laughren peter fran 2001 safrica

7/27/2019 Laughren Peter Fran 2001 SAfrica

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The Laughrens,Pete, Fran & Denzil Winter 2001; Vol. 11, #3

LOST IN CYBERSPACEPlease accept our apologies for the lateness of th e last newsletter and the close proximity of thisone. Even in the most technological of times glitches occur. We sent th e last newsletter by e-mailand somewhere between here and the US it got lost in a satellite. In other words, it never arrived.After re-sending it, itwas t ime for th e next one and here it is. Hope you don't ge t t ired of reading ou rmail too quickly. Thank-you Mission Services for getting th e second sending ou t so quickly. Weappreciate your help.

T h re e E v e n ts off I n t e r e s tLiving here in South Africa presents us withmany different activities to be involved in. While

we are always involved in th e weekly classes andworking with the churches here in George, manytimes we are involved in things that are a little different and take us away from home. In the monthsof October to December 2000, we had three suchactivit ies.

Twice a year I am involved in a teaching session withCape BibleSeminary in the town ofGraaff-Reinet. Living here in George has made this tripmore manageable as it is just 3 and a half hoursaway. I can leave on a Wednesday and teachthrough the weekend and then be back home onMonday. What makes this teaching point pleasurable is th e attitude of th e people. They are alwayseager to learn. Whenever I go there I am alwayswelcomed into their homes each evening after theclasses and have made many close friends. Attendance in the classes usually runs anywhere from25 to 40 people every night and it is not just a lecture per se , but a time of discussion. There is aspirit of wanting to grow in Graaff-Reinet that I do

not see in many places.Another thing that makes the trip pleasurable

is the leadership of the church and youth. For yearswe have struggled with getting th e youth involvedin the churc h the re , but the tide seems to haveturned. A young man and his wife from Ghanamoved into th e community a couple of years agoand they have really started working with th e youthin a leadership role. Several yea rs ago when Iwould go there for teaching, th e attendance of th eyouth was weak a t best, bu t now they have grownnot only in numbers but in spirit. We have alwaysmaintained tha t the youth are not the church of tomorrow, but are part of the church of today. Whenwe held th e Vacat ion Bible Scho ol t he r e in 2000with th e interns, the youth participated greatly andmade the week a success. Going to Graaff-Reinetis one of the highlights of t he yea r for me and thispast November was no exception. I was verypleased with th e results of ou r time together.

In October, I was involved in a meeting thatwas the first of its kind. Ron Butler, missionary inCape Town, saw the need for a joint gathering ofall of the churches from the Western par t of SouthAfrica. He rented a meeting facility in the town of


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Pete taught at the joint gathering of the Churches of Chris t inPaar! in Octobe r .

Paarl near Cape Town and we had a gathering ofover 90 men from different Churches of Chris t fo ra time of teaching and fellowship. Ron invited fellow miss ionar ies Jer ry Kennedy and SteveZimmerman and myself and we all took part inteaching classes. I took two men from here inGeorge and itwas the first time that many of theseChristian men had seen each other in years. Ronwanted Christ ian brothers who had worked in di fferent areas to at l east have fellowship with oneanother and the meeting was a great success.Many came away from the gathering determinedto work together better and seeing the need to relyon each other more. I was very pleased to be apart to th e gathering.

Another thing tha t we are involved in here inour work is weddings. To be able to perform weddings here, the government has to officially recognize you as a "marriage officer" after taking the required test. I took the test in 1986 and have donemany weddings among the people that we workwith. With cultural customs (and in many cases,immorality) being what they are, I have done veryfew weddings of young people where there werenot already children born or on the way. In fact Ihave done many weddings of Xhosa people whohave already been married by African Custom, butthey want to make it legal by government standards.Therefore I have done weddings of people whohave lived as man and wife for many more yearsthan I have been alive. Amongst th e colored population, immorality is rife and to perform a weddingof two people without children involved is unusual.

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Much fruitful discussion was done amongst the brothers duringth e t ime in Paarl .

That being said, one of the youth from theYouth Group in Macassar where we used to workin Cape Town, asked me to perform her weddingto a young man from th e church in Kimberley. InNovember we drove to Cape Town for th e weddingand it was a beautiful occasion. Itwas a joy toperform th e wedding of a faithful young couple thatwe had worked with over the years and to see themstrong in the Lord. As is usual here in South Africathe wedding was supposed to be at 1:00 but thewedding party finally arrived at 3:30. The wedding,pictures and the reception went late into the nightin ce lebra t ion of this beautiful occas ion . W e sawmany people there that we worked with in CapeTown and itwas good to be with them again. Weare thankful for Lesley and Carolyn Baardt and thecommitment that they have made to each otherand to the Lord.

f t (Many ladies who attend weddings come in their finest dress.


