What About Bob?

Arrival in Egypt

   Jeremy and I departed Nairobi at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday and arrived in Cairo at 2:30 a.m. on Friday. We exchanged enough money to pay for the taxi to get us to the hotel. A large tour group was departing the hotel as we arrived, so we had to wait for them to do some cleaning before we could get into our room. It was nearly 4:30 before we finally got to bed.

   My purpose for going to Cairo was to meet a young man that I had been studying with on the internet for a few months. Since I’m publishing this report, plus putting it on my blog on the internet, I will not use his true name. We will only use his nickname, Totti, which is the name of one of his favorite soccer players. Totti had completed two Bible correspondence courses and had many more questions that he wanted answered. He is not allowed to own a Bible, so he has to read the scriptures on the internet. He had expressed his desire to be baptized for the remission of his sins, but he had been unable to find anyone in Cairo who could or would baptize him. His father is a radical Muslim and had warned that if he tried to convert to Christianity that he would have him killed.  Totti believes that his father is that extreme and would carry out the threat if he knew of his interest in following Jesus.  Several of us had the desire of assisting Totti in obeying the gospel and agreed that whoever could get to him first would assist with the baptism.

   The evening before we arrived, Don Patton had arrived in Cairo with a tour group that he was leading. Totti was able to meet them at their hotel and Don baptized him in the hotel’s swimming pool.   Problems began for Totti almost immediately after his baptism. The Americans were going to their rooms for sleep, but Totti had to walk to the subway in his wet clothes. The security man at the hotel stopped him and started questioning him about why he was at the hotel, why he had been with the Americans, and why his clothes were wet. Totti was in strong fear that he would be turned over to the police and questioned further, but he was eventually released.

   We had previously made the arrangement that he would meet me at my hotel at 10:00 a.m.  He didn’t show up at 10:00, so I waited and waited.  The clock passed 12:00 and then 2:00 and then 4:00.  With the passing of each hour, I was getting more and more concerned for his well being. I checked his Facebook page, knowing that he normally gets on the internet many times each day, but saw that he had not been online for the past twelve hours. I was really starting to get concerned. I started sending e-mails to anyone who might know of his whereabouts.  I got an e-mail from Don, telling me about the run-in with the security officer, so that made me even more concerned.  Finally, at about 6:00 p.m., Totti contacted us at the hotel. He had been in bed all day with a fever. Walking home in the wet clothes had made him sick.  He was very apologetic for not keeping the appointment and asked if he could come to the hotel at that hour.  We were so relieved to know that he was okay and it was a joy to spend the evening with him.

   Our four days together were most enjoyable. I had taken Totti some books, but he was too scared to keep them.  He held them like a child with a toy and would clutch them to his chest and say, “Oh, I wish I could keep these.” He was especially interested in Daily Bible Reader by Don Bassett and the book on The Early Church by Ferrell Jenkins. He said he just couldn’t take the risk of being caught with these books.  I agreed to type certain sections of these books into our private messages and he could study them in our e-mails.

   Sunday was one of the most emotional days that I’ve experienced for a long, long time. We had a good Bible study and I showed him a small video on crucifixion. We talked about one member being a Christian and several Christians can comprise a church. We talked about the items of worship and prepared ourselves to partake of the Lord’s supper. When Totti broke the bread and started eating it, he broke into tears. He kept repeating, “I just can’t imagine why he would want to die for me.” His emotions were so strong that we had to pause for a few minutes between the bread and the juice. The saddest words of the day were when he said, “But next week I won’t be able to do this because I don’t have another Christian to meet with.”

   We were able to spend some good quality time with each other. He would come with a new list of questions each day. We were able to visit the pyramids together one day and take a small ride down the Nile on another day. It was very hard to say good-bye to him. We stood beside the Nile River and embraced each other. His departing words were, “Please come again and please pray for me daily.” I encourage all of you to lift his name to the Father, too.

A Return Trip

   When I left Kenya in 2007, the brethren made me promise that I would return for more classes, if it was the Lord’s will. I was able to work a trip into this year’s schedule. We planned classes for several of the same areas where we had worked before, but we also added some new locations.

Travel Companions

   I invited Rob & Cheryl Buchanan, from South Africa, to accompany me on this trip. We have worked together on many different occasions, in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and on my last trip into Kenya. They know many of the brethren and are aware of some of the needs and some of the problems in Kenya. Rob assisted with the teaching for the adults, plus the preacher-training classes. Cheryl assisted with classes for the women and children.

   I also invited Jeremy Jones, a college student from Indiana, to travel with us. Jeremy is a graduate of Florida College, having studied speech, liberal arts, and Bible. He has worked in three different preacher-training programs in recent years, to help prepare him to work as a gospel preacher. He will be moving to Sioux St. Marie, Michigan, in January to begin working with the church there. Jeremy is a good student, well disciplined in his studies, and shows a great interest in brethren.

