‘Entertaining an angel’ on Day Zero

The Baakens River whose Xhosa and Southern Khoi name is Gqerberha, the new name for the city in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro which was formerly known as Port Elizabeth (PHOTO: Port Elizabeth Daily Photo)

On Wedensday Etheline Wiese answered a call for believers to pray at Nelson Mandela Bay’s reservoirs as taps have begun to run dry in the drought-stricken metro. She shares how this simple act of faith led to a divine encounter

It is Day Zero in our Beloved City, Gqeberha. Tap stations are being erected for water to be collected.
I get a message to meet at the reservoir and pray for rain.
The day of the prayer meeting  the rain starts pouring. Heaven’s gate opens.

We get the voice message: “Come people. There is a cost to being involved.” Peter Gooch of Burn 24-7 Nelson Mandela Bay, who issued the call to prayer, had a picture of people standing in their raincoats and umbrellas praying for rain. The day he decided to gather the people in a drought stricken area, rain begins to fall. No wonder he saw the raincoats and umbrellas! Its time to step out IN THE RAIN, in FAITH and pray for the years of drought to be broken! 

‘You have got to be there’
Something happened inside of me, I just knew I had to go, I had to be there. Something had to be broken. The Holy Spirit urged me and compelled me with a whisper: “You have got to be there”.

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I went to the Mount Pleasant reservoir with expectation to pray and agree with others. I sat and gazed out over the expanse of the city. I just reminisced and meditated on the years I had spent praying and standing in the gap, travailing for our people, for healing and revival in this metro. This beautiful precious city. How many prophecies, how many words, how many days of prayer and nights of worship, days of repentance and acts of dedication there have been. Gqeberha has been relentlessly saturated and covered by the holy, burdened intercessors.

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And yet again, there I was… sitting…all on my own believing for a God appointment and a miracle. No one turned up to pray, but the peace of God flooded my soul and I chose to give a sacrifice of praise to Jesus, lifting up my heart to our one true God, Who deserves all the glory.

Khoisan salt
As I started my car to leave, my spiritual daughter Alison Gooch arrives at that very moment. The excitement is written all over her face. She explains how she received a packet of Khoisan salt from someone in Durban while ministering there at the weekend. Though overwhelmed by the divine nature of the moment, she explained how God had led her to read about the Khoisan agreeing with water spirits and the spirits of their forefathers and how a curse was upon the rivers and the waters.

Do you know that our city Gqeberha is the Xhosa and Southern Khoi name for the Baakens River! Its just unbelievable how the Holy Spirit joins the dots and leads the obedient and faith-filled straight into His will and promises.

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We then knew that the Lord did not actually want us at the reservoirs, but was leading us to the Baakens River, to pray and shut an ancient door. We, like Ezekiel needed to be obedient to standing in the gap on behalf of the land, leaving the rest to our Sovereign Lord as He moved and partnered with His jars of clay, his willing vessels, his adopted sons and daughters.

The Scripture Alison received from 2 Kings 2 :20-22 was mind boggling: Elisha said:

20 “Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.

21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’” 22 And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken. Bring me a new bowl and put salt ( the symbol of Gods purifying power) in it. Then Elisha went to the spring of the waters and cast the salt into it and said: Thus says the Lord: I ( not the salt) have healed these waters ; there shall not be any more deaths , miscarriage or barenness and bereavement because of it.
Another significant Scripture that stood out was 2 Chronicles 13:5 where David is spoken of as making a covenant of salt with the Lord:”Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?”

We got more and more stirred up as we moved towards the place where we felt to pray and recommit the river to the Lord. As we drove down the hill it became more and more apparent that this was the time and the place. It honestly felt like a movie was being played out before us, that we were purely privileged observers in. 

Two rainbows
There before us stood not one but TWO rainbows! The fullness and clarity were astounding. Alison was so overwhelmed that she even jumped out at one robot and pointed to the sky shouting: “Surely this is the time, there is a gateway open now!”

The colours were so luminous, brilliant and vibrant! In all of my years on this earth, I have never seen such rainbows, so alive and magnificent. I was awakened to the fact that something truly supernatural was taking place.

We continued to rush to the place, each one in our separate cars, taking pictures and laughing out loud in wonder at how real and present the Lord is, completely unaware that the very greatest divine encounter was yet to come!

We parked under a spacious, leafy tree and Alison remarked that this must be the place! Her friend who had given her the salt in Durban, mentioned that she felt the confirmation of the venue would be the finding of a big tree to park under. 

A beautiful man
As we gathered our supplies: our communion bread, the salt and the oil, a beautiful man stood there taking photographs. He commented on the unmissable rainbows and the conversation led towards us telling him what we were going to do.

He said: “I will join you and protect you, as it is quite dangerous to go down to the river on your own.” We were flabbergasted at his sudden arrival and willingness, but started on the path in search of the flowing river.  

As we walked, Alison asked him who Jesus was to Him, assuming he might not be a believer. With all the mentioned prayers and details, he had remained very quiet. He simply said: I believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life”. At that particular moment we did not even entertain the idea that he could have been divinely assigned to us. We asked him his name and you can only guess what it was: 

David!

