Rev Hendrik du Plessis
Sunday School Material
By the grace of the Lord we found someone who serves the Sunday school children of Bere, as mentioned in my previous report. She is affiliated with the local school there. Her need was Bibles and Sunday School material, which I was able to provide. We are very grateful for someone like her, who is humble and meek. She is a Tswana-speaking lady who unfortunately can not speak the local Bushman language, but it is a huge start. If we can train someone locally through her it would be great. We dedicate her to the protection and blessing of the Lord.
Visits
This time we focused on home visits. Many people ask for audio bibles, which we only give after careful consideration. Some people can read. For them we only give ordinary Bibles. We were able to hand out pamphlets that the people just started reading there and then.
This old woman was particularly excited to hear the Word of the Lord in her own language, the Qgõo language. Initially, of course, she had to be instructed to press the right buttons, how to turn it on or off by pressing the red button for a long period.
In the past we waited for the people to come and ask for Bibles, but then you have the problem that only those who can walk or are mobile came to us. Large numbers of people showed up, but what about the people who can not walk that far? This time we did not tell anyone that we had Bibles. They only realized this with our personal visits to them.
Old Ncoobiri was very excited about his Bible. He laughed with excitement and kept telling us: “This is my language.”
It is really our prayer that the Lord will change people in spreading His Word in this way.
I always think of the words:
Nature forms
Sin deforms
School informs
But only Christ transforms.
The Funeral at Khacgae
Abdul, who was with me and faithfully accompanied me on all my outreaches, heard a week or so ago about a relative who had died in Khacgae. The funeral was initially scheduled for Saturday, but later moved to Sunday morning. Early Sunday morning round about five o’clock we left Bere. It was Abdul, and the two chiefs of Bere and I. Khacgae is about 70 or 80 kilometers from Bere. Arriving there at sunrise, it was first customary to view the corpse. Then comes the person who reports on the illness of the deceased. He then explains when the deceased began to fall ill up to and including his death. His friends also had a chance to speak. An uncle on the mother’s side then spoke.
Before we left for the grave, a word of comfort was brought after which they asked me to say a prayer. When they arrived at the grave, according to their custom, they first threw soil into the grave with the words “dust you are and to dust you will return”.
Later I objected and said that they have uttered the curse that the Lord initially pronounced on mankind over their beloved without mentioning the resurrection in Christ. They spoke of the names, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but Matthew 28 says it is only one Name, though three Persons. The disciples are instructed to baptize the people in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and not names, because God is one. At many funerals I have reprimanded people and most of them appreciate it.
To conclude, we were grateful for the outreach. Apart from the Bibles we have handed out and the personal Bible studies with the people at home, one meet so many people with whom you create bonds of friendship that are extremely important in spreading the Gospel.
The Chiefs of Bere
Bere has four chiefs (or traditional captains) who serve the entire village. There is the chief and his three deputies. The town’s affairs are heard by the deputy chiefs and the more important matters are then referred to the chief. The cases range from marital problems to violence and theft where the local police are also involved. When a case cannot be settled locally, it is referred to the higher courts such as the magistrate and further on. I am very good friends with the chief (David) and two of his deputy chiefs (Cgara and Setantsho). During our outreaches we spent a lot of time together. Cgara though member of the ZCC church loves to accompany us on our home visits and Bible studies. He has a very good memory and remembers exactly who last got audio bibles. I have already met and talked to the fourth deputy chief but do not know him very well.
It is in fact David and Cgara who accompanied us to the funeral at Khacgae. After the funeral, David emphasized it again and said to me: “You must realize that I do not have a church. Your church is now my church.” I mentioned to him that I would like to teach him as to become an elder. He was very excited about that. He as chief together with his three deputy chiefs has a lot of influence in the village.
I have talked to Cgara several times about his association with the ZCC church and syncristism. He’s very receptive to everything you teach him, but he’s not at that stage yet to leave the ZCC church. I do not want to force him either. He has to make the decision on his own. He has repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with the ZCC church and its customs. My prayer is that he will repent and realize that his church is on the wrong path because you can not worship with people who still believe in their ancestors and call on them.
My request is that you keep this town and its captains in your prayers.
Your brother in Christ,
Hendrik du Plessis.