laughren peter fran 2000 safrica

7/27/2019 Laughren Peter Fran 2000 SAfrica

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The Laughrens,Pe te , Fran & Denzil

Oc t o b e r t o D e c em b er 1 99 9These three months saw us busy with several things, but in different places. Let me explain.

After I took the trip to India with my sister to helpher family in the adoption of their daughter, I arrived home to South Africa inSeptember in time totake part in our yearly conference as mentioned inthe last Cape Times. Then the day after Fran's40th birthday (on October 15th) she and Denzil flewo ut to the United States fo r a two-month visi t withfamilyand friends. This trip had been inthe talkingstages for a long time before Itook my trip and thefinal arrangements were made while Iwas on theIndia trip. So anyway, they left on October 15 andarrived back home on the 15th of December. (Iamsure that Fran will tell more of her trip under Fran'sFeelings.)

While they were gone for two months, youcan only imagine how lonesome Iwas. It is a lotdifferent being here by yourself and, yes, I had thepeople tha t we work with to be around, bu t there isno one like family. But that is another story. WhileFran and Denzil were gone, I did keep busy withseveral different things. One of the main things

We had 25 to 35 students every night.

(Enpe WtttesGEORGE, SOUTH AFRIC

Winter 2000; Vol. 10, #3

that I t ried to keep busy with is my class preparation for the upcoming class of Ezekiel and Daniethat I am teaching at South African Bible Institute.Iam teaching this week course at the end of January.

While still teaching in Gape Bible Seminary,held the u su al Novembe r c lass with the church onGraaff-Reinet. This year I taught on the book ofGalatians and used the textbook given to me byBud Gentry from the Dewey Christian Church inMountain City, Tennessee. Bud has written thisbook and gave me enough copies that Iwas ableto give one to every student who had perfect attendance. We had anywhere between 25 and 35 students every night and 26 attended every night. Theywere most appreciative of th e books and will putthem to good use .

This class was supposed to go from Wednesday night through Sunday afternoon, but just as Iwas making the final preparations to go, Igot a callfrom the elder of the church in Macassar in CapeTown telling me that an elderly member of th echurch had passed away He said that I needed to

All of the students at the Cape Bible Seminary session in Graaff-Reinet received a commentary on Galatians written byBud Gentry.


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be in Cape Town for the funeral the following Saturday. The man who passed away had been veryspecial to Fran and me since we first arrived inSouth Africa. He had been a faithful member ofthe church in Guguletu (a large township in CapeTown) since the last time that Max Ward Randallwas working with the churches in the 1950s, andwas known by most people involved in the work.So I altered the Cape Bible Seminary plans anddrove to Graaff-Reinet on Monday and we hadclasses untilThursday evening. I leftGraaff-Reinetat 5:30 Friday morning and drove the 3y2 hours toGeorge and swapped suitcases. Andrew Calvertwas to go with me and I picked him up at noon andwe continued on to Cape Town. The funeral wentwell on Saturday and, as is usual here, it went forabout 6 hours. (Ron Butler, one of the missionaries in Cape Town, went with me to represent themissionaries.) After that day, we had services withthe Macassar church on Sunday, and went back toGeorge in the afternoon, arriving home before dark.Itwas a busy but productive week.

While Fran and Denzil were gone, I continued to stay busy with the usual weekly classes inGeorge. Classes such as Monday youth, Tuesday

Pete preaching during one ofthe services at the township churchof Conville here inGeorge.

Some of the faithful sisters of the George church.

BibleStudy and the Thursday 'Theological Education by Extension" class kept me busy in preparations. Our latest Theological Education by Extension class is "The Christian Faith" an6 it is goingvery well. The people involved really want to learnhow to be better leaders in the church. This program works very well.While these and other things kept me busy,was pretty excited when Fran and Denzil arrived ICape Town on the 15th of December. I made th etrip from George and we traveled home togetheon the 16th and had a nice Christmas together.was pleased for their safe travels and, after spending a large part of the yea r apart (and missing 4months of Denzil's growing up), Ido not want to dothat again any lime soon. The work hereprogresses, and we are thankful for the Lord usingus here in so many ways. Thank you for all thayou do to make this work possible.

