Full of life after facing death

“I can show you the marks,” says eighteen-year-old Danree, pulling up the leg of her jeans to reveal the bullet-hole scars on her knee. “They’re on my back too.” She has lived to share about her life, which is miracle enough; but her openness to talk about her faith and the night she was shot is testimony of her victory through Christ.

At midnight one Sunday in 2002, the twelve-year-old slept peacefully in her bedroom, her mother in the next room enjoying a quiet time with the Lord. Three men jumped over the fence at the back of the family’s home, which sat on the edge of the government property in Kewtown, a neighbourhood near Cape Town, South Africa. They aimed their guns through Danree’s bedroom window and emptied 30 rounds. Though Danree slept opposite the window, only five of the bullets caught her; one got lodged in her Bible.

The details of that night are difficult for Danree to recall. She vaguely remembers her mother leaning over the bed telling her to lay still before the paramedics took her to the Red Cross. Later, she learned that the men had gotten their directions wrong and targeted the wrong house. Though they never found the men who had shot her, one involved in the mix up found Danree in the hospital and apologised.

Growing up, Danree experienced the roughness of Kewtown daily, and always knew there was something wrong with the behaviour of the people around her. The fighting, shooting and drug dealing didn’t interest her, and unlike many in her peer group, Danree finished high school. Her parents became believers when she was nine, but she says their faith didn’t deepen until later, so biblical principles were not practiced at home. “I didn’t have a chance to be a child really, because I had so many problems, and my mom and dad’s marriage wasn’t stable. It affected me. So, I had to be responsible.”

As a result, Danree spent a lot of time in church and at one of the local missions. She often visited OM and other foreign workers who came through, and she found their stories fascinating. Then, last year she participated in TeenStreet South Africa and was awakened to God’s call on her life. “I just remember God asking me, ‘Do you really want to go around searching for something that you’re not going to find, when what you’re searching for is me?’”

Danree spent the next year volunteering at camps with children and preparing to attend the OM training in Pretoria. “The closer I come in connection with people who are doing this work, the more it becomes real to me,” says Danree. “I am going to be sacrificing my life for God.”

In January 2009, she packed her bags and headed north for OM’s six-month training. During her time in Pretoria she participated in classroom lectures and went on four practical outreaches. “The exposure was great,” she says. “It broadened my world view a lot, and I had a wonderful time living with people from all over the world who had the same passion.”

Danree graduated from the programme in July and is now raising support to join the Logos Hope in January 2010. Her story, she knows, is not to be kept silent. The things she’s experienced have happened for a reason and she’s overjoyed to share about her love for the Lord. “It’s a thirst I have,” she says. “To not only know more myself, but share it with people. God can show that there is a brighter way and a more meaningful life when you give up yourself.”