Stella’s Wedding Love Story

A testimony of how God loves us.

Just some background information: I am a farm girl from the west coast of South Africa. I am one of 5

children. I have two older sisters, one got married in 1998 and the other one in 2000. Then I have a twin

sister who also got married in 2000, and a brother who is 4 years younger than me.

After the weddings (3 weddings in 2 years), my dad asked me to wait a bit before I get married so he can

recover financially. That ‘wait a bit’ turned out to be quite a while!

So here is my testimony on how God changed my life so I can lay hold of the things He has for me. I only

dated in my matric year for a brief period of time, nothing serious. Since then I have not dated any guy. I

have not even kissed someone until now. I wanted to keep myself pure for the man I was going to marry

and I praise God for His grace that helped me to do so! I am 35 years old and I thank God for being so

faithful to me all these years.

So in 2009 I believe God told me to quit my job in the UK and return to South Africa. At that stage I was

frustrated at work and didn’t feel like I was making a difference in the lives of the children I was teaching. I

was living in one place, teaching in another and had church in a third place. Everything felt scattered, so on

my return I had one desire and that was that my church, work and house would be walking distance from

each other, in order for my life to be simpler and less of a rush. So on my return I ended up in Heidelberg in

Jan 2010 (how I got there is another testimony). Now Heidelberg is a very very small town and the school

only has a 350 children from Gr.1 – Gr12. I had the privileged to teach the most amazing children and my

joy for teaching returned. The town is part of a farming community (almost the same as what I grew up in),

so I really felt at home. But then after a while the same old thoughts started going through my

head….’When will I get married? When will I have my own children? (I was born broody and wanted

children since I can remember.) Does God even think about me? ect. It was a small town and a small

community but there was no one there for me. I was at a spiritual low and then in June of 2010 I started

praying on my bed and God told me to go see this woman, Bets (I was doing Taebo classes with her). At

that stage I was part of a non-functional church and I knew I had to make a change. So after meeting with

Bets, I discovered that she is part of an English church and she works for Charis Bible School. She

encouraged me to download Andrew Wommack’s teachings and do the Bible School with her. I was in such

a need for God that I download LOADS of his teachings and started listening…wow what a blessing! God

really started speaking to me through his teachings and that was a true turning point in my life. So

afterwards I realised that God lead me to the only town in South Africa that has a Charis Bible School and

where I can buy the books easily, it was all there, right on my doorstep. Praise His name!

So this is what God started speaking to me as I was listening to the teachings. Many of us believe that God

has a husband for us, but that someday or one day it will ‘just happen’.

I was in that mindset for a long time. God started speaking to my heart and said that I have to lay hold of it

by faith. It’s not just going to happen one day and what I believe ABOUT God is vital to how I believe. So I

must start believing in His character. In one of Andrew’s teaching he said that God carries my picture in His

wallet. That the list I bring to God has 5 things on but God’s list for me has a 1000 things on. I must take the

Word and stand on it and believe that God’s heart for me is JUST GOOD. So I had to believe that God loves

me and cares for me and He wants to give me GOOD THINGS. He wants to give me a godly husband. So

first of all God came and reminded me of His love and compassion for me (Andrew has a few teachings on

the Love of God). That he WANTS to give me a husband, but this is a faith issue. You have to start believing

in God’s heart of love towards you. Allow God’s love to heal your heart from previous hurts and as you start

to believe in the goodness of God, you can have faith. Some people don’t believe that God loves them, so

they can’t trust Him. God has your picture next to His bed, He gave everything, He had to proof His love for

you. I pray that you may respond to His love.

How to start believing

Some people find work easily, but some have to stand in faith for it. Others can fall pregnant easily, others

have to stand in faith for it. I feel like each of us have different areas of faith, things we have to trust the

Lord for. My area of faith was getting a husband or getting married. I had to actively believe God for a

husband. Now you may ask ‘how did I do that?’… And this is my story..it all starts in your thought life.

