Before sunrise on Tuesday, April 12th, we headed up to Zimbabwe with a mini-van, camper and trailer loaded to the hilt with 2 weeks of our own supplies, song books, Bibles, grape juice, and money to buy food for the meetings. The border was a worse-than-usual headache, but we managed to reach West Nicholson in time for a service and to help them baptize a lady with the use of our “baptistry tent.” The sister who fainted from fright when she was baptized on our last trip came up to us especially to show us that she is now doing very well!
Petrol in Zimbabwe is very scarce, with queues up to two days long to get possibly only 2 gallons of fuel (people sleep in their cars overnight). Fortunately Bigboy had stored 25 gallons of fuel for the two vehicles and had also ordered Ndebele Bibles and food supplies for the meetings. Without his foresight and time-consuming organization, our work would not have been possible. The next morning we headed with Bigboy and his wife, and Reason and his wife, to Mapati and Dendele where we had two two-day meetings. Christians from five congregations had gathered at Mapati and three at Dendele. As usual, I taught the men and Linda taught the women for 6 hours during the day and then there was a combined service of preaching during the nights. Five souls were added to the Lord, mainly due to previous teaching by the preacher of a neighbouring congregation. On Saturday afternoon we headed up to Bulawayo and met up with Sam and Gloria where we had a great time relating our various different experiences of the past week. I was scheduled to be at two different congregations across town from where we were staying, but did not have enough petrol to make it. So we enjoyed listening to Sam preach at Hillside (1.5 miles from where we were staying) on Sunday morning, and I preached there on Sunday night. Much to my surprise, I was unable to siphon petrol out of our van because of the convoluted intake pipe. I spent about 2 hours draining 2 gallons of fuel out of the mechanical petrol pump so we could put it in the camper and have enough to get to Plumtree and back to Bigboy’s house where I had left 2 jerry cans with just enough fuel to get us out of the country.
On Monday Sam and Gloria went off with Mountbatten Brewer to Matabeleland North. On Tuesday we headed off with Newman Gumpo to a new congregation near Plumtree for three days. This congregation has really grown since we were last there and four were added during our visit. While we were at Plumtree Bigboy was busy buying mielie meal for us to take to Tongwe and walked the streets to locate extra petrol on the black market – just in case of emergency. It turned out that when we got to Tongwe, Alfred, with whom we had had no direct communication for six months, joyfully told us of the new congregation he had started 30 miles away at Jomphembe. This new group has 34 members! Without the extra petrol we would not have been able to visit them. Within a half hour of our unexpected arrival, seven men, about 20 women, and several children arrived for a Bible study. (It is amazing how the Africans communicate news to each other.) Several of the men could speak very good English, which is unusual. Jomphembe is the bleakest inhabited place I have ever seen, vegetation-wise, but the fountain of God’s Word has produced fruit in the lives of the people – “and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose...they shall see the glory of the Lord.” (Isa.35:1-2) Alfred brought the congregation ONE song book (which had belonged to a sister at Tongwe who passed away). Among the rest of the congregation, TWO had Bibles. Therefore we plan to take these things to them on our next trip.
As far as the drought is concerned, the brethren generally seem to have enough food at the moment. However, what concerns us is that there are almost no crops throughout the entire country, the country as a whole has no food reserves, and Mugabe has banned all foreign food aid organizations so that he could use food as a means to get votes. We pray that, now that elections are over, Mugabe will again allow foreign food aid. Food prices have doubled in the last month, but food is still available in the shops. The brethren in the southern part of the country seem to be the worst off. The goat population has dwindled dramatically which seems to indicate to us that people are eating them or selling them in order to buy mielie meal. (There is not enough for the goats to eat in any case.) With the help of Bigboy, we managed to buy 750 kg (1650 lbs) of mielie meal which we distributed among approximately 200 Christians in seven congregations near Beit Bridge. This was all we could carry in our trailer and camper, but it is not much. Brother John Scholtz plans to distribute more mielie meal in this month and we hope to do so again in June. Below is the drought-stricken maize and watermelon field of Fredy Ndou.