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We a remany things inSouth Africa, bu twe are neverb ore d. W e wereinvo lv ed inmany things during the last threemonths of 2000,but I just wantedto highlightthose three thatI h av e ta lk edab ou t . T hank -you for prayingfor us here a ndwe pray t ha t wewill cont inue tobe used of th eLord in t h i sbeautiful land.

This is the grandmother of the bride atth e wedding in Cape Town. "Ma"Jantijies has helped us so many timeswhi le w e h av e lived in South Africa. Wewould be los t without her .

To close the year off with the youth group inGeorge , we had an outing to a local nature reserve which included a boat trip through a lagoon near th e Indian Ocean. We made it arequirement that only those who had attendedregularly could attend and we had 15 membersshare the day.During the months of October, November andDecember we made our monthly trips to thechurch in Knysna. The group there is small buteager to learn.We have also been t rying to meet with thechurch in nearby Mossel Bay, but when we finally got a date firmed up, we had to cancelbecause of i l lness .

Denzil performed in a school play that was th eend of his kindergarten year. He started gradeone in January.On the 20th of December, my mother and herhusband (Flo and Collins Blackmarr) arrived tospend Christmas with us and it was great tohave thei r v is it f or f ive week s .

The youth here in George are growing in attendance. We meetevery Monday night at our house.

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mmAs you ca n see from this pic ture , housing in places such asKnysna is meager. The background view is of th e Indian Oceanin t h e d i s ta nc e.

At th e end of his kindergarten year, Denzil took part in the schoolplay.


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The Laughrens ,Pete, F ran & Denzil

G ard en R ou te Sem in a rEvery year for the last three years we have tried

to expand the teaching of Cape Bible Seminary toa more intense period of teaching in George. Wecall th is the "Gar den Rout e S em in ar " and hold theseminar over a weekend in either Feb ruary o rMarch. The first year was held with much successand great attendance by the area churches. Theattendance for the second year was not as good,but the teaching was excellent by the missionariesin attendance. In gathering information from thearea churches that did not attend th e second year,we were told that there were several things thatwe did not do in preparation. We learn things bytrial and error among different cultures and this wasno different. We were told by various sources inthe local Thembale thu church tha t w e needed toinform certain people in the church beforehand andthen they would announce it to the whole congregation. We had visited with some of the eldersfrom the church and had given them promotionalmaterial and done what we thought was right, but

J ane t Shaw held a ladies c la ss in th e afternoon of the GardenRou te Sem ina r.

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Spring 2001; Vol. 11, #4

Dr.Wayne Shaw of Lincoln Christian Seminary taught threeclasses on Preaching for the Garden Route Seminar held herein George.we found out that we had no t talked to the rightpeople at the right time. Concerned not to makethe same mistake this year we went all out to leteach and every person that needed to know, knowand that way no one could use that excuse againfor non attendance. We attended and spoke at theThembalethu church, met with the elders, and thisyear, covered all of the bases.

Not to sound depressing, but th e same attendance results happened again. We even had brothers come from t he Thembale thu church in the morning and ask to be sure what time we were starting,and then go to tell others and never return. Strange.But on the other hand, t he b ro ther s from theConville and Knysna churches came to learn andtheir total numbe r wa s a bo ut 15.

That having been said, the quality of the teaching was tremendous. Dr.Wayne Shaw from Lincoln Christian Seminary came and taught threeclasses concerning preaching and was very wellreceived by those in attendance. We really appre-


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Pictured along with the students who attended are GordonNelson, Wayne Shaw, Ron Butler, and myself.

ciate he and his wife, Janet coming to help withthis important time. Brother Calvert of th e Convillechurch was very pleased with the lesson times andfelt that those in attendance more than got theirtime's worth. Ron Butler of Cape Town and Gordon and Es tel l e Ne l son from Eas t London were a lsohere and helped with the weekend. Gordonpreached Sunday morning and Ron preached Sunday evening at the joint gathering. Living here inGeorge gives us a good meeting place as th eNelsons brought the Shaws from East London tohere and th en Ron took them on to Cape Town tocatch their flight back to th e U.S. th e following week.Other than attendance, all plans worked out to pe rfection. Those who c ame a s s tu de n ts w e re encouraged and th e time of teaching was great.Thanks for all of your prayers for this gathering.We learn more as we go along and we try to followthe leading of th e Lord.

Gordon Nelson preached for the Sunday morning services andwas assisted by Andrew Calvert in translation.

F r an ' s Fee l inasHI you all!! Ido hope all is good with you. Right

now, after recovering from a tummy virus that wentaround town like wild fire, we are well.

We were very fortunate to have Pete's folks here,Flo and Collins Biackmarr, for about five weeksduring the Christmas / Summer holiday time. Wedid the usual playing, shopping, eating, sight-seeing type activities. It was grand! Denzil sure didenjoy having his grandparents around and beingable to ge t to know them better and do some bonding. We really appreciate them making the effort tocome fo r such a nice visit.

