New hope (Part 2) – Day 20

“Hello Benescke, it is Grandma Annie from Atlantis,” she introduced herself to me over the phone. She then continued to tell me about her granddaughter, Tamerin, who would like to go to her matric dance, but they could not afford to send her.

At Radio Tygerberg, we had a matric dance project where listeners could nominate matriculants who would love to go, but could not afford it. We choose four matrics from the list and go out to the schools to surprise them with the news of a farewell of their dreams. The prize includes the dress, suit, make-up, hair, jewellery, shoes and transport to the dance. Needless to say, there are usually many tears at the announcement. We pre-record it and, later on, share it with the listeners on air.

We had already announced the winners and were busy giving feedback to the listeners, when Grandma Annie called for the first time. My response to her was: “Grandma Annie, I wish we could help, but unfortunately, we have already announced the winners.” This did not discourage her. The next morning, I got another call from her with the words. “Hello Benescke, it is Grandma Annie of Atlantis. I know I spoke yesterday, but I just want to find out if God had not yet come through for us.” This continued for a whole week. Every time I got to my desk, a message awaited me that Grandma Annie had phoned again. Her persistence made me smile. She really wanted to help her granddaughter.

When I finalised the prizes that we received from our sponsors and listeners, I realised that we indeed had enough goods to help another matriculant. I immediately phoned Grandma Annie with the news. There were many tears of joy on her side.

Grandma Annie’s story touched our listeners’ hearts and quite a few people offered to help them with groceries. A few days later, she and Tamerin’s parents came to the station to collect the goods. Here, they testified about God’s goodness to them. In the previous year, their family joined their congregation in Atlantis with fasting and prayer. There was a board set up in their church for prayer requests. The Spandiel family had two prominent prayer requests: one, that God would provide a way out for Tamerin to attend her matric dance and two, Tamerin had good marks at school but needed a bursary to study, as funding was a problem.

The Spandiel family did not have a plan B as Tamerin’s father lost his job and had been looking for employment for months without success. Her mother also had a small baby whom she had to look after. All they could do was to trust God. The end result? A few days after we phoned Tamerin with the news of the farewell of her dreams, she got a letter from the University of Stellenbosch, informing her of a bursary to study medicine. Their family only had God, but he was enough for them.

In Ephesians 3:20-21 we read: Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Do you find yourself in a desperate situation in which you too are standing with your back to the wall? Maybe your marriage is failing, you are struggling to fall pregnant, you have a fear of being retrenched at work, have an illness in the family or you have no idea how you will pay the bills at the end of the month? God is able to do exceedingly more than what we can ask or think. He did it for Grandma Annie and her family from Atlantis, and he can do it for you too. Remember, when all you have is God, you will realise that all you need is God! Trust him, he will come through for you. God bless.