Abdul’s major objection
Abdul recently came to me filled with sorrow: “Hendrik, you have made a big mistake. How could you and Cg’ase go to Gantsi now that his wife is dead? According to our tradition, he has to stay at home all the time until the funeral. He may not move around under any circumstances. When you returned from Gantsi, I went to wash your bakkie’s seats with hot water so that you do not have to die, and now you want to go to Gantsi with him again. It is very dangerous because evils may hit you because of your actions.” I stood quietly listening to him and waited for him to calm down.
Abdul, as I mentioned in my previous reports, made a confession of faith about a year ago. He has accompanied me on quite a few outreaches, also with Frits and me, who passed away last month because of Covid 19. I still see him as a child in the faith.
We have already considered him a deacon, but then one thinks of Paul’s words not to confirm new ones too soon in a ministry (1 Timothy 3: 6). While he goes on outreach with me, it is for him good exposure, not only to the Gospel itself, but also to its ministry and good preparation for the office of a deacon.
After he calmed down a bit, I said to him: “Abdul, can you remember what you and I talked about a while ago. We were standing there, and I gestured to the place. I drew two circles on the ground and told you there are two sheepfolds in this world. The one sheepfold is the sheepfold of the Lord Jesus and the sheep that belong to Him listen to His voice (John 10), because they belong to Him, and no one can snatch them out of His hand. Then there is another fold, the devil’s fold, full of superstition and magic. There they enchant each other and they hate each other and in that fold the rules you are now talking about are applied. If you’re in that fold, I totally agree with you, you must then be very afraid of all these evils that may befall you. I do not know what concerns you but I am not in that fold and I know who my Shepherd is and that nothing can happen to me without His will.”
Abdul then said: “Yes, but it is our tradition, you can ask anyone. Call Aron now and he will tell you that it is true.” Aron is one of our elders. On the way to Gantsi, Abdul called Ben (also an elder in our church) and he tried to explain to Abdul that it is an old Kgalagadi superstition. In Gantsi we ran into Aron and Abdul could not wait to involve Aron in the conversation, hoping that Aron would take his side and defend it.
In short Aron’s answer to him was: “Abdul, the things that you are talking about we believed when we were not yet Christians. These are old things that have no value to us anymore. Now we are Christians and no longer value those things at all. If you are a Christian, those evils can no longer strike you.” Half embarrassed, Abdul accepted our answers. Aron, a fellow Bushman, was clearly a kind of cannon or a last word to Abdul that calmed him down.
It made me realize once again how important the individual conversation is in the mission field. In many cases these conversations come unplanned and you have the opportunity to confront someone with the Gospel, which reminds me of the Words of our Lord Jesus: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) Where the light of the truth of the Gospel does not shine, fear of all kinds of evil takes over. In fact, this is how a cult works. A cult uses fear as glue to hold its members together. In contrast, we are bound to Christ by love.
Your intercession is asked for Abdul and his household and also for our conversations around the Bible and during our outreaches around the campfire. Abdul lost his mother when he was a child. His mother was a Qgõo-Bushman from Khagcae near Bere and his father a Naro. One night a mamba sailed into their hut and bit his mother. Unfortunately, they could not do anything for her, and he grew up with his father. Abdul is a regular churchgoer before and since he made a confession of faith and it is his ardent desire that his family will follow him in this matter.
Your brother in Christ,
Hendrik du Plessis.