Ivan in Pretoria

In 1942, Ivan spent some time in the Faith Home in Pretoria. Following that, he started looking after an assembly in Pietersburg. He held tent meetings in Messina, Louis Trichardt and East London. He also worked for the Lord in Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia.

On one of his train trips, he felt led to minister to the man sitting across from him and to lead him to the Lord. While he was talking, the man fell asleep but the Holy Spirit urged Ivan to keep on speaking to him. He didn't argue with God’s Spirit and continued speaking. When the man got off at his destination, another man had taken his seat. He explained to Ivan that he had been sitting in the adjacent compartment and that he heard everything that Ivan had said and that he would like to give his heart to the Lord. They prayed together and Ivan spent some time instructing him out of God's Word. We can learn from this that if we are not obedient to God’s voice calling us, He will turn His attention to somebody else.

Here is another testimony of how the Lord takes care of his children. Ivan had gotten holes in the soles of his shoes. During a prayer meeting he had taken off his shoes and put them next to him. At the end of the prayer meeting he noticed that his shoes were missing. About a half hour later, a brother came back with Ivan's shoes with new soles on them. Because he passed the test and never complained about the state of his shoes, the Lord would always provide him with a new pair of shoes.

It is amazing to see how the Lord brings things out in the open in a very simple way. While visiting one assembly member, the sister wanted to invent an excuse for the fact that she watched television and explained to Ivan that she was just watching how Daniel killed the lions. Ivan replied that Daniel never killed the lions. “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6 NIV)

In the past, people were discouraged from using medication and were encouraged instead to trust God for their healing. While Ivan was visiting someone, she told him how she trusted the Lord for all her healing. While she was preparing tea, his attention was drawn to some strange looking beans. He picked some up and noticed that they were not beans, but medicine from a bottle that the she had quickly hidden before he arrived. The Lord works in different ways to bring secrets to light. “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” (Luke 12:2-3 NIV)