Benescke Janse van Rensburg

On 5 August 2017, Hannes Pieterse’s life changed forever. An avid parachute jumper, who already had 210 parachute jumps behind his name, shares his testimony:

Hannes: "That weekend in 2017 a number of parachute clubs in Klerksdorp rallied together for a weekend of fun. I pre-booked four jumps for that weekend. At about 16:00 on the Saturday, the plane took off with me and 8 other jumpers. It was my last jump for the weekend. We have strict rules in the sport to ensure safety.

At 13,000 feet, the first three jumpers jumped out. Five seconds later, three other jumpers and I jumped. Two other men had to wait five seconds before jumping. Everything went well until one of the last two jumpers, Deon, burst through my parachute at 950 feet. The shock was overwhelming. It was too late to open the emergency parachute. Together we fell at a speed of 140km/h and I was convinced that we would die. About three seconds before impacting the ground, I desperately cried out to God, ‘Lord, help me!’ My hope was that God would be gracious to this lukewarm believer in the afterlife.

We hit the ground so hard that Deon and I bounced about a meter high. Shocked, I opened my eyes and realized that I was still alive. I could hear Deon struggling to breathe before everything went silent. One of the jumpers was a paramedic. He first tried to assist Deon. When it seemed as if Deon wasn't breathing any longer, he ran to me. His words were: 'There is blood running out of your eyes, nose and mouth. Can I pray for you?’ He held his hand centimetres above me and began to pray. An intense pain ripped through me. At that same moment, Deon coughed and started to breathe again.

We were taken to the hospital. The doctor was shocked to find that none of my intestines burst. With 17 fractures (12 of the 16 ribs were broken, my left leg was broken in 4 places and my neck also had four fractures), I was pushed into the tunnel for an MRI scan. There in the tunnel, I began to confess every sin I could think of since childhood. I knew God had given me a second chance to live.

I had to follow a long road to recovery. Both Deon and I are fine today. Along with the physical healing, my soul also received healing. For the first time, I read my Bible. I listen to worship music instead of the wild rock music I listened to in the past. And today I can truly say that I have a relationship with God. It took a supernatural divine intervention to save me. God heard my cry and He delivered me. Today I want to honour Him!"

Hannes is right. When we cry out to God, He hears and answers us. In Psalm 50:15 we read: "Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me." Also in Jeremiah 33: 3, we read: "Call to Me, and I will answer you." And in Psalm 18: 7 we read: "In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears."

God hears when we cry out to Him with regards to our finances, marriages, health, or broken relationships. Let's say thanks in advance for His ability to respond supernaturally to bring change! God bless.

Father God, thank you for hearing when I cry out to You. Please help me to be aware of Your presence around me. Also help me to rid my life from sin so I can be holy like You are Holy. I pray for this in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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