Day 4 - Van Der Kloof to Petrusville

This morning we had a lekker early start.. Horses fed and saddled, we set off; accompanied by a surprisingly cold wind.. Before long, all three of us quickly got our jackets out; immediately angry with ourselves that we didn’t do it earlier..

The fifteen kilometres to Petrusville was tarmac, and we kept to the road shoulders; but luckily they were quite even, and not too rocky; so we set off on a fast pace.. Before long we reached town; and upon phoning Hans, we discovered that he hasn’t even left the camp site yet.. We went to the first church we got; where Rachel and another older woman greeted us, and told us where we can go and to whom we can speak.. After that we went to a group of homeless men, sitting next to the road hoping for somebody to come past and offer them loose, odd jobs.. We talked for a bit, sharing the Word, and just speaking some encouragement.. We then prayed for them; and handed a few of them some Bibles that we had in our saddle bags.. With endless “thank-you’s” from them, we went on to the other church.. Here we met oom Jan Wilson, who was the caretaker of the church grounds; and what a beautiful sight it was; this flourishing, well-kept garden in the middle of the dry and dusty town.. We spoke to him a bit, also praying with him; as we were with him, everybody in town started gathering around us.. They were very curious as to where we were going with the horses, and why.. And this just showed how great the horses are to create a platform to start conversations with the locals.. After a while of explaining the whole trip and telling them to wait for Hans for more Bibles (because ours was finished by then); we set off again, still without having the faintest idea where we were going to sleep..

About one kilometre out of town, we took a gravel road; past a flashy bay gelding who thoroughly strotted his stuff as we passed him.. Here was our first taste of the endless expanses of the Karoo, the countless gates to open and close, the deafening sound of utter silence, the white dust that flew up in the air like powder; many springbok, sables, roan antelope, steenbok and even blesbok also stared at us in complete bewilderment, before turning tail and leaving nothing but dust behind.. We kept on this road for about two hours; stopping only to water the horses at a cattle trough on the side of the road.. Finally we got to a small batch of trees, and immediately stopped in the shade and unsaddled.. Within minutes Hans arrived in a huge cloud of dust; almost driving past.. We tied to horses under the tree and enjoyed a quick lunch (together with a few beers, compliment of oom Basie)..

As we set out again, Hans went ahead in search of a place where we can set up camp; preferably near water.. While we were enduring the heat, Hans found a farmer; who gave him a few names of farmers whom we can contact that have farms on our route.. Hans went to oom X#@$ Fourie; and together they organised with his brother, oom Jopie Fourie, that we can go find solace in his “hunting cabin” – Bermuda.. The favour of God for those that do His work, is incredible..

We got to a fork in the road, and luckily Hans left us a message in the sand – to go left.. As we got on this road, we saw a dust cloud coming nearer from the west; recognizing the Hilux as it drew near.. Hans told us to keep going until we reach the sign that said Bermuda; and after about eight kilometres, we found it.. And it was way more than just a mere “hunting cabin”.. It was an enormous old house, with wooden floors; still filled with remnants from a bygone era.. And tannie Minkie, oom Jopie’s wife, greeted us as we arrived; quickly busy to clean up the place a bit; for they haven’t used it since the hunting season has passed..

We put the horses in the yard; and quickly dozed off for a much needed afternoon nap.. It didn’t last long though; because we had a meeting back in Petrusville.. After taking a quick shower, we set off to meet the pastor at one of the churches.. Oom Pierre was the leader at the church, as well as a farmer in the area; he invited us in and told us about the history of their church.. He then proceeded to set up a camera; for he was going to interview us for their show in KruisKyk, an Afrikaans Christian TV channel.. After a failed attempt, due to Gert being at a lack of words, we started again; and just told our whole story, with JanPaul sharing a testimony, whilst just encouraging everybody to hold on to Christ; as well as encouraging the youth to really stand boldly in their faith.. We will be broadcasted the 21st at 9 in the evening..

Oom Pierre then gave us lots of helpful hints and encouragement for our trip; and after praying for him, we went back to Bermuda.. Only to find that our horses are missing.. We walked around and around the old house; struggling to see in the night.. After a while, we found an opening in the fence in on of the corners; and saw the horses tracks going through.. The camp (or rather country) they were in now was near unending in size; and we all got a knot in our stomachs; imagining us searching for our horses, in the middle of the night in the Karoo; in a camp that was probably the size of the whole Gauteng (or that was what it felt like at that stage).. But, once again, God was good; and before even 50m from the fence; we saw our horses walking slowly towards us.. Not one of them had a scratch.. Most probably they just went exploring some of the Karoo by themselves.. Waiting upon our arrival.. Hehe..

Horses safely secured this time; we went in to braai some chops that we got from a very friendly local farmer.. As we sat there, we just reflected on how good and how trustworthy God is, especially to us today; just showing His grace and favour wherever we went.. Us, fully expecting to sleep somewhere in the middle of the veld, now sitting in a room with aircon, with a warm shower and soft bed waiting.. God is good (all the time) and all the time (God is good)..