Before the Blackmarr 's got here, we found outabout a new game park that has opened about anhours d r ive f rom ou r h o us e. So we made reservations and as a surprise, we all went for a couple ofnights. Itwas really neat. We saw all the "Big Five"and were disappointed to hear that they did not havegiraffe because there are no trees or vegetation inthis area for them to eat. Shame! Itwas very special and beautiful. I liked it a lot.

January 23rd was the first day of school for ourDenzil. He is now infirst grade and has been learninga lot very quickly Daddy and Mommy are so proud ofhim and often d eba te e a ch other a s to whom h e t ak e safter. Actually there is no doubt in either of our minds,he definitely takes after his daddy in brains and looks(as far as Daddy knows, Ha!). The only thing hetakes after me is his laugh. We are so proud ofhim. Denzil has learned so much of how to get alongwith other kids. And he memorizes scripture so easilytoo! It is hard to believe our little boy is nearly seven.What a joy he is to"us!

Denzil has lost two teeth, and been to the d entist twice. He has competed in school sports eventssuch as running and swimming. He enjoys singing- "Mommy , you should have hea rd me sing todayI sounded like a star!" Cartoon Network is a favorite pas time and very effective for punishment (lostprivilege). He is easy to discipline because of histender heart. Lately he has been asking aboutbeing born again. He is so much better now aboutbeing friendly to everyone and not acting so shy,and making friends where ever we go. Am I goingon like a proud mother?!

In March the Ga rd en R ou te S em in a r w a s heldhere in George. It was such a privilege to haveWayne and Janet Shaw, Gordon and Estelle Nelsonand Ron Butler here with us for that. Janet gave


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Denzil and his friend, Emile Calvert (Andrew's son), playing ina tree during th e Seminar.

a w o n d e r l e s s o n to t h e ladies. T h e a t te n d a n c e o v e rall was low, bu t those who attended were blessedand well fed spiritually. We were disappointed inthe low attendance. We had expected a better turnout, but that is th e way it goes sometimes. Peteand I really enjoyed the fellowship with t he o thermissionaries a n d visitors from t h e S t a t e s. It is likea breath of fresh air. Janet also had a gift for theladies. She h as a friend in the States (please forgive me for forgett ing her name) that helped herwith many pairs of earrings. The ladies love jewelry, but don 't have extra income to buy any, so itwas a real treat for us to lay out several pairs ofearrings for them to pick from. They were all sohappy and grateful.

Vacat ion Bible School is a r o u n d the c o r n e r now.This year we will have four going during the monthsof June and July. Stacey Garner is coming backthis year with 11 interns and will be busy with Vacation Bible School in Kimberley without us while wear e busy doing a VBS here in George with th e 14"Lone O a k work t e a m " . T h e folks from t h e LoneOak Christian Church in Johnson City, Tennesseewill only be here for about 10 days and boy will theybe working! For three days before the Lone Oakteam l eav es we will have Stacey and his internshere, plus a very wonderful lady and her son fromHampton, Georgia (Carol and Matthew Dudley) whoar e coming for a month to help out - all at one time!Talk about some fun and interesting days ahead!After the Tennessee folk leave we will be doing Vacation Bible School in a nearby town we work incalled Knysna. Then the following week we headb a c k t o G r aa f f -R e in e t fo r Vacat ion Bible S c h o o l .

Everyone enjoys theVacation BibleSchools so muchthey can't wait for the next one. The youth inGraaff-Reinet have asked for special classes besides theVacation Bible School for them so that they have achance to learn more and spend more time with th einterns. Itwill surely be a busy time, but a blessedtime and we are looking fonward to it. Please praywith us for the extra transportation. To rent a vanwould cost us over $100 a day and we would needit fo r t h r e e w eeks. W e don 't w an t to do that if w edon't have to. So, we have been making requestsand inquiries for a van or mini bus of some kind, bu ts o far t o n o avail . W e t r u s t t h a t G o d will w o r k it al lout. Other wise everything is falling right intoplace.

Iwould like to express my gratitude to the ladiesof the Berea Christian Church in Hampton, Georgiafor sending us four boxes of craft supplies and "prizesfor the kids". It is such a big help and blessing!Thank you! There have been others too, who havesent things and I also thank you.

We received a big envelope full of letters fromdifferent Sunday Schools. A fine young lady namedAmy Evans arranged for her fellow fourth grade classmates at th e Grace Christian School in Blacklick,Ohio to each write a letter. So you see, this yearhas been going very well. We are always remindedof His presence and guidance . We feel th e loveand prayers coming from all of you who love Himand care about His work being done in South Africa. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts foreverything!