The name of the King who made the salt covenant with God in the first place! How could this be? We were living in a dream. As we went down to the river with David, with the salt and the oil and prayed, we felt to have communion, anoint ourselves and pour the salt into the water. We asked Jesus Christ to take His place as Lord over the Baakens River.  

Obedience
We were obediently responding to the supernatural instruction, to pray and ask the Lord to close a spiritual entry point that had been opened through ancestral worship at the rivers edge. We had sensed that we should request of the Father to command angels concerning the shutting of this gateway into the spirit. 

All the while, this man David stood like a rock and watched us silently, as a guardian of the sacred moment. As we walked back he said. “There is no denying this was supernatural. It was a spiritual encounter. You need to write this down and to remember it”

I watched him, put my hand on his back and said: “You know you were sent and chosen.”

He smiled, got into his car and left. We don’t know where he came from and we don’t know where he went to but in that moment, the Scripture came to mind: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” — Hebrews 13:2

A downpouring
The next moment the rainbows disappeared, the heavens opened and it rained with a force we just could not explain. We sat in the car together speechless, with tears of gratitude and thanks streaming down our faces.

It was truly the most godly assignment I have personally witnessed and we are absolutely humbled to have been there and to have been obedient. It felt as if our faithful King had strategically placed us at this Kairos moment to remind us that our prayers are powerful weapons, and that He honours those who relentlessly seek His face.

Gods timing and His provision are profound and consistent! Lord, You alone deserve the honour and the glory!

In faith, we believe the drought and the curse is broken.

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21 Comments

  1. Amen – may it be so, Lord!

  2. this brought tears of excitement

  3. What an absolute encouragement to us all… let us pursue obedience above all else… speak Lord, Your servant is waiting.

    • Praise God! Truly an awesome moment and we stand expectantly awaiting God’s response! Numbers 23: 19

      • Praise the Lord God Almighty for His faithfulness. What a magestic testimony. We cannot do anything without our Lord, our Only Provider. We continue to pray for rains in all our catchment areas 🙏🙏

  4. That is wonderful. We bless the Lord together and are standing in agreement with all who believe God. He will do it as in the days of Elijah, so that everyone will be reminded that He is the only true God.

    • Jenni Hinrichsen

      This made my heart wrench with tears of jubilation- my soul longest for this deep touch from God – thank you Daddi God – thank you Holy Spirit

  5. Hallelujah 😭!! We thank God for your lives and obedience, our city is better for it❤️!

  6. Thank you for this testimony. We all need to hear this Good News!

  7. In faith I hold on to the promise of our AWESOME God and Father Jesus Christ

    • Marjorie Martin

      Thank you so much for sharing this heavenly encounter with us as a fulfillment and answer to your intersessions- such a testimony and encouragement to us. May Our Heavenly Father continue to Bless you and use you for His Glory.

  8. Carol-anne Fowler

    What an amazing testimony of 3 faithful servants of God

  9. Thank you thank you Jesus!!! Ps 68 in Passion Translation. Let your glory fall God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We adore you Lord.

  10. Hanli Steenkamp EL SHAMMAH House of Prayer Gordon's Bay

    Praise JESUS CHRIST our LORD and King for obedient servants! All GOD needed were TWO or THREE to come together in HIS Name and to stand in agreement to perform the prophetic act in faithful obedience… and HE provided the third!! HalleluYah!
    We serve an amazing gracious GOD! HalleluYah!
    ABBA, Father please help us all to HEAR and OBEY the softest whisper of Holy Spirit!
    Thank you King Jesus for obedient intersessors across our land!
    Thank you for this awesome reminder that You are THE LORD WHO HEARS! Amen
    PS.. Please post a picture of the two rainbows 🌈🌈

  11. Well done, good & faithful servants. Such an encouragement to us all. Thank you Lord.

  12. Martin Engelbrecht

    It is beginning to rain, we celebrate with heaven as God’s grace and blessings, is being poured out on the desert, we call home, South Africa. Get ready to receive Him in power.

    • Yes Martin, I stand in agreement with you that South Africa must get ready, get ready, get ready to receive Him in power for God has an appointment with the people of South Africa.

  13. Shirley Jeanette Henry

    Yes yes yes his time has come to meet with South Africa and I’m ready and waiting and will try to be prepared for the coming of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

  14. Gillian Bayley Moldenhauer

    Wow thank you so much for sharing the tears just flowed. So grateful for your obedience and faithfulness to God’s word and His timeous protection of you both through David. Certainly what happened was a victorious spiritual encounter of note. Praise God to whom all praise is due. I stand in awe of You.

  15. Yes Lord you are our God and faithful Father in Jesus our Saviour….I praise Thee for these fairhful humble Servants…Oh Lord hear the cry of Thy people in this City and let the rains fall, the roads be repaired the underground pipes too. May Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done in this City, even as you showed us by the faith of these dear people. Have Mercy on our city and draw many hearts to Thyself….Come Lord Jesus come