South Africa
She was larger than life. People either loved or hated her. Vivacious, energetic, creative, loud, volatile, quick to forgive and forget, and oh, so giving.
As a young girl, Olga Eisner rebelled against her father’s drinking, which was always followed by abuse, and she left home to board elsewhere for high school. She became a teacher even though her heart yearned to be a social worker. She was good with the children, being firm, consistent, and caring. Her classrooms had enchanting nooks where children’s poems were created in art forms. Many were drawn to her lively dance classes, and she orchestrated the best school concerts.
Her first marriage was a rebound, which she said should never have happened, as he was such a kind and gentle man who didn’t deserve that. Having been told she’ll never have children, it was a surprise when she had her only child. As she was a creator of children’s stories that played on the radio, with all the creatures having the most interesting names, of course, she created a name for this creature of hers and named her Emra. She remarried when this little girl was a few months old, leaving her with her father, and reclaimed her three years later. Little Emra fearfully watched her mother’s explosive spirit rise up towards her new sister, the daughter of her stepdad.
It wasn’t long before the bonus dad, Pappie (Afrikaans for Daddy) Dykhorst, got a brain tumor with not long to live. Olga prayed and said “God, if you heal this man, I will search for You till the day I die”. That instant he came out of his coma and was healed. A miracle.
Emra became the witness of seeing God make what seemed impossible, possible. Not just the healing of Pappie, but in the decades that followed, the transformation of Olga’s person. She kept her promise to God, till her early death at age 65. She studied every religion and developed a relationship with God that seemed like breathing, it was so natural. You could see her up in the early hours of the morning, walking and talking with Him in the garden. Her restless nature, arguing with Him, questioning, pondering. Then into The Bible, digging for answers, debating with theologians. “Fanatical”, she was labelled. She didn’t mind – she was all in, had made a promise.
God healed her spirit from its hurts and pain, broke down her pride, tempered her anger, quietened her voice, gave her the gift of poetry and a passionate love for Him. When she unexpectedly left this earth, in 1996, Olga Dykhorst no doubt was worthy of the welcome, “Well done My good and faithful servant”. She pioneered the way for her child to love and live for God, to create for Him – how could Emra not be this, having seen the reality of God so tangibly.
Emra
United States of America
I have this painting of Indian women picking mussels on Durban beach in South Africa, which has always been part of my mom’s art collection. For many years, I was not too joyful when it was handed down to me. Now, it is a treasure that speaks to an impossible story God made possible. One of the most powerful stories to me is how He changes our hearts!
As a telephone counselor in my early twenties, many calls came through from Indian men using it as a sex call line. Added to this, many of the sweet young women I worked with in my bookstore shared their hurt and pain from such men using them, deceiving them, deserting them with the gift of various diseases. My blood curled with anger, and without my knowing, a bias toward this culture’s men developed.
In time, we moved to the USA, and I rarely met up with anyone from the Indian culture. All I had was my mom’s painting, which I’d tuck away in the guest room. Until I met Shaillee. Once again, doing work to empower women! We became soul sisters. Two women with hearts of kindness, purpose, and the joy of giving.
And then . . . the invite to go to speak and receive awards in New Delhi, India! Shaillee’s mother was there at that time, in the very home she grew up in. I was to stay with her right there – in the heart of the culture!
What an experience! We served at three underprivileged schools, rode the racing tuk-tuks, and ate her mother’s authentic handmade dahl and roti. Her mom had a sari made for me and dressed me up for our awards ceremony. Together we marveled at the Taj Mahal. I was awe-struck at the customer service wherever we went! An experience never to forget.
God sent this beautiful woman I call my sister and healed what was hidden my heart. The bias uncovered and redeemed! Only God!
Emra Smith
United States of America
In my twenties the deep desire to have a place where women can be restored filled my being after finding an abandoned property near our home. As the winds blew against the dream and I not yet equipped to make it happen, it got buried deep within my soul.