Our Arrival

   We all arrived into Kenya on different flights, so we met up at the airport in Nairobi. Henry Ogutu arrived on a bus from western Kenya. Wilson Njagua and Jack Muchemi drove the van we rented from Nyeri. We were able to receive all of our luggage, load into the van, and start the journey from Nairobi to Nyeri. The temperatures had dropped in recent days, due to the rains every night. The jacaranda trees were dropping their purple blooms on the city streets, making a lovely carpet for us to drive on.

   The drive from Nairobi to Nyeri was about three hours. We drove to the Green Edges Apartments, where we had reserved a two-bedroom unit. It was equipped with a stove, refrigerator and microwave, so we were able to prepare our own meals.  As soon as we unloaded the van, we drove to the store to do our shopping. We then came back to the apartment and prepared our first meal together. Cheryl and I had volunteered to do kitchen duties. After eating, all of us confessed to being tired. The pitter-patter of the rain on the roof helped to put us to sleep rather quickly.

Visiting Karatina

   During the ’07 trip, I was able to visit the church in Karatina (about 45 minutes from Nyeri) for one Sunday. Rob was not able to meet these brethren, because we had split up on that Lord’s day and he preached in another location. I was really impressed with this church and told Rob that I wanted him to meet these good brethren. They had asked that we schedule two days with them for this year’s trip.

   The church in Karatina rents a small building behind some shops. This allows them to use the building nearly every day of the week for numerous Bible classes. This church has a very interesting history. The church was started in 1991, by some American missionaries. They worked together for almost ten years. During the early years, the missionaries did some good teaching and emphasized the need to have Bible authority for all that you do in religion. The brethren in Karatina became good students and developed a strong respect for Bible authority. As the American missionaries would return to the U.S. and then return to Kenya in a couple of years, the Karatina brethren started questioning some of the new and different actions and teachings they were seeing among the foreigners (dancing while singing, hand-clapping during worship, women taking a leading role in worship, denominational language, etc.). When the Americans were approached about this, they would not change. The brethren in Karatina made the decision to break away from the foreigners and meet as an independent, autonomous congregation. Today, seven of the men take turns in the preaching. Duncan Wanjeru answers all of the e-mails for the church, but he is quick to let you know that he has no power to make any decisions for the church. Nothing is done until it is discussed and agreed upon by all members of the congregation. The men have two meetings a month to discuss church matters. They have kept a list of every sermon that has ever been preached and every Bible class that has ever been taught. This helps them to see what needs to be taught in the future. They have also carefully recorded every baptism and the attendance of all members.  If one is not at services on Sunday, then men will visit you to find out why you were absent.  They do a great job in caring for each other and encouraging each other to faithfulness.  These brethren don’t want any error brought into the congregation.  I had taken several books to distribute among the seven men who preach. They asked me to put them in a box and they would be reviewed at the next business meeting.  They feared that I would be offended in this action. I explained that I rejoice to see them being so careful about what is being presented to them.

   On Saturday, we had classes from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Rob taught classes from the book of Ephesians.  Jeremy taught classes from Jonah and 1 Peter. I taught classes on the prison epistles. In the afternoon, we divided the men and women. Cheryl went with the ladies to Duncan’s home, where his wife had volunteered to translate for Cheryl. She taught classes on husband/wife relationships and child rearing.

   On Sunday, I taught a class on “Three Men Described in Third John.” Jeremy taught a class on “Elijah vs. Baal.” Rob continued his studies in Ephesians. One of the things that greatly impressed us on Sunday was a 98-year-old lady that walked about 6 miles to get to the worship services. She arrived a bit late and apologized to the congregation for her delay. She has to leave her home at 7:00 a.m. in order to get to the building. Because of the evening rains, the road was muddy and slippery, so she couldn’t walk as fast. I wonder how many folks in America would do that.

   The brethren at Karatina were a real encouragement to us. They asked if we could not make it a week’s worth of teaching on the next trip.

Leadership-Development

    We scheduled four days for classes in Nyeri for preacher-training and/or leadership-development classes. Brethren came from many different congregations. We rented a large tent and erected it in the yard of our apartment complex. We had about 36 students for these classes.  We had several sessions, where everyone was together under the tent.  We then had several classes, where we kept the men at the tent and Cheryl took the ladies to the apartment for classes.

   I taught the first class on Bible Geography in the morning and multiple topics in the afternoon. Rob taught on Hebrews in the morning and Hosea in the afternoon.  Jeremy taught the book of Galatians in the morning and varied subjects in the afternoon. The attendance was pretty consistent for all days, with the exception of a larger number on Tuesday since this was a national holiday. On our second day, we had a special visitor for the classes, Samuel. He lived in the neighborhood and did some work for Esther, the owner of the apartments. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, but was really desirous of learning the Bible stories. He asked many good questions and stated that he wanted to continue studying with Wilson and Jack after we would leave.

