About twenty minutes before our expected time of arrival in Johannesburg from Harare, Zimbabwe, the speaker crackled to life and captain informed us that he expected us to hit bad turbulence just before we landed. This piece of information turned to be no ordinary experience. About ten minutes before we were expected to land, near disaster struck. The clouds were thick, swirling and churning furiously as we beheld from inside the cabin. The winds were mighty strong and the turbulence was excessive. The sizable Airbus A343 was thrown sideways up and down as the pilot fought to keep it in check. The passengers were silent and you could almost see what people were thinking in the gloomy light that filtered through the windows.
As we neared the ground, the violent jerks did not stop. The engines were loud and the plane was unstable. The cabin lights were switched off, the emergency exit lights were switched on and the flight crew put their hands on the emergency exit door panel handles! It was clear that this was no ordinary landing attempt. At the last moment, the Captain evidently realized that we could not land, too much was against us. He opened the throttle and fought against the furious winds, climbing back up into the gloomy, black mass of agitated clouds.
Our Captain informed us that he was going to make another attempt at landing. For what seemed like forever, he made a big loop round through the whipping clouds. The plane was being thrown around like a bottle cork on a stormy sea. It would heave up sharply then suddenly drop down from nowhere, giving that sinking feeling, like your stomach was going shoot out your mouth! People were screaming and a few were throwing up; it was horrible. As we fought through it, hailstones could be most audibly heard incessantly pelting the plane. The turbulent clouds were very low; the winds were unceasing and ferocious.
By the time we descended again for a second landing attempt, we were not aligned to the runway and efforts to do so were evidently futile. At the last moment, the pilot powered back up again into the skies. By this time, phones were ringing; people had begun switching on their phones and probably trying to get in touch with friends and loved ones. The gloomy light fell on worried, tense and anxious faces altogether. The plane was rocking and pitching sideways as it climbed again. The pilot tried to sound reassuring but you could tell he was under a lot of pressure. This time the pilot tried landing from a different angle after circling for about half an hour in extremely volatile skies. The Lord really helped us this time as it seems either the wind subsided or it was behind us as we landed (whatever it was, it was The Lord) but we managed to touch down safely. Talk about applause and screams of relief from the passengers.
After we landed, we waited about 20mins in the plane till the engineers were positive they were clear of the danger of being struck by the unpredictable lightning. Later it was reported in South African News that the storm had caused considerable damage and some flooding. Hail stones the size of golf balls damaged property, shattered windscreens, broke windows and some roofs were blown off in some informal settlement areas in the South African province of Gauteng. After this, all flights were stopped from taking off or landing at the Johannesburg Airport until the skies were friendlier. Our Pilot told us (after we landed thankfully) that he’d been a Pilot for over 30 years and he’d never flown in such weather, against such odds nor experienced anything that violent.
Evidently devil was determined to withhold some blessing that the Lord had in store for the weekend, but God was in control of the whole situation no matter how out of hand it looked. I remembered this quote while all this was going on and I opened it up on my phone and read it… Was the only source of reassurance I could think of during the chaos!
Here is the reason I do that. You think of riding about seventy-two hours on a plane in the storms, and up and down, and around the, if you ever rode overseas. Don't know sometimes you're--you're up, and sometimes it's down, and swinging, and rocking, and pitching, through them clouds and over that water, for three days and nights. And then you step off onto a land, and the first thing meets you is Satan, "Well, the ministerial group said this, some of them divided on the vote, and some for." See? Then you might say this, "Well, maybe the Lord didn't want me to come." But when you are sent of God, you're ready to meet the enemy. You say, "I step here, in the Name of Jesus Christ. I come in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and here I stay till His work's accomplished." See, then you're ready to meet the forces. 59-1227E
I knew I was in the perfect will of God on this trip.
When I arrived in Capetown, Brother Keith was there to pick me up. We had a good supper and then went to bed knowing we had a full day ahead of us. The next morning we packed our bags, grabbed a few books to drop at two Pastors’ places on our way, and loaded a bunch of YF products for the young people into the Ford Truck. We went and had breakfast then we were on the road. We dropped the books at their respective places and winded through tunnels, picturesque mountains and valleys on our way out to Oudtshoorn. We arrived late in the afternoon and had lunch at one of the local restaurants, and then we drove to the farm where we would be staying for the weekend. Here we were met by a very happy and jovial family who would be our hosts for the weekend. They would not hear that we just had something to eat and made us eat some more! We had a great farmhouse-lunch before we left the farm to drive back into town where the young people were staying, and where we were to have service that night.
As we neared the building and heard songs of Zion rising from the lips of the Saints, immediately you could feel that kindred Spirit and knew that we were at the right place. We entered the room and joined in singing with the youth for a while, and then Brother Gideon, their youth leader, came up. He introduced the visitors and went to announce that the camp was going to be opened in a most appropriate manner. We were going to hear from God’s Prophet in the message, “Life.”
