Werener
and Hannalie Gronewald made the momentous decision to leave South Africa with
their small children and move to Afghanistan in 2003. Werner was the senior pastor
at a Dutch Reformed Church and Hannalie was a doctor at a trauma unit. Their
children were ages three and five at that time. They had gone on a medical
mission to the area some time earlier and felt an unmistakable calling from the
Lord to move. They did so with eyes wide open, knowing they might well lose
their lives in Afghanistan because it is a country extremely unfriendly to
Christianity.
The
move was not easy, the culture difficult to adjust to and the couple was
particularly concerned about the educational and social needs of their children.
However, the Lord was faithful in taking care of their needs and by 2014,
John-Pierre, 17, was hoping to study aviation technology at Moody Bible
Institute and Rode, 15, was becoming a gifted writer as well as being
interested in the arts. Over the years Werner worked with various humanitarian agencies
teaching leadership institutes for Afghans, community development, and always
planting seeds of the Gospel. In addition to caring for her family, Hannalie
also worked as a doctor in a clinic in Kabul.
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| The Gronewald Family |
On
November 29, 2014 Hannaliie and her fellow doctors had been put on standby at a
UN meeting because an attack by the Taliban was expected that day. She had no
idea that her family was to be the target.
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| The Three Who Are Gone |
That
evening on her way home from work, Hannalie received word that their apartment had been
attacked. Eventually, she discovered that Werner, two Afghans, and their two
teenagers had been gunned down. Hannalie said in an interview that her one
regret wasn’t necessarily that she survived but that “I wanted to be there,
especially with the children, just to…hold them and face the bullets.” However,
there is no doubt in her mind that Jesus was right there with them.
On
October 2014, Werner had spoken at a conference on “Counting the Cost for Christ.”
He ended his presentation with this statement: “We die only once. It might as
well be for Christ.” The Gronewald
family practiced what they preached.
(Anyone
interested in hearing Voice of the Martyer’s interview with Hannalie on
September 23, 2016 can go to VOMRadio.net. You can also watch Hannalie's story at persecution.com/idop)