God’s Providence At Work

   We were scheduled to visit the church in Nyahururu (about 60 miles north of Nyeri, just slightly above the equator) for classes on Friday. Jack received a call from one of the members on Thursday to state that these classes were canceled. We tried to find out why the classes were first scheduled and then canceled. We learned that it goes back to a nasty division that took place in Nyeri in 2000. The Nyeri Church had withdrawn from their preacher, after Jack, Henry, Wilson, and others had charged him with immorality and later deserting his wife. He was then accused of taking up with several other women, while he was still married. The preacher charged these men of lying and the unity among the brethren was destroyed, as churches took sides on whether or not this brother was faithful. The preacher has since remarried and has a child by this woman. Many of the brethren have questioned as to whether or not he was even divorced from his first wife, but even if he was divorced they then questioned on what grounds he thought he could remarry. Many of the brethren charge that he took his wife back to her father and said he didn’t want her any more. Rob & I met with the wife and later with her father. The wife argues that she was never charged with any sin and was never given any divorce papers. She asked the court to either force him to bring her back to her home or to divorce her so she could receive alimony from him. He wanted to do neither of these. All of this has greatly harmed the Lord’s work in Kenya and destroyed the unity that once existed. It seems that this preacher has tried to force churches to take sides. Nyahururu sided with him and canceled our classes.

   We were very saddened by the cancelation of the classes, but we learned that it may have been God’s providence at work. After the classes were canceled, Jack received a phone call from another one of the members and asked what this was all about. He said he wanted classes to be held. Since the church would not welcome us, he said he and his family were inviting us to his house. It proved to be an exciting day. He invited many of his neighbors to his home for several hours of classes. There were about 22 who showed up for the classes. One of these men is a “pastor” of a Pentecostal church. Rob, Jeremy and I all taught classes. Rob taught a lesson called, “Ask For the Old Paths.” I taught on “Divisions in the Church.” I’ve had few classes where I thought the students were any more attentive or honest. The men had many questions about biblical authority, the plan of salvation, and worship. They said they wanted to leave the denominations and help restore the Lord’s church. They asked for more classes, so Jack volunteered to follow up with them in future classes. The men had many more questions, but we had to cut the classes short as they had to go to a funeral in the area. Jack received a phone call later on from this preacher telling him they continued discussing what they had learned that morning and they will continue studying together. We were also impressed with one of the women who wrote down just about everything we said in the class. She must have written 20 or more pages of notes. I pray that much good will come from this effort.

   We left Nyahururu and drove south of the equator and back to Nyeri. We went to Jack’s house for classes that he had arranged with some friends and neighbors. We filled up his living room, plus had some sitting outside the front door. One man asked a number of questions and seemed to go back to the same subject time and again. I tried to answer all of his questions and he eventually seemed satisfied and then left. We were about to leave when another neighbor arrived and apologized for being late. Her name is Ann and she is a member of the Anglican Church. She asked a number of good questions and in the end said she had not had this type of teaching before. I tried to explain the difference in reforming the church and restoring the church. She said she had never understood how we could restore the church as we read it in the Bible. She promised that she would be at services the following Sunday. Jack is excited at these new prospects.

North of the Equator Again

   On Saturday, we drove north of the equator again to Marura. When we visited with this congregation two years ago it only consisted of one man, Joseph, and his wife. Joseph supports himself by selling used jackets and sports coats on the streets. He had asked us in ’07 for help to erect a church building, but we told him he needed to concentrate on preaching the gospel, making new converts, and then see what would happen. Well, he did just that and there have been several new converts. They are now renting a building for their services and attendance averages about 8 each week. We were impressed with the growth of this congregation. I preached a lesson on “Why Should I Obey God?” Rob had a lesson on “By What Authority Do You Do This?” Jeremy had a lesson on “Lessons from the Rich Young Ruler.”

   When we ended our classes in Marura, we then drove to Nanyuki and met with the brethren who meet at a school in the area. This congregation is made up of 15 members. Rob did a lesson on “Eli Being Soft on Sin.” Jeremy did a lesson on “Righteousness, Self-Control and Judgment.” I did a lesson on “The Inspiration of God.” The brethren were interested in more studies, so they invited us to return and stay with them longer the next time. On our way back to Nyeri, we stopped at a shop owned by one of the brethren. She told us more about the congregation in Nanyuki. She said her son helps in the preaching, but another preacher comes a time or two just before some of the American preachers are planning a trip to Kenya. She was concerned about outside influences in their local congregation.

A Busy Sunday  

   On Sunday morning, we split into several teams. Wilson drove to preach at the Mukerwe-ini congregation. Rob, Cheryl, and Jeremy went to worship with the Nyeri congregation and I went with Jack to the Gatitu congregation. There were 31 in attendance at Nyeri. The brethren had arranged for Cheryl to teach a class for the children, while the men could raise questions for Rob and Jeremy to answer. Many of the men’s questions dealt with God’s plan for marriage. In Africa, there is what they call a “traditional” marriage that can lead to fornication if the dowry is not completely paid. If part of the dowry is paid, the couple will be allowed to live together but not as man and wife. Rob explained that this was not a marriage in God’s sight and not even accepted as marriage in their villages. Rob told them that Christians must do what is right in the sight of God and the laws of the country they live in. The men agreed that this is what should be taught to everyone. Cheryl’s class for the children was on “The Tower of Babel.” Jeremy taught a Bible class on “Jesus’ Triumphant Entry.” Rob preached a sermon on “How To Ruin Your Influence.”