May the love of our Father, the Grace of JesusChrist and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be withu s all.

Love,F r a n

ETC. As Fran has mentioned in her part of th e letter,

we have many people coming to help with thisyear's Vacation Bible Schools. We have 14people from Lone Oak Christian Church inJohnson City,Tennessee who will arrive on the1" of July and they will help us with the VacationBible School in George from the 2nd to the 6'^They will fly back to th e U.S. on the 1 1 B e f o r ethey leave, Stacy Garner from Gateway Educational Services in St, Louis will arrive with 10 int erns and they will help us with Vacation Bible


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The Laughrens,Pet e, F ran & Denzil

Summe r VisitorsFor the last several years we have had interns

and groups and have done Vacation Bible Schoolsin various locations. This July was no different, buton a much larger scale. While Fran will talk in herpart of the letter about theVacation Bible Schools, Iwould liketo tell about the three groups (totalling 30people) that we had come to visit and help.But first a littleof the preliminaries to tell aboutthe preparations. While we have a big house, we,of course, could not handle all thirty with sleepingplaces. We were fortunate that while we had manypeople here at onetime, all 30 were only here fora total of three nights as the groups overlapped.Since itwas school holidays here, we were able torent rooms a cro ss th e s tre et from our h ou se a t aschool dormitory. That worked out great. Whilethe first group was here, all of the men slept acrosst he s tr e e t and when the interns arrived the secondweek, they all slept across the street until we wentup country. Allof th e plans went off without a hitchexcept for transportation. Two days before the firstgroup arrived, our van blew a head gasket on atrip back from Port Elizabeth and the missionarygathering (see later) and while we got it back fourdays later, it again went down a week later not tobe seen for another month. So during the visits,we borrowed a total of 5 different vehicles at different times and God answered our prayers in thatwe had transportation when we needed it. Whileeverybody was here, everybody pitched in beautifully in helping with meals, cleaning, etc. Itwas abusy t ime to say the least.

On June 13, we received ou r first intern, SheilaSloan. She was part of a larger group to arrivelater from Gateway International Education Ser-

Summer 2001; Vol. 12 , #1

HJ

Some of the Lone Oal< team, and Sheila, getting ready for thenext day of crafts which was always a crazy time. Hartsell isthinking "How many do you think we should prepare for thist ime!?"

vices in St Louis (under the direction of Stacy Garner) but while the rest of her group was in Lithuaniaand Kimberley, South Africa, she served her fullinternship here as she was doing hers for collegec re di t. Whi le she was here a week and a half before any other visitors, she helped with the localchurch here in youth and ladies classes and withthe children's program at this year's MissionaryGathering In Port Elizabeth.

On July 1 we received our next visitors fromLone Oak Christian Church in Johnson City, Tennessee. We arrived at the airport here in Georgeto pick up Cra ig Fowler and his group tha t had arrived for ten days. As they left the summer in theUS and arrived here at the start of our winter, theyfound it very cold. They helped with the VacationBible School in Thembalethu here in George andwith two days of the Vacation Bible School inKnysna. Also while they were here, they taughtthe youth classes, the prayer meetings, the BibleStudies and the Sunday sermons. As a member ofthe group, Matthew Roberts got to preach his first


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Matthew Roberts preaching his first sermon with the help ofJerome Calvert interpreting at Conville.

One wild animal riding another.

Stacy Garner and Pete at Cape Point.

sermon and there is no bet te r place to begin thanhere in George. The church here is an encouraging group of people and a good place for Matthewto start. Also while they were here we took themsightseeing to the ostrich farm in Oudtshoorn andon a boat trip in Knysna. We were sad when theyleft back fo r the US on June 11.

On July 3, Carol Dudley and her son, Matthewarrived from Berea Christian Church in Hampton,GA. They were here for a total of three weeks andhelped with the Vacation Bible Schools inThembaiethu, Knysna and Graaff-Reinet. Wordscannot express the help that they were with theschools and just helping around the house. Theywere encouraging to us in every way .On the 8'*^ of July Stacy Garner and his grouparrived from Kimberley. While theTennessee groupwas here doing the Vacation Bible School inGeorge, Stacy and his group were in Kimberleydoing the Vacation BibleSchool that we usually dot ogether . Thi s way, four Vacation Bible Schoolswere able to be donewith them being in Kimberleyon their own. From the time that they arrived hereinGeorge on the 8*^ and untilthe Tennessee groupleft on the 11'^, we had 30 people in and aroundthe house. All 30 of us went together to the Vacation Bible School and the boat trip in Knysna withthe Gateway group being responsible for the Vacation Bible Schoo l there, and after the Tennessee group left, th e rest of us went to Graaff-Reinetfor the third week to do that Vacation Bible School.We took three vehicles to Graaff-Reinet and whilewe were there, we also spent time on a farm in th earea, went sight-seeing and spent a lot of t ime withthe local people. It was a wonderful week and agreat success.Afterwe returned to George on the 21^' of July,we had services and meetings in George on the21 and 22nd, and then we said good-bye to Caroland Matthew on Monday the 23'^ as they flew backto Georgia. On the 25'^ Idrove Stacy and his groupto Cape Town (actually 6 took the bus) for threenights and two days of sight-seeing. While there,we also spent t ime with Jerry Kennedy and RonButler, missionaries in Cape Town and they wereable to share their views of the work in South Africa. They even took part in the Bible Study atMacassar on the 26'^ In Cape Town we saw all ofthe usual sights and were able to show th e internsdifferent parts of this beautiful country. On th e 28'^,itwas very sad for me to take them all to the airportas they started their trip back to the US through


