Suzanne’s story (Part 1) — Motorcade evangelist shares on her amazing journey with Jesus

Last Saturday a large motorcade rolled through the length and breadth of Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) to boldly proclaim a message of revival and restoration as part of a three-day campaign of prayer and fasting led by local churches and the municipality.

Travelling behind a mass procession of motorbikes was the One People, One Vison Heal our Bay truck which was a launchpad for ministry as the motorcade stopped at shopping malls during its all-day trek through the city.

And at each stop a 71-year-old NMB woman who was part of the ministry crew on the truck was given the microphone to share the Gospel of Jesus for five minutes as others distributed Gospel tracts to excited bystanders. Gateway News interviewed the lady evangelist — Suzanne Pillans this week.

“Shy, reserved person”
Suzanne told me she is a shy, reserved person, except when she is obeying God’s explicit instructions – something she has sought to do consistently during a miracle-filled 30-year ministry journey that has resulted in thousands of people equipped to minister and millions of people accepting Jesus across Africa and Asia. Her walk with Jesus, by the way, was precipitated by the healing of a horse in 1974. But more on that part of her story after I finish sharing how she found herself on the motorcade truck last Saturday.

“It started in the intercessors group. About a hundred of us were praying just behind the Green Acres Shopping Centre in Newton Park. And half way through the prayer, suddenly the Lord said: ‘I want you to print 10 000 tracts.’ “

After obeying God’s prompting and printing the Gospel tracts [pamphlets] she said she approached Bishop Zola Moses chairperson of the NMB Municipality Religious Leaders Desk and a leader of the prayer and fasting campaign. After she offered him the tracts for handing out to people as they travelled through the city, he invited her to share the Gospel from the truck.

Suzanne said there was much joy in the city as the procession rumbled through on Saturday. Cars hooted, people waved from the side of the road and she believes something special happened and that the atmosphere in the city changed.

She said the Mayor of NMB, Gary van Niekerk, heard the Gospel message a few times as he rode with them on the truck for much of the way.

Hunger for Gospel
“People were really hungry for the Gospel,” she said. At each stop they distributed tracts in the language of the people. “People were running and catching pamphlets in the air.”

She said many people prayed the “sinner’s prayer” during her Gospel presentations that day.

“We will be giving out the tracts that we have left over at smaller outreaches: at car boot sales, garden sales, at farm stalls — wherever we can get permission to play some Gospel music and give a little five-minute message with an altar call.”

Last year Suzanne and her husband Wilfred returned to South Africa after a 27-year stint in England which was pivotal to raising funding for her growing international ministry work. Horses have played a significant role in most of her life. She has taught riding throughout her adult life — in SA and in England. Currently they live in Colleen Glenn, a rural suburb on the outskirts of Gqeberha (formerly PE) and she still enjoys riding.

And, as I mentioned earlier, a horse incident was central to her life-changing decision to follow Jesus. Suzanne explained to me that her beloved horse, Jackie Boy, was severely injured when he was struck in the shoulder by a speeding car as he was being ridden back from a riding show in Johannesburg in 1974. She galloped home on another horse and got an ambulance to attend to Jackie Boy’s rider whose leg was broken in three places. She also arranged for a horse box to transport the injured horse to a veterinarian.

The vet operated on the horse which was then transferred to the Onderstepoort Veterniary Institute for further treatment. But after six weeks his condition deteriorated and they said he would never recover and should be put down.

Suzanne, who was not a Christian at the time, made an appointment for Jackie Boy to be put down three days later. First, she wanted to spoil him with carrots and apples and spend time with him.

Praying for a horse
She said: “I went home and just cried and cried and cried for about an hour and a half. Was there anything I had not tried? I’d tried everything humanly possible. And then I discovered one thing I had not tried. It was a thing called prayer.

“If God created the Heavens and the Earth, He is the only One that could heal Jackie. The problem is, I had put Jackie Boy first in my life. Not the Lord. How can I come to the Lord and ask him to heal my horse if I’ve never taken Him seriously But then I remembered that a nun once told me that God was a God of love.

“And I thought, if God’s a God of love, He just might consider forgiving me for putting a horse first and not Him. And so I tried prayer. And I said: ‘Dear God — that’s if you can hear me — please forgive me for my unbelief. But if you’re prepared to heal Jackie — I mean just well enough that I don’t have to have him shot — then I will know you are God and I will serve you for the rest of my life.”

She said the next day when she went to see the horse, he whinnied, took a step, and then his whole shoulder moved about 600cm away from his body and he crashed to the ground.

“My heart crashed too,” said Suzanne. “And I turned around and walked away and I said: ‘Didn’t Jesus die on the cross or something that we could be forgiven or something?’

“I wasn’t even sure. And I said: ‘Dear God, I want to put You first in my life, regardless of You healing Jackie. I give Jackie to you now. I want to put You first in my life.’

“Suddenly, my friend turned around: ‘Your horse is getting up!’ I turn around. Jackie is lifting himself, hind legs first. He places himself on four legs, turns and takes off on four legs. And I know God heard my prayer and healed my horse. I ran into the house, I phoned the vet, and I said to the vet, I’m phoning to cancel your appointment to shoot Jackie on Wednesday because God has just healed my horse. And he said: ‘Phone me when you are feeling better.'”

Suzanne said God healed her horse completely. He worked in the riding school for a further 12 years of his life. He could gallop, he could jump, he competed, and hundreds of children accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour because of Jackie Boy’s testimony.

• To be continued next week

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