GENDER+:
Christ-Centred Sexuality
By Ennrich Kritzginer
Md publishing. 169 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 1 910 786 222
This is a remarkable autobiography which tells the story of a white South African gay man’s journey to Christ.
Ennrich was born into a white South African family. His father had an affair and left home and, after his mother married again, Ennrich was sexually abused by his step-brother. After his step-father also committed adultery, Ennrich was sent to boarding school, where he began having sexual relations with another boy. A subsequent career as a hair stylist embedded Ennrich in a gay lifestyle.
Praying Grandmother
All this time God was at work in Ennrich’s life. He had a godly grandmother constantly praying for him. He suffered betrayal by Jules, a long-term partner, and had a sober awaking with an HIV scare, which turned out to be a false alarm. In his mid-20s, his life began to change when Eddy, one of his hair salon clients, shared Christ with him, both in word and action. ‘He had no shame in sharing his love for God, like some of my other religious clients but he was somehow not like the rest … he was so free, and not freaked out by me like some of the other Christians I knew’.
Eventually, in May 1996, through Eddy’s consistent and patient witness, as Ennrich expressed it: ‘I met Jesus. He has become my friend.’
The last third of the book tells of how Ennrich met and eventually married his wife Samantha – a medical doctor with whom he eventually left South Africa.They moved to Dewsbury and then to Harrogate. He subsequently left full-time hair styling to train for Christian ministry and now runs Gender+ – a Christian outreach ‘to help those with gender and sexuality issues’. The final chapter declares: ‘It is only by the blood of Jesus that sins are forgiven, hearts are healed and people are freed up from whatever mind-set they are in.’ Ennrich’s story certainly bears out this truth and the book is a useful resource for those struggling with homosexual desire.
