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Edeltraud Macioszek's story is unique. As a young child, she recognized God and served Him in a remarkable way throughout her life. In this and the next issue, we will tell her life story, which is characterized by her devotion to God.
Experiences of God in childhood
Edeltraud was born on July 8, 1948, in Hanover. The eldest of three children of Walter and Gisela Macioszek, she grew up in Hanover-Langenhagen. The family lived in modest circumstances in the house of her devout grandmother.
This humility was of great importance for Edeltraud's future life. The girl grew up surrounded by prayer, Christian hymns, and much love. Her parents, grandmother, and aunt all lived according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. From childhood onward, she repeatedly experienced miracles of divine healing. Edeltraud experienced her first miracle as a baby when she contracted foot-and-mouth disease from uncontrolled milk from a farmer. Her mucous membranes were swollen, and she could no longer swallow. The doctor could not help her. At that time, her father was Catholic, but he knew little about God. He was invited by friends to a tent evangelistic event in Hanover.
Her mother gave a note to friends asking them to pray for Edeltraud. Her father, however, knew nothing about it. The church service was far too long for him, so he kept looking at his watch. When the preacher finally asked the congregation to remain to pray for a sick child of a desperate mother, her father, Walter, raised his eyes to the ceiling and said to himself, "God, if you exist, then help the child. I know how hard it is to have such a sick child." He didn't realize he was praying for his own child. When Walter returned home with his friends, Edeltraud awoke from her sleep and cried out. Edeltraud was given something to drink and this time was able to swallow again. Refreshed, she fell back asleep and was healthy.
As the people gathered in the tent prayed for Edeltraud, a sudden movement ran through her body and she fell asleep. Her father, Walter, noted the time, and they realized that the movement had occurred precisely at the time of prayer. Edeltraud's grandmother was holding her in her arms when the movement happened. God's miracle was evident to everyone. After this event, Walter began to seek God by reading the Bible and cultivating fellowship with Him.
After a few months, he decided to follow Jesus Christ and gave his life to Him in a church service. Edeltraud experienced her first answered prayer at the age of four. One day, she fell down the stairs with her younger sister in her arms and had a severe stutter ever since. Edeltraud recounts: “In my parents' house, Bible studies followed by prayer were held regularly.”
When another Bible study was being held, my sister and I were playing in the sand in front of the house. During the meeting, we went into the living room to join the others. My lovely sister went from person to person, but I sat down on the footstool at my grandmother's feet. After everyone in the room had prayed individually, I prayed too, stuttering. No one had told me to, but it came from my heart: 'Lord Jesus, make me well again.' When I said Amen, I could speak clearly again.
As a child, Edeltraud frequently suffered from various childhood illnesses. Walter was a civil servant with the German Federal Railway and privately insured, so all doctor's and pharmacy costs had to be paid out of their own pockets. Due to their low wages, very little money remained for food and household expenses. Rent already consumed almost their entire salary, so they rented an allotment garden to grow their own potatoes, vegetables, and fruit, ensuring they at least had something to eat. When Edeltraud was ill, Walter and Gisela prayed for their daughter and anointed her with oil. And she recovered!
At the age of 10, she once fell so badly on a gravel path with her scooter that the metal of the handlebar narrowly missed her temple, causing a severe cut next to her eye. It bled profusely. Her father brought her home and carried her in his arms all the way to their apartment. As they entered the stairwell, his tears streamed down onto her. Edeltraud replied, "Dad, don't cry. Jesus will help me." Her parents laid her on the bed, anointed her with oil, and prayed for her. Edeltraud experienced another miracle from God and was healed. Not even a scar remains.
Edeltraud Macioszek
A conscious decision for Jesus
Gisela was musically gifted and regularly played the harmonium in the evenings, singing Christian songs. Choir rehearsals were even held in her house. Through this, Edeltraud learned many Christian songs by listening and singing along. She knew for certain that there is a living God who gladly answers prayers.
