I was born in a Catholic home, I loved church and I became an altar boy. In 1983 when I was doing std. 6 I got exposed through a classmate, Sydney, to the Plain Truth magazine of the Worldwide Church of God. It is in this magazine that I learnt about the Sabbath, and I set out to do some research. At the same time, I was in the confirmation class of the Catholic Church (those of you who know a bit about the Catholic Church may be aware that confirmation is one of the seven sacraments). It is in the confirmation class that I confirmed that the Sabbath is indeed the Day of the Lord. Both the “Father” and “Sister” who taught us in the confirmation class attested to the fact that the Sabbath is the Day of the Lord and it is on Saturday. I again confirmed this by reading it in the catechism.
In 1984 I started to lose interest in church and in 1985 the truth of the Sabbath started to haunt me. The Holy Spirit was at work!!. Since 1985 was a year of boycotts and no schooling, I spent the rest of the year reading about the history of the Sabbath in public libraries. In 1986 Sydney and I started to share with others in my class the truth about the Sabbath; as a result three lady friends, Mabel, Patricia and Mirriam joined us and we were determined to keep the Sabbath. Although we were serious about the Sabbath we did not have a personal relationship with God, a point driven home by Fitz Henry.
Our determination to keep the Sabbath led us to join the local Rastafarian group. Believe it or not, by this time we were not aware that the SDA church exists. We only worshiped with the Rastafarians for one year and by early 1986 the interest was gone. The year 1987 proved to be a different year. There was this very young, energetic, intelligent and eloquent servant of the Lord, Pastor Kubheka, who used to preach once a week in the mornings at our school. The whole school, from std. 6-10 pupils and teachers, were really impressed. The presentation and content of his gospel message was different and yet very inspiring!!! Michael, my good friend in the Lord, and I decided to make an appointment with Pastor Kubheka, the aim being to win him over to the Sabbath truth.
One evening we went to see Pastor Kubheka, we did not know that this appointment was actually heavenly arranged! Before we discussed anything the Pastor asked us to kneel down for prayer, I must confess that I had never heard and been deeply touched by a prayer such as that one. He read for us from the Bible and we spoke well into the night. Before we departed we asked him whether he was aware about the Sabbath, we had touched the right button!!!! He quoted from the bible and recounted the history just as we knew it. As if this was not enough, we asked him why he is not telling other church leaders about this. He said he had already had several meetings with some church ministers. We decided that this was our man. We started to have regular meetings of this nature. He lent us the Great Controversy and The Desire of Ages to read, which we returned to him a year later without having read them because they were boring compared to the novels that we used to consume. One Sabbath he invited us to church and it was then that we discovered that there is a church called the SDA church!!! One thing that struck our attention at church, although it did not really bother us, was the immaculate style of dress. Due to the Rastafarian influence, we used to come to church (SDA church!!!) dressed in overalls. Another gentleman invited us to his home during the week, unbeknown to us what was in store. When Michael and I arrived at his place he gave us two jackets and asked us to take them to the dry cleaners and he would later pay for them. We were offended and hurt!! We took the jackets to the dry cleaners and went straight to Pastor Kubheka’s house. We told him that he will never see us at church. That was mid 1987. Pastor Kubheka never gave up, he continued to visit us at our homes.
The following year, 1988, church and God were far away from me, I was now busy concentrating on my matric exams and planning what career to follow and which university to enroll at in 1989. But it was never to be; in retrospect, God would not let me go unsaved and fragile into the jungle of campus life. Thank God for His timeous intervention. I passed my matric but all doors to opportunities were closed. I spent the better part of 1989 wondering why is it that I am at home when I was the second best matriculant at my school. In April 1989 I found a job to keep myself busy. The servant of the Lord, Pastor Kubheka, was by this time a good friend of ours.
By God’s grace, in mid 1989 Michael and I were back in the house of the Lord!!!! To our surprise, an old friend of mine with whom I was in the same class from std.8-10, Floyd, was also at church. We joined the baptismal class and were baptised at the end of 1989. In 1990 the doors of success opened, Mr Mabote (now late) who was one of the elders in the church, helped Floyd and I financially to further our studies. Michael, who is younger than us, was still at high school. At varsity I met Jerry Ravhengani who became an inspiration in my spiritual development. By this time the truth of the Lord to “first seek the kingdom of God and all else shall be added unto you” had become undisputed. The urge to share with Mirriam, Patricia and Mabel what I had found grew strong. Floyd and I spent time sharing with them.
But then came the servant of the Most High, Fitz Henry, Mabel and Patricia, as well as Patricia’s sister decided to be part of the family of God through baptism. I started to know about the Sabbath in 1983 but was only baptised into God’s truth in 1989, six years later. Mabel and Patricia knew about the Sabbath in 1986 but were only baptised in 1998, twelve years later. What a reunion I had a few weeks ago to meet with Mabel and Patricia at one of the Pentecost ’98 evenings when I had visited my parents in Kimberley!!! What a great reunion it will be when we meet, not at Pentecost ’98, but on the streets of gold. The love and patience of the Lord surpasses all understanding. I believe that Sydney and Mirriam, as well as my other former high school classmates will come home before it is too late. The ways of the Lord are not like ours!!!!!!! Let us hold on until He shall come. Col 2:6,7.
Andrew Modise
Spatial Development Initiatives Specialist
Development Bank of Southern Africa, Midrand, RSA