Fran ' s Fee l ingsHi there, you all! It has been a while sinc

you have heard from me and I do apologize fothat. I don't even have a good excuse. But youcan be sure of one thing, I still think of you andgreatly appreciate your help, prayers and keepingin touch with us. I am glad that Pete is good aboukeeping in touch with you; otherwise, you wouldprobably be wondering what in the world we ar edoing over here. I don't know if it will make anydifference with me, but I turned 40 years old on the14th of October. Hopefully I am getting better withage instead of worse. Only time will tell.

I trust and pray that you are all well and happyWe are getting on pretty well, thank the Lord. I amdoing much better with"the head thing" since Ihavebeen on a medication called "Epilim." I only haveoccasional headaches and I don't forget things asbadly (for the present). It seems much of mymemory from childhood is gone for good. Myfamily and friends love to remind me and tell me stories, though, and that is a lot of fun. Inmany casesI do believe they are really telling "stories." I couldnot have been that naughty or mischievous.Thank you for your prayers on my behalf.

After the conference, Denzil and I took a twomonth trip to the States. Itwas for R&R and timewith the re lat ives before Denzil s tar ted s choo l. Th iwas a special time for us. Pete was qui te lonesome at home and we dearly missed him, bu


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Denzil and I did enjoy our visits. Denzil was able toget acquainted with his cousins and that was neat. Myyoungest sister and her family will be moving back toVietnam sometime in th e middle of 2000. Therefore, itwill be hard to tell if and when my whole family will betogether again. All of us, except Pete, were togetherfor a month or so and it was great! Not because Petewas not with us, that did not come out the way Imeantfor it to. We also spent time with Pete's family andmet our little niece, Sara Ashwini, for the first time. Avery special time indeed. Denzil is quite the travelerand a little man who loves taking care of his mother.

While we were in the States we w ere a ble to attend the National Missionary Convention in Peoria, Illinois. There I helped Pete's folks, Flo and CollinsBlackmarr, man our booth (which they do every year)and Iwas thankful for this opportunity. We are alwaysthankful for the way they are always there to talk topeople about the work we are involved in here in SouthAfrica. We appreciate them so much! I a lso had th echance to speak on a Sunday evening at the BethelChristian Church in Missouri where my dad was theminister. Denzil and Ialso made the trip to Texas withmy brother, Jonathan, in order to attend th e MissionSunday at Highland MeadowsChristian Church, wherew e shared a booth with Outreach International andcarried the South African flag at the beginning of allthree services. Later at the end of our trip, while wewere in Georgia, I had the chance to speak a littlebitto the youth group at Berea Christian Church inHampton, Georgia. So you see, Idid do a little"work." Itwasall a lot of fun and very rewarding.

Denzil and I got home just in time for Christmaswith Peter and we came loaded withall kinds of goodies. Thank you to those who helped withcontributionsof money or items. Thanks to those of you whom wewere able to spend time with, and what a great timewe had even though itwas a short visit this time. Christmas was quiet, in that we had no extra activities goingon and no visitors this year, but that was kinda nice fora change. Denzil got to have at least three differentChristmases thisyear and rightafter wegot done opening all our gifts on Christmas morning he was sittingon his daddy's lap and said, "When do we get Christmas again?" What a spoiled child!May the year 2000 bring you many blessings asyou live for Christ and serve Him faithfully! God isgood and faithful, forever loving and forgiving. Itmustbe our goal every day to be likeHim. Pray for us as westrive for that goal, and we will pray for you! We missyou all and love you in Christ!

Fran

Denzil and his two cousins in Missouri, Jonathan and Davi

Fran's parents, AI and Annette Denzil and his new cousinHamilton. Sara Ashwini.