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Johannesburg.To summarize, to all who came and helped in

th e work, we can never say thank-you enough forall that you have contributed. The people in thefour different places are still asking for you and arepraying for you by name. You will never know thelives that you have touched in so many ways. Andyou have touched and encouraged Fran, Denziland me inways that you cannot imagine. You haveenriched our lives. For that Ican never say thank-you enough . Thanks for coming and thanks forbeing a vital part of the work here in 2001. Welook fonward to seeing you next year in our travelson furlough, wherever you may be.

No they ar e not twins, it is mother and son, Carol and MatthewDudley from Berea Christian Church, Hampton, Georgia.

Craig Fowler (Leader of the Lone Oak mission team) preachinga t Convil le .

Slager helping some of the youth in Graaff-Reinet make a pencilholder.

Kids making their "medallion necklace" at Vacation Bible Schoolin Knysna.

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Missionary gathering June 25 - 29 in Port Elizabeth.


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Folks fromLone Oak Christian Church inJohnson City, Tennessee, takenat George Mountain overlooking town ofGeorge (from l-r) Marie Roberts,Matthew Roberts, Janet Davis, Scott Snapp, Crystal Evans, Reed Davis,Becky Bennett, Edith Edwards, Damon Edwards, Jesie Sendelbach,Hartsell Edwards, Robert Hoss, Craig Fowler and Cecil Plaster.

Internship group with Gateway International Educational Services taken atCape Point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet (from l-r) Nicole Dill,Carrie Wolford,Stacy Garner (leader),Shamus Kwiatkowski, LoriRoss, EthanSefton, Sarah Grigsby, Frank Danner, Jason Slager, Sheila Sloan, and JasonBuchanan .

All 30 visitors plus Pete, the morning the Lone Oak team left for U.S.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOLS(Fran's Feelings)

Vacation Bible School is such a rewarding time and vital part of the work here inSouth Africa. We are able to reach youngpeople for th e Lord, that we would never beable to otherwise. There is nothing like it inthe world, to see their happy, eager faceswhen they see you and get involved in theVacation Bible School! The feeling you getwhen you see them running out to meet youwhen you arrive, or chase the cars whenyou are leaving. They yell, clap, sing andjump around with joy at your being there. Iwish you all could experienceVacation BibleSchool in South Africa!

What a great year of Vacation BibleSchool! We thank and praise the good Lordfor sending us wonderful, hardworking folksfrom the States to help make this year'sVacation Bible School a success. It s eemsthat every year gets better, so far.

This year there were four Vacation BibleSchools going on during the June/Julyschool holiday. Stacy Garner and his interns handled th e one in Kimberley, whilewe were busy with the one in George. According to Stacy, Kimberley had about thesame in attendance as last year, 150 +/- ,but the interns connected with the youth andkids more. They were there for two weeks(the first week was getting settled andready), so they had more time to get to knowthe folks from Kimberley. This is a greatthing for all involved!

The first Vacation Bible School th at w ewere involved with this year was here inGeorge at the township calledThembalethu.The mission team from Lone Oak ChristianChurch helped us with that. We had +\-160in attendance on the first day, and by Friday (all Vacation Bible Schools went fromMonday to Friday) we had 410 +/- in attendance! Ihave to say+/- with all our figuresbecause it is difficult to get exact numbers.We would count them as they left the building collecting their snacks, but often therewere some that left early or a couple wouldsneak back in. But I am certain t he coun tsare no t exaggerated. Though this was afirst t ime for most of the Lone Oak team in


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several areas, theywere great! They were willing,happy workers. They loved the kids and the feelings were mutual towards them, the kids could notwait for their arrival each day.

One of the most amusing sights of the weekcame when Pete was providing transportation. Every day he would take a different person to seewhat the other side ofthe township looked likeandwhe re t he kids lived and came from. Bob Hosswent with him one day and when they arrived backto the building there were 6 children sitting withBob inthe front seat and when we opened the sliding and back doors, a total of 54 kids got out of the12 passenger van. Up to that time that was therecord, but itwas broken bytwo 2 days later. Maybethat is why the van broke but I doubt it.

