as a result of this service T3 was called for several interviews. She subsequently obtained employment. She explained that:
God motivated me and I learnt how to handle interviews. I got my present job as make-up promoter. When my contract was coming to an end I prayed and the contract was extended. The sales at the branch I work at increased so drastically that according to the nationwide sales rating my branch jumped from ninth position to sixth to third position in the country. Due to my dedicated work my boss has even hired my mother, and my wages have increased.
T3 believes that "in order to have a testimony one must have a test". She has begun to write about her experiences with pain and hardship for the encouragement of those who have passed through similar experiences. She desires to publish her story someday.
5.4.4 Testimony Four
T4 has been a member of the DCC for four years. She enjoys the youth programme of the DCC and explained that participating in this programme
"frees our minds, allows us to express our feelings in everyway, meet new people and learn things about them we would have never known". With this T4 compared what she called the "outside world", where "stress, guy problems, and school difficulties" prevail, with her time spent at the said programme. She
explained that at the gatherings on Friday nights, youth could "praise God in singing and dancing". Here there was "no time to think about guys". T4 spoke of the praise and worship at the youth events and the "calming" and liberating effect it had on her and other friends who attended with her. She added, "praise and worship at youth meetings lifts the week's burdens". The DCC youth programme is seen as a safe space for youth to release their emotions and thoughts on different issues. She explained that youth could enjoy the freedom to release tensions, adding, "Whether you want to jump or scream you can".
T4 believes that she has learnt "to respect other people because in God's eyes no one is different, we are all the same". She uniquely described God as "a hunk", indicating that her imagery of God based on the Bible readings that are preached in church is that he is "muscular, 'mightyful' yet caring and kind".
T4 related a difficult period in her family's history. Her mother had been sick and was in and out of hospital for two years. Her eighteen-year-old sister took care of herself and her other siblings (her father had long since abandoned them). T4 recalls the periods of deficiency in her home. She explained that they were about to reach the end of their food and money supplies, but her siblings and herself decided to "pray for a miracle". T4 believed that her uncle's visit three days later with all the provisions they needed was the miracle they had prayed for.
T4 indicated that this was her first memory of the "faithfulness and provision of God". She firmly believes that her uncle was sent by God to aid them in their time of need. After this experience her sisters started attending the DCC when a neighbour invited them. As they were taught at the DCC about the possibility of miracles and healing, the T4 children prayed for their mother's healing.
According to T4, soon, their mother, who had been told by doctors that she would never walk again, started to walk.
T4 wants to train as a social worker. She has expressed her long-term desire to serve at the DCC in the capacity of a social worker, in order that she can listen to people's problems. She believes that she is a good listener and offers good advice since she has already begun to advise her colleagues at school.
T4 again referred to the "outside world as a place of discouragement and fear", and offered youth the following advice: "don't care about discouragement, go out there and be your best". T4 described the awkward situation she often faced at school since she was often teased about being a virgin. She spoke of many girls in her school who were becoming pregnant; she made it clear that she did not want to follow the value system of her peers.