I was hoping that God would give me a husband, but I did not actively believe for one. In fact I got really

discouraged after being single for 15 years. Most of my single friends were married by now .God told met

to start changing the way I think by renewing my mind according to Rom 12:2

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you

will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It was time to renew my mind. I had to take hold of those thoughts like ‘I will never get married, I will

never have my own children or I will never have sex (haha sorry have to put this one in because it was

reality for me and I think for most woman). Or I am not good enough, clever enough, pretty enough, I am

too opinionated, too strong willed ect. God told me that every time a thought like that enters my mind I have

to lay hold of it and start praising Him for what He is going to do according to 2 Cor 10: 4 – 5 4 ‘For the

weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down

arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into

captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

 When God told Abraham that he will have Isaac, Abraham believed what he could not see as if it

was there already! God told me to stop hoping in vain, but to start expecting. I must start praising Him for

my husband and my children and start prophesying over them, because it is His heart to give me that. I

must also take scripture and pray scripture and speak it. I must declare aloud and prophesy with my mouth

what I want to see happening in the natural. So this is what I did every time after a soppy movie when

that ‘oh where is my husband feeling’ came over me, or when a couple walked hand in hand on the beach

and I felt sorry for myself for not having it, I started praising God for what HE IS GOING TO DO.

If I believe God’s heart is good and that is going to give me a husband, I can already praise Him for it, that

builds faith like nothing else! Stop hoping for change to come, start speaking it! I took scriptures like Gen

2:18 ‘The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” and

prayed ‘God thank you that I am someone’s helper and wife, Your words says that man was not meant to

be alone, so I thank you for giving me a partner and friend, thank you that I will be a good partner to my

husband and that I will serve him well. Even if you are in marriage already, you can start speaking what you

want to see changed. God is so faithful! Sjoe, I can feel a preach coming on !

Other scriptures like Prov 18:22: He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the LORD.’

so I prayed ‘God your word says that a man who finds a wife finds a good thing, thank you Lord that I am

that good thing that he is going to find..Thank you that he finds me quick!’ I turned every asking into a

praise giving and thanking. I was not begging God for a husband, I was thanking Him for one! This can go for

all the other things you are trusting God for: healing, finances, relationships ect. This is what builds faith,

active faith, and so every time a thought of feeling sorry for myself came my way I started praising God for

my husband and the great thing about that is, you can’t be miserable and thankful at the same time. Then

God starts working in your heart and brings the faith you need to believe! I never allowed myself to go into

self-pity but combat by starting to praise and pray the Word. This is how I prayed when I saw a loving

couple, ‘ Lord thank you for my amazing husband, thank you that he loves me the way I want to be

loved..thank you that he is a godly man that loves you. Thank you Lord that he leads me well and that he

has a humble heart. Lord I thank you for my children, thank you that they will serve You and love you…ect.

After this I got so excited in my spirit that I could not help to just rejoice because I could already see it in my

spirit. Do not entertain negative thoughts that bring you down, you can’t have faith while these thoughts

are still lingering in your mind. The fruit of these kind of thoughts is discouragement and depression. Do

not settle for this! You have to be adamant to get rid of these thoughts. Do not allow Satan to steal,

because what you think is what you believe. This is way the Words says in Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers and

sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.

So rejoice as if God has already given you a husband, a work, a child.. start praising Him for the wonderful

things that He has already given you, the breakthrough in relationships, the doors that will open!  This

produces faith so that we can believe the unseen as if it is present. Put on the garment of praise for the

spirit of heaviness Isa 61:3

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

I did this for one year, from June 2010 – June 2011.

Test of faith

So in June 2011 while being in church in Heidelberg. God told me to move to Mossel Bay because I will

meet my husband there and settle there. I got super excited!!

In Luke 1:45 it says: And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfillment of the things which

have been spoken to her from the Lord’. I believed! I knew this was God speaking to me and that he is

going to bring me to my husband. I was so convinced of this that I started preparing myself for leaving. I

started to buy two of everything as if I already had a husband. I even told my friends and family, that I was

going to move to Mossel Bay and my husband is waiting there. I told my subject advisor that I want to

move to another school and she sent me this advert of a post at Point High School in Mossel Bay, but they

wanted me to start in Oct already. I phoned the school and made an appointment and they wanted me, but

I didn’t have peace about leaving Oct because I had a matric class for Maths and Science that needed my

help till the end of the year. I desperately wanted to go because I knew my husband was there! The school

said if I come now, my chance of getting the permanent job in Jan is much greater than only applying for