The same goes for th e Vacation Bible Schoolin Knysna. This was the first time we held Vacation Bible School in Knysna. It is a small church, avery small and closed in building with a dirt floor,which made it a bi t difficult. But the Lone Oak teamand the interns all pitched in together the first fewdays, then the Lone Oak folks left for home andthe i nt erns carr ied on . It was also a success andwe were very pleased with the turn out. On Monday we had 120 +/- in attendance, ending on Friday with 310 +/- in attendance. It was the mostdifficult of the three wee ks h er e a s we had littlelocal adult help.

Thirdly, Graaff-Reinet, again was a great success! We s tar ted out th e w ee k with +/-120 andended on Friday with over 300. A new event thisyear here was the youth leader asking us ahead oft ime to have extra classes for the youth. So weheld a class time with a craft for the youth immediately after theVacation Bible School on three days.The interns had good teaching and discussionseach day. Itwas great!

For al l fo ur o f the Vacation Bible Schools wehad the same theme of lessons on John the Baptist. All lessons were taught by a different person,to give each one the experience. New songsweretaught by each visiting group, and they were greatfun. We pretty much did th e same crafts and coloring pictures for all of them as well. The craftsthat Stacy Garner had sent over ahead of time forthe Vacation Bible School in Kimberley did not arrive, but between me and what I had here alreadyand what the Lone Oak team brought with them,there was plenty or just enough. It reminded meof a story with fish and loaves of bread.

The Interns were great with all of the Vacation

BibleSchools and classes they taught. All the interns and the missions teams, including Carol andMatthew Dudley were great with interacting withthe people here. The folks of South Africa missyou all and feel blessed byall your efforts and friendship. Thank you to all our visitors for making theVacation Bible Schools go so smoothly and providing good teaching and fun for the kids of SouthAfrica. Thankyou to all who helped them get here.Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.May God continue to bless you as you live for andse rve him!Aspecial thank you with all my heart to: Hartselland Edith, Damon, Marie, Matthew, "Swampy",Becky, Crystal (Pete wants to know how you sayyour last name), Janet, Reed (I forgot th e specialnickname I had for you), Robert , Cecil, Jessie,Craig, Stacy, Nicole, Sheila, Lori, Slager, Carrie,Ethan, Shamus, Frank, J.B., Sarah, Matthew, andCarol. I love you guys and itwas fun!!

Love, Fran

ETC. We took part in the yearly missionary gather

ing in June in Port Elizabeth. Fran led somesinging and taught a children's c lass. Shei laSloan, one of th e interns, taught the otherchildren's classes and was well received by all.I led a prayer time and we all enjoyed th e fellowship.

Denzil and I went to Kimberley for the Eastergatherings and worked with Roland Joseph forthe weekend .

Fran has taken a course that qualifies he r to bea teacher in Denzil's schooling system. Shewill teach Denzil next year while we are on furlough.

Speaking of furlough, we will be arriving states ide in the mid dl e o f Decembe r and will be onfurlough for all of 2002. Many dates have already been taken. Please contact us ifwe cancome and visit.

As we said, we have had vehicle troubles andit all happened at the height of th e visitors. Theplans are now to sell it before furlough and try


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The Laughrens,Pete, Fran & Denzil

Annua l P re ach inq Con fe ren ceDuring the school holidays in late September or early

Octoberwe always have our yearly preaching and teaching conference. This gathering moves from place to placeand it all depends on which church volunteers it's timeand efforts to host the gathering. This year the gathering was in a small town call ed Sada which is nearQueenstown and is about 8 hours from George. Mostyears itis more centrally located but this year itwas a farpiece from just about everywhere. But the people of theQueenstown circuit volunteered and were well preparedand the gathering was held from October 3-7, 2001.

As is my usual routine, I made a trip to the area inAugust just to see that final plans were in place and And rew Cal ve rt wen t with me. As Andrew is t r easu re r fo rthe gathering, the people always want to see him to seehow much money is needed to s tart, to ge t through theweek, and to just run the gathering. My part is to seethat the meeting place is big enough, to see if they haveenough meeting places, enough sleeping places and justgenerally to see if the local plans are in place. We werevery pleased with how they were prepared and were gladthat there were no surprises looming on the horizon.

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Fall 2001; Vol. 12, #2

We did not expect a large crowd for this year's conference because of th e remoteness, so we were verysurprised when the first night's attendance was over 300.By the end of the week we had over 400 people thereand t ha t is more than we have in s ome central locations.Missionaries in attendance this year besides Fran andmyself were Steve Zimmerman, Ron Butler, Phil andRoxanna Smith and Joshua and Ruth Barron. Peopletraveled from Cape Town, Graaff-Reinet, George,Upington, Kimberley and Port Elizabeth. So we had agood representation of all of the places where there arechurches .

