Anointed to Love

The sun had set in Fish Hoek and Patty and I were just finishing dinner when there was a knock on our flat door. It was Sunny, a 14-year-old young lady, who resides on the Retreat Centre campus with her mom Thobeka-who is part of the Oceans Team. Sunny asked if we had time to talk. You could tell she was was visibly shaken and her eyes were watery from crying.

We will never forget that night of May 26, 2020 when Sunny shared, “I think I heard the voice of God tell me He loves me!” Due to Covid lockdown Sunny was exercising on campus when she was startled by the voice and the love of God that filled her heart overflowing with a “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

As we talked through this heavenly encounter I shared how the Holy Spirit supernaturally breaks through at times to anoint His children with the Father’s love, a gift that grants a deep, deep assurance that we are His beloved children. Often this Anointed Assurance is given as a preparation for a work the Father has preordained.

1 John 4 reiterates this truth:

“And He has given His Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that He lives in us and that we live in Him,” (vs. 13).

The Holy Spirit’s work highlights the Father’s love through the gift of His Son Jesus. He makes this “perfect love” (vs. 18) become real within us. He brings the Divine Trinity into our hearts and seals it with this unexplainable love.

Sunny’s father passed away when she was six years old and Thobeka and their church family has done an amazing job disciplining her and from a young age Sunny has believed in Jesus as her Savior. Yet, on May 26, 2020 the Holy Spirit anointed and sealed her in a powerful and unforgettable way.

Fast-forward to October 2022 when Oceans board and staff were gathered for a retreat in Colorado when a phone call from South Africa came through it was Sunny. She wanted to share the news that she was elected “Head Student” or we would say President of the student body, of Fish Hoek High School. Everyone there had met Sunny and all joined in celebrating this amazing honor.

Celebrating with Sunny & Thobeka

This young lady, who simply went about living her life for Christ, and never sought to promote herself, was voted in by over 1000 students to this prestigious position. Another amazing fact is that she is the first black student in the history of Fish Hoek High to be Head Student.

The last few years as Sunny attended high school, Heaven’s love has been a river flowing through her to classmates, teammates, and teachers. Sunny is an example of the work of the Holy Spirit, who sealed her heart with the assurance of the Father’s love to bring His love to others.

The road will not be easy for her as the school has been facing many spiritual attacks and powerful forces have come in to bring division. Yet we know the Holy Spirit has sealed her with His love for such a time as this.

May this story encourage you and give you hope that God’s “perfect love” found in 1 John 4 is what we need and the world needs to heal our deep wounds. One person, filled with the “perfect love” from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can be a conduit of His love to a thirsty world.

Please pray for Sunny and the student leadership team, which many are Christian, that God would protect them and use them to bring His love into hurting places.

And thank you Oceans family for helping invest in Sunny, through your love, prayers, and financial support which has helped with her and other students education fees.