Bible Institute of South Africa

I had a feeling that I was being watched. I looked up suddenly and he bolted round the door. Shocked, I couldn’t move for two or three seconds. Pulling myself together I headed on after him armed with a broom. With one smooth motion I lurched forward. WHAM!! I nailed him on the head. I had just killed my eighteenth mouse; a task I’m becoming freakishly good at!

Part of me wants to tell the story, when I come home to SA to visit, of the mice I kill, but I usually stop myself. Nobody wants to hear that! So, when asked, I give the normal rendition of my schedule, “I teach English three times a week, which gives me enough time to work with groups or individual believers or non believers in the area of discipleship and training. This seldom satisfies the enquirer, but the reality is I’ve never had a typical day and this is one of the reasons why I love doing ministry in South Asia.

I sit with a group of about 20 ladies every week in an area not far from where I stay. They all work in the overcrowded, but important garment industry. They all come from the village and now live in temporary housing (something similar to squatter camps, but far more people!) All are Muslim, which makes the fact that they cram into a small room to hear Bible stories all the more interesting. With the exception of one, no one can read or write. They find my mouse story hilarious! One lady says that she almost cooked a mouse once. Another says that she kills at least four every day; I feel like an amateur with my eighteen little mice. 

They love to do my hair (they don’t like my curls, so hair oil is their remedy!) and they enjoy plucking my eyebrows. I let them! All these things make a connection for us. Through the plucking and the combing, I would usually tell them a story about the most remarkable prophet the world has ever known. A prophet, who walked on water, healed the sick, fed over 5000 at one time (they love that story) and who was able to forgive sin. A prophet who loved each one of them so much that he died for them. Could an ordinary prophet have done all these things? 

Not an average Bible study. Would I have come to this country if I had known that ministry would some days consist of me having my hair done, wading through water, having cups of tea and joking about mice? Probably not.  

The greatest challenge is to read through the gospels and see that Jesus hardly ever had an average Bible study either. Jesus connected with people and allowed them to engage with Him while He was doing mundane things like sitting and eating or walking to a friend’s house. He chose to use the ordinary people in the ordinary events of the day to show those who were searching for the truth who He really was.

I’m learning that God is willing to use an ordinary girl like me to connect with ordinary ladies in another country, so that they can come to know Him. 

There’s certainly nothing typical about that!

Shathi is a ‘Woman in Purple’ who has been trained at the Bible Institute. For security reasons she cannot be named.  please pray for her work in Asia