Wounded, Broken And Healed ...In Love

By Yolande S’phelele Boamah

FOREWORD BY PASTORS MERVIN AND SHARON NAIDOO OF CORNERSTONE CHURCH IN CHATSWORTH, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA

Pain...who understands you? Only those you hold captive...

When pain touches a person, no one can understand. No one, except those who have been in the same position. Those who have sat in the person’s seat and worn their shoes, the kind that pinch and cause bleeding. Not the bleeding that dries up and heals, but the kind that stops, only to start again at the least expected moments. That person lives, talks, smiles and laughs. They even forget about it for a while, thinking it’s gone...

Yolande has gone through heartache and pain from a young age. The source, she was to later find out, was from generations past. Hidden untreated wounds slowly festered and suffocated her from within as she got older. She lived her life trying to deny what she was going through. She suffered from horrible migraines for more than 20 years as a result. Having tried all she could to fill the void within, she only found solace when she gave her life to Christ and surrendered to being transformed by His great love.

In this book, she shares, step by step, not only about her childhood but about her journey of faith and the wisdom that led to her healing..

Yolande and her husband Emmanuel are co-founders and head pastors of World Evangelistic and Healing Ministries. Their ministry is based in Wentworth, Durban, South Africa. As a church, they also offer pre-marital, marriage, child, sexual and HIV/ AIDS Counselling. Yolande has a Diploma in Human Resources Management.

Yolande’s greatest passion is to share with others the love that Christ has also given to her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yolande S’phelele Boamah
• Release date: Jul 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005629533

Book preview

WOUNDED, BROKEN AND HEALED

...in LOVE

By: YOLANDE S’PHELELE BOAMAH

Copyright © 2020 Yolande S’phelele Boamah

Published by Yolande S’phelele Boamah Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Published by Yolande S’phelele Boamah using Reach Publishers’ services,

Edited by Laura Grey for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Website: www.reachpublishers.co.za

E-mail: [e-mail]

Contents

DEDICATION

FOREWORD

AUTHOR’S NOTE

PREFACE

Love And Pain

Through It All

My Anchor… Snatched Away

Repentance

When I Was A Child…

Wisdom And Understanding

Looking Unto Jesus

Grateful For The Pain

Speak Life (Blessings)

Walking Wounded

The Enemy’s Devices

Footsteps To Healing

Take Courage

EPILOGUE

DEDICATION

I thank the Holy Spirit for the insight and the wisdom He has given me to write this book. To my best friend and husband Pastor Emmanuel Boamah, I am blessed to have you in my corner and am most grateful for your love and support.

To Apostle David Mensah, thank you for always listening whenever I need a fatherly ear. Pastor Daniel Getzah, you saw in me potential that I didn’t see in myself and encouraged me. I am eternally grateful; may God continue to bless you.

To my parents and siblings, I love you. Through you I have learnt a lot about life and to this day, I still continue to learn. To my darling children, you are my inspiration and every day you challenge and teach me to love without boundaries.

FOREWORD

Yolande has made herself vulnerable by sharing some of the most intimate parts of her life with the reader. Her openness about her pain will provide a point of contact to the reader. We believe God will use this testimony as a healing balm for many who are carrying their pain in silence. This book is a tool for healing, a realistic story of a lady’s triumphant journey of faith. We pray that all God’s plans for this couple, their church and God’s call and purpose in their lives will bear abundant fruit.

MERVIN AND SHARON NAIDOO, SENIOR PASTORS OF CORNERSTONE CHURCH

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This is the story of my life, based on my experiences and from my point of view. This is my journey, my testimony. My wish is that through this book, those who seek will find healing in their lives. This book is not to condemn or look down on anyone or any type of wound/brokenness. Instead it aims to encourage others to learn to look beyond what is and to what can be, to see the light in the darkness and to find peace and joy in the midst of the storm.

There is only one way that I have found; only one way has brought light into the darkness that threatened to destroy me. This is a place where no matter what I face, I can still find peace, love and joy. This place is in Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is my creator and knows me more than I know myself. The Holy Spirit is my teacher, counsellor, guide, comforter… through Him my questions are answered, my wounds have found meaning and my brokenness has found healing.