Jan 2012. So as I was wrestling with this in my heart (shall I go Oct or Jan 2012), God dropped this in my

heart..’What requires more faith? To go Oct and secure your job or believe that I can and will open the

door for Jan even though someone else might start Oct?’ Sjoe, it was hard, but I knew what to do. I knew

that if God spoke His word , He is more than capable to fulfill it. When you taste the fruit that was

produced by faith, it’s so much nicer than when you play it safe. So I declined and said I will apply like

anybody else and believe the job is still mine. (This was a true test of faith, because things went horribly

wrong with my application, but when God opens a door no man can shut it). His name is faithful! Rev

19:11 ‘ Now, I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful

and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. So even though things went wrong I got the job

in Mossel Bay (a true testimony in itself). At this stage I started fellowshipping with a friend from years back

and I was actually hoping that he was the one. But once I arrived in Mossel Bay I realised that things would

never work out. It is amazing how Satan sometimes brings us a counterfeit of the real thing just before the

right thing, but I am so glad that God guided me. I started attending Joshua Generation Church in Jan 2012.

I was not looking to meet my husband, but I knew that he was somewhere in Mossel Bay

Falling in love

I worked really hard and didn’t really have time for others. The first year at a new school is always hard. I

was in a community with this older couple and they said they want to introduce me to Michael, a guy in

church. I was not interested as I wanted things to happen naturally and if he is the guy then I will meet him

somehow. So I only met  Michael in June, after being in the same church for 6 months! He asked me to go for

coffee, but I was too busy and said we can go once things at school calm down. In June 2012 we started

fellow shipping every now and again with friends, people invited us for dinner ect. I definitely didn’t see him

as my future husband, because he was English speaking (I am a Afrikaans farm girl!!) , a soft and gentle guy

and really humble. According to me he didn’t have what it takes to put this farm girl in her place. I needed a

strong man, a man that will be able to guide me firmly ect. So we spent time together as friends but

definitely nothing more. He brought me food when I was hungry, he is such a servant and he looked after

me so well. When I had German measles he phoned me and said I must open my door..and there was food

parcel waiting for me. J This went on from June to end of September. We had the occasional coffee here

and there, but nothing out of the norm. According to me we were just friends. But slowly but surely he

started winning me over.

The Friday evening when the school closed for the Sept holidays, he asked if he could come and visit me. I

said no (I was going on a trip with 34 school children the next morning and still had to pack). But he asked if

he could bring me some food (seems like the way to my heart was also through my stomach J ) so I said he

can (I was really hungry!), but the visit will have to be quick. That evening he took me out to the have

Chinese and when we arrived back he picked up the guitar and just started worshiping and then he

started praying the peace of God over me (I was just moaning the whole time, because I didn’t want to go

on the trip as the school term was long and tough and I felt completely drained.) As he prayed and

worshiped, I felt my heart flipping upside down! I thought to myself..’what just happened?‼!’ ..I fell in

love! hahah! I looked at him and knew something in my heart just changed, he was just so gentle with me

and he was willing to make himself a fool to win my heart. He then stopped, told me to go pack and went

to the kitchen and washed all my dishes..leaving me dumbstuck! I felt that I was blindsided! How did this

happen? If I knew this was coming I would never have been so comfortable with him. I would have been

more careful and not allowed him to come so close to me. Meantime I was just myself and there was no

trying-to-be-nice-or-good from my side. He got to know me as I really am and I thank God for the easy time

of getting to know each other. No pretending..just me. How amazing is God?! He guided me into this ‘trap’

so I can get to know Michael and he could get to know me without having my guard up. This is the way

God loves us..just as we are!

The next morning we left early on our school trip and the whole time I am thinking ‘Who can I speak to?

Who will speak sense into my head? I don’t want to be in love, I don’t want to miss him ect.’ When we

arrived at the place there was no cell phone reception! Hahha so I had to just pray over it. When I arrived

back in Mossel Bay that Wednesday, Michael phoned and told me that his whole community is going to

Cape Town to attend the Passion conference. I mentioned that it would be great to join them since I am on

holiday. The next thing I knew, he already organized transport and accommodation for me! And then

during that weekend everything just happened. He followed me like a shadow and just wanted to do

everything for me so when we arrived back I knew we had to talk. That Sunday evening he send me a

messaged saying that he has feelings for me, and he would like to talk to me in person the next day. That

Monday was the longest day of my life! Before we met that evening I knew we were going to get together

and get married, I was so excited and nervous at the same time. Wow..it all happened so fast! I was so

thankful for God bringing things together in such a special way..a way I never expected.