   As Wilson was on his way to the Mukerwe-ini congregation, he dropped me off at the building for the Gatitu church. My visit with this congregation was a wonderful period of study and worship. We had about 25 in attendance, including Samuel and Ann, our two new contacts from the week. I taught a lesson on “The Three Dispensations” and tried to give a quick overview of the whole Bible. When it came time for us to partake of the Lord’s Supper, the young man that was going to help serve said he first wanted to apologize to the church for being late in arriving at services. He asked the brethren to forgive him and offer a prayer for him that he would do better in the future. At the end of services, after the final song and prayer, there was the opportunity for anyone to say anything they wanted to. Our two visitors were the first to speak. Samuel said he wanted to express his thanks for the lesson and the help in showing him the differences in the denominational teachings and the true Word of God. Ann said it is now her prayer that she can help to restore the Lord’s church in Kenya and break away from denominational doctrines. Lucy, a member of the Baptist Church, explained that she was simply walking down the road and met one of the sisters in the church, who invited her to join her for worship. She explained that she had never visited a church of Christ before, but was happy that God had led her here today. She said, “I’ve never learned many of these things before. I will come again. I can see that you love the Truth. I never want to sing again with the beating of the drums. I want to be taught more.” Jack promised that he would gladly set up many studies with her. It was truly a wonderful period of study and worship.

   After our services at Gatitu, Wilson came back by the building and drove me and Jack back to the apartment to meet Rob, Cheryl, and Jeremy. We were able to have our lunch together at the apartment and then drove out to Kagonya, about 12 miles out of town, where Elijah Mutuguti preaches. These brethren had assembled for their worship in the morning, but we had about 45 people present for the afternoon classes. Rob taught on “The Book of Jude” and I did a lesson on “The Gods of Egypt vs. Jehovah.”

A Visit in Mwea

   Mwea is about 50 miles from Nyeri. When we visited with them in 2007, there were only about eight members. The brethren have worked hard in teaching their neighbors and have witnessed several converts. Their congregation now has about twenty members. They meet in a corner building next to some shops. We set up the PowerPoint projector and had about sixty people for the classes. I did a lesson on “Genesis 1:1.” Rob did a lesson on “Selling Our Birthright.” Jeremy did a lesson on “Joy in Philippians.” The local deputy chief and his helper, along with his wife, were in attendance and were interested in asking many questions about the lessons. Many others stood outside the building to listen to the lessons. Elijah visits these brethren twice a month to teach in this area and it is bearing fruit. We were scheduled to have a late afternoon open-air meeting in the street, but it started raining towards the end of the last lesson. We said our good-byes and headed on back to Nyeri after the last lesson.

A Visit in Mukerwe-ini

   Mukurwe-ini is only about twelve miles south of Nyeri, but the dirt roads make it very slow in travel. When we visited with these brethren in 2007, there were only three women as members. One of the sweet sisters, in her late nineties, died shortly after our visit in ‘07. Wilson has been able to have many classes on the mountaintop, resulting in several new converts. The membership has now grown to eight, with two men attending faithfully and taking a leadership role. They have now rented a small building next to a school. As we were waiting for the brethren to arrive, I walked over to the fence and started talking with several of the students, who were on a ten-minute break. They asked if I would be willing to come to the classroom and meet their teachers. I was taken to the office to meet the equivalent of our school principal. She asked if I would be willing to teach their Christian Education Instruction class. She wanted me to teach “The Beatitudes.” This was an opportunity that I never get here in the States. After I had been teaching for about thirty minutes, the principal sent a student back to the fence to get Rob, Cheryl and Jeremy. I continued teaching the 7^th & 8^th grade students. They took Rob & Cheryl into the 6^th grade class. Rob taught on the creation and Cain and Abel. Once that the principal learned that Cheryl teaches students  in a Saturday class at a rural school in South Africa on how to read, write and speak in English, she was asked to give them a quick English lesson, using the Bible as their textbook. All of us enjoyed the time with these students and accepted their invitation to come again in the future. We then walked back over to the church building and met the brethren who had arrived by this time. I taught a class on “The Difference Between Knowledge and Wisdom.” We had a good class, answered several of their questions and then ate lunch with these brethren.

   After lunch, we then went to a home, where several members of the Gatitu congregation had assembled for a Bible class. Helen, a teenager who lives with Jack and his wife during the week in order to attend school in the city, and her mother invited about 18of their neighbors to listen to the lessons. Jeremy gave a lesson on “Acts 17.” Rob then gave a lesson on “Doctrines of Men.” One lady wanted to study further, explaining that she was a Roman Catholic and could see that part of her doctrine was from men. Jack and Wilson agreed to set up a class with her and we are hopeful that she will be responsive to the truth. We were very impressed with the zeal that these brethren have for the teaching their friends the gospel.

