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Testimony of Bernie & Alex Schoeman |
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Looking back to our testimonies written in the latter part of 2002, we were quite amazed to see what God has done in our lives in such a short period of time. Simply considering how gracious the Lord has been to us encouraged our hearts to provide this update to our original testimony. Aimée, our daughter, was born to us on 15th August 2002. This itself was no small miracle as Alex had developed a complication with her thyroid and doctors indicated to us that it would be very difficult (if not impossible) for her to bear children. Well, it’s good to know that we serve a God of faithfulness, who not only provides the desires of our hearts, but also delivers us from sickness. Alex was eventually touched by the hand of a Living God and we can now report that she no longer suffers from any thyroid complications and successfully gave birth to our son, Luke (our second child), on 3rd September 2005. The Lord has blessed us and taught us much about understanding the ways and order of God in marriage and in our relationship with our children. God’s word tells us that His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), so our first five years of finding our roles as husband and wife and as parents has been an exciting and very fruitful learning curve. King David understood what it meant to serve the Lord and knew that He is willing to give us the desires of our hearts should we obey Him (Psalm 37:4). It’s amazing to see how God knows the beginning from the end and how he puts the pieces of our lives together. For example, Alex had qualified as a surveyor in the United Kingdom, but never really found her fulfilment in that field. At the beginning of 2006, a new high school was opened at the Alon farm. It is a beautiful place of learning where our children as well as from other regions can be educated and prepared for life. Alex was asked to teach and immediately she occupied her new position with great zeal. She now enjoys her role as teacher so much that she has no desire to return to her original field of study. Similarly, the Lord has blessed the accounting practice where I (Bernie) work and while I continue to work in the field I originally studied, God has shown me a different way to enjoy business. Thank the Lord that financial ambition and selfishness are no longer the driving force behind my career. More than all of this, God has given us vision and purpose. Not to mention involvement in outreaches, drama productions, restaurant work and many other areas. Suffice to say the Lord has given us an abundance. Our words are not enough to thank Jesus our Messiah for the fullness of our lives and we eagerly look forward to the many new developments the Lord has in store for us. |