While Pedro was still staying with his puppy walker, before he received his training from the Guide-Dogs Association. A Puppy Walker is a very special person. Someone who is prepared to take a "puppy", which has been approved by the Guide-Dogs Association, from 6 weeks old to raise it and to teach it for one year and then after a year the future guide-dog is then returned to the Guide-Dogs Association, for his or her further training.
I eagerly want to share with you how good our Lord was to me concerning my new guide-dog and for us as children of our Lord should never give up on those things we pray for.
Jesus Himself explains it very nicely in LUKE 18:1-8 and the NLV translation reads as follows:
Carry on until the judge listens!
- One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
- “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people.
- A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’
- The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people,
- but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
- Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge.
- Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
- I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”
On the 28th August I started the training for my 7th guide-dog at the Gide-Dogs Association – I received a Labrador, named Pedro. After 2 weeks on the 12th September Pedro and I graduated and then we went home and immediately picked up on a major problem. I live in a cottage/flat on my daughter’s property and right from the start Pedro and Driscoll, my daughters German Sheppard, wanted nothing to do with each other. They just wanted to fight if we brought them too close to each other. Seeing that both dogs are very precious/valuable – Pedro monetary value is R80,000 – we could not take a chance leaving the two dogs together until they had become friends.
For the next 2 weeks the guide-dog instructor helped Pedro and me become familiar with the route that I wanted to start Pedro walking with me on and so we made sure that the two dogs would not have contact with each other. After the 2 weeks the Guide-Dogs Association dedicated their time focusing on returning peace and getting Pedro and Driscoll to become friends.
During this time my daughter, my son-in-law and my grandchildren had to live with this unpleasantness, that if I wanted let my dog go outside, they had to, take their dog inside and that consisted of, me sometimes at the most inconvenient times having to bother them and through all of this they did it without complaining.
Here I must also acknowledge the immense trouble Guide-Dogs Association took to make sure Pedro and I would become a success.
From the 30th September until and including the 13th November, they sent 2 instructors from Johannesburg to Pretoria to spend a few hours with Pedro and Driscoll. Just think about it – The Guide-Dogs Association does not receives any state assistance and for approximately 2 months they continued to do this to ensure Pedro and I attained success. On Friday the 13th November Mr. Nxumalo, the head instructor from the Guide-Dogs Association, arrived and brought with him Dr Quixi Sonntag. She is a dog expert from Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital. Together with them they brought Joël, my after-care instructor, and Karin, the instructor which helped him every day with Driscoll. Dr Quixi Sonntag evaluated the two dogs and made a couple of suggestions which we should try.
Saturday the 14th, while I was sitting in front of my computer and busy with this ministry, my daughter, Alta, came to me and suggested that we should try the first option. In short it consisted of, us putting Pedro behind the fence of the swimming pool, which is on my daughter’s property and Driscoll on the outside of the fence. Pedro, who enjoys water immensely would then tire himself out playing in the water and let’s see what would happen when they afterwards they see each other through the fence etc. Pedro did not know the pool but our Lord provided a ball and Pedro really enjoys playing with a ball. Pedro ran around with the ball and later he came and dropped the ball in front of Driscoll, who was standing on the other side of the fence and watching him. Then Pedro ran again, he took the ball and ran again and once again came and dropped it in front of Driscoll, who was standing all this time on the other side of the fence implicitly watching Pedro. Later Pedro left the ball and began sniffing Driscoll through the fence and Driscoll was doing the same. Then my daughter and Barend my son-in-law, decided that they were going to take the chance in opening the gate. They opened the gate and Pedro came out and immediately he and Driscoll, after more than 2 months of intolerance with each other, just became great friends.
Again I want to acknowledge the immense effort that Guide-Dogs went through to make us a success story. If you remember, as far as I know, they are totally dependent on donations and sponsorships and you think about the costs incurred with me and Pedro and they had no intension of throwing in the towel, I thank the Lord for such dedicated people.
One of the many lessons which I experienced newly again is the following: Many people prayed together with me and many of them regularly contacted me to hear how things were going and assured me that they were praying together with me.
I again, from anew, realised that:
1JOHN 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
1JOHN 5:15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
I also remembered at that time:
HEBREWS 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Fortunately you and I have a wonderful loving God, that even when we, His children, who have accepted Him as our Redeemer and Saviour, waver in our belief, with His compassionate love will look after us and that is why I can also occasionally with great peacefulness and thankfulness within my heart can exclaim, as the child’s father did in the Word: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
MARK 9:19-24
19 “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered.
22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Many thanks that I could share this testimony with you and many thanks also that you visited my website.
I shall be eternally grateful if you could tell all your friends about my website and in doing so become a part of spreading our Lord’s Gospel.
Greetings,
Sakkie
Lanti and Pedro, Pedro’s puppy walker, who gave a whole year to raise Pedro to be socially acceptable, that he could become the wonderful guide-dog that he is today.
Pedro after completing is training at the Guide-Dogs Association
Here you see Lanti, Pedro together with me shortly before Pedro and I graduated, so that I could walk independently with him throughout the world.
Perci & Hayley, the two instructors with their class which graduated in September 2015.
Here Pedro and I pose wonderfully proud after our graduation.
Here Pedro and I are proudly walking together.