Our Final Day of Classes

   On Wednesday, we drove to the home of Stephen, Wilson’s father. He was not a Christian on our ’07 trip. As a new convert, he is really interested in trying to teach all of his friends and neighbors. He invited about 12 people to his home for these classes. There were many good questions after the classes. Some interest was shown for future classes, so we are hopeful that Wilson will be able to set up more classes with them in the future.

   For our final dinner in Kenya, Esther asked if she could prepare us some authentic Kenyan dishes. We enjoyed her hospitality and got to know her a bit better. She is a devout Roman Catholic and invites ladies to her home each afternoon for prayer. We are hoping that our new friendship with her will lead to future classes to show her the gospel.

Departure From Kenya

   On Thursday, Wilson and Jack drove us back to the Nairobi airport to catch our respective flights. Rob and Cheryl flew back to South Africa and Jeremy & I flew to Cairo, Egypt, where we would be studying with a young man that I had been studying with on the internet.

Home Safely

By the grace of God, I have safely returned from my ninth trip to Zimbabwe. I have truly grown to love these brethren over the years and appreciate their steadfast stand for Truth. I’m happy to report that a few things are better than what I found in the country last November, but it still has a long way to go before things are restored to normal.

My Travel Companion

I invited Robin Bauer to accompany me on this trip. He is a native of Zimbabwe, but has been living in Cape Town, South Africa, for many years. He had been anxious to return to his homeland and to assist in Bible teaching. I’ve worked with Robin on several occasions in South Africa, so it was a double treat to work with him again and to be with him as he returned “home” for a few days. He drove from Cape Town to Johannesburg, in order to visit with some of the brethren he hadn’t seen there for a while.

With the recent merger of Northwest and Delta Airlines, there is now a non-stop flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg. It is a long and tiring 15-hour flight. It was good to finally get off the plane and stretch my legs. My luggage arrived safely and I was met in the airport by Fred Liggin and Robin Bauer. Fred is an American who is married to a South African lady. They live in Johannesburg and work with two churches in the city. I’ve grown to love them and appreciate their labors in the kingdom. We drove to Fred and Pearl’s house, had a wonderful meal, and was able to visit for a while before getting into bed at about midnight.

Entering Zimbabwe

On Friday morning, we departed Johannesburg at 6:15. We stopped in the town of Louis Trichardt to fill up the car and all of our gasoline cans, not knowing whether or not gasoline would be available in Zim. We also bought lots of groceries and bottled water. We arrived at Beit Bridge at 2:15. We completed the check points on the South Africa side in thirty minutes. We then entered the Zimbabwe side and things were much slower. I had to buy a visa; Robin gets in free. We then had to pay for the toll across the bridge, something they call a carbon tax, and then to buy third-party insurance. All of this took us about 1½ hours, but we were eventually on our way.

Current Conditions in Zim

Shortly after entering Zim, we stopped at a rest area that had a gas station, grocery store, restaurant, and toilets. I immediately noticed so many changes from when I was here last November. The highways are now busy with lots of traffic, something that was missing last year because of no gasoline. The shelves in the grocery store are now full of food.  Last year, these same shelves were empty. The major difference, however, is that there is no longer any Zimbabwe money. The government took their currency out of circulation. Everything must now be purchased with foreign currency, either South Africa rand or the U.S. dollar. Now how is someone in a rural village going to get their hands on foreign currency?  Yes, food is available, but it is usually being purchased by the higher class on the economic scale.

Benevolence

When I was here last November, I helped many brethren buy seed corn. Les Maydell, a preacher in South Africa, has been handling some benevolent funds from America and has worked with many churches to help supply their needs. Most regions were blessed with good rains in November and December and the crops have done well. Even before I arrived in Zimbabwe, I had received an e-mail to inform me that 19 churches were stating that they were now sufficiently being taken care and the benevolent help that has been sent to them the past year could stop. Shortly after arriving in Bulawayo, two good sisters came to me and wanted to express their thanks for the food parcels they have received from U.S. brethren this past year. One of the widow ladies said, “Those boxes helped to keep us alive during the days that we had nothing. There was no food on the supermarket shelves and we had nowhere to turn. The parcels we received from our American brothers and sisters helped to feed us during these destitute times. The markets now have food and we can now take care of ourselves. We want you to send our deep, deep THANKS to the brethren who helped us, but ask them to now turn their benevolence to other areas.” I feel safe in now recommending that the aid going to addresses in Binga, Victoria Falls, and/or Bulawayo can either stop or at least slow down. Some may want to continue some of the parcels going to these addresses, but I feel we can now start weaning them from the regular shipments. The only exception to this would be those brethren in south Gwanda. Just as their crops were getting large, a herd of elephants came into their area and destroyed everything they had planted. It will now take several months to replant and get the vegetation up and growing for future harvest. These brethren will still need aid for several more months.