What was amazing about this was that I didn’t have time to share my feelings for him with anyone else,

which is so great, because sometimes us woman can easily share too much with our other friends and then

the guy finds out about it or other people start talking about it. Guard your heart according to Prov 4:23.

Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it.

My testimony in HOW it all happened is the following:

Michael pursued me long before I started noticing him. In all my life I always liked the guys and then they

didn’t like me or they liked me but I didn’t like them or I would start pursuing the guys, it is so wrong, and I

admit it. I did freaky stuff so guys will notice me..and in the process I wasted a lot of time, energy, tears and

money on guys that I liked but never liked me. If the guy really likes you, he will go for you, period! You

don’t have to do anything. Michael won me over with his steadfast love and goodness towards me. He was

so good to me that I could not resist his love. It is the same with God. It is His goodness that leads us to

repentance. So I knew this was God bringing us together.

Secondly, coming together was as easy as eating Doritos (blue packet) chips. No striving, no awkwardness.

Just easy sailing (and it still is). When I look back I can see how I strived in relationships or tried so hard to

make things work in the past. Looking back now I believe that some of it was demonic. I remember I was

so consumed with one particular guy in my head, I struggled to focus on anything else, and I could not get

free from it. I didn’t know how he felt about me and the uncertainty was killing me! Satan had me in

bondage and for 3 years. I was obsessed with this guy. I made plans to see him or to be where he was but

as a result I ended up wasting a lot of tears over someone that was not worthy of my love. I thank God for

delivering me from that‼ If you are in that situation, pack your bags and run for the hills‼ It is the hardest

thing to do, but it will save your life. Obsession is not from God, you should not be consumed with another

person. I physically removed myself from the situation and I don’t regret it for one moment.

I can honestly say I did nothing for Michael to love me. I still don’t know why he does, but all I know is I had

nothing to do with it! I didn’t even dress nicely or try to catch his attention. It was so effortless from my

side, so easy. Only now I can look back and see how all the other relationships that I tried to make happen

were wrong and very complicated. I did things for guys to like me or to notice me, which lead to a lot of

striving. If you have a lot of strive in your relationship, it will cause a lot of damage.

I have never wondered about his love for me.I don’t doubt for a second about his love for me. He loves me

the way I want to be loved. And in loving me and being so good to me, he continues to bind my heart to his.

He doesn’t have to force me to do anything for him, I do it because I love him. I am just responding to his

love for me. I can’t even be angry at him, because he overflows with love and kindness. There is a scripture

in Hosea 2:19-20 that speaks about God’s love for Israel,

I will betroth you to me forever;

I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,

in love and compassion.

20 I will betroth you in faithfulness,

and you will acknowledge the Lord.

It’s in goodness and faithfulness that the Lord binds us to himself, and so it is also in relationship. Michael

loves me so much and he shows it to me in so many ways. He does things for me that no one has ever

done. I am so grateful for him. He is more than what I ever wanted. I thought I needed a strong man to rule

over me, but kindness and gentleness is more binding and powerful than strong ruling. People told me that

I will find it hard to adapt since I have been living on my own for so long..not at all..it’s been so easy for me

to have him in my life. We are made for this, we are not made to be alone.

On 8 Oct 2012 he asked me to be his girlfriend but it’s also the day we decided that we will get married J

We knew this was from God. So the next day when I emailed my family and told them that I met my

husband, they were shocked and happy at the same time‼ I went from not even noticing Michael and not

having a glimpse of a boyfriend to ‘I-am-going-to-get -married’ in one week. I praise the Lord for the

amazing friends and family that prayed for me all these years and that celebrated with me! We got

engaged on the 18th Dec 2012. My twin and I prayed together in 2011, for her to fall pregnant and for me

to get married. We believed that 2012 was our year! She had her baby 1 Feb 2013‼ Praise the Lord!

