Something Beautiful, Something Good!

By Nathan Overmeyer

What started as a cathartic exercise unfolded into a story. Nathan Overmeyer recounts the heartening story of one man's inspiring journey to God. As we travel with the protagonist, Jonathan, through a life filled with innumerable challenges, trials and tribulations, we are invited on our own journey of discovery, whatever it may be. Jonathan's passage echoes what many young South African's experienced during the Apartheid years, but with perseverance and the knowledge that God always has a plan for our lives, he overcomes adversity to triumph in spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nathan Overmeyer
• Release date: Sep 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301269259

Nathan Overmeyer

Nathan, with his beautiful American bride Julianna and golden retriever Barnabas, lives out his passion of pastoral care and youth development in the beautiful Klein Karoo of South Africa. After completing seminary at Cornerstone Christian College and graduating from Stellenbosch University in 2005 with a BA in Christian Ministry (psych and theology) he served with Youth For Christ and as associate pastor for The Island Church in Knsyna. He continues to serve the local church with resources as a Regional Manager for Teach Every Nation and avails himself as a Mentor, Counsellor, and Leadership Facilitator. Additionally Nathan has completed the training as a Life Coach through John Maxwell Team. He has visited Israel, and joined mission trips to Argentina and 10 African countries, evangelizing as well as doing leadership and biblical training. In his free time he enjoys leatherwork.

Book preview

Something Beautiful,

Something Good!

(Quid formosa, quid bona)

A testimony, from adversity to victory

in Christ Jesus, in South Africa

Nathan Overmeyer

Copyright 2013 Nathan Overmeyer

Smashwords Edition

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SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL Words by Gloria Gaither. Music by William J. Gaither. Copyright 1971 Hanna Street Music. All rights controlled by Gaither Copyright Management. Used by permission.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Message "Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group."

Table Of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Part One: Family Tree

Part Two: Guardianship

Part Three: Formative Years

Part Four: Adulthood

Part Five: Change

Part Six: Challenges

Part Seven: Triumph

About the author

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my mother, Lorraine Overmeyer, who has been one of the major pillars of strength in my life. She is the epitome of grace, as ever shared between mother and son.

Then also to my son, Dane David Overmeyer, the best thing since sliced bread and the apple of my eye.

Acknowledgments

It is with much endearment that I extend my sincere appreciation to Alison Gibson and Robyn George, who painstakingly placed my hand-written script onto computer disc and assisted in the proofing of the manuscript. Their patience and perseverance was beyond compare.

The project was then taken to the next level, Sue & Dave Uberstein who edited my disjointed thoughts, thank you.

Most fortuitously, to my beautiful wife Julianna, who inspired me to complete what I started 15 years ago.

To Karen de Mink, who constantly encouraged me and affirmed my writing ability and skill.

To the Christian gospel group The Gaithers, authors of the chorus Something Beautiful, Something Good, and the unknown authors of the hymns Never Alone and Make Me a Channel, I wish to convey my absolute acknowledgement to you.

To a trusted friend and artist who took on the task of expressing my title through her amazing God-given skill, namely Angelique Olivier.

To Freek Lapp who also used the afore mentioned art and designed and set out my cover in all its glory.

A special thanks to the many people who endorsed my manuscript.

And finally and of greatest importance, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave me the strength to believe in who I am in Him.

Forward

Jonathan, a typical South African, grew up under and through the Apartheid regime. He fought the forces which destroyed our ubuntu and the rich African communal life. As these pages unfold, we grow to understand how he was prepared to give his life in the defence of this godly philosophy of ubuntu.

There is no other autobiographic account of a polymath in South Africa - an individual who is so open-minded about his roots, genesis, history, background and life - like that of Jonathan. This book is lucid, encyclopaedic and compassion-ate. It is an honest and genuine expression of a life journey that most South Africans need to read, in order to surf forward towards God’s purposes and destinies for themselves.

The story of Jonathan is a story of disconnected family tree, disturbed child-hood, erratic development, dysfunctional family, and divine intervention. It is a journey from hurt to recovery, from gloom to light, from uncertainty to hope, and from disruption to order. It gives hope to the hopeless, and demonstrates the prevailing grace of God in family lines that may be regarded as having bad roots. It reveals the willing boldness of dragging skeletons out of closets, intending not to destroy but to heal. It is in line with the theological assertions that we must accept that we are sinners before we can be saved, accept our sickness before we can be healed, and acknowledge that we are depraved, hence in need of salvation.