Arriving in Bulawayo

We arrived in Bulawayo at about 8:15 in the evening. We stopped at a restaurant to get something to eat and called Bruce Mtigwe. He came to the restaurant to direct us to his house. When we arrived at his house, there was no electricity. We soon learned that this is the norm for Zimbabwe. One never knows when you will have power. One day it may be on for the whole day, the next day it may be for half the day, the next day it may be for two hours, and the next day it may never be turned on. The government is rationing the electricity and the citizens never know when they will have the power. It is sometimes only turned on from 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.  Many of the ladies told me they go to bed with their bedroom light turn on. If the power comes on during the night, they will get up in order to cook some food, do the laundry, and iron their clothes. It’s a sad way to live, but they are adjusting to it.

We spent Saturday with Bruce, Nancy and the children. We had many things to discuss and had a wonderful visit with all of them. That evening, we moved to home of George and Jennie Edy. One could not find a more loving, congenial and hospital couple than this couple. When we arrived, their house was without electricity. We were able to visit by candle light and the power came on after about an hour. We were able to hurriedly work together and prepare our meal before the power went off again.

Three Churches on Sunday

We woke up to a very beautiful Lord’s Day morning. We got our showers at about 6:30 and had breakfast at about 7:30. George and Jennie went to their services at Hillside at 9:00, while Robin and I drove to the south end of town to meet Bruce, Nancy and the children at the Queen’s Park Church. Newman Gumpo preaches for these brethren every Sunday morning. He then goes to his “home” congregation at Kensington for afternoon services. The brethren at Queen’s Park had asked Robin to teach the Bible class and for me to deliver the sermon. There were about sixty in attendance. I taught a lesson, asking the question, “What Are You Worth?”  It seems that too many people determine “worth” by your education, your finances, the color of skin, or some other irrelevant issue. I tried to show that we are made in God’s image and when we become Christians that God adopts us into His family. The great Creator of the world is our Father and we should hold our head up high and understand our true worth. I felt the lesson was well received.

The building at Queen’s Park is really starting to show its age. The baptistery has several large cracks, so the brethren have had to drain the water. The roof has many leaks and several windows have been broken. On some trip in the future, I’d like to take a few good carpenters, plumbers and electricians with me and turn it into as much of a benevolent trip as an evangelistic trip. I’ve seen many buildings that need lots of repair.

After our worship at Queen’s Park, we went back to Bruce and Nancy’s for lunch. We then drove to Kensington for their afternoon services. They have just recently knocked out a wall and extended the size of their auditorium in order to accommodate some extra pews. They now need to patch many holes in the roof and they’ll be in pretty good shape. Attendance was 86. Robin preached a lesson from Romans 12:1-2. Both of these churches have a tradition that I really love. At the end of services, after the final prayer and announcements, one of the men will start leading a song. As everyone joins in the singing, he will then walk down the aisle and exit the building. One by one, the members will exit the building, continuing to sing this song. The song leader stands right next to the door. The first person out the door will shake his hand and then stand beside him. The next person out will shake the hands of both of them and then stand next to the last one in the line. One by one, they continue this until everyone has exited the building and shaken hands with everyone who was at worship. No one will leave the property until they have greeted everyone in attendance. These brethren have come to realize that it is very possible that someone present today may be dead before the assembly next week. They really understand the words, “May God be with you until we meet again.” After services at both place, we visited with the brethren for a few minutes, talked about the food boxes many of them were receiving from American Christians, and made a few photographs.

At 5:00 p.m., we attended the evening worship with the Hillside Church. There are two churches that use the same building. For lack of better terms, we simply refer to them as the Hillside Morning Church and the Hillside Afternoon Church. The morning group conducts their services in English. The afternoon church conducts their services in their native tongue. There is seldom electricity, so both groups try to set times to allow them to see their Bibles and songbooks with the sunlight coming through the windows. The morning church then assembles again in the evening. I was asked to preach for them, so I gave a lesson on “Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?”  With so many horrible things that have happened in their country in the past year, many of the brethren have been wrestling with this question.  I hope the sermon helped to settle their minds. A bad thing happening to them does not mean that they have done something wrong. After worship, we went back to Bruce and Nancy’s for tea and then made it “home” the Edy’s house for a hot bowl of spinach soup.