Thirdly, Michael is not in the relationship for himself. I know that he is in it for me and for us. It’s not about

himself at all. He always put me first and I am so blessed because of it. He does not care what other people

think of him, he even carries my handbag in the shops. Sometimes guys can be full of themselves and seek

only their own will and they just use you. Sometimes I made it easy for guys to use me because I thought I

loved them. I have been there, the guy likes you but only when it suits him. Sometimes he is your best

friend, sometimes you are more than friends, other days he pretends as if he does not even know you. GET

OUT! He is not the guy for you. We sometimes compromise too much for someone that we think we love

or even believe we love. I did too, and I regret it. I wasted precious years. If you are in a relationship

because of what you can get out of it, it is wrong!

James 3:16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

I am so blessed in this relationship. Michael loves the Lord and has such a humble heart. He has been

trusting God for 12 years for a wife. He is such a blessing to me. He makes me laugh so much. Together we

are looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together. We are getting married on the 23 June 2013.

I can’t wait! I am so excited. God has blessed us financially so we can have a great wedding! (Another

testimony of His love towards us).

Because I am 35 already I had to endure a lot of things: almost all my friends got married waaaaay before

me and then they moved on with their lives. I thank God for those who made me part of their lives even

after they got married. It is really hard to be classified as the ‘older single woman’. Some people actually

thought I was gay others said I am not interested in guys. Some said I am too strong willed others said I am

too dominant and that no guy will look at me. Some felt sorry for me, other people asked all the wrong

questions: “So when are you getting married?’ or ‘You must catch a husband soon because your biological

clock is ticking!’ Or ‘Don,t worry..he will come..I guess God is still working in your heart to become ready’

(by the way, I was ready 10 years ago‼!) I thank God that my parents never put pressure on myself to get

married, but lots of other people did, as if I can make someone fall in love with me! It’s not something I had

control over apart from faith. I had to guard my heart when these conversations came up and just not allow

it to influence me. God actually told me that I could have been married sooner had I applied my faith

sooner. How and where I don’t know, but I am convinced that it is the truth.

Don’t allow other people to put pressure on you, but start rejoicing in what is coming :Isa 54

54 “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy,you who were never in

labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,”

says the Lord.2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide,do not hold back;

lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.4 “Do not be afraid; you will not

be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth

and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

5 For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—

the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.

So stop going by your feelings. Take every thought captive and start praising God for what HE IS GOING TO

DO! This applies to every part of your life, not just trusting the Lord for a husband. Thank Him for the way

He is going to make for you, for how he is going to provide for you, for the healing that is coming, the

relationship that will be restored. Start proclaiming what you want to see manifest in the natural. Let faith

have its way in your heart!

Ps 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his

name.

Praise and thanks giving is a strong weapon against the enemy! I was reminded of that scripture in 2

Chronicles 20:14 – 20 where Israel was so scared of the enemy and the Lord told them the following:

14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel,

the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 15 And he said, “Listen, all

you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do

not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

16 Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them

at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Position

yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not

fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”

And this is what they did, they started praising God in their circumstances :

20 So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out,

Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your

God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” 21 And when he had

consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the

beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

“Praise the Lord,

For His mercy endures forever.”

22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon,

Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. 2

Praise lives only in one place and that is on your lips. Don’t beg God for something He is so eager to give

you. Start thanking him for it! I had to apply this principle in many areas in my life and the fruit that faith

bears brings glory to Him! Sometimes we pray prayers like ‘God please be with me today’ after he promised

He will never leave us nor forsake us ( Heb 13:5). No, we need to thank Him for being with us..’Lord thank

you that you are with me today, thank you that you will never leave me and that you go before me to make

the crooked path straight. Faith pleases God, He loves it when His children believe in his character and trust

Him in every situation. Heb 11: 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who

comes to him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

May God’s grace abound even more in your hearts. He is a faithful God! All glory to Him alone! I pray that I

will get the opportunity to share my testimony in person with people one day. I am not super spiritual, I am

just doing what the Word says, and it works!

I will get married with a thankful heart, knowing that He who promised is faithful till the end! Now two of

us can trust God together..we can rejoice together..as the scripture says..two are better than one

Stella Engelbrecht soon to be Hurford …

Here is the link should you wish to download some of Andrew Wommack’s free audio teachings:

View the Wedding album here – http://www.nelisengelbrecht.co.za/michael-stella-george-tramonto/