The biblical character comparisons with Joseph, David, Samson and others remind us that we are all still under construction. God is still busy panel-beating us. Jonathan’s unsettled childhood, restless adolescence, job-hopping and womanising lifestyle, and finally finding his true self, show us how God can turn life around.

A marginalised citizen of the state is characterised by social misnomers and intuitive disintegration. South Africa has been through two decades of the new dispensation called democracy.

Many societal structural changes have reshaped lives and communities. Change has become inevitable for the nation and community formations. As a society and as individuals, we must continually prepare for this impending change in the age structure of our country. Society must institute new policies and social arrangements and have a clear vision of how to make the quality of life as high as possible.

Jonathan’s story drives home the fact that there is always divine intervention in our chaotic lives, and when that kairos comes, we must grasp it.

I invite you to read this story with open-mindedness, as it is an evolutionary narrative of a life that God has shaped as Something Beautiful, Something Good - A testimony, from adversity to victory, in Christ Jesus, in South Africa.

Dr Kelebogile Thomas Resane, Senior Pastor

Assembly of God at Kempton, Johannesburg

Preface

But let all those that put their trust

in thee rejoice:

Let them ever shout for joy,

because thou defendest them:

Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

(Psalm 5:11 KJV)

Have you ever woken feeling so energised that you believed today was the first day of the rest of your life? I wish to challenge you, dear reader:

SEIZE THE DAY!

With

Quid Formosa, Quid Bona

Something Beautiful, Something Good

It is one of those beautiful summer days, and I awoke this morning with the firm resolve that today is the day I will begin to share this story. Operating on the premise that I am fully entitled to my own opinion, out of boldness, not arrogance, I take the opportunity to recount my story without apology.

If by any remote possibility the story borders on fact, it is a coincidence. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a vivid imagination and a crafty ability to stretch the truth.

To any sensitive readers and anyone who might be offended, I ask with due respect that you indulge me. I believe you will find it worthwhile.

My objective is to illustrate the life of a young man stooped in failure, who through bad choices and generational curses believes the worst of himself, accepting his fate as a chronic loser. It is through his life journey that he embraces Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, exacerbating his hardship, but through it allowing Jesus to mould his character, yielding to who he is in Christ rather than who he was in his past.

The intention of this novel is not to rely on religious dictates. It is a fictional testimony of a man who could have been you or me. It is only when we look into a mirror that we see a true reflection.

We need to remind ourselves that Christianity should never be seen as a set of rules and regulations; rather it is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is also an acceptance of the fact that we never arrive, but are constantly transformed in our thoughts as we yield every area of our lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Brief Overview of South African Politics

It is important to understand South Africa’s background, especially its politics and the outcome of colonialism and white South African Nationalism. A comprehension of the heinous ideologies of Apartheid will help the reader grasp the setting of the story.

The saga unfolds between 1652 and 1994, beginning with the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck, a Dutch colonialist who developed a mission station and replenishment site for ships sailing around the Cape of Good Hope.

It was here, under the direction of the Dutch East India Company, that the Dutch staked their claim to the land lying at the tip of Africa. After establishing a fort and pushing back the indigenous black Africans, they attempted bartering with the blacks – on their colonialist terms – and then reconsidered when they decided that they were hostile, pugnaciously forcing them back again.

The indigenous groupings in South Africa consisted of numerous tribes. The Cape area was inhabited mainly by the Khoi or Strandlopers, as well as the Xhosa. Dutch colonialism marked the beginning of the disinheritance of these indigenous people of their legacy, their land. Soon other Europeans were brought in to populate this vast, fertile area with the encouragement of agriculture, cattle farming and forestry.

Though the Dutch initially used the indigenous people as cheap labour, they considered them lazy and occasionally hostile, eventually bringing in slaves from Malaysia as an alternative.

It was not long before the British started sending their citizens to colonise other parts of South Africa, a decision which led to encounters with the Zulus – a far more war-faring indigenous group. Bloody battles ensued, leading the British army to massacre an exorbitant number of Zulus, using their guns and canons against the primitive weaponry of the locals.

