Africa Burning

I would like to share a testimony of how God talks to mere mortals and how He guides us through His infinite grace.

In 2016 God woke me up with the clear and distinct vision that we needed to pray for Africa. There was an urgency in my spirit to convey the message as a clear indication of what was happening in the spiritual realm. God gave me the vision and instilled the urgency to create the painting with the message of “Africa burning”.  Living in faith, I had no idea where to start as I did not trust my ability to be able to execute such a large task. I immediately said God I cannot do this as I am an artist of flowers and landscapes and do not know anatomy and portraits at all. I prayed to God to assist me in painting the vision that he instructed me to do and to guard my mind so that I would not deviate from His message and perhaps use my “artist license” to achieve this. I also trusted God to provide the platform for His message.

I shared my vision with a friend who offered to make up the canvasses to the correct size as instructed in my dream. Once the canvasses were ready the urgency to paint just became more prominent and I started painting from seven in the morning till seven at night. It needed to be completed as soon as possible, I did not know the reason just the urgency.  In the seven days it took to complete the painting, I prayed and cried a lot and became very emotional.   At times I was so tired that I questioned my vision, and then I just prayed and asked God to guide me. I was in awe of the task ahead of me, yet also realized that I could paint in total trust that God would guide me. I usually do not paint human forms or portraiture let alone celestial ones, (I did not have a clue and had nothing to use as reference, this was not my strong point at all) yet here I was painting angels and city scenes while feeling so very unequipped to the task. I have always painted from the heart and emotion and never from photographs as Art was always my “wellness tool” and my method of ridding myself of mental toxins. It was my escape tool…never intended for commercial purposes, although it was always a great compliment to my gift if I did sell a painting. I always paint what God makes me see in my mind, but mostly flowers, landscapes, and seascapes.

Here I was painting this massive, big painting in four panels and felt the need to complete it within a certain time. I painted in a frenzy and completed the painting within 7 days. However, strange things happened at the time I was painting. For example …I would paint the faces of the angels and then repaint them as I thought the expressions were so sad. I took photographs as I was working to see whether I had improved on the faces. However, once I repainted them, and I compared them with the photograph nothing changed, and I was left with the same image. This was when I realised that they needed to stay the way God intended. Next, the Angel in the middle – no matter how much white paint I used on the wings, they stubbornly stayed blue. I could not understand this but eventually decided to just leave it. I was so tired and emotionally drained at the time that I thought I would wait for it to dry completely and then repaint it. I eventually just handed over control and I was later told by a pastor’s wife who came to visit me and who was moved to tears by the painting, that she does not doubt in her mind that the wings should be blue as it is after all the “water angel”.   NIV Revelation 16:5  – And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying, “You are just, O Holy One, who is and who always was because you have sent these judgments.

The other strange occurrence was the little Spaza shop standing quite apart from all in the foreground, I had removed it as I thought it did not fit there even though it was in the vision. However, it kept on appearing until I made peace with myself and realized God wanted it there and painted it back in.  The sky is thick with smoke yet there is no smoke in the foreground. I can only think it is because the water has not met with the flames yet. The Spaza shop seems to play a role somehow, as it is the supplier to the small villages and rural areas.

Once the painting was completed, I was emotionally drained and exhausted as I had cried a lot during that time. I slept well for two days only surfacing to eat something.  The following week I sent the photograph to a friend of mine who is a missionary worker in the DRC. His question to me was whether I had painted the angels in Revelations 14: 6-13. Revelation 14:6-13 (New International Version), I did not have an idea that I might have as I only painted that which God showed me in a dream. I looked it up and the text follows.

The Three Angels

6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.”

8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Exactly seven days after the painting was complete, I heard over the news that Knysna and Plettenberg Bay area was burning. Many people lost their homes and yet there were also amazing testimonies and miracles shared by believers over the Grace of God in their lives during this time. The people who had a living relationship with God had no damage to their homes at all.  “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)

NOW – 27 May 2024

I can see the significant meaning of the vision as we draw closer to the elections.  The Spaza shop was a warning as children had died buying sweets from these little shops a while ago.

The rural landscape has become the place where teens and children die, the swing which once was the fun playground is empty and discarded. While in Taverns teens are being given alcohol and their youth is being stolen.  Children can no longer play in the streets; the sounds of their laughter have died along as the gangsters rise. Towns have become ghost towns as there is no work and business places have closed. The cities will soon follow suit as people cannot live there anymore as it is slowly being destroyed over time. Yet there is hope as God is sending His living waters overall and if people turn back to Him, Jesus will save the land. Jesus the Lamb was offered for our sins and the Dove is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, released to be with us to comfort us.

I thank God that He is the ruler of my life.

Testimony by Priscilla Meintjes – regarding the vision painting of “Africa Burning”