Above ; F ra n a n dDenzil w er e a ble toa tt en d t he Nat iona lMissionary Convention in Peor ia in October.

Right: One of th ethings that Fran enjoyed about her trips t a t e s i d e w as t imewith her family. Hereshe is with he r sisters,Karen and Sonja, andher brother, Jonathan.


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'SlIjB W^tnws

rm kThe Laughrens ,Pete, Fran & Denzil

January - July 2000Hello once again from SouthAfrica. Ourworkin this beautiful country seems (to us) to be "more

of the same" many times and this year seems tohave started out no different. But, on th e otherhand, alongwith the usual activitieshere inGeorge,w e h ave been involved with several "not so run ofthe mill" things during the first months of 2000.Since we are way overdue with this letter, we willonly talk about a few things that have happened,and not try to elaborate on the usual things that wea re involved with.

In January Iwas able to go to Kimberley andteach at the resident training school (SouthAfricanBible Institute) for two weeks. I taught for threehours every afternoon and taught the books ofEzekiel and Daniel. Ionly had 4 students but threeof them were needing the course to graduate thefollowing weekend. Itwas pretty intense teachingand I probably learned more than the students did.Itis a more intensive way ofteaching than we haveinCape Bible Seminary but itwasan enjoyable experience. I lookfonward todoing it again. ~ /I

These months also saw memake a couple of trips for CapeBible Seminary classes. We try Ife-to have two each year in the town \of Graaff-Reinet and I alwaysenjoy the brothers and sisters kfrthere. I taught there the last It 'Wfc' 'week of May and had upwards UI 'of 40 students each day. Itaught Bp Bthe class 'The Sermon on the B > mm IMount" and enjoyed the study year we have ourvery much. Phil Smith from East this year.

-.-mi... ,( s J ..

Summer 2000; Vol. 11, #1

London came and taught the first part of the week.He taught with good success a class on Evangelism. We try to have a second class in Novemberand we are looking forward to again going to bewith the bre thren there .

I also try to have a yearly class in Port Elizabeth, but ran into difficulty there this year. Imadethe trip in April and began teaching on Mondaynight. Tuesday I came down with the flu and wentto bed at the hotel that Iwas staying at and tried toget better. After laying in bed for two days I gaveup, cancelled the rest of the classes and came backto George. I figured that I could recuperate a lotcheaper at home than I could paying hotel rates.Flu struck us hard this year. During that time Ihadthe flu 3 t imes in four weeks . T he a tte nd an ce a tPort Elizabeth was encouraging: itwas just unfortunate tha t we could not carry on.

Also, as a part of Cape Bible Seminary, th echurch in George hosted the second annual "Gar-

seminar here in George. These are the s tudents who attended


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den Route Seminar" here inGeorge. MissionariesRon Butler, Gordon Nelson and Phil Smith wereable to come and tal


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Pete Is here pictured with the local minister from George andStacy Gamer of Gateway International Educational Services.were an answer to prayer.

While Fran will later descr ibe t he VacationBible Schools thatwe were involved in, let me alsomention the other work they were involved in.When they arrived inCape Town, we took them tothe usual sight-seeing places and stayed there for3 nights. After arriving in George on the Fridayafter their arrival, they started getting ready for theVacation Bible School that would s ta rt on the following Monday here inGeorge. Also, while theywere in George, they took turns preaching andteaching in the Sunday services (the first Sundayin Thembalethu here in George), taught youthclasses on Monday evening, taught Biblestudy onTuesday evening and led the prayer meeting onWednesday. The second weekend that theywerehere (after the completion of the Vacation BibleSchool inGeorge) wewentto the church in Knysnafor our monthly services and they got to meet another group of believers. After the two weeks onthe road to the other places, we again came backto George where they took part in the services in

The i n te rn s ha rd a t wori


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Singing was like you would not believe when 300 kids ge t together.

