TESTIMONY: the blessing of praying in tongues — Karin Plaatjies

Back in April 2005 I had a supernatural encounter with the Lord that was so real and tangible that it was life-changing. It led to my complete acceptance of King Yeshua, Jesus Christ of Nazareth as my Lord and Saviour. I was totally sold out. HalleluYah!!!

However with change comes new things and unfamiliar territory, one of which was the strange concept of speaking in tongues.

Coming from a traditional church background and having been a member of a denomination that totally rejected speaking in tongues, in fact it was completely taboo there, I was of course wholly ignorant of the power of tongues and the fact that it is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

So as it goes with Evangelical Charismatic churches, they come alongside new converts to facilitate your growth and ensure that you learn the basics of Scripture that every believer should know. Thus after my full immersion baptism, I was required to speak in tongues, but nothing happened for a while…

After a few months, I did a Victory Weekend at this new church where I had plugged in. It was a deliverance ministry weekend with the purpose of repentance for things in the past that the Holy Spirit reveals to one.

I went home from the Victory Weekend on the Sunday afternoon still unable to speak in tongues, even though the facilitators has laid hands on me and prayed for me to receive the gift of tongues which Yeshua promises us in His Word — refer Acts 1:6, Acts 2:4, Mark 16:17 and 1 Corinthians 14.

I went to lie down on my bed that afternoon and was meditating on the Lord and His goodness. Suddenly I saw a vision of King Yeshua’s suffering on the cross. It was a hectic scene to behold. He looked much worse than depicted in the movie The Passion of Christ and appeared in my vision as a bloody chunk of meat.

As I beheld my Lord in His suffering, my mouth opened involuntarily and three words came out. They were unknown to me, but in my spirit I knew that they were actual words.

“Shadrach” (The Great Scribe), “Abishua” (Father of Deliverance), “Abishai: (Father of a Gift). I looked up the words in my Bible dictionary and discovered that I had spoken in Hebrew. I was in absolute awe when I learned the meaning of those words and realised that speaking in other tongues was real. This encounter deepened my faith and established a closer walk with my beloved Saviour.

Over the years, the ability to speak in tongues has led to many testimonies.

I remember a time when I moved into a townhouse in a very nice complex in Cape Town. I had a little storeroom at the back, next to my place. The key was missing and the caretaker had to force the lock of the door. When the door opened, it looked like a scene from a horror movie, cobwebs hanging down thickly from the ceiling.

As I was about to step into the storeroom to start clearing the cobwebs, my mouth again opened involuntarily and I started praying in tongues. I was obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit and continued praying in tongues the whole time as I was cleaning the place. When the cobwebs were cleared away I noticed Satanic drawings and signs on the walls as well as a dragon painted on the light switch. There were also half-burnt candles in bottles standing around. I realised that the place had been used previously for Satanic rituals.

Our Heavenly Father had protected me and went ahead by leading me to pray in tongues before I touched anything in that storeroom.

I became even more convinced that praying regularly in our Heavenly language is a necessity for daily life in this broken world, and not optional.

During 2019, I went sight-seeing alone in Israel. On this particular day I wanted to see Solomon’s Quarry. When I entered the Quarry I was the only tourist there. As I walked down the steps in the quarry towards Hezekiah’s Cave in the deep recesses at the back, the construction workers switched off the lights and started whistling and cat-calling at me.

I just calmly continued walking, using my phone’s flashlight, and was praying in tongues the whole time. After a minute or two, the lights went back on and 2 male tourists were just ahead of me on the path. They had appeared suddenly. I was happy to see that they were walking in the same direction that I was headed. HalleluYah!!!

On another occasion in Israel, I was walking from the Western Wall back up the stairs. It was the Sabbath and during Ramadan. The place was deserted and again I was totally alone. Three young men walked past me and one deliberately bumped into me.

When I stared at him, he started swearing at me in English and told me not to look at him. I could see that they were looking for trouble. I just started praying out loud in tongues. They were staring at me and appeared to be confused. After a while, they left me alone and continued walking up the stairs. Needless to say, I felt quite relieved as these young men had appeared to be quite aggressive.

Praying in tongues has become my mainstay and has brought much joy and comfort in trying times, especially in these last days of difficulty and uncertainty. We also pray in tongues when we prayer-walk, or minister the Gospel on the streets a few times a week, and Father has faithfully protected us in the most dangerous places where we go regularly here in George to minister. HalleluYah!!!

I am forever thankful to Father for pursuing me relentlessly and endowing me with the gift of speaking in tongues. It has been such a blessing to me and to others who I have ministered to over the years. There are many, many wonderful testimonies to share.

Praise be to our God and our Messiah, King Yeshua. Amen!