As is usual, w e h ad classes for th e men, th e womenand older and younger youth. One thing that we introduced this year, was another class for another age ofyoung person. We have found that when we have theyouth classes, the ages of the youth seems to ge t olderevery year. Our youngest age in the youth class is 13and the oldes t age was supposed to be 20. But everyyear the older ones keep coming back and some of theyouth in attendance would wind up being over 30. So thisyear, our new class was for the age of 21-30 and called a"Young Adult class." It was a great success. One of thestrong men from the Graaff-Reinet church. MaxwellCudjoe

Here ar e the members of the new PlanningCommittee for the yearly conference: (front I-r) David Jantjies, Andrew Calvert; (back l-r)Barry Jantjies, Arrie Koeberg, ThompsonNtobie and Eric Mzinyathi.

This year I taught a men'sc la ss o n e afternoon. Denzilhad the job of taking picturesof his parents teaching . . . wethink he did all right for his firsttry.

The cooks are always busy at conference and without them conference would not be complete.


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led in these classes and was very well received. So all inallwe had 5 to 6 different classes meeting a couple oftimesa day withworship services inbetween, so ifone wanted toattend and be built up in the faith, there were plenty of opportunities.

This year's theme was "Holiness Before God," and allclasses dealt with the subject. Itwas very encouraging foreveryone. I have been the chairman of the planning committee for the past four years and this year it was time forthe semi-annual elections of the officers. As we will be onfurlough next year, a new chairman was elected and Iwasvery pleased that the people elected one ofthe local brother s to take my place. Arrie Koeberg of the Graaff-Reinetchurch was elected and will now be in charge of planningthe next tw o conferences. Andr ew Ca lve r t is still the t reasurer on th e sixman committee, bu t while some of the otherofficers changed, I have confidence that all will do their jobjust fine. It ha s been a privilege to do this work and it ha sbeen a loto f fun. But the most fun every year was to cometogether and see all of the local people and to have a timeof fellowship that we would not get otherwise. That madeall of the effort worthwhile. Next year's gathering will be inGraaff-Reinet and the plans are already undenway Thank-you for your prayers for this year's conference and pleasecontinue pray for the church in South Africa, and for thisyearly gathering in particular.

F r an ' s Feel imHey everybody! "Howzit?"All is well here. We are having some hectic days, butwe can't complain. All three of us are healthy again,after fighting bouts of the flu. The weather has been lovely- still up and down temperature wise, and still having rainevery couple of days. The church work is going on strongly,so you see, all is well here.

In August Iwas involved with the annual ladles retreatin Paarl again, and itwas grand. Every yearwe have moreladies inattendance, and we all are growingclosertogetheras sisters in Christ, and we are all encouraged in the wordof God. This year Aleta Kennedy was a big help for me inproviding a craft for the ladies . This year I organized forthe ladies to paint a little banner with a Precious Momentsironed on it. Then Carolyn Butler, who was in charge of thegathering, brought a big table cloth with flowers traced allalong the edges that each lady colored in and signed theirname. They seemed to enjoy those projects. They got totake their b ann er s h ome and t he t ab le cloth will be a t th eretreats everyyear as a reminder ofthat year's retreat. Everyyear we try to come up with group projects that come backevery year following and a project for them to take home.The lessons were wonderfully presented by Carolyn Butler, while Aleta Kennedy and I led ina couple of devotions.

Fran taught kids and ladies classes at this year's conference.Pete comes every Sunday morning of the retreats (whichare Friday night through Sunday morning) and leads in aservice. Itmakes for a great weekend, and Pete is alwaysgood with closing the retreat with good, encouraging andchallenging words from the Gospel. Thanks to all of youwho help me with craft supplies, because those suppliesare not only for the kids, but the adults get to use itas well.Conference this year was a long way up country, nearQueenstown. The church there had really good facilities,an old abandoned factory. Because Queenstown is far frommost areas, the attendance was not all tha t good, but wewere still pleasantly surprised in how many people did makeit. The ladies classes went really well. They were taughtby Ruth Barron, Roxanna Smith, NellyMelaketso and myself. The theme was Holiness and how it must apply to allareas of our life. Itwas great. There were a lot of childrenthis year and their classes all went really well. I had takenthe materials for the classes (crafts and pictures to color)and did pretty good with having extra in case there weremore kids than before. Itis never easy or even possible tomake a good estimate on how many children there will bein attendance forconference, Sunday schools, or VacationBible School but when itwas my turn to do my class, Ihad forgotten to do the cutting out and organizing the craftfor more kids, so itwas a bit unorganized and hectic. Ugh!I should have known better, bu t thanks to Roxanna andPhil Smith coming with their son's birthday cake to sharewiththe kids, they stayed to help save the day. Itturned outto be fun anyway. It was kinda funny because the kidswere making birds and I brought feathers for them to glueon th e bird. Fo r a few minutes, I am sure I saw feathersflying all over the room, that's how hectic itwas. Inspite ofit all, they turned out really cute. Then on Saturday, Iorganized some games for the kids and itwas a riotwatching them pass a small ball over their heads and under /between their legs down a line of 20 kids (and there weretwo lines of them racing). Cheat! They loved to chea t, itwas something to watch how long they could play the gamecorrectly before one of the teams cheated by just heavingthe ball to the last person in the line. Then they all startscreaming because the whole thing had a witness of theinfraction on the o ther team. It was fun.