well and Priscilla) from Ghana, i ^who are strong In the faith,moved to Graaff-Reinet a coupleofyears ago and have been usedby God to turn the young people iftlaround in that church. Itisexcit- j|J|ing to see how that church has IVgrown in leaps and bounds for

Well, anyway, Bro. Maxwella sk ed u s to com e and do a Va-cation Bible School. It would bethe first one ever fo r this area.We we re thrilled for the invite. SoPete and I prayed about it anddecided we would do it, even ^ ^HEthough it would be just the two Singincof us. We knew God would helpus out some how. That was on May 9th. On thevery next day, we get an urgent request via e-mailfrom Stacy Garner. He had seven interns ready togo on a trip t o Europe and part of it had fallenthrough. Could theyplease come to SouthAfrica?It "just so happened" to be the dates we were going to do the three Vacation Bible Schools. StacyGarner wrote that they would like to be here forabout a month if we could use them. Now, whenGod answers prayers like that, there is no way yousay ''well, this is too late of notice". Wowl! Wewere thrilled! This was May and Stacy was to behere with the interns the very next month. Theywere here from June 20th until the 18th of JulyWe were able to have t h re e Vacation Bible Schools- one here in George (the first day we had 125

and on the last day we had 325), then the followingweek we went to Kimberley (the first day we had36 and on the last day we had 195), and then onthe Graaff-Reinet where we had 84 the first dayand 300+/- on the last day. By the time we gotback to George on the 15th of July, we were deadtired, but what fun it was!! The interns were such abig help, and the Vacation Bible Schools were wellreceived and blessed. So we ar e very grateful toGod for sending Stacy Garner and his five interns(Jake, Chris, Mindy, Melinda, and Katie) to help usout in this project at such a vital time. We thank allthe individuals and churches that helped send them,too. It truly was an answer to prayer.

While we were in Graaff-Reinet, th e folks fedus a huge meal one evening and for dessert gave

us "Jan Ellis Pudding." It is ac ak e s er ve d with hot custard/pudding and itwas so good that^one of theinterns wanted theecipe. So I thought Iwould alsoshare itwith you. It i s called JanEllis because he was a big Rugbyplayer that liked this "pudding" somuch they named it after him.Let us know ifyou like it. InSouthAfrica any dessert is called pud-ding.

A big thank you to all of youwho have been helping us keepin stock of craft supplies! Itwas^ W \ very useful. Now we are readym I for more. We used up all ofthe glue, mater ial paints, ice-raft time was a great time at each Vacation Bible School.


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Our last night InGraaff-Reinet with the Vacation Bible Schoolthe local choir gave us a performance to say thanks.

cream sticks, pom-poms, a lot of the glitter andmost of the sequins, and our magic markers areabout done for, and we will be needing some moreconstruction paper. If you are able to help out thatis great, but there is no emergency, just letting youknow the need.Denzil is growing up fast. He is six years oldnow, going on to 15. He thinks he is a big mannow. He is verymuch likehisdaddy, thank goodness! Denzil is enjoying Kindergarten. Next January he will begin first grade; it just does not seempossible. He stillloves to travel, and is always verypopular with everyone. Sometimes that is a bitovenwhelming for him, but for the most part hehandles all the attention very well.Take care and remain faithful. Thank you forall your help, support and prayers. We hope tosee you again before too long, Lord willing. Wewish you all the very best.

Love, Fran

m-~3!

Pete, Fran and Denzil overlooking the Indian Ocean nearby.

Recipe - Jan Efffs PuiUIngIngredients:y2 cup butter/margarineV2 cup sugar2 large eggs

teaspoon salt!4 teaspoon baking soda1 Tablespoon of apricot jam2 cups self-rising flour1 cup milkMethod-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Cream butter and sugar together. Add the eggs,salt and apricot jam and mix well. Add th e self-r is ing f lour and mix. Dissolve the soda in themilk and mix it with the dough. Put in oven tobake until your toothpick comes out dry (+/- 1

Sauce :1 can of Ideal Milk (condensed milk)or 1 cup fresh creamVz cup warm water

Vz cup sugar14 cup butter/margarine1 teaspoon vanilla essenceMix all the ingredients together andbring to boil for 5 minutes. Stir continuously. Pour boiling sauce overbaked pudding.