Since Edeltraud's parents didn't belong to a Protestant church at the time, she and her classmates attended a children's choir at the Protestant church. The choir sang responsorially every Sunday at the beginning of the service. Afterward, the choir director took the children to another room and told them Bible stories. As a baby, Edeltraud had been baptized by sprinkling. At the age of 12, she participated in Protestant confirmation classes for two years.
The pastor himself didn't truly believe in God or Jesus. The confirmands had to memorize the catechism, but otherwise they learned nothing about Jesus. The pastor preferred to tell them about Goethe and Schiller.
When Edeltraud turned 14, she spent the Easter holidays with her relatives in Hanover-Langenhagen. At that time, a tent evangelistic event was taking place in Hanover, and her uncle took her along. Edeltraud enjoyed going, but didn't understand the content of the sermons. One afternoon, on the last day of the evangelistic meeting, she asked her aunt, "How do you know you're saved? How can you be so sure?"
That same evening, God gave her a clear answer that she could accept. She now understood the sermon that evening: that Jesus had suffered in her place, taken all her sin upon Himself, and paid for it with His life on the cross. All she had to do was accept the gift Jesus offered her. At the call to prayer that evening, Edeltraud went forward, surrendered her life to Jesus, and received His grace and forgiveness.
In 1962, a large evangelistic event was held in Frankfurt am Main, where the family had moved a few years earlier due to the father's job transfer. The event took place in a festival hall on the fairgrounds. Their neighbors in their apartment building asked Walter and Gisela Macioszek if they would like to accompany them to the event, as Gisela had often told them about Jesus. Edeltraud and her parents accepted the invitation, and so they went to the evangelistic event together.
The neighbor understood God's call and went forward to pray. She surrendered her life to Jesus and, after a conversation with helpful believers, received an invitation to join the Pentecostal church in Frankfurt am Main. Edeltraud accompanied her neighbor to the Pentecostal church with her parents and became a member of the Free Christian Community there. Edeltraud was baptized and, after several years of struggling for baptism, was baptized by the Holy Spirit after forgiving someone who had made her life difficult.
A tool in God's hand
Edeltraud was a trained kindergarten teacher and worked for three years in a daycare center in Frankfurt am Main. During a children's retreat organized by her church, God called her to the ministry of leading a children's home. She then studied social pedagogy in Fulda because she wanted to follow God's calling. Many people advised her against going to Fulda, as there was no Pentecostal church there.
God did not abandon her in this situation and provided her with His very special closeness and help in Fulda. Edeltraud felt God's Spirit more strongly than ever before in her life when she spoke to God alone in prayer. After six weeks in Fulda, God led her, through a recommendation from Frankfurt, to a German-American Christian "tea room." There, Edeltraud lost her fear of unfamiliar things, languages, and activities. She learned English, which she would later need in her missionary work in India.
After completing her three-year studies as a social worker, Edeltraud found employment at a children's home in Eckernförde. She stayed there for two months and then moved to a Protestant children's home in Henstedt-Ulzburg near Hamburg. She remained in Henstedt-Ulzburg for five years, caring for a group of twelve children. When possible, Edeltraud attended a small Pentecostal church in Henstedt-Rehn, where she was involved in children's ministry and sang in the choir.
During her stay there, she visited the retirement home in Schieder with friends on September 3, 1977. She still remembers the warm welcome and the wedding in which she spontaneously participated. The new caretaker couple married that day in the existing Tabor building.
The house parents (home directors and founders) had bought it at the end of 1973 on God's direct orders and had it registered in the land register on January 10, 1974.
A year later, Edeltraud spent two weeks' vacation at the Tabor home. On the last day, Brother Rudolf asked her if she knew anyone who could be recruited to work at the home. She said no and went home without a care in the world…
The continuation will be published in the next issue. In the second part, we report on God's calling in her life and how she served Him with complete devotion.
Simon Arent
Municipality of Stapelage
Edeltraud Macioszek's account of her faith journey was written during her lifetime. Our sister passed away on December 30, 2021, to be with her Lord.