It was a real blessing to hear the prophet explain the simple yet complex phenomenon called life. How it came into existence, how God values it, and how it brought an infidel to the knowledge of a living God who is present all around us in different and diverse forms of life.
After the service we had some food, some singing and quite a bit of fellowship before we had to drive back about 40km to the farmhouse for the night’s rest.
The next morning dawned sunny with fluffy clouds hanging in the skies. A peaceful silence up in the mountains; broken occasionally by the bleating of a sheep, a dog barking or frequent bird calls. This morning we were to meet the young people for a tour of a South African Heritage Site called the Cango Caves. As we entered the caves, it was amazing to see what God has created in this world and how small we are compared to all His majestic display in nature. The caves were huge and the formation of stalagmites and stalactites are a sight to behold. One of the vast rooms was used as a venue for events until 1997 when the authorities became concerned about the safety of the people.
After we climbed out of the caves, we loaded onto the bus to go to the farmhouse for a much anticipated breakfast. The drive was extremely scenic and very pleasant. The bus stopped at a church about a mile from the farmhouse and the youths were told to disembark and wait for transport that was going to take them the rest of the way to the destination.
In about 3 minutes, a big ole farm tractor pulled up with a trailer full of hay bales… The youths were quite intrigued by this feat. They got a true farm ride to the farmhouse! When we got to the farm we gathered around and sang a few songs and then had a good ration of food. By the time it was 1.30pm, the natural food was done served and the believers were preparing for a special time they were to have with the Lord. Everybody was called around and informed that they were to get ready for Quiet Time. The chaperones had supplied everybody with Quiet time mats just like they’d seen done at the SW camps.
QT was going to be around a small lake up in the mountain. We struck the trek of a very interesting trail to the QT venue. Everyone had to walk up the mount, navigate over or through a boundary fence; skip over clear streams from mountain springs bubbling and flowing down the hill, and step over uprooted trees to get to the designated place. Everybody made it, a few were out of breath and beads of sweat glistened on foreheads, but the great thing is that they made it and God was going to talk to each one of the willing hearts. After we all settled down, Brother Stephen introduced Quiet Time briefly explaining what it is and how it is important to spend time with the Lord as a believer. He read two quotes where Brother Branham was talking about when he had his own Quiet Time, and one where He tells the effect of Quiet Time to a Christian Life:
And then, friends, this is just about six months I've been going day and night almost. Today I had a wonderful day alone with God. No one was there but just the Lord and I. And I get myself more settled down when I get alone. Now, I've got five more meetings before I have any rest coming up: five more meetings. And then in the month of May, I'm to take a complete month, going up into the Rocky Mountains where, my, alone there when you kinda look like get... I like to be alone with God. That's the way to--that I find Him so dear to me. And then coming back then to start into Canada... 47-0412
And:
Now, there's a code of ethics to it. God has a new birth for you. But listen to His still small Voice. Every one of you people who profess to be Christians, get yourself quiet before Him. Don't let the washing hinder. Don't let the work hinder. Don't let nothing hinder. Don't let nobody know what you're doing. Just go before Him. Get up in the woods somewhere. Get out on the side of the road. Go into the secret closet and close the door, when the kids gets at school. There get down on your knees. You've heard all kinds of voices everywhere. But just get down and stay there until those voices are silenced and you begin to lift up. It'll change you. It'll make you different like it did this little Samuel. It'll do something to you if you'll just do it. Now, it'll make you what you should be. It'll make you the kind of Christian that you ought to be. 58-1005M
After this the young people were dismissed for QT and each one found their place around the lake to be shut in with God. Some prayed and meditated, others read their Bibles or Spoken Word books from the previous day’s Jubilee Message; “The Super Sign.” A serene reverent silence fell around that entire lake area way up in the highlands of Oudtshoorn. The sun was behind the clouds and hardly a leaf moved, it was really still as the Still Small Voice spoke to heart after another. At the end, we got back together, sang a song and Brother Keith Herne was asked to close the session in a word of prayer.
After Quiet Time, we trekked back to the farmhouse and had a snack before we got ready for the evening meeting.
The meeting was held in a neat little local farm church about half a mile from the from the farm house. Here a few songs were sung and the meeting was opened with a word of prayer. Brother Gideon presented to the young people YF book-markers, which had been sent specially for them from VGR, along with a YF lapel pin that each youth had gotten earlier. Brother Gideon told the group that the markers should remind them of the commitment they made to spend time with the Lord every single day henceforth. After this he called upon Brother Keith Herne, VGR office Manager in Cape Town, to come and say a few words about VGR. Brother Keith came up and spoke briefly about the work at VGR, pointing out that every believer is part of Voice Of God Recordings and has an important role to play in spreading out this Message. He spoke about how now the new generation has to take the Message into the future on till the coming of the Lord. After he spoke, he introduced Brother Stephen Tutani. Brother Keith pointed to himself and said, we are the past, we have a sell by date, then he pointed to the young people and said,” You are the future.” The young people chuckled at this. Well when Brother Stephen came up he invited the young people to get up and sing like the future.