The Dutch soon extended their boundary line, taking over more and more of the Cape. Now known as the Boers due to their farming enterprises, they also established their own language – a mixture of Dutch and German, which they called Afrikaans.

Christianity was frequently used as a guise in evangelising the indigenous people and offering spiritual comfort to the new settlers, a pretext only intensified when the Germans sent the Lutherans and the Moravians.

Various religious establishments were set up in the newly colonised Cape. The Moravian Mission Station was established in a district called Genadendal, and consisted of a primarily non-white community. Rome sent numerous monks and nuns to establish the Roman Catholic Church. Enter the French, who sent the Huguenots. Soon a huge cosmopolitan European community evolved. They called their settlements mission stations.

In 1820 the British sent out large numbers of settlers to the Eastern Cape. Independent and eager to grab land for their royal monarch and demonstrate their loyalty to the British Empire, the situation between them and the Afrikaners soon became rife with political conflict, eventually culminating in the Anglo-Boer War. The British ultimately dominated, but continued to plunder the natural resources in the name of colonialism.

In 1910 the Union of South Africa was formed under British dominion, and it was to be many years before the country would be granted independence.

In the ensuing years white Afrikaner Boers lobbied for white Afrikaner Nationalism, a cause which was put into effect in 1948 under the tyranny of Hendrik Verwoerd. It was during this time that the Verwoerd ideology of Apartheid, or separatism, was put in place.

The National Party came into power and propagated numerous barbaric laws, deliberately disenfranchising all non-white South Africans. These laws included, among others: the Group Areas Act – limited land possession to whites only and placing non-whites into locations separate from industrial and residential areas; the Mixed Marriages Act – making marriage between whites and non-whites illegal; and Job Reservation – certain jobs were reserved for white South Africans only and non-whites were not permitted to own businesses.

Black people were also forced to carry on their person special passes in order to exit their compound areas, and curfews were implemented to control movement after sundown.

Perhaps the most barbarous law was Ethnic Classification – a class separation into privileged first-class white South Africans, less-privileged second-class coloured South Africans, and finally, complete non-entities, the marginalised third-class black South Africans.

As the atrocities and inhumane governance of South Africa became progressively worse, the marginalised masses began to mobilise as an opposition.

Their efforts were crushed at every turn.

Nevertheless, the African National Congress was established, and the forerunners, including such great men as Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Joe Slovo and Chris Nissen, took the resistance underground.

The international community assisted the process by setting up economic sanctions against the South African government, while an emotional student uprising helped to turn the tide against Apartheid on 16 June 1976.

Nelson Mandela, seen today as the icon who liberated South Africa, served 27 years in prison for his role in the liberation struggle.

The 1980s saw more uprisings. The unrest eventually led to negotiations between the National Party and various other liberation organisations, including the South African Council of Churches.

However, it was through God’s grace that in 1994 the first non-racial democratic elections were held. The masses were given the franchise – eradication of the offensive Apartheid regime of the past.

Amandla Awetu – Power to the People

Introduction

Fair is foul and foul is fair.

(William Shakespeare, MacBeth)

My story begins way back in the late 1800s with two South African families – one urban and progressively modern, the other rural but wealthy in their own right.

British and German respectively, both take extreme pride in their ancestry, but their bloodlines are not to remain pure.

The promiscuity of the forefathers creates half-breed, blue-eyed and blond-haired offspring, who do everything in their power to conceal their true colour.

But at this point in time the political, social and economic imbalances of a turbulent South Africa determine that brains and brawn are of little consequence, and the destiny of these two families is to be dictated by circumstance.

The tail has started to wag the dog, and the sins of the fathers develop into generational curses.

Faith saves the day, but not without trial and tribulation. The consequences of sin and often, the directing hand of God the Father play two crucial roles. And to the non-believers, the coincidences of life that allow good to triumph over evil are set to begin with astounding regularity.

The tumult continues right into the fifth generation before stability is established. Along the way blessings and curses are encountered, while the binaries of love and hate, marriage and divorce and birth and death run rife.

In the fifth generation the intrigue heightens. Our lead character, Jonathan, breaks away from the stereotypical behaviour, embraces his potential and finally converts the dream into reality. Generational curses break, good prevails over evil and love conquers all, leaving the reader with a testimony of hope and knowledge – the knowledge that one is able to lead a normal life as a victor over circumstance and sin, all in the power