The Hidden Life of David du Plessis

David Johannes du Plessis was born on the seventh of February in the year 1905 in the rural heart of South Africa. His family belonged to the Dutch Reformed tradition, strict in doctrine yet rich in reverence for Scripture. His father, a farmer and lay preacher, carried the weight of the household with a quiet dignity and a deep sense of the fear of God. His mother's gentleness marked the home with warmth and prayer. Morning and evening the family gathered to read the Word and sing psalms, and those early devotions sank into the boy's spirit like rain upon dry soil.

Yet even in those early years there stirred in young David a hunger for something beyond what he saw around him. The God of the Scriptures seemed near, yet somehow distant from the routine of religion. The stories of the apostles walking in the power of the Spirit burned within him. He longed for a faith that was living, immediate, and full of divine presence.

As a youth he came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior in the midst of a revival that touched his region. The meetings were simple, but the Spirit moved mightily. He never forgot the night when conviction pierced his heart and tears streamed down his face as he yielded himself fully to Christ. From that moment he knew that he must give his whole life to God's service.

He began preaching while still a teenager. His voice was soft yet firm, his words marked by sincerity and love. He spent long hours in the Scriptures, rising early to read before the first light touched the fields. Many of his early sermons were shaped not by education but by prayer. He would often lay his Bible on the ground, kneel before it, and cry, "Lord, teach me what this means." It was in those hours that he first learned that revelation is given not to the wise, but to the humble.

When he heard of the ministry of John G. Lake, whose preaching on divine healing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit had shaken South Africa, he traveled to hear him. That meeting became one of the turning points of his life. Under Lake's ministry he encountered the reality of the Holy Spirit not as doctrine but as life. He was filled with the Spirit in a meeting marked by reverent silence and holy awe. He later said that it felt as though liquid fire flooded his soul and a new power entered his voice. From that day forward, the Holy Spirit became the center of his walk with God.

Through the 1920s and 1930s he served within the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa. He preached holiness, prayer, and the power of the Spirit to transform entire communities. He traveled by train, cart, and foot to reach small towns, sleeping in humble rooms, praying through the nights before each service. The Spirit often came upon those meetings with conviction and joy. He never sought fame or recognition, only obedience to the will of God.

In 1932 he married Anna Duvenage, a woman of quiet strength and deep devotion. Together they formed a ministry partnership that would endure for life. She supported him through every trial, prayed with him through every transition, and shared his burden for revival. Their home became a sanctuary of prayer. Visitors would later testify that to step into their house was to feel peace and warmth that seemed to flow from unseen fellowship with God.

During the difficult years of the 1940s, when global tension and denominational divisions increased, du Plessis withdrew often to pray. He carried in his heart a longing not only for revival among Pentecostals but for renewal across the entire body of Christ. One night while in prayer, he felt the Spirit speak clearly to him. The words were simple yet world-changing: "You will go to My people in all churches and tell them that I love them still." He rose from his knees trembling. The command contradicted the atmosphere of the time. Pentecostals were often despised by other Christians, and many warned him not to reach beyond his circle. But he could not escape the call.

He obeyed quietly, first through private meetings, then through public invitations that opened unexpectedly. In 1947 he left South Africa for Switzerland to attend gatherings of Christian leaders. There he spoke gently of the presence of the Holy Spirit, not as a doctrine to be defended but as a Person to be known. His humility disarmed scholars and ministers who had dismissed Pentecostal experience as fanaticism. Some wept as he spoke of the love of Christ and the tenderness of the Spirit.

In 1948 he settled in the United States, where new opportunities awaited. He was invited to serve with the Assemblies of God and soon became a voice of reconciliation. His ministry expanded across continents, from North America to Europe, from the British Isles to the Pacific. He never argued theology; he bore witness. In great conferences of the World Council of Churches he sat among theologians and bishops, quietly praying as they spoke. When his turn came, he would simply testify, "The Spirit of God is real. He is ready to fill every heart that is hungry."

His approach was revolutionary in its simplicity. He did not attack or condemn. He listened, prayed, and spoke from the overflow of fellowship with God. Many doors that had been closed for decades opened before him. Through these conversations the Spirit began to stir among Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists. In the 1960s and 1970s the charismatic renewal swept through the traditional churches, bringing new worship, prayer groups, and a rediscovery of the gifts of the Spirit. Many of those movements traced their earliest inspiration to the testimony and prayers of David du Plessis.

He endured criticism from within his own denomination. Some accused him of compromise, others of betrayal. He refused to defend himself. He would only smile and say, "The Lord knows who I am." He answered every attack with prayer and forgiveness. In his private journal he wrote, "The Holy Spirit grieves when His children wound each other. I will not grieve Him by fighting those He loves."

He lived with extraordinary simplicity. Fame meant nothing to him. He declined wealth and comfort, preferring to travel light, carrying his worn Bible and a few personal belongings. His joy was to see Christ exalted and the church revived. He believed that the Spirit's presence must always lead to holiness and love. "Power without purity is noise," he often said, "but power with purity is revival."

In his later years his ministry became even more fruitful. He was invited to the Vatican and spoke privately with Catholic leaders who sought to understand the new move of the Spirit among their people. He met with Protestant theologians and Pentecostal pastors alike, always pointing them to the same truth: that the Holy Spirit is the heritage of all who belong to Christ. His gentle voice and radiant peace softened countless hearts.

As he grew older, his body weakened, but his inner man remained strong. He spent his mornings in worship, reading the Psalms aloud, and his afternoons writing letters to those who sought his counsel. He prayed for young ministers by name, urging them to love without prejudice and to keep their hearts tender before God. When asked how he maintained his serenity in the face of misunderstanding, he replied, "I live in the Spirit's presence. There all wounds are healed."

In his final years he rejoiced to see what he had long prayed for—a worldwide awakening of the Spirit across every denomination. The walls that once divided Christians were crumbling under the weight of divine love. He saw in that movement not human success but the fulfillment of God's promise. "The Lord has been faithful," he said. "He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh."

David du Plessis passed into the presence of the Lord on the second of February, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. Those who were with him said that his final hours were filled with quiet praise. He whispered prayers for the church and for his family. His face was calm, his heart at peace. After a lifetime of building bridges and healing wounds, he entered at last into the perfect unity of heaven.