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The kids love to do crafts at conference and always get to takethem home.

Denzil attends school here, but it is a private Christianschool called Vine Ch ri st ia n S choo l. The children al l dothe ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) course. Itis anexcellent course and the good thing is that they go at theirown rate - kinda like home schooling, but is se t up like aproper school situation with monitors and supervisors as'leachers". Anyway, Iwent on a course and got certified asa monitor so that I am qualified to "teach" Denzil. We arethen able to travel with Daddy and we jus t take Denzil'sbooks along. This furlough we are going to home school.When we come back, Lord willing, Denzil will just continueon to the third grade. He will never have to change curriculum, which is wonderful. The school often calls me to comehelp, especially when a teacher is away for some reason, Iwill fill in for her. Ialso go to help do the monitoring responsibilities (listen to reading, do goal checks, help keep orderin the class, help with testing, etc.) I really do enjoy it!!!

Well, now we are getting ready for furlough. There areall kinds of details that have to be sorted out, bu t we are sothankful in that everything is coming together quite well. Itis never an easy job to deal with the offices here (electric,phone, banks, etc.) but Pete is very capable, a bit frustrated at times, but capable. We had to call in the carpetcleaner (he is scheduled to come when the house is emptyto clean the whole house) we had a bitof an accident. Denzilforgot to turn off the water at the bathroom sink and we hada bitof a flood. Ha! Itwas funny. Iwas inthe kitchen fixingDenzil 's breakfas t and lunch fo r s choo l when I h ea rd P et ecall, "Oh my! What in the world?!" Then it is quiet and Ithought he was playing another one of his games to ge t ourattention. But I was busy, right, so I didn't fall for it rightaway Then Iheard "Mommy! Come here!" He was franticthen. So, I thought what now and all I saw while walkingdown the passage way to our bedroom, was a pool of water all over our floor and Pete standing inthe middle of it.Denzil said "I was filling the sink up with water so Mommycan put in her contacts." Quick thinking on his part, don'tyou think.?! Well, other than smell ing a bit, it turned out

We appreciate you -Mprayers. We look for- ward to the possibility ofthree us are looking

to th e changebringing us We are Caroline "Ma" Jantjies has been likelooking fomard to catch- ^ South Africa,ing up on things with you too. Our best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving and Holiday season. I do hope youknow that we are thankful for every one of you and whatyou have meant to us through the years. Thank you foryour friendship, love, prayers, support and concern.

Love,Fran

FURLOUGH PLANSWhen you receive this, we may already be in the U.S.

starting our furlough. We flyout of South Africaon November 26 and fly to Malaysia and Vietnam and continuing onuntil we arrive in Bedford, Texas on December 13. We willbe spending Christmas with Fran's familythere and will beleaving that area mid-January. We are still not sure wherewe will be based as many plans are still up in the air but thelast two furloughs we have stayed inthe Hampton, Georgiaarea and that has worked well. Atthe time of this writing wehave not heard definitelyabout accommodations, so pleasemake this a matter of prayer as we make our plans.

Ifwe can come and speak and share about the workhere in South Africa, please let us know by our e-mail address ([email protected]) or through our forwardingagents whose address is located in this newsletter. Thefollowing are dates that we now have confirmed and weare working on more as we travel:January 9, 2001Fran at ladies group at Highland MeadowsChristian Church, Colleyvllle, TexasFebruary 24Faith Promise, Berea Christian Church, Hampton,

GeorgiaMarch 17 (am) Peachcrest Christian Church in Loganville,

GeorgiaMarch 17th (pm) Calvary Christian Church, Stockbridge,GeorgiaMarch 20th Peachtree City Christian Church, Peachtree City,

GeorgiaMarch 22nd Morning Chapel at Atlanta Christian CollegeMarch 24"^ (am) Riverdale Christian Church, Riverdale, GeorgiaMarch 22-24Georgia Missionary Rally, East Point Georgia.June 17-21Vacation Bible School at Lone Oak Christian Church,

Johnson City, Tennessee.


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