40 years later, after many twists and turns along life’s journey, God resurrected the longing for the place again when we moved to Savannah. These past fifteen years, seeking and finding possibilities, aspects of the dream have materialized, and more are in process.
During the wait, I had to grow personally – heal from life’s hurts, learn greater skills to hear and see others, have a burden for the brokenhearted, and thrive whilst serving others.
Our non-profit, the International School of Story, was birthed with an understanding of the various aspects within it to bring Hope, give light, and life during challenging times for women. Each year, we have added a next step to do so.
For a season, we moved into a physical space, Abode – an aspect of the vision to serve community, startup businesses, and ministries. A place to share gathered stories, and we launched our Publishing House, Marigold Press Books. It is amazing to see this all unfold – impossible tasks, creations, outcomes. There has not once been revenue to step out with ease to accomplish it, yet each time God has made a way.
There is more to come – the picture is still to be completed. We are seeing the greatest miracle of it all – the HiStory Gallery, for the one million one-page stories we are gathering, to display and share, of when God made the impossible, possible. We do dream of a historic Chapel, which was a mere vision given in 2017, not even knowing what it would be for. As for the women’s housing project, this will be a story for another day. We are about to walk through a giant door! I am in awe, a little scared, as we watch this impossibility become possible. Incredible to experience God giving witty ideas to make His plans happen.
My heart overflows with deep thanks, praise, and worship for our Heavenly Father. I am alive, living in the purpose He designed me for and in peace, knowing Him a little better than all my yesterdays, less than tomorrow. What joy lies ahead – learning to love and serve Him and others more!
Emra
United States of America
My husband Roy, 75, has had multiple heart issues, two heart attacks, open heart surgery, seven stents, carotid endarterectomy, whereby the plaque is removed from the artery in the neck. God has raised him, healing him since he was 43 years old! The next procedure was for his chest pain approximately four years ago at Memorial Hospital in Savannah, where his Dr. needed to put in another stent in a blocked artery.
I was in the waiting room with my children, Michelle and Mark, as we were praying, someone from the operating room came to get us to go back to where Roy was having his procedure. We had no idea why.
When we walked in, we found him lying under a bright light and his doctor was sitting and bent over him. He explained the procedure he was trying to do and told us it could cause a heart attack and wanted our permission to move forward. Thankful, Roy was awake and heard everything. He said, “I’m here, you may as well go ahead.” He gave his permission for the doctor to proceed. We were escorted back to the waiting room, where we called, and texted, telling our family and friends what was happening and asking them to please pray for Roy.
Then the three of us there began praying. About an hour later, Roy’s doctor came into the waiting room all gowned up and had a big smile on his face! He said, “I don’t know what just happened, but as I was trying to open Roy’s clogged artery, other arteries all around it began opening up and blood flowed in areas that formerly had been closed. He said, “I have never seen anything like this before!”
It was then that I told him a whole bunch of prayers had been going up for him as he was working on Roy! His expression made it clear he understood! He said, “So that’s the reason all the closed arteries began opening up, and blood flowed in areas I hadn’t touched! Yes, God had just answered our prayers through him, and Roy just had another miracle from God poured out on him. Hallelujah!
Carolyn Plontrich
United States of America
This past spring, we had to sell our house in order to help pay down some debt. It was definitely a seller’s market, so the easy part was selling our house – which happened very quickly; within two weeks. Now we had to find a home to buy that was in our price range and location that we needed to be. We had limited time and nothing was looking good at all. Homes were overpriced, but also selling within a few hours of being listed. So, we went to the location where we felt God was leading us and where we wanted to be and we did a prayer walk around the lake in that neighborhood. Nothing was for sale at the time.
Our agent actually began calling people in the neighborhood to see if they were willing to sell. And within 1-2 weeks, he found a Christian family who had scripture written in the foundation and drywall throughout the house which they had built 4 ½ years prior. They ended up selling us their house for a fair price after we met them. And they weren’t planning on moving until much later. So this was definitely a God moment! He made the impossible possible.