We were home from Zimbabwe one day and then we travelled straight to the northeastern part of South Africa for a 6-day meeting with a congregation near Phalaborwa. This is a congregation that was started by Darlington when he was still with World Bible School. However, when Darlington discovered that he was practicing error, he went back to the 14 congregations in the area that he had started and re-taught them. Brother Rob Buchanan had done some teaching there on authority, so Darlington requested that Linda and I teach the women and men on family relationships. Gloria and Sam joined us to teach the young men, young women and children. Darlington and 55-year-old Bishop Baloyi (his real name) have converted most people in the congregation. Baloyi has a good job and makes a major financial contribution to the work as well as serving the congregation generally. During the meeting a man was restored. He had been committing adultery, and the congregation is going to help him fetch his wife from Mozambique. In the 8 years of their existence, this congregation has put up their own building, they have about 40 active adult members, they have two mid-week services, they take care of their own needy and widows, They have 5 men who take turns teaching and preaching, and they have selected a man whom they are working towards supporting part-time to be their preacher.
On Sunday afternoon we travelled about 2 hours to Bushbuckridge and stayed with a headmaster of a high school and his family. The adult son of this man was originally taught by Darlington and was one of the main pillars of the congregation. However he and some other strong men moved to the Johannesburg area to find work. The work had kind of fallen apart and Jack needed to be encouraged to find more time in his busy life to devote to the Lord. On Monday, a public holiday, seven preachers, four of whom had formerly been with WBS, came for the day. I taught on the uniqueness of the Lord’s church, our need for authority, and how to use the Lord’s money. I encouraged them not to expect other brethren to help them financially (eg. put up buildings for them), but to give properly so that they can support their own work. Sam taught the young people, Linda taught the ladies, and Gloria taught the children. Having the four of us working together really made a difference to the effectiveness of the work. The brethren especially seemed to appreciate that their young people and children were taught.
Today is our 29th anniversary, and we are very excited to think that in just over two short months, Lord willing, we should be in the USA attending our daughter Melody’s wedding. We are also excited about visiting many of you brethren, especially visiting the individuals and congregations who support us to express our appreciation to them and report on the Lord’s work in which they have fellowship. Below is a general tentative schedule. We are still in the process of writing to brethren in-between Wednesdays and Sundays to arrange times to be with them.
27 July Pensacola, FL
1 Aug Lake Jackson, TX
4 Aug San Antonio, TX
7 Aug Ft Worth, TX
10 Aug Little Rock, AR
14 Aug Springfield, MO
17 Aug Columbia, MO
21 Aug - 4 Sept St Louis MO area
11 Sept Jonesborough, TN
14 Sept Murfreesboro, TN
18 Sept Columbia/Lanton, TN
21 Sept Athens, AL
25 Sept Hartselle, Newburg AL
28 Sept B’ham, AL
2 Oct B’ham, AL
9 Oct - 6 Nov Churches in FL
We thank the Lord for the years of work we have been able to do together. We pray for health and strength to continue to serve Him.
Your brother and fellow-servant of the Lord,
Les Maydell
Dear Friends
Les and I rejoice in each healthy day, especially as we see so many worthy soldiers of Christ whose time on earth has been cut short. We are thinking especially of our brother Phil Roberts. We thank God for the positive influence he had on our children, and we pray that somehow our children will positively influence his children. Joseph came home yesterday from Florida College with shingles! Evidently his suite-mate had it before him. However, it has not stopped him from going sailing today!
