![]() This article is also available in PowerPoint format here. Similarities Between America and South Africa There are some intriguing similarities between the history of the United States of America and that of South Africa. Shortly after Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Diaz first landed on the shores of South Africa in 1488, the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492. From the 1600s onwards both America and South Africa were settled by pilgrims from Holland, France, England, Scotland and Germany seeking religious freedom. While American pioneers were moving westwards in horse drawn covered wagons to settle the vast, mostly uninhabited interior, South African Voortrekkers (Pioneers) were embarking on the Great Trek northwards and eastwards, also in covered wagons, although ours were drawn by oxen. Just as the American pioneers had to cross the Rocky Mountains, so the Voortrekkers crossed the vast Drakensberg Mountains. As the pioneers drew their wagons in a circle to defend their families from hostile attacks, so the Voortrekkers formed the Laager.
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Thursday, 21 May, is Ascension Day
![]() Despite South Africa being on one of the most severe lockdowns, which, for the previous five weeks, even mobilised the army to prevent people from exercising, or walking the dog outside of their property, we managed to go through all the red tape necessary to clear two container shipments of Bibles, Christian books, Sunday school materials and Gospel booklets, over 35 tonnes of Scriptural material. One of these containers was scheduled to arrive more than a month before, but because of the lockdown actually only arrived a week ago. However, because of the lockdown we were unable to have it cleared through customs and delivered before now. Due to customs being closed during this lockdown period, we were not able to apply for our VAT clearance certificate on either container. This led to extra unforeseen costs on both shipments of free Bible resources and Scriptural booklets.
![]() 3 April 1977, I was converted to Christ. It happened at the Ster Kinekor cinema in Pinelands... My family had moved from Rhodesia to Cape Town. We were living in Pinelands, just a few kilometres from where I had been born. It was Sunday evening, 3rd April 1977, when I walked over to the local cinema, with little realisation of how dramatically that would change my life forever. ![]() “If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 When There is Pestilence At the time of the consecration of the Temple, God declared: “When I shut up Heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people…” 2 Chronicles 7:13. This was the context for that monumentally important Scripture verse. During any time of disaster, humility, prayer and repentance should be our response. To Heal Our Land If we want God to heal our land, then we need Him to forgive our sin. God declares that He will not even listen to our prayers unless we do four things: humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14). In Time of Disaster In Luke 13, we read that when the people reported to the Lord Jesus of the man-made disaster of Pontius Pilate massacring Galileans at the Temple in Jerusalem, “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish’.” Luke 13:2-3 ![]() A Disastrous Series of Events 25 Years ago, four Frontline vehicles were sent into the field. Only one vehicle came back. In the early morning mist of 14 December 1994, Frontline Fellowship Field Worker, Anthony Duncan, was killed in a head-on collision. A Complex Series of Missions to Five Countries Anthony was returning back from a long, difficult and dangerous mission to five countries. Anthony had been part of a Frontline Fellowship mission team that had successfully delivered desperately needed medicines and Bibles into war-torn Angola. Despite a shoot-on sight policy, which was maintained to enforce the United Nations blockade on UNITA-controlled Free Angola, the Frontline Mission team had succeeded in delivering a tonne of desperately needed medicines and Bibles to suffering Christians in Angola. The Mission team was on the way back from this eventful trip, which had also included one of our vehicles rolling down an embankment and crushing the canopy on the way up to Zambia on the so-called “Golden Highway” dirt road running the length of the Caprivi Strip. A cloud of dust hung over the dirt road severely restricting visibility. Our vehicle had to swerve to avoid a head on collision with an oncoming truck. ![]() To view the Great Siege of Malta, as a PowerPoint, with pictures, click here. "Why should I care about dates and dead people?" Frequently we hear expressions of exasperation against the teaching of history. "What possible relevance could all those events of long ago have for me today?" Real History Has Great Relevance Well, take 9/11. Did those responsible just choose an arbitrary date for the aircraft hijackings and terror attacks on 11 September 2001? The Strategic Significance of September 11 Those who know the history of Islamic Jihad can point out that September 11 is a most significant date for Jihadists. It was on 11 September 1565 that the Ottoman Turkish siege of Malta was decisively defeated. To view the Great Siege of Malta, as a PowerPoint, with pictures, click here. "Why should I care about dates and dead people?" Frequently we hear expressions of exasperation against the teaching of history. "What possible relevance could all those events of long ago have for me today?" Real History Has Great Relevance Well, take 9/11. Did those responsible just choose an arbitrary date for the aircraft hijackings and terror attacks on 11 September 2001? The Strategic Significance of September 11 Those who know the history of Islamic Jihad can point out that September 11 is a most significant date for Jihadists. It was on 11 September 1565 that the Ottoman Turkish siege of Malta was decisively defeated. ![]() The Father of Modern Missions, William Carey, launched the Greatest Century of Missions with his electrifying sermon: Expect Great Things from God! Attempt Great Things for God! The Desperate Need for Accessible Leadership Training There is a tremendous need and hunger for literature and leadership training throughout Africa. However, one of the ongoing problems is that most of those who leave rural areas for urban training institutions tend to stay in the urban centres and are lost to the rural communities who sent them for further training. Urbanisation and Diaspora are Depleting Church Leadership Similarly, most of those who go to first world nations for further training tend not to return to their third world countries of origin. In this way, the church is haemorrhaging in Africa. Some of our most promising leadership candidates are failing to return to their communities. The rapid urbanisation and mass movement to first world countries is devastating to local congregations. Most of the pastors in the rural areas where we work have no tertiary education at all. ![]() To Listen to a Message that Includes this Testimony click here Report to the Castle It was pitch dark and three hours before sunrise when I began my National Service in the South African Defence Force (SADF). My call-up papers had instructed me to report to the Castle in Cape Town 5am on 2 July 1979. Although from a very young age, I had been looking forward to my service in the military, now that I was involved in full time Missions at Hospital Christian Fellowship, it seemed like “a waste of time” to be “sidetracked from Missions” for two years military training and service. Anticipating the Last Days At the time, I was also so convinced of the imminent return of Christ that I found it hard to believe that I would ever be able to get back to Missions, as the Lord would have surely returned long before my two years in the military were completed! |
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