Just One Step
Gert du Plessis Lampreacht was sentenced to death on September 9, 1955 in the Windhoek High Court for the murder of Martin Vermeulen. Here is his own testimony and, after it, the gripping story of the person who counseled him spiritually and accompanied him until the last moments before his execution.
When I was still very young, my mother one day heard me singing “Jesus is the sweetest name I know”.
I grew up in a good religious home. My mother often read the Bible to us and taught us to pray. But at the age of fifteen, because we were poor, it became necessary for me to leave home and work for a living. Because I was blinded and bound by sin, I quickly became to think of the Bible as just a “good book”.
While doing army duty, I one day deserted to meet a young lady whom I liked very much and with whom I had immediately fallen in love. But when I found that I could not win her love because she had another friend, I deliberately went and bought a gun with the purpose of killing us both. Today I shudder when I thin of what that would have meant – I would have been lost in my sin for ever.
One evening, when I visited her with the express purpose of killing her and then myself, her friend suddenly arrived. In a rash moment of anger and jealousy I pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger.
During the months I waited for the trial, I received a Bible as a gift from a certain lady with roughly the following inscription: “May the Lord reveal himself to you in your time of need. He will save you if you go to Him for help.” But I was still in Satan’s power, and took refuge in a story me and someone else made up in hope that we could deceive the court.
It was rather a futile attempt. The death sentence was eventually pronounced on me in the courtroom – in the presence of my mother. I was deeply shocked, and because I did not know how quickly the sentence would be carried out, my first words to the officer who accompanied me to the cell was :”Have I got time to make right with God?”
The following day I got a beautiful Bible from the family of the young man I murdered , with the following word written inside: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
A few days later Mr. Kilian came to visit me. Even though I cannot remember all that he said to me that day, the texts – 1 John 1:9, 1 John 1:12 and John 6:17 – that he read made a deep impression on me. He asked me to read my name into 1 John 1:9, so that it read: “If Gert confesses his sin, He is faithful and just to forgive Gert his sins , and to cleanse Gert from all unrighteousness.” The words in John 6:37 gave me assurance. “. . .and him (Gert) that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” The two of us knelt together, and while I prayed and confessed to the dear Lord that I had sinned, I began to weep. Afterwards Mr.. Killian prayed and as we stood up he also wiped away a tear.
From then on I read Psalm 23 regularly, but in spite of this I began to swear, tell lies and commit all kinds of sins. During one of Mr. Killian’s visits, I decided to be honest and open with him. That day we knelt down again together and I promised God that I would live for him alone. Thanks to His great grace and love, I now can say with perfect freedom: “. . .I live no more, but Christ liveth in me”. (Gal.2.20)
I asked Mr. Killian if smoking was sin. In reply he asked me to read 1 Cor. 3:16,17. It comes to the same thing that if we wouldn’t feel free to smoke in front of a church pulpit because it is a holy place and regarded as a “temple” then our bodies are even more a temple because His hands formed us and the Holy Spirit wants to lie in us. From that moment ,with the Lord’s help , I never smoked again.
I am now absolutely ready to meet him because I have been redeemed and forgiven through the blood of Christ and He has given me rest and peace. If it is his will that I die shortly, then I will go to a beautiful heaven where he has prepared a place for me to live for ever in His presence. I will continue to believe, magnify His Name and always cry out: “ I know that my redeemer liveth.” I read Psalms 23, 121, 116 and 103 every morning and evening and, if it should be His will to take me even by way of the gallows, it will be for me just one step. I choose it above a decent death-bed that has the possibility that I should be forever lost.
Mr. Kilian Tells His Story. . .
I visited Gert Lamprecht in prison the first Sunday after his sentence and his first words to me were “Sir, I am praying a lot, but it seems as if I am praying against a wall.” I opened my Bible to Isaiah 59:1,2 and read: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not short that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear; But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” I told him that it was HIS sin that was the wall that hindered his prayers. I reminded him that if we have committed a sin in the past, we must not think that we can get away by putting it behind our backs. We are not yet finished with it, for it lands on that “wall” and only makes it higher. Then, one day when we want to turn around and take refuge in God, we run straight into that wall of sin.
He realized the truth of this immediately and so I was able to go further and show him what he must do with that “wall” of sin.
I explained 1 John 1:9 to him and then, to make it more personal, I asked him to read it himself and put his own name in the verse. Other Scriptures such as John 1:12 and John 6:37 also contributed to his properly understanding God’s great plan of salvation, and complete acquittal through faith. We knelt down together and Gert confessed his sin to God and received Christ as His personal Saviour.
A few days passed before I could visit him again in the death-cell. I immediately noticed that something was troubling him and it was not long before he came out with it and said : “Mr. Kilian, I want to be 100% for Christ, but I feel that I am still only 90%”.He then asked :”Is it sin to break the prison rules?”
The Bible that the Vermeulen family had given him was nearby and I asked him to open it to Romans 13:1,2. I then read the following words to him: “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive unto themselves damnation.”
It was so clear that I didn’t want to say any more. He then told me he had broken one of the prison rules and asked me what he should do. I replied that if he wanted to know the peace of God he must confess it to the authorities, and he promised to do it that very afternoon. When I visited him the following day he was full of joy and I felt deep in my soul that God’s peace and light had completely broken through into this young man’s soul. On one occasion he asked: “Is it sin to smoke?” In reply I asked “Gert, would you light up a cigarette in a church right in front of the pulpit?” Indignantly he replied: “Never! It’s such a holy place.” I pointed out that a church was only a temple built by human hands, but that he must listen to what God says: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of the God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1 Cor.3:16,17) It was the last time Gert ever smoked. God was such a reality to this man, and the Lord’s presence s lovely , that every time I visited him it made me think that I was rather in the vestibule of heaven than in a death-cell or the gallows with revulsion because he was prepared for them. Gert studied his Bible intensely and underlined many verses that spoke to him. He often testified, “Mr. Kilian, the Lord has broken open this portion to me so wonderfully.” His soul was fed by the word of God and he progressed and grew rapidly in grace. Within a period of three months he grew spiritually faster than many who confess that they have been Christians for many years. He also had a tremendous burden for the salvation of other people’s souls. Often when he and I prayed, he said to the Lord: “Lord, I don’t want to pray for myself, but for . . .” And then he would begin to name the people he knew. He wrote many letters in which he testified to what the Lord had done for him. Every tract that he could get his hands on, he sent out to needy souls outside the prison. He also spoke to those who guarded him and prayed for some of them.
It seems as if I can still hear Gert pray: “Lord, I don’t want to ask for a reprieve of my sentence , but that Thy will be done.” He was deeply conscious that his sentence was deserved. The very last morning he said: “I am getting what the law demands, but I have found mercy by God.”
Dear reader, do you know the meaning of these last words- “. . . I have found mercy by God”?
The climax of this story is a description of the last scenes before and during his execution. He took the news that he would be executed the next day calmly, and it was arranged that I could spend the last moments with him. I was allowed, due to the kindness and sympathy of the prison commander, who had meant much to Gert, to visit him the last evening. When I got to him he was as friendly and cheerful as always. When we were seated he said, “Mr. Kilian, the Lord has thought it good not to spare my life, but to take me home. Perhaps he has important work for me to do there. Just think! Next Christmas I’ll be in heaven!”
I told him that my wife had given him John 14 and that she wanted us two to take turns in reading the verses. When we came to the 14th verse he said suddenly; “Can’t I read it by myself from now on?” He read on and when he came to the twentieth verse he said, “I’m hurrying – I so want to get to the verse 27. Its such a beautiful verse to me.” It says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. . .let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (It is also the verse I spoke on at his funeral.)
Afterwards he read 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, and made it a personal matter: “For I know that if my earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, I have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. . .” We then prayed and I went home.
The following morning at eleven o’ clock my wife and I visited him (the execution was to take place at three o’ clock that afternoon). He was glad to see us. As he sat there in front of us he said: Mr. Kilian, I’m already there!” ( In Jesus presence) Then, while he sank to his knees, he added, “It’s just my old body that’s still here.” While we drank tea together, I looked to see if there was any signs of nervousness, but he was calm and held his cup firmly without a shake. He then said to my wife, “Mrs. Kilian, I’m going to wait for you and your husband – I’ll see you in the morning.”
That afternoon, as I stopped in the prison, Gert’s mother and sister climbed out of the motor that had brought them to the Windhoek airport. We went into the death cell together and when his mother saw him he fell down into a faint. When she had recovered and had been helped into a chair, Gert came and sat down on his haunches in front of her and said: “ My mother, we mustn’t cry, we must be glad! Jesus is coming to fetch me and we must be glad!” In the end it was he who comforted and encouraged his loved ones. Afterwards he gave his Bible, which he regarded as his greatest treasure, to his mother. She told me afterwards that she could only sit and wonder at his excited and fearless attitude. At about twenty minutes to three Gert was told to get ready to go to the death cell nearest to the gallows. I cannot describe the scene that then took place – as he put his arm around his mother and the other around his sister. They had to part for the last time, never to see each other again on this earth. In the middle of it all he was calm and composed. I joined arms with him and we walked down the passage together to the death-cell. While we walked he sang his best loved chorus.
“Trust in the Lord and don’t despair,
He is a friend so true,
No matter what your troubles are,
Jesus will see you through.”
In the death-cell we sat on the bed and prayed. While I held his hands in mine, I watched carefully to see if there was any signs of nervousness, but he was amazingly calm. “Gert,” I asked, “what shall I tell the young people – is it worth while to chooses Jesus?”
“Yes!- It is worthwhile,” was his firm answer.
When I looked at my watch at about 5 minutes to three to see how much time remained, he laid his hand on his heart, and said with a meaningful smile: “Mr. Kilian, the peace of God is so full here that I feel as if I can spring and jump for joy.” I just want to run there (the gallows).” We sang a few choruses and then he sang one in a clear, bell-like voice alone. One of his last questions was if I was going to hold the funeral service. He was glad when I said I was. We prayed again, and then he said, “Lord, when the rope the other side pulls tight , then I’ll be there with Thee.”
When the executioner arrived we said goodbye, and as Gert walked towards the gallows he sang:
“I can hear my Saviour calling.” It is as if I can still see him walking away from me as he continued to sing. As he came to the words of the chorus: “Where he leads me , I will follow. . .” the scaffold fell and with just one step he stepped from faith to sight – from this vale of tears into the glories of heaven.
The presence of God was such a reality in those moments that everyone throughout the prison and the neighborhood became aware of it. For some of those nearby it was overwhelming. The ghastliness of death was gone and the Cross had triumphed. Job said: “ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: now mine eye seeth thee.” That is also my testimony. I was witness to the triumph of the Cross and I wouldn’t have missed this experience for anything on earth. To see the power of the blood, through the working of the Holy Spirit, carry a saved murderer through the gates, makes these things a great reality.
May the Christ, through Whom Gert du Plessis Lamprecht found LIFE ABUNDANT, give this eternal life to you also.