Puzzle piece from Boshof
“Uncle Theuns, who stays around the corner, is 85 and has lived here for years. He will surely be able to tell you more about the center of South Africa here in Boshof.”
I was on a prayer-walk to visit 12 alleged centers of South Africa. The aim was to determine what the impact of being the center has in each locality; and finally and how it can be understood spiritually in relation to this.
Uncle Theuns listened keenly as I told him the about the prayer-walk and admitted without hesitation: "My center is Jesus". He later told me about another geographical center near Kimberley; one that was not on my list. It was a puzzle piece; and my list of geographical centers just grew to thirteen.
A month later I heard that uncle Theuns passed away. I wondered if our meeting was divinely planned appointment? That puzzle piece was a legacy that I inherited from uncle Theuns. Three months later it launched me on my next prayer-walk.
On a icy winter’s morning in July, the Lord reminded me of that puzzle piece. Uncle Theuns' description of how to get to the 13th geographical center was clear and simple: Walk 40 km from Kimberley on the road to Schmidtsdrift. There you will find a large rock in the shape of a seal next to the road. The geographical center, is on a straight line exactly three kilometers south from the seal rock.
I prayed and asked where I should start. I felt in my heart to start walking at a store called "The Faith Shop". The store is around the corner from the Big Hole in Kimberley. I also felt like I had to walk right around the Big Hole from there.
Was it the right way as on the Lord’s heart for me?
I journey with a miraculous testimony where God often confirms my path with the number “153”. The Big Hole was enclosed with a security fence and I walked along the tarmac. The distance was exactly 2.46 km which is equivalent to 1.53 miles!
The looters and the smith
Only days before I started on this prayer-walk, the whole country was plunged into uncertainty due to large-scale looting. I pondered how someone referred to the Big Hole as the greatest monument in honor of man's greed. A large-scale looting that lasted 43 years where fortune seekers from around the world dug up a total of 2722 kg of diamonds with picks and shovels; and left a 17-hectare crater with a depth of 240 m in the earth's crust. Of the small mountain or hill that stood there before 1871, there is no sign left.
During prayer walks, I usually look for as many clues as possible about what may be on God's heart. In Isaiah 54:10, I read: "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee."
That gives me hope!
A friend pointed out to me another scripture (also in Isaiah 54) that says something about the looting and the road to Schmidtsdrift! Isaiah 54:16 states, “Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy”
God's purpose
The frosty morning wind cut through my soul and I began the 40 km prayer-walk to Schmidtsdrift. My goal was to be there that same evening. By sunset, I was barely 15km outside Kimberley. My goal was a measure in kilometers; God's goal was the four people I met on the way. Each of whom I had to spend a significant part of the day. It is a humbling thought.
The last of these four people whose car broke down along the road was standing at the exact spot where I arrived as the sun was setting behind the horizon. I had arranged in advance with my wife that she would pick me up along the way when the sun went down so we could sleep over with friends in Kimberley. She would then drop me off at the same place again the next morning.
The evening air was freezing cold and the man was wearing only a thin shirt. His vehicle could not move at all and he had to replace a part in his wheel’s axle. There were no spare parts stores open in Kimberley. He was 200 km from his home in Kuruman.
I could not just leave him there. I gave him one of my warm jackets and called my friend in Kimberley to hear if he might be able to help to find the part.
The man did not want to leave his vehicle on the side of the road for the night. He was afraid that people would plunder it. My wife and I prayed that God would send a specific person to help this man in need. I did not know how anyone on that cold night would obey to stop and help. My wife and I drove back to town to see if we could pick up the part for him. Arriving at our friends, we heard that the part would only be available the next day. Our friends had other visitors too, and everyone in the house wanted to help. I left a short while later (by car) with a feast of everyone's contributions for the stranger along the road. Food, hot soup, and a -5º C graded sleeping bag for the bitter cold expected through the night, and more tools he could use to fix his car.
He could not believe his eyes when, instead of looting, a stream of blessings arrived.
But that was not all! I was curious to know who the other man was whose car was also standing there next to the road. He told me that while I was away, the car stopped across the road after running out of fuel. This man, who lives in Kimberley, called his wife to bring some fuel. He also had a friend with exactly the same model car, who was able to help with the part.
We prayed and God sent that specific man to help!
When I started walking from there the next morning, there was only a pile of stones with which the man had elevated his car along the road. The name of the man who ran out of fuel, and helped out is Johnny. His name means "God is gracious"
That gives me hope!
Halfkop: center point of South Africa on the east-west line on the road with "no lines"
Thirty kilometers from Kimberley, I read something on a sign that stopped me in my tracks. The hill, a rocky outcrop, was visible on the horizon for most of the morning. On the signboard at the entrance of a farm, there was a photo of the hill with the words: “Halfkop” - the geographic center of South Africa.
My list of geographical centers had just increased to 14.
This geographical center prophesies from the heart of South Africa:
- The name Halfkop (half head) is derived from the fact that part of it was previously excavated for road filling purposes. The hill was made small to fill the valleys in the road: “A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.” (Isa 40: 3-4)
- The location of Halfkop as the center of South Africa is based on the coordinates on the East-West line. “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103: 12)
- Halfkop is located on the farm New Kingston. From Old English, the name Kingston means "royal settlement". We need to renew our minds so that the King of Glory will once again occupy the center of our spiritual life as a royal settlement. “Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! (Psalm 24: 9-10)
I looked for an opening between the bushes and trees along the road for a better view to take a picture of the hill. When I finally took the picture, there was a road sign in the foreground. That was very significant. It was a warning sign that there are no lines on the road.
No lines!
What lines are in your center? I searched and found many lines described in the Bible.
- Battle lines
Is your center a battleground or is it a place of peace and rest? - Lines of construction work
Is your center a place of looting or is it a place of building up? - Fishing lines
Is your center the place of fishers of men? - Grain planted in lines
Is your center a place of sowing and reaping? - Guards standing in lines
Is your center a place of safety and order? - Plumb line
Is your center a place of careful execution and balance? - Pleasant lines
Is your center a place where God commands His blessing? - Lines of armored plates
Is your center the stronghold of a hardened heart? - Lines on the priestly garment
Is your center a place where you serve people? - Line of thoughts
Is your center a place from which noble conversations and pure words originate? - Lines in the temple
Is your center a place of worship? - Lines in the Lord’s army
Is your center a place of obedience? - A line of trees
What is the fruit that emerges from your center? - In lines on the wall
Is your center a place of intercession
This is a challenge, but it gives me hope!
The seal rock
I continued on my walk and about 2 hours later I finally arrived at the seal rock on the roadside. From the rock, the center, on a straight line, is exactly three kilometers in a southerly direction.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the rock was actually hand-crafted. The artist's name was at the bottom: "AH Addison, 1962" The marker for the center was made by a man with the name of Addison, a Scottish name that means "son of Adam". It is also written: “The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Cor 15:45). And here the first Adam is the signpost to the last Adam as the spiritual center of the country.
This center, which is 40 km from Kimberley and from there another three kilometers south, may also hold a spiritual message. Jesus was dead for three days, after which He rose and ascended to heaven after 40 days. During this time, during His third appearance to His disciples, He asked Peter, who had denied Him three times, to confirm three times that He loved Him. He restored their relationship three times, after which he restored Peter to his office three times. (John 21: 15-17)
Like that part that revolves around the wheel axle, everything has to revolve around Jesus, our Center. Then we will see His glory, and in Him, the Father, and His grace and truth.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14)
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