Katie’s testimony keeps on inspiring

On 13 December 2019, Kateline (Katie) Dyani (49), from Oudtshoorn, told her story. A story that took place 19 years ago, when her husband set her on fire. Melissa Verwey Reany, from Eagle’s Call Productions filmed Katie’s testimony, which has since been viewed more than 2,2 million times online. The post also has 58 000 reactions, more than 4 000 comments and has been shared on social media platform more than 26 000 times.

“For a long time, I tried to hide what happened to me. The scars were far deeper than my skin and started long before the flames engulfed me. Long before he set me on fire,” she tells at the opening of the video.

As a little girl, she looked forward to having her own home, being married, having a husband and children, and when she finally married, the first two years were wonderful. It felt that all her dreams had come true.

Things changed when one morning her husband got upset and hit her in front of her two young children. “I forgave him and did not lay a charge for my marriage’s sake,” she says.
After that she was afraid of her husband, but still loved him very much. The physical abuse only got worse.

One morning he came home from being out all night, dragged her out of the bed and threw her out of the house. She ran as fast as she could to a friend’s house close by, but he caught up with her and stabbed her with a knife. Her friend took her to the hospital where the attending doctor asked her if she was going to report her husband?

‘No, I will be okay.’ She told the doctor, and once back home her husband pleaded for forgiveness. “He was so sincere, so I believed that he wouldn’t do it again.”The abuse did not stop. The turning point came when her husband had an argument with her, and he almost hit her with a hammer. She decided that this was the final straw and left the abusive relationship. He kept on calling her and knocking on her door. She took out a restraining order against him, but even that did not stop him.

On one fateful night, her husband came to the door, he entered the house and started looking for a knife. Katie ran out and jumped into a taxi.

“Just before the driver took off, he threw a paraffin heater through the window. It fell on me and set me on fire.”

The driver jumped out and wrapped her in a blanket to extinguish the flames that engulfed her, but the damage was already done.

She was rushed to the hospital, where she was in a coma for two weeks, and was treated for 3rd degree burns on her head, face, hands, stomach, and thighs. The doctors did everything they could medically to keep her alive, but Katie fought every second to stay alive.

I remember a voice saying to me that, “You are not going to die until you have to die.’’ The more her skin healed, the more pain she experienced. After 3 months her daughters saw her for the first time, and they all cried.

For some time, she felt lost and angry. Angry with her husband for what he had done to her, and she questioned why God allowed this terrible thing to happen to her.

“I didn’t have ears. I didn’t feel like a woman. It’s as if everything was taken away from me. I felt like no one would ever love me.” She shut the world out.

At a conference for women she attended, she opened her heart and gave the burden to God. She said to him “Here I am” and came to the realisation that God is the reason she was still alive.

She experienced His love and joy and could see herself through His eyes. The feeling overwhelmed her. She felt like a whole new person. Together with her two daughters, she realised that they as a family also needed emotional healing, as it was not only she who had experienced the trauma of abuse. She apologised to her daughters for not protecting them, and for keeping quiet. She needed to forgive, but for them to also forgive her too.

Her husband was sent to prison for what he had done to her, and Katie went to visit him while he was in prison. As she sat in front of him, she said to him “I want peace and I forgive you,” and at that moment she could feel a heavy burden being lifted off her shoulders.

When she feels down at times, she takes the bible and receives words of comfort and strength from God and from her family and fellow church members, who have become like her family over the years. Her family’s support during this time, especially her aunt, who kept telling her that one day she would be OK, meant a lot to her. Today she has seen those word come to pass.

In Genesis 50: 20 (NIV) it is written: You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

“Now, I love myself for who I am. My worth is rooted in Christ. I am a living testimony that His love never fails. I almost lost my life, because I didn’t love myself enough to say, ‘No.’ I was ashamed and worried about what people would say.” Says Katie.

Today, she speaks at engagements as a motivational speaker, using her special testimony to help others and encourage people, and tell them about the love of God. “If you are in an abusive relationship, my prayer is that you will realize you deserve better. So many women have lived through similar struggles. Today, I stand with you. Do not isolate yourself. There is always a way out. Reach out for help. I pray that God will give you the courage to do so. Allow Him to show you what love is. His name is Jesus, and He has already paid the price for your freedom. His arms are open, ready to receive you.”

To view Katie’s inspiring story and learn more about her journey, please visit: www1.cbn.com/woman-set-fire-says-shes-new-creation. She can also be contacted on 083 687 8439, for bookings at any speaking engagements.