THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA—By John T. Hardin

THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA---By John T. Hardin THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA
John T. Hardin
Accomplishments — Prospects — Needs

Except for a small work begun by our British brethren in Cape Town some years ago, and except for a small Colored mission run by Brother and Sister George Scott, also in Cape Town, the church of Jesus Christ in its pure form was not known in the Union of South Africa before 1948. In that year the gospel was begun to be preached over the Lorenco Marques Mocambique radio station. This program supported by Central church in Cleburne, Texas, was continued through March of 1953. To follow up the contacts made through this radio program it was thought advisable to send American missionaries to that country to establish the work on a firm and permanent basis. Brethren Waymon D. Miller, Guy V. Caskey and John T. Hardin and their families and Brother Elred L. Echols were chosen to be the first ones to go in 1949. Later they were joined by brethren Don Gardner and Martelle Petty and their families, and finally, in August of 1953 the Leonard M. Gray’s arrived in the country. These men are being assisted by Brother Ulrich Steiniger