I believe we can learn a great deal from understanding our parents and families, and even our societies. It is possible to look back at whatever hurt us and move forward with a deeper understanding of how to mould a better future. We can decide to learn from the mistakes made and ask God to pave a better path for us or we can continue repeating the same destructive patterns, passing them on from generation to generation.

The people I speak about in this book, my family, have been my greatest teachers and I love them. When I share my family experiences, I don’t mean disrespect nor do I condemn or judge. I strive to share what I have learnt and how they have been instrumental in bringing me to a greater understanding of myself. This essentially involved bringing me to a place where I am most dependant on God, my creator.

In the Bible, Joseph’s brothers, by selling him, were instrumental in getting him to Egypt. Potiphar’s wife had him arrested and sent to prison. There he met the king’s servants and interpreted their dreams, leading to Joseph being recommended to interpret the king’s dream. This resulted in Joseph being placed second-in-command to the king because God’s plan was to provide for His children, the Israelites, during the famine that was to come.

God always has a plan that is greater and higher than our wildest imagination. That’s why it is imperative that we put our trust in Him and the plans He has for our lives.

Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

…Therefore, I am at rest in the knowledge that I am nothing without my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

PREFACE

The family unit is our first experience of what life is all about. It is a place where we learn mannerisms that will carry us for the rest of our lives. The perfect family is supposed to be a place of warmth, safety and love. It is supposed to be a place where we feel free to be ourselves without fear of condemnation or judgement. A place we run to when we need a safe refuge from the world. Unfortunately, this is not always possible because families are never perfect.

Families are often filled with flaws and secrets, and those who manage to fall through the cracks unscathed are most fortunate. To the outsider looking in, some families look very appealing and close to perfect but hidden, untreated wounds often threaten to destroy the family unit from within.

Families are the basis of communities, countries and ultimately the world. The violence, the crimes and the way humanity behaves, mirrors the calibre of individuals that families are producing in this day and age. Individuals brought up in wounded and broken families should be aware that there is a way out. The same scourge of pain does not have to continue from generation to generation.

Someone has to make up their mind at some point that enough is enough. It is possible to stand up (even if alone) and say, This evil ends with me. I will not let it pass on to my children and my children’s children.

One individual at a time, one family at a time… I believe with God, we can make a difference.

Chapter 1

Love And Pain

*The parting: Love, full circle

Looking at ubaba wam, I had never experienced such love for him as I did at that moment. As I sat at his bedside at the hospital, he somehow looked smaller and much frailer. This was not the father I knew, the father I had always loved to hate and hated to love all at once. Sure, the face was the same, though thinner, as sickness had taken the life and fight out of him. This single moment was to be my most treasured, precious experience of our relationship.

He had been sick for a while and had been admitted to hospital a number of times. But somehow this time it felt more final. I thank God it was just the two of us; for the first time during hospital visiting hours, I was alone with him. His eyes were closed and he was connected to one of those breathing machines. According to the nurse, he hadn’t opened his eyes in over a week.

I took his hand and kissed it as I always did when visiting him. I quietly greeted him and stroked his arm before beginning to pray and sing. As soon as I started singing, he slowly opened his one good eye and struggled to smile but couldn’t quite make it. He had suffered a stroke after having dialysis twice a week for the past three years.

As I struggled with a lump in my throat, trying to keep the tears from flowing, I thanked him for all he had been in my life. I reminded him of all the good times we had and all the good he had done. We had spoken about this before so it was easier to remind him that though we had gone through some really bad times, all that counted to me now was the good times. A single tear rolled from his eye.

Suddenly, I remembered how he had always loved my singing. Struggling to hold back my tears, I carried on singing as he closed his eyes and went back to sleep, never to wake up again. Exactly one week later, ubaba wam quietly passed away.

The loss of my father shook me badly in a way I had not anticipated. It felt like I had lost a part of me I had always taken for granted, a part I had refused to acknowledge and was only just starting to love and accept. It felt like my foundation, my stability as I had known it, was being shaken. I had to regroup, re-assess and deal with a lot of spring cleaning within myself. Questions needed answering, wounds needed healing and like it or not, I had to dig deep and let