Mama Lizzy and the Children

This story comes from fellow South African missionaries living in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, Tammy and Charles Hasselbring. At our mission meeting in March 2013, Tammy shared an amazing story about a woman whom they called, Mama Lizzy. She said that they had been caring for five abandoned children, ages five to fifteen, for over four years. The people in the village had very little to do with the children because they had been prostituting and stealing and were no longer welcome. A year ago, Tammy said they started looking for someone to help them and so Mama Lizzy came to them from Zimbabwe to work with the children.

When the children’s relatives heard about Mama Lizzy, they tried to run her off because they did not want the children to stop making money for them. Tammy said they also discovered that the family was very involved with witch craft, the worst they had ever seen. An older sister of the children showed up and tried everything in her power to force Mama Lizzy to leave. The woman finally said she was going to an all-night Satanic worship service and would pray sickness and death to Mama Lizzy and the Hasselbrings. Mama Lizzy then called Tammy and Charles and they all agreed in prayer for God’s protection. They also prayed that this woman would not have any power to harm them or the children. Tammy said they even contacted their church in the US and asked them to agree with them in prayer. Within thirty minutes of their call, the woman was running through the streets screaming that they were burning her and she had no power. Afterwards, she wasn’t even able to approach the property without falling to the ground. She left and never came back.

That was a huge turning point for Mama Lizzy and the children. The children started confessing their sins and told her about the demonic spirits that visited them almost every night. Mama Lizzy taught them how to pray to Jesus and the children were saved, delivered and transformed. The oldest girl struggled for a while but has had a complete healing and has been preaching in revival services in the village.

Mama Lizzy’s story really just takes off from there. She began teaching the children after school because they had been doing very poorly and not making the grade. The school would just pass them on to the next level. One of the children even has cerebral palsy, which after talking with several therapists they said she was incapable of ever being able to read. At the end of the school year, she received an award from her school for most improved reader and all of the children passed with flying colors. Mama Lizzy also started teaching other children in the neighborhood when parents noticed how improved these children were. Other students were also asking for help after school when they saw their fellow classmates improve.

Word spread that Mama Lizzy was helping children after school and they were all improving and all the parents were very grateful to her. They wanted to pay her but she did not feel right about taking money. Instead, the parents brought food, clothing, shoes, and whatever else the house needed to help support the children. The community has even started taking care of their own needy children. The community not only has come to love the children, but they also assist in caring for them whenever they are asked. As a result, the size of the house and number of children have grown.

The police department also brings their troubled children to Mama Lizzy when it is a case of demonic possession and they don’t know what else to do. As a result, families are being saved. The local church has begun a building program to accommodate the new converts. Tammy has also heard the testimonies of several ex-witch doctors who have come to Mama Lizzy for prayer. They couldn’t understand why they lost their power and became sick. They are coming for prayer and leaving as new Christians and delivered from their demonic possession and oppression.

The community continues to support Mama Lizzy and the children. Originally, they thought she had come for the children but now they realize that she ended up helping them all. This is the living testimony of a person who has given God her all and the harvest continues to be plentiful. God took this abused wife of an alcoholic and transformed her into someone who is truly an inspiration.

Carol-Anne Isaacs

Mark and I have known Carol-Anne since we moved to Cape Town in February 2006. We left Kenya after twenty years to assume the position as the principal of Cape Theological Seminary, which is now called Global School of Theology-Western Cape (GST-WC). At that time Carol-Anne was a third year student enrolled in the four-year Bible and Theology degree program. The instant we met her, we immediately noticed something very special about her. She not only had an outgoing and friendly personality, but she was like a woman on a mission—never slowing down and always looking for ways to be a blessing to everyone around her. The longer we have known Carol-Anne, the more inspiring her life has become.

