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Sojourning
in Distant Lands
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Les and Linda Maydell continue to work in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Linda writes
a newsletter, African Antedotes which included the folowing article and pictures from their October, 2011 work. Cindy
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The road to Vugwe was challenging and the scenery bleak. Suddenly,
Les and I did a double-take as we saw a visual representation of Isaiah’s Zion prophecy emerge right in front of our eyes: “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,
and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.” (Isa.35) In all our years in the bush,
we had never seen anything like it! There was a “red rose” classroom for the men (on the left) and a “white
rose” main auditorium (on the right). It reminded me of when I was a child and we used to take sheets to make
tents. These women had donated their sheets and curtains and bedspreads. Someone lent them a huge tarpaulin.
They had used a tree as a center pole and erected a thatched roof.
We drove past the Vugwe Church
of Christ welcome sign and parked by a group of women who immediately
began pelting me with hugs, and grabbing my hands and pumping them
vigorously, all the while excitedly chattering the traditional words of welcome. “It shall blossom abundantly and
rejoice, even with joy and singing.” These new Christians are obviously so full of joy because they have seen “the
glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.” Certainly their “hands were strengthened”
to prepare for this meeting. Not only was everything possible done to promote functionality, but the women went the extra
mile to make things comfortable and appealing – outside and inside. Amazingly, even in this harsh landscape, there are
plants that flower beautifully in the winter. They were specially sought
out and planted around the tent. The women donated their beds (large grass mats) to provide comfortable seating for the women
(they think it’s comfortable!), and they somehow sourced benches for the men. They took colourful bits of plastic and
tied them to strings and strung them around the sides. Somewhere they got bits of fabric and made a fancy cover for the “pulpit”
table.
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The stones, painted with ash, gleamed brightly in the harsh sun, highlighting the road to
the classrooms and “caravan park.” “A highway shall
be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.” Many brethren from surrounding congregations, seeking the way
of holiness, walked a score of kms to attend the meeting. “Whoever
walks the road shall not go astray.”
A young man in the congregation
who is suffering from muscular dystrophy or some similar illness (he doesn’t know, but over years
is getting weaker and weaker) carved a heart with two birds to serve as a centrepiece and presented it to us when we left
as a gift of appreciation. On the table there was also an attractive pitcher of water and glasses for the speaker, covered
with net to keep off the flies. The auditorium was huge, light, and airy because of the curtain/sheet sides and thatched roof.
The
pulpit table rested on a raised podium made of dung and anthill dirt. It was smooth and polished.
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In short, they had done everything in their power to make visitors feel welcome. Their love for the Lord was
evident also in their attentiveness to the word. “The parched ground shall become a pool.” [I
even got a text message this morning at 5:09 am, (Isn’t everyone up then?), thanking me for my lessons.]
All too soon it was time for good-byes: more vigourous hand-pumping as each person
shook the hand of each man, woman and child, all the while singing (appropriately!) about Zion: “Umnandi lowomuzi; Inkos’
ikhona le!” (It’s nice in that city; the Lord is there!)
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Their life-style is simple, yet adequate – as
long as it rains! As spring approaches, please pray fervently for a good growing season! Les and I give heartfelt thanks to
each of you who have helped so that the brethren have adequate seed. We rejoice to let you know that the need has been met!
(My letter is late because we thought it was urgent to get Les’s newsletter out right away and to get the seed organized
and ordered.) With love, Linda Maydell
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I close
with the picture on the left, taken at Keara. Many of you, I’m sure, wonder about how they cook
and eat their maize meal. These women were so surprised and pleased that I knew how to do it – don’t
you just love their smiles? Actually “sadza” is very stiff and hard to stir,
and they are laughing at my puny muscles. After all, I do not lift 10 gallon buckets
of water and carry them on my head ! Only the toddler is not laughing -- she is frightened half to death
of this strange-looking creature! After stirring, the sadza simmers, unstirred, until the steam takes away the raw flavour
– and a wonderful crisp brown crust forms where the sadza meets the pot – yummy! In the other pot is “relish”
made with fried onion, tomato and cabbage. Each person is given a huge dollop of sadza and a small dollop of relish on the
side. Bite-sized pieces of sadza are broken off and rolled between their fingers and hands, then dipped
in the relish and eaten. This is what is eaten for both lunch and supper at all the meetings unless someone donates a goat
or some beans – and this is basically what they eat every day.
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We need contributions
for this page. We welcome all sojourners from all countries! Thank you!
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This page and recent
articles have generated several questions about the locations of those who are preaching in various countries around
the world. Our thanks to Joanne Beckley, whose help has been invaluable to Our Hope
in producing this page. She has provided the names of those men (and families) who are living and preaching
in the country of South Africa. The numbers on the map correspond with the names listed by each number on the table,
and show the general locations where they live. The men generally work in the area where they live, but many of them, often
with their wives, travel into neighboring countries to teach and preach. Sometimes these trips last one
or two weeks at a time. They usually camp in the villages, sharing the difficult living conditions of those whom they
are teaching.
Joanne,
we love ya’. Thanks. Cindy
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| Map courtesy of Wikipedia Commons |
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1.
Louis Trichardt
• Dave & Joanne Beckley
• Ron &
Carole Chaffin
• Samson Musandiwa
2. Nylstrom
• Les
and Linda Maydell
3. Pretoria Area
• Fred & Pearl Liggin
4. Johannesburg Area
• Alan
& Sylvia Fox • John and
Lyn Scholtz
5. White River
• Robert and Cheryl Buchanan
6. Eshowe (in
KwaZulu Natal)
• Paul & Helen Williams •
Joel Williams (grandson of Paul & Helen Williams)
• David & Velepi Ngonyama
7. Durban Area
•
Doug & Sheila Bauer • Scott & Shara Tope • Stephen & Wendy Buys
8. Port Elizabeth
Area
• Ashley Goosen
•
Norman & Emmie Saayman
• Brian & Loraine Allan
9. Cape
Town Area
• Robin & Lynn Bauer
• Hennie & Martha Visser
• Eric
& Sharon Reed
(Please notify us of any
corrections or additions to this list. Thanks.)
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