Preacher-Training Classes

On my previous trips, I did lots of driving in order to visit as many churches as possible. Not knowing for sure whether or not gasoline would be available for us in Zim this year, we planned things completely different this year. Robin and I decided to invite the preachers to come to one central location for extensive classes, rather than us going to all of the various congregations.  We felt that if we could teach special classes for the preachers and give them books and study materials to take home with them, then we could cover more material in a shorter period of time. I was given a few donations from individuals, not churches, to help me with many of the expenses. I sent out many invitations to preachers (young and old) that I’ve worked with in the past. I explained that I was renting a guest house, where we could have a large class room, a dining room, and sleeping quarters. I explained that I would provide their lodging and meals, but they were responsible for their own transportation.  The lack of transportation money prohibited some from being able to attend the classes, but I simply didn’t have enough money to pay for everything. Robin and I stayed at the guest house with the students. Some came only for the classes during the day and then returned to their home for the evening.  Others came from some great distances, so they accepted our invitation to sleep at the guest house. We placed 4-6 students per room for the sleeping arrangements. We all shared a common bathroom down the hall. I also took some of the funds that had been donated and hired a local lady to help with the cooking and cleaning. I would often teach the earlier classes and when I turned it over to Robin, I would then run to the kitchen to help prepare lunch.

We provided a bowl of porridge, with bread and tea, for breakfast. For lunch, we provided chicken, cabbage, and mealie meal. For supper, we provided beef stew, bitter greens, and mealie meal. The men expressed their appreciation for the meals on many occasions. We had 35 students in our classes. They came from Harare, Gwanda, Binga, Victoria Falls, plus many churches all around Bulawayo. My invitation had explained that this was going to be conducted like a school. I warned them that they should not attend unless they were prepared to work hard. We had classes from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. We would then eat our supper and the students would then do their homework for the night. In five days, we conducted 28 classes. We taught Bible History. Bible Geography, Prison Epistles, 1 Corinthians, Study Methods, Acts of the Apostles, Life of Paul, James, Jude, and several topical studies. In the evenings, they would gather in the large room and work together on various projects. Since there was no heat in the building, many of them would wear their coats, hats and gloves in the evening. Understand that July is there winter month. It is warm during the day, but it gets very cool in the evening. On a couple of the evenings, after all homework was finished, we would have a hymn singing. This had to be done by candlelight.

During one of our afternoon breaks, one of the young preachers asked if it would be permissible to ask my age. When I told him that I was 62 years old, he expressed his shock. The average life span for a man in Zimbabwe is between 45-50.

Sad News

At the start of classes on Monday morning, Bigboy Dube arrived with several students from Gwanda. He explained that he was going to be unable to stay for the classes. His mother was removing a pot of boiling water from the fire in the yard and the handle broke, spilling all of the boiling water on her leg. Bigboy explained that he needed to return to care for his mother. He didn’t have the money to take her to the doctor or get the ointment needed for severe burns.  I gave him some money from the funds that had been given to me from American brethren, with the instructions that I use this at my own discretion. I was thrilled to be able to help in this emergency.

Working in Binga

We ended our classes in Bulawayo at noon on Friday. After eating their lunch, the students took off in their different directions. One of the older preachers said, “I’ve always tried to be a good teacher, but I’ve had few chances where I get to be the student. I have really enjoyed these classes. I’ve learned much. I hope you will do this again for all of us next year.”

After the students left, we went with Peter Mudenda to the vegetable market in order to buy supplies for our meetings in Binga, one of the poorer regions of Zimbabwe. We tried to get a discount by buying in bulk. We filled up the trailer with heads of cabbage. We then loaded the back of the van with tomatoes, onions, cooking oil and salt. The drive from Bulawayo to Binga is about 4½ hours. It was dark by the time we got to the lodge where we would sleep. The lodge is next to a large lake and one can hear the grunts of the hippo at night. The registration cottage has a sign that warns: “Beware of Hippos.” The sky above us was lovely and filled with stars, more stars than we normally get to see in the areas where we have several lights around us. It was lovely. All three of us shared one cottage. We were able to get checked in, get a shower, and get a good night’s sleep.

On Saturday morning, we got up at 6:30 and had our breakfast at the lodge at 7:00. We then drove to the site where the brethren had planned our classes. Many of them had walked 4-5 hours to get to the site. They all slept on the sand, some with blankets and some just sleeping in their clothes. There was no church building. The brethren were assembling under a large tree. They had cut many branches and made some crude pews for the men. Most of the ladies preferred to sit on mats on the ground. The scrap wood from the pews was used for building cooking fires. Many of them had gathered on Friday night and had their first Bible study and prayer meeting. The attendance for the first session, without any special teachers being present, was 305. Peter worked as translator for Robin and me both. He always does an excellent job. The brethren are there to study, so they don’t limit us on our time. Each class is generally 1½ to 2 hours long. We conducted four classes and then stopped for lunch. I used some of the American funds and bought a cow from one of the neighbors. We slaughtered the cow and cut it into pieces, knowing how much could be used for each meal. Refrigeration was not an option, so the men just hung the slabs of beef in the trees. After a couple of days, it was really starting to get tender from the heat. That’s when I stopped eating beef. We continued classes in the afternoon until just an hour or so before dark. The preachers wanted to eat their supper before it got dark. We learned last year that if we wait until it gets dark to eat that we can’t tell who is getting in line. Last year, many of the neighbors snuck into the lines to eat, although they didn’t attend any of the Bible classes.

