ANNOUNCEMENTS

Our 51 Years of Marriage!

We have been blessed and are still being blessed by God for 51 years of happy marriage. We were both born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. We met and got to know each other, can you believe it, at my brother-in-law’s father’s funeral. A courtship of love blossomed, and we got married.

Our first son Stevlin was born in 1972. Now because I was a Methodist and Belinda a Seventh-day Adventist, she had him blessed in the Adventist church because that is what she believed. She was also determined not to change her faith.

I was in the world and did things that she was not happy with, but her faith remained strong. Our second son Brent was born in 1974. About 1975 one of the churches had an evangelistic meeting for two weeks. Three days before the conclusion of these meetings, Belinda asked if I wanted to accompany her to the meeting. I agreed, I think she took the chance, and I am glad she did because that was the turn in my life. At the end of the meeting, I accepted the altar call and with the leading and help of the Holy Spirit, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Our daughter Kim was born in 1977. Unfortunately, the political situation in South Africa and the danger we were living in made things very unsafe, so we decided to immigrate to Canada in 1988. We arrived in Toronto in the summer and of course the winter was a shock as we were not used to the snow and cold conditions of Canada. The children attended school and did well. We attended Immanuel Adventist Church in Willowdale, Toronto. We met and enjoyed the membership.

Our family has since grown, and God has continued to bless us daily and has kept us safe in His arms.

By Stephen and Belinda van Rensburg