Born on December 24, 1964, she was diagnosed at birth with a bone disease called athrogryphosis. This is a rare congenital disorder that is characterized by multiple joint abnormalities and a shortening of muscles that causes muscle weakness and a deformity in her joints. She also has a condition called bilateral dislocated hips, which means she was born without any hip sockets or knee caps and she walks with a severe limp. In addition, she also inherited a condition that affected the development of her hands and feet. Her fingers are webbed up to the first knuckle which makes it difficult for her to spread her fingers out and she cannot lay her hands down in a flattened position. Throughout her years as a student she earned extra money to help pay her school fees by typing other students’ papers and she can literally out-type everyone on the campus. However, this particular condition has made playing the piano impossible.

Carol-Anne with her graduating class from CTS in 2007

In November 2007 Carol-Anne completed her four year BA degree at CTS and immediately following graduation, the school hired her to be the full-time librarian. On October 11, 2013 she completed her second BA in Library and Information Science after five years of part-time studies at University of South Africa (UNISA).

Carol-Anne’s entire life has been a series of miracles but the most recent one came to my attention through a fellow missionary, Rosie Gilbert who teaches music at the seminary. One day she heard someone playing the piano and wanted to know who it was. She peeked in the door and was amazed to see that it was Carol-Anne. Carol-Anne had decided at the beginning of the year that she wanted to learn how to play the piano. She took a few lessons from her friend and fellow staff member Clarina’s husband but due to the deformity in her hands, she was unable to spread her fingers out and play without causing great pain. After a few lessons, she became very discouraged and decided to quit trying. Normally when she would get disappointed about something she would go to her room and sleep. However, that particular day she put her school bag down and decided to pray instead and afterward she sat down to do her school work. As she was typing an assignment she felt the urge to pray again and when she looked at her hands she couldn’t believe it—they were straight! She burst into tears and ran to Clarina’s flat on the campus and showed her what had happened to her hands. Clarina started to pray and praise the Lord for healing Carol-Anne’s hands. Carol-Anne stated proudly that she can now play the piano but still needs to take some more lessons so she can learn how to play “properly”.

Samuel Shirongo and His Wife
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
2002-03

I would like to share an incredible miracle that happened to one of our students at the Bible school in Ethiopia in 2002. During our last term in Kenya, we were asked to assist the Addis Ababa Bible School (ABC) for six months to fill in for missionaries going home on furlough. As the acting Dean of Students, I was responsible for meeting with every student returning from the long break and collecting their ministry reports and following up their practical ministry experiences. This was my first introduction to a student by the name of Samuel Shirongo, a man in his forties, married, and father of three children. Samuel was saved out of a Muslim culture and faith and was quite radical in his newfound faith in Jesus Christ. He told me that he and another student from ABC went to a Muslim community to share the Gospel and upon arrival a funeral for a young girl was in progress. According to custom, the dead body was carried to the grave by the members of the community who formed a queue from the home to the place of burial. Samuel told the student with him that this was their chance and to follow him and join the queue. His friend asked him if he was crazy and declined the invitation and ran the opposite direction. Samuel was not to be deterred and jumped into the queue and waited for the child to be placed in his arms. He told me that the Holy Spirit gave him a boldness that was even surprising to him. When the child was placed in his arms, he lifted her body into the air and shouted out with a powerful voice commanding that she come back to life in the name of Jesus Christ. Abruptly the noisy weeping and wailing came to a stop and all eyes were immediately focused on Samuel and the child. At that moment, the little girl’s eyes opened and she began to breath. Yes, God had raised a child from the dead. Chaos broke out as the people were stunned by the demonstration of the power of the living God.

This was not the end of the story. Samuel returned to the village the following week and held a church service and preached the Gospel for the first time to this village. Samuel said that a spy had been sent to bring disruption to the service but instead, he became a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, along with the village witchdoctor and his family. The entire family of the little girl accepted Christ and 215 were baptized, 103 of which were Muslims.

If you were to ask Samuel if Jesus still performs miracles through His Church today, he would declare unequivocally from first-hand experience that He does. Jesus performed many miracles during His time on earth and according to His own words, He said that miracles would continue to follow those who believe. Jesus said, “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:11 and 12).