Denzil had his 6th birthday party with his friends from church. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it.


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/Ya^ O!

The Laughrens,Pet e, F ran & Denzil

2 0 0 0 Con f e r e n c eTime once again came around for the yearly

gathering of the Churches of Christ that we workwith in South Africa. The yearly gathering is always held during the school holidays during thelast week of September and this year was no different. Differentchurches throughout the countrytake turns hosting the event and this year the churchin Bethelsdorp (one of the churches in Port Elizabeth) were the hosts. Itwas one of the most wellorganized gatherings that we have been a part of.Their local preparations were so well done that allofthe daily classes and meals were always on time.This is unusual for a gathering in this part of theworld. Usually we wait and wait and everythingruns late. But we were pleasantly surprised withthe promptness of everything this year. This wasdue to the great local preparations and preparedness.Our theme this year was "EvangelismThe

--iSSBHBanrwi

There are always large crowds at every conference.

0I^pe W^tttwsIE, SOUTH AFRICA^-

Fall 2000; Vol. 11, #2

Pete preaching a t t he yearly conference in Port Elizabeth.

Work of the Church." All c lasses a nd l es so ns revolved around this theme and t ouched various a spects of the sub ject . We planned classes for th emen, the ladies, and two ages of youth. We arefinding out though that we are needing more varied ages of youth classes as the older youth classhas people in it up to 35 years of age. So in ourpreparations for next year we are pondering theidea of up to four separate youth classes. Everyevening after the evening services there were spe-

Where would we be without the faithful ladies who cook everyyear? This year they prepared for around 300 people everymeal .


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Fran always teaches the youth and ladies at conference.

-cial activities for the youth such as a cho ir nightand a fellowship night and a drama night. Again,these plans were handled to perfect ion by the local c hu rc h a n d wen t off without a hitch.Along with Fran and I, other missionaries in attendance were Steve and Brenda Caulley andPhoebe Rees (from Kimberley), Ron and CarolynButler, Jerry and Ateta Kennedy (from Cape Town),and Phil and Roxanna Smith (from East London).All of them taught a class or preached a sermonand helped with developing the theme tremendously

All in all we had close to 300 people in attendance and they came from all over South Africa.They came from places such as Cape Town,Kimberley, East London, and all places in between.Plans are already being made for the 2001 gathering that the church in Queenstown has requested.P lease be in prayer for this gathering. When wefirst arrived in South Africa, Al Zimmerman told meat that time that th e yearly conference is something that the people look fonward to all year. I amconvinced that he is right even today as mostpeople save for the entire year and look forward tothe gathering. Iam glad that it brought glory to theLord again this year. Thanks for your prayers onits behal f .

Laughren Family ReunionOur length of s tay between furlough runs

roughly about four years. This term has been different as we have had to make a couple of tripsback to th e U. S . fo r var ious reasons . O ne su chtrip came up in August. My Dad's side of th e fam

1The Laughren Fannily Reunion is always a great time for thefirst cousins to get together. None of us has aged (as far as weknow ).

ily (The Laughrens) has a family reunion once every 3 to 5 years and the last gathering was in 1996.It is always held in Non/vay Bay, Quebec, Canadaand out of their kindness they usually try to plan areunion when ev er we are in North America. Wegot th e notice this year InApril about the latest gathering and as we sat at the local post office here inGeorge I made the off handed comment that itwould be nice to attend. Fran immediately said"Well, why don't you??" After initially laughing heroff about the idea, we proceeded to do some checking and finally made the decision to go. In ou rmaking plans to go we even talked to th e local minister here (Andrew Calvert) and his recommendation was for us all to go. He told us this by sayingthat th e last time we made separate trips overseas,th e one who stayed behind was sad for th e entiretime the otherwas gone. So we decided that Fran,Denzil and Iwould all make the trip. One plan thatwe made in going was to not tell anyone that wewere coming except my cousin in Montreal, DenzilPalmer, who helped us with preparations there. Heprovided housing for us when we arrived inMontrealand a ca r to borrow while w e w ere in Canada . Wecan never thank you enough, Denzil and Viv forhelping us in every way while we were there.

