Miraculous Changes

You've heard about make-overs and probably watched all those shows where Oprah or some other host (Tyra maybe) gives make-overs to people. It's either their hair, dress, bra size, house, dog, I don't know what other make-over they'll come up with. But my story is of an internal make-over. Where your spirit, your soul gets changed. This is not about positive thinking although that would change your inside, it's about living a totally new life.
There are two people featured in this story. Let's call them Homey and Gil. They were some of my first friends in first year when I got to South Africa. What really shocked me about Homey was her penchant for cuss words. That girl could cuss up a storm! I mean who fits a four-letter-f-word in between a three letter word? And then there was the ocassional weed. She was just never girly enough. Well, sometimes she denied she was a girl except for the fact that she had a soft spot for men's cute behinds. Well, and their faces but mostly they had to have a cute butt for her to be attracted to them. Homey's such a tom-boy that her hair and very pretty face kinda spoil the effect she's trying to create. She's probably the only girl I've met who wears Timberlands.
Gil is not exactly like Homey but she also did not possess a single dress or skirt in her closet. Let alone shoes with heels. Gil's closet had oversized shirts and trousers. She daily donned a pair of comfortable tracksuit pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and some well-worn sneakers. And what pissed me off the most was how she constantly trimmed her hair and let it hang flat on her head when she had the most rich and gorgeous tresses on her head. Gil's one of those people that was born in a Hindu family but kinda accepted whatever religion there was. On rare occasions she'd actually light a stick of incence and do some incantations but that was it. She knew all her gods by name and what they stood for and she had a picture of the leader or something in her room. But she listened to any teaching and considered Jesus to be one of those great teachers that ever lived. Right along with Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa.
So where's the transformation? They are both fervent church-goers now and sound, act, dress, and even sing Christian! It's so amazing. I remember when I used to invite Homey to church (I invited everyone) and she'd tell me how she does not believe in church being all "happy clappy" like we do. She knew church to be quiet and serene and no weird outbursts of song or whatever else. She grew up Anglican. Anyway, I don't remember what it was but we started going to this Full-Gospel church in the evenings after we'd attended our respective morning services because they had a youth service and the praise and worship was awesome. Somehow Homey started coming with us. The first shocker was that she was actually enjoying "happy-clappy" church. Then the second one was seeing her on the stage getting dunked in the water - being baptized! I felt so emotional at that point. Then came her struggle with swear words. She would break out in f-words or s-words or whatever words and go on and on complaining about something but after her conversion she started to stop herself. She'd get us to help her by teaching her new words to fill in her usual cussing! It was hilarious really. The weed wasn't hard to quit and she started getting drunk on Coca-Cola instead of anything else.
Gil was a little harder to tackle. I used to half-heartedly invite her to church cuz I 'respected her faith' and all that crap I told myself. She surprised me once by actually allowing to come with me. She started going to the youth services too and one day when they asked for whoever wanted to give their lives to Christ she got up and went with them. I mean Gil!!! Who was all "bullshit!" when I tried to mention the second-coming of Christ?! Gil!! She so believed in reincarnation that whatever else you tried to tell her was a whole lot of bollocks. Yes, even heaven and hell. In that moment I saw a chance to reach out to someone I might have written off but God hadn't. So I went with her to church in the mornings too.
The youth services were cool and all but didn't really show much dedication. I mean the transport was free so all you had to do was get ready and they'd pick you up and drop you off. Besides, it was in the evening so you could still party all night Saturday and sleep your hang-over away but make it in time for church. The clincher was going to church early Sunday mornings. I went to my church with a number of my friends sometimes if they agreed to it and it was this that made the transformation solid. The Bible School. Here's how many girls were in the Bible School as of last year: one. This means that there was this institution right next to the church teeming with young men studying the Word of God and being prepared to become leaders in the church of Christ. And there is nothing as attractive as a God-fearing man, right ladies? Homey and Gil found the loves of their lives in this institution. And church started to become a serious affair. Because Homey is an extremist by nature, she dove into the Word of God, church, conferences, cell meetings with a fervour unmatched even by me. Gil kinda took her time because she was undergoing a re-learning experience. She was singing songs about Moses leading the people out, and David slaying Goliath, and all these Bible stories she had no clue about. She'd never heard them so she kept coming to me to ask about a certain song and I'd end up retelling her the stories. I used to tell my baby sister Bible stories at bedtime with so much dramatization and she'd remember them so I used the same policy with Gil. She started to catch on fast.
Men are an amazing thing. I went with Homey to our annual general conference of the United Pentecostal Church and there was no one dancing quite as much as she was. She clapped and happied and danced her way to fitness in two days. She was so taken by the whole experience (and seeing the man I'll call Bakes) that she did not even look back. Somehow a true Pentecostal experience could not be compared to normal Anglican church, and even the great praise and worship at the Full-Gospel church fell short. Gil was really scared. She saw it as too much for her. The music was loud, the singing was fast, the dancing was something of a work-out, it was a bit much for her. But she took it all in with that curiosity of hers. She was ready to learn. What made her stick to it the more was when her crush (whom I'll call LB) kept telling her that he was focusing on his new church, school and all and could not start dating until later on. I thought she'd quit on me because she couldn't have LB but I was thinking human again. I did not bargain on the power of God in saving souls. To think that Gil was hanging out with her drama department freaks (I swear the drama department of any university or school must be full of wierdos!) and doing crazy things like shop-lift for fun, or even consider having illicit sex because in the drama department it was freely available to attending three services a week is short of miraculous!
LB and Bakes were put there for a purpose. To lure the girls. But the entire experience and encounter with God was the clincher. Nothing could compare to it. Not even when the men were not in the picture anymore, these girls were still crazy about God. My heart wells up with emotion everytime Homey calls me to ask if I want to attend Bible study, or the youth conference in another town, because she's finding out about these special services and conferences before me when I used to be the one to invite her to them. They've attended open-air services without me when I had a test, they've driven for miles on end to attend the services in a new church that convenes in a little old lady's house, they've gone out of their way to chauffer people to and from church services even if it means making two trips or more.
There is no make-over that can capture the transformation. Homes started to buy dresses for church and well, eventually started wearing them on a daily basis. Gil got rid of her lucky charm beads or prayer bracelets that were dedicated to one god or another and instead got this glow in her face. Homey's cheeks are always red with excitement and the glow of joy from within, not a perpetual high on some "healthy" grass. The Master who created us knew exactly what make-over these two needed and it's amazing.
I'm going to ask them if it's ok and I'll put up some pics of their before and after. Cheers.