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And so he died. Alone. Asleep. Agnostic.My brother was not a believer in the strict sense of the word. But he had more of a problem with the Church than with the Lord. His life was an unhappy one and most members of the flock he met were wolves in sheep's clothing. And yet the Good Shepherd is relentless in searching for His lost lambs and I do believe that He pursued Eldon with an unfathomable love up until his final breath. So I entrust my brother to the mercy of our gracious Father. The road trip to and from Durban where Eldon lived, was, in many ways, restorative for both Louise and myself. The lockdown prevented us from travelling for most of the year and we needed to refocus. While the reason was tragic, sad, and very stressful, the change of scenery gifted us a better perspective on many things. Like many before me, I have come to realise that suffering ought to be embraced as a tool in the hand of a benevolent Creator and that life in general is a classroom with every lesson carefully designed to bring us closer to our Master Educator. The sooner we learn to hold transitory things loosely, the more content we will be in life. Lockdown has not been all bad. Louise and I have discovered and nurtured different spiritual gifts as we have tried to minister to others within the reality of confinement. Louise is now very involved with a local organisation called Tools 4 Life...a group that reaches out to the marginalised and disenfranchised, but more specifically to those who have special needs, both children and adults. In certain cultures, special needs are often viewed in strongly negative terms, as a curse on the family, or as punishment for wrongdoing. Consequently, the special needs folks are often rejected and alone. T4L reaches out to them and helps them cope with their many challenges. We are also involved in an Alpha Premarital Course with 5 young couples...we are the support couple...which is fun as we are to have the couples around to our home for a meal during which we help them understand the course and alert them to areas they need to work on. All before they are married!
Johann continues to preach at the local Anglican Church and also teaches a class on the Gospels on Sunday evenings. We are still both involved in the lives of our disciples and they, in turn, are proving to be excellent disciple makers themselves! We received news that Johann's book, Breakfast on the Beach: The Development of Simon Peter, will be published by Langham Publishers sometime mid to late 2021. He has completed the sequel to this book, For Us, For Our Children, For the World, and will send it to Langham as soon as he has done more editing work on it. He is busy writing another book based on the parable of the prodigal sons and researching the life and ministry of SPG Missionaries to South Africa during the late 1800's and early 1900's. This is the undiscovered gift he has found during lockdown. The Covid numbers are still high, but seem to be tapering down somewhat. Crime, unfortunately is still rampant, as are instances of farm murders. But for the most part, I am convinced that the majority of Southern Africans simply want to live in peace and get on with their lives. It is sad to see racial fires stoked by a few vocal folks. The Queen is still locked in her castle, but we do hope that these restrictions will soon be lifted. Louise and I have decided that if they are not lifted by Christmas, we will take her out temporarily so that she can at least spend the holy days with us. You are a blessing to us. We pray for all our SAMS-USA staff, all our supporters, and all our missionaries on a daily basis. And we know you all pray for us. Thank you for your ongoing support. We are so grateful to each one who prays for us and supports us financially and otherwise. As usual, our SAMS support account could be better, but then again it could also be worse. The Lord knows our needs and we leave that in His hands.
Bless you and thank you.
All our love
Johann and Louise |
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