Bianca at the Wedding Fair
Our GPS takes us to the outskirts of Johannesburg. Eventually, we turn onto the grounds of South Campus Church. In a few minutes, we’ll be talking to Trevor Sampson and his daughter Bianca. We’ll be trying to answer the question of whether God plays the lottery.
Summer 2011: My wife Tina and I present our work at a church in Bremen-Blumenthal. That afternoon, we meet the Sampsons at the pastor’s home. What these Black South Africans tell us about their daughter sounds incredibly fascinating. Will we ever have the chance to verify this story?
February 25, 2016: We are sitting across from Bianca Moeketsi, née Sampson, and her father, Trevor. As the attractive media designer speaks, I take some notes.
It’s August 2010: Bianca Sampson is driving from Johannesburg to Cape Town with her fiancé. The two of them cover nearly 2,800 kilometers round trip. The reason for the trip is a personal announcement to her parents: “Mom, Dad, we want to get married!” – Several celebrations are planned for the coming months. The family is facing significant expenses. The Sampsons realize that they can’t really afford to spend money on a wedding. But they give their daughter a positive response anyway: “We don’t know how we’re going to pay for the celebration, but God can help us, right?”
Four weeks later, a wedding expo is taking place in Randburg (north of Johannesburg). Bianca and her fiancé want to get some inspiration at the big event. They’ve heard that you can also enter a raffle there. The winning couple will have their entire wedding, with all the trimmings, sponsored. One raffle ticket is included with each copy of the newspaper “The Star.” Bianca is still a student, and like most students, she’s short on cash. But she bought ten copies of the paper anyway. She carefully writes her name on the tickets and drops them into the big box with the famous slot.
She knows how unlikely it is to win the grand prize, since only one pair will win. Bianca is now standing right next to the box when a strange thought suddenly crosses her mind. “If God wants me to win here, then I don’t need ten tickets—just one!” The pretty young woman is about to take that famous leap of faith. She tears up nine tickets and tosses them into a trash can. Then she slowly slides the last remaining ticket through the narrow opening.
A few days later, she receives a phone call at work. Bianca and her colleagues are under a tight deadline to finish a magazine. Bianca’s mind is completely elsewhere when a woman from the wedding fair speaks up on the other end of the line. “Did I maybe leave something behind at the fair?” the thought flashes through Bianca’s mind. It takes several seconds before she fully grasps what Amanda Cunningham is telling her: “You and your fiancé have won!”
The Wedding Expo covered the costs of planning and hosting the wedding for Bianca and her boyfriend Tokoloho, which included 120 guests. The celebration took place at a 5-star hotel. All the dresses and suits for the wedding party were paid for. The rings, the cake, the food, and the classical music trio were all covered by the companies. Of course, the honeymoon was included. The total value of all these services was 200,000 rand. In 2010, this amount was equivalent to over 21,000 euros. However, the purchasing power of this amount is significantly higher in South Africa than in Europe.
“Actually, I would have been happy with a small, modest wedding!” she insists, “but that’s just how it turned out!”
Of course, God doesn’t play the lottery, and very few participants win. But when Bianca threw away nine of the ten tickets—because God can do anything, after all—the scene became a profession of faith of the highest order.
“Bianca!”, how many cards were in the box? I still need that information. Please call the trade show office and find out!” A day later, I receive the answer by email. “According to the organizer, Wedding Expo, there were around 4,000!”
God doesn’t make us rich, but He does fulfill us. It is not our job to hit the jackpot through the power of prayer. Our mission is to live a life that honors God and serves others.
Even so, Bianca and I have no doubt that God intervened. Why did He do that, anyway?
