In the Shadow of Chedis and Minarets

Born in South Africa in 1956, Andrea Witbooi grows up between two opposing laws: the rule of apartheid with its enforced racial segregation and discrimination, and the law of God to love your neighbour as yourself. Through the life and ministry of her father, she witnesses how the love of Jesus overcomes hatred and brings hope, healing and transformation to youngsters living in perilous conditions in Johannesburg's townships. This awakens a deep yearning to also invest her life for God's purposes. But where and how? Following God's prompting, her adventurous journey leads her to the Kingdom of Thailand. She studies the Thai language and grapples with everyday life ruled by unfamiliar cultural norms embedded in a Buddhist worldview. Then another move takes her to the Muslim dominated South of Thailand. Together with her growing family, she makes her home in provincial towns and villages, where the pillars of Islam determine the religious, behavioural and dietary rules of the local communities. As a Christian foreigner, she experiences both friendship and hostility, trust and suspicion, acceptance and rejection. This biographical narrative reflects how God's comforting nearness, help and protection carried Andrea Witbooi through times of upheaval and feelings of up-rootedness, loneliness and confusion. Her story also opens a window into the daily lives and struggles of Thai and Malay individuals and families whom she grew to love deeply.

Auteur
From an early age, Andrea Witbooi lived among ethnically, socially and religiously diverse population groups. Born in 1956 as a German in South Africa, she observed the effects of a political ideology on society. In contrast, her parents demonstrated a Christian faith that built bridges to people of other backgrounds. Over the years, she discovered that power exercised through fear and ignorance builds walls, while the interplay of justice and love builds bridges. This insight awoke a yearning in her to serve God as a messenger of his love. After completing two years of theological training and a Bachelor's degree in Nursing, she moved to Asia in 1984. Here she lived with her husband in three countries with completely different cultures, languages and worldviews. For fifteen of these years, she lived among Muslim minority groups in non-Islamic countries. Through everyday interaction with her Muslim neighbours, she became acquainted with their beliefs and practices and observed how their religious fears and superstitions ruled many aspects of their lives. Andrea Witbooi has three married daughters. She and her husband moved to Germany in 2020 and now enjoy living in close proximity to three of their six grandchildren.