After a whole two days in an environment where everybody spoke the Dutch sounding Afrikaans, Brother Stephen could not help but burst out singing in the Afrikaans language much to the amusement of the young people. Soon everybody had joined in singing, “Ons kom van ver af, om die Here te dien.” Meaning “We Come From Far To Serve The Lord.” He also sang Siya ba hambayothina, which is the zulu version, a song which was a big hit in the August 2013 Still Waters camp sang in Shona, English and French (Ndofamba Munzira, Toti Hallelujah).Then we went marching over to Jerusalem, down the valley and up the mountain to Jerusalem our home. It was really nice!
After some spirited singing, we sat down and Brother Stephen spoke to us about Young Foundations; its mission and what it’s all about. He spoke about the camps at Still Waters; how they run, the activities and so on. He had two video clips of the SW Camp, which he showed on an overhead projector to the eager group of young people. After watching these videos, Brother Stephen opened the floor to question, or queries that the young people had about Young Foundations, the YF website, SW camp…etc. Questions were asked and a few points clarified and discussed in a very amicable environment.
Following this, the youth were divided into five different groups, (chaperones included!) and each group was given a paper and pen. The group selected a scribe and prepared to tackle questions on the Bible and the life and the ministry of Brother Branham.
Question after question was thrown to the groups and lengthy whispers and hisses could be heard floating across the room with an occasional suppressed scream of delight when one thought they had the answer! The barrage of questions had a total of 25 marks. After the quiz, the papers were exchanged among the groups for marking or scoring. Answers to the questions were read out from up front and how amusing it was to hear the various responses from the participants. Exclamations of joy and others; not so joyous but yet enjoying the fun!
After, the scoring the papers were returned to their respective groups and the marks were called out. Twenty-five? Nothing. Twenty-four? No hands. Twenty-three? The place exploded with Hurrahs and Hurrays!! What was interesting is that 2 groups had got the same mark! So we went ahead to a tie- breaker. Here was the tie breaker Question: “Brother Branham saw a vision of a Bible coming down and a finger pointed down the verses of a book in the Bible, which book was this?” It took a few seconds before a response came from either group but finally, the one group had the answer and the other one didn’t! That sealed it. Group 3 was the winning group! Each member of the team won themselves a Still Waters T-shirt of their choice! The rest of the groups clapped hands for them as a delighted bunch of young people collected their well-earned prizes.
Brother Stephen closed the session with a wonderful worship song that he’d learnt at camp called, “Consume Me Lord” as he handed the service back to Brother Gideon. It was at this time that God graced us with His August, near tangible presence. As each one raised their voices and sang prayerfully the Holy Spirit just covered over and filled the entire place. The brothers got together, laid hands on each other and began praying one for the other. The sisters did the same and for some time we just bathed in His presence. Sobs from sincere souls, tears from repenting hearts and prayers from contrite spirits; a sweet smelling savor to a proud Papa God. It was getting dark, the little rural farm church had but 1 light-bulb powered by a generator, yet the flame that the Holy Spirit had kindled in our hearts glowed ever so strong and fervent in Godly reverence. It took a while for us to break out of that atmosphere, but at some point we had to close. We began singing the song, “You’re My Brother You’re My Sister,” It meant more than just words that night as an awesome sense of camaraderie prevailed in the room.
Finally the service was concluded with a word of prayer and we drove back to the farmhouse for supper. We all sat around a lively bonfire as we tried to combat the chilly mountain winds, yet the warmth of the fellowship of kindred minds was not affected at all. As we sat together, ate together, laughed together, and sang together one could not help thinking how awesome heaven will really be! All of us young, carefree, strong, healthy, happy with eternity to spend together, no devil to worry about, but the goodness of the Lord to talk about! How wonderful.
After supper and dessert, finally the youth had to go and get some shut eye. It was a tired but joyful bunch of young’uns that loaded onto the bus to drive back to Oudtshoorn, the town for a well-deserved night’s rest!
The morning came quickly. We woke up got ready and had a quick breakfast before we drove from the farmhouse into town for the Morning Prayer Meeting. Again we had a wonderful service filled with song. Brother McCarthy, a local elder, spoke for a few minutes. The service came to an end with a sweet anointing as well. It is so true that wherever two or three are gathered in His Name He is present!
After the service, we all went to an ancient rope bridge, where only the brave wobbled and waddled across the swaying bridge. By this time everybody was ready to replenish their energy reserves! We all made our way to the local Protea Hotel for a scrumptious last meal. Our spirits were high, our cups were running over and our joys were full. We were all together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The lunch before the journey back home was symbolic of the spiritual filling we had got this weekend in preparation of our spiritual journey ahead.
In summary it was a weekend filled with the richest of God’s blessings on His young lambs. From the weather to the venues to the activities, everything was so perfect. Special thanks go to the local church for organizing this life changing retreat for the youth. Our appreciation also goes to Brother Joseph Branham for his love and support in not only this event, but for the youth around the world.