Our Sunday in Binga was an awesome day. We had been told that we would not have our worship and eat the Lord’s Supper until the afternoon, but we would have many classes during the morning. Robin started the day with a class on “Consider the Ant, Thou Sluggard.” I followed with a lesson on “Open Rebuke is Better Than Secret Love.” Robin taught the next class on “Fruit of the Spirit.” While he was teaching this class, I had to take the corn to the mill to have it ground. I took three men with me to help with the grinding. Things were going great for the first hour and then the machine broke. We had to get a man to make some repairs before we could finish our grinding. By the time we finished and got back to the site, it was time to begin our worship. Robin and I both taught a lesson during our worship period. The good news is that our attendance was 365. The sad news is that we didn’t have enough grape juice for everyone to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Everyone was able to break the break, but Peter gave an apology for running out of juice. Some of the churches are used to this, but I’m not. It absolutely brought me to tears. One man said, “For some of us, it’s been two months since we’ve had the Lord’s Supper. We simply can’t afford to buy grape juice.” Before we left, we worked with Peter on securing more grape juice and having the brethren to divide it amongst the numerous churches. I pray that this never happens again.

The temperatures dropped a lot during the night. On Monday morning, it was very windy and much cooler. Several men had built small fires in different locations near the tree. We followed the same routine of having several classes in the morning, breaking for lunch, and then having more classes until dark. At the end of the day, Robin and I were ready to distribute several things for the brethren. I have the habit of wearing my clothing only once and then giving it away. I save one outfit to wear on the plane back home and give away everything else in my suitcase. We distributed the clothing, plus vitamins, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, and school supplies. We gave so many pieces to each preacher. The preachers then had members of their respective congregation to meet at a certain tree and he then divided it among the saints. There were many happy brethren.

Back to Bulawayo

On Tuesday morning, we said our good-bye to Peter and were ready for our journey back to Bulawayo. Word had spread fast that we were traveling to Bulawayo. We picked up two ladies at the lodge who needed a ride. One of these ladies was a Christian. We hadn’t traveled very far and then saw two police ladies who were hitchhiking, so we stopped to give them a right, too. The five-hour ride was quite interesting. The ladies were “trapped” in the back seat and couldn’t avoid our Bible discussions. The one rider who was a Christian then suggested that we sing. I wish I had been able to tape the singing. It was beautiful.

We deposited the ladies on the street in front of the court house in Bulawayo. They were very appreciative. Robin and I observed that the electricity was working, so we went to the store to buy some groceries. I had volunteered to cook dinner for Robin, George & Jennie, and Bruce, Nancy, and the children. I was really looking forward to fixing them some foods they’ve never tried. I made out my menu for peach mango pork chops, cheesy mashed potatoes, hot pickled beets, pinto beans, pineapple casserole, and a good salad. Just as the potatoes started boiling and the oven was getting hot and ready for the pineapple casserole, the electricity went off. I didn’t know what to do. We finally borrowed two gas grills. Dinner was delayed, but we enjoyed it when we were finally able to eat.

Last Day in Zimbabwe

On Wednesday morning, we had breakfast and 6:00 and departed at 6:30. We met Bigboy Dube in Gwanda and then traveled south. We drove about 40 km. south of town and then turned off the highway on a rough, dirt road. The travel was really slow on this road. We drove about another 30 km. to reach the West Saphila Church. I always enjoy meeting with these brethren, because they always have such interest in the Bible lessons and their singing is always so great. Attendance was 125. We had several classes and then shared lunch with them before we had to start our journey back to South Africa. It was very late in the evening before we got back to the home of Fred and Pearl Liggin. I felt embarrassed about arriving at such a late hour, but they had assured us that it would be okay to awaken them.

Heading Home

We got a good night’s sleep and prepared ourselves for our journeys home. Robin took off for South Africa. Fred and Pearl took me to the airport for my flight. After getting checked in, there was enough time to enjoy breakfast with Fred and Pearl before I had to board the plane. As I eventually got on the plane and reflected on this trip, I felt that much good was accomplished. I hope the Lord was pleased. It was a joy to travel with Robin and to see many brethren that we’ve grown to love over the years.

Other Benevolent Funds

I was happy to play “delivery boy” for some brethren who sent aid to some of our needy brethren. Two new churches were started in recent years among the San people, what we might call cultural minorities. They have not been receiving any benevolent help. Working with Mountbatten Brewer, we distributed sacks of 12.5 kg. each (27.5 pounds) to 67 families, 30 at Mtshina and 37 at Butabubili.  We also helped four churches in the area where the elephants had destroyed the crops. This amounted to 151 sacks at Mlachsa, 58 at Sikhali, 42 at Tshajathole, and 100 at Majabane. The total cost for the corn was $2508 and the cost for gasoline to deliver this to six churches was $300, making a total of $2808. I want to express my deep thanks to those brethren who were involved in this benevolent work.