After arriving inAtlanta on the 6' of August, weflew to Montreal on the 9'^ We stayed in Montrealuntil the morning of the 12'^ and drove three hoursto the reunion on that Saturday morning. The reunion lasted that day and the next and we wereable to see a lot of relatives and do a lot of visiting.We were thankful for being able to make this tripand for the experience that it gave us in seeingeverybody. My mother and her husband (Flo andCollins Blackmarr) did not even know we were com-


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The two Denzils meet at the WasthG highlightLaughren family reunion in Canada. OfthG W06kGnd.(Denzil Palmerand Denzil Laughren) Thanks tOeveryone for welcoming us and for the time thatwe had together. It was a special trip to seeeverybody and one that we will not soon forget.We look fon/vard to the nex t r eun ion wheneverit may be .

Fran ' s Feel ingsHello all!

Sunny South Africaain't so sunny right now.We are getting rain late this year, but at leastwe are getting rain. It is even thundering today,and that is very unusual.

We are all well right now. Denzil and Istruggle off and on with sinus trouble, most likelyallergies, once in awhile. But otherwise we areal l well.

Denzil is getting so big. He "graduates" fromkindergarten this year and starts first grade inJanuary 2001, Lord willing. He has been cracking us up lately with some of the things he saysa nd d oe s. We think we a re fortunate to have aMcDonald's restaurant in town, Pete says theyare fortunate we are here because we keepthem in business. Anyway, one day we werehaving "happy meals" and out of the blue Denzilsays "I think I am going to put myself up foradoption." Poor little feila. He said he didn'teven know why he said it. I am sure that thoseof you who know us pretty well, can feel sorryfor him in having the l ikes of us for parents. Ha!It was pretty funny. Then the little guy was soexci ted t o have Kraft Macaroni and Cheese fo rsupper (even though it was warmed up leftovers) that he said "Wow! Imust be dreaming!Pinch me and wake me up!" He will be so sadwhen our supply runs out, which will be soon.

On a more serious note, once a year CarolynButler, missionary living in Cape Town, hosts aWomen's Retreat. I have been fortunate to part icipate in the program. It is great fun being

After the family reunion in Canada, Fran's side of the family,the Hamiltons, had a week together in Texas.

with al l t he w om en of th e c hu rc he s w e work with.We really have good fellowship and tots of laughs.It is a new thing for the churches here and it isbeing well received and the attendance gets betterevery year . I usually am asked to do a class/devotions and some craft classes. This year the Retreat was in Paarl , which is near Cape Town, onthe weekend of July 28'^ Three ladies from th eGeorge churches went with me. Pete and Denzildrove us there and the "guys" had a nice weekendof bonding.

In my opinion, our yearly preaching conferencewent really well. It was held in Port Elizabeth thelast week of September. Several missionary families were there with us, which is always good for usas missionaries to have time together for th e fellowship and encouragement. Plus it gives manypeople of th e churches a chance to see each otherwhen they otherwise have not had the opportunityfor some reason or another. There was good teaching, good programs and a great turn out.

This year our internship in June and July wentreally weil with three Vacation Bible Schools.Those areas we were at (George, Kimberley andGraaff-Reinet) were very encouraged and look forward to having more programs such as this in th efuture. So we thank those who came to help us.We also thank all of you who are so good aboutsending us supplies. I have been able to leavec rayons and such behind for the local teacherswhich is a huge help. The churches are very limited in their resources and supplies so you helpthem out when you help us out by sending supplies regularly.

My prayer is that you are all well, and most of


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