Gqeberha resident Sandra Schmidt, who unexpectedly won a brand-new vehicle, believes the Lord works in mysterious ways.
“He doesn’t always give you what you want; he gives you what you need,” she said, still fighting an overwhelming sense of disbelief after being gifted a Hyundai Atos recently.
As it turned out, the new car could not have come at a better time for her and, ironically, it will be a case of replacing like with like having driven a Hyundai I20 for the past 11 years.
“When I bought that car, I went to the West Coast in the Western Cape to get it because, at the time, I couldn’t find the model that I wanted in PE,” she said.
“I particularly wanted a 1600cc engine and it’s a car that has served me very well for more than 10 years. I love it to bits and found it economical, with enough boot space.”
As the vehicle was getting older, she had been in the market for a new one – until unforeseen expenses in the complex where she lives forced her to shelve that idea in lieu of an ill-expected and rather sizeable special levy.
“I thought it was time for an upgrade but when this issue cropped up at the complex, I thought, ‘Ok, I don’t know when that is going to happen’.”
Schmidt, from Parsons Hill, was the lucky recipient of the vehicle from thousands of entries in a win-a-car competition – with Kelston Motor Group supplying the grand prize.
Her name was one of eight finalists drawn from the entries delivered to 21 Kelston dealerships around the Eastern Cape.
After her name had been drawn from the boot of the new vehicle, she received a call to share the exciting news.
“I can tell you, when I was phoned on the Tuesday morning, I asked, ‘Are you serious?’. The lady said ‘yes’, and I really couldn’t believe it,” said Schmidt.
“I actually started crying and when we ended the call, I went down on my knees and said, ‘Thank you Lord’.”
She then phoned a friend to tell her about her good fortune, but disbelief at the competition outcome still flowed through her.
“I said to my friend she must just keep quiet about this, and then I phoned the lady back and I asked, ‘Is this for real?’.
“I mean I couldn’t believe my luck,” said Schmidt, especially since she only delivered her entry on the final day. “The box was so full where I put my entry in that it was overflowing.
“In fact, there was one gentleman who had crumpled his entry form to get it in and I thought ‘oh my goodness, that was the only crumpled one so they are going to draw his ticket’.
Because things had been rather busy at the complex, she said she didn’t even think about the draw.
“And then Tuesday morning happened,” said Schmidt, who is currently doing duty as the chairperson of the trustees.
“I actually am not someone who enters competitions. The last one I entered when I won three leather chairs was many years ago.
“This was something that I never expected.”
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