Many of you, when writing letters of encouragement to us, express the fact that you seem to try so hard to influence others to live the Christian life, but nothing seems to happen. We also try to influence others, but we usually also don’t get much feedback as to whether we have done anything of lasting benefit. However, this trip was an exception. A sister pulled me aside to tell me how much happier her marriage is since the lessons Les taught her husband 18 months ago. A young bride-to-be sent a message to me via Gloria that she had kept herself pure and planned to name her first child “Linda.” (In a lesson on purity at her village last year I had told the story of a South African couple who kept themselves pure and named their first child – a boy! – “Linda,” the Zulu/Ndebele word for “wait.”) I found a lady in a remote village where I had never been that had somehow got hold of a workbook I had written on the Life of Christ that had been translated into her language. She had answered every question and wanted more books to teach the children. But what thrilled me most of all was to see women who never had Bibles before, reading the incredibly powerful word of God and growing in faith. It gives us such a boost to see fruits of our labors, especially knowing that many times faithful servants of God do not see any tangible results. I really admire and want to encourage each of you who do good year after year without any earthly recognition, but only a deep trust in the promise of God that “your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
I would like to share with you a few highlights of our journeys this past month. Here at Mapati (in the high school) we are “welcoming” newly baptized Christians. They stood in a row in front of the room where the congregation was meeting. As we all sang, the congregation, row by row, passed in front of the new converts, shaking their hands.
About a year ago Paddy and Sandi taught Lemmick and his wife. Lemmick works for the man from whom the Kendall-Balls rent their cottage in Bulawayo. They took the gospel to their village near Plumtree (so-named because of the wild plum trees there – they taste very nice!) Newman Gumpo helped water. One year later....
Plumtree is where we saw the “best”crops. This is millet, the most hardy grain, but it makes an iron-hard porridge and really needs to be mixed with maize meal.
And now for some humor. Fortunately Les was able to seriously thank the brother who kindly informed him that this tree is a Snot Apple tree, otherwise known as African chewing gum!
“I can read!” The scarf around the neck is worn in any gathering where it is possible for a woman to be seen by her son-in-law.
The drought at Jomphembe. The trees are stripped of vegetation as high up as a goat can reach. My translator is a principal of the primary school at Tongwe and makes enough money to afford to buy food. Unemployment in Zimbabwe officially stands at 90%. According to the UN, Zimbabwe has the fastest shrinking economy in the world and ranks 90th on the list of the world’s 94 poorest countries.
The brethren at Tongwe carry their maize meal home. Alfred, the preacher there, has got very thin. He says he feels very well, but “sometimes”is hungry.
“But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” Five years ago Josephine had a stroke and since then has been tightly curled in a fetal position. Her two widowed sisters, Njaji and Lizzie, take turns holding her with her head on their laps as they sit on their “beds”of thin foam. There is no electricity or running water, yet they clean, feed, turn and talk to their sister who has amazingly survived all this time. No wonder that when the gospel came to Lulekani, these two sisters obeyed! Not only that, but they taught Josephine. Josephine, who can communicate in a very limited way, let it be known that she wanted to be baptized into Christ. (This happened some time ago.) I took this picture with tears rolling down my cheeks.
Most congregations in southern Africa worship with men and one side, women on the other side, and children in the front. I guess because of the position of the door, (part-way down the side of the building), this congregation decided to put the children in the very front, facing their parents. The “Sunday-school teacher”was given the task of sitting next to them and physically keeping them in order. (He is wearing the grey-striped shirt.) Although children are generally quiet, the small ones are allowed to wander in and out at will. During the “Lord’s supper sermon,” (which generally lasts about 30 minutes), a two-year old wandered past with a baggie with potato chips in it. The baggie had a hole in it, and the more he tried to rescue his chips, the more fell out. The other children eventually couldn’t stand it and came to the “feast.”Soon there were only crumbs. So the child sat down and proceeded to stick them to his wet index finger and pop them into his mouth. Being a child of superior intelligence he soon realized that the best thing to do would be to use his baggie to wipe them up and then lick the baggie clean. None of the adults found that behavior to be in the least disturbing, but I had a hard time concentrating on the Lord’s Supper! I exercised a good deal of self-control and waited to take this picture during the announcements!
And so here in Africa we have both humor and humans who teach us more than we ever could teach them. I pray the examples of these good brethren have encouraged you.
With love and thanksgiving for your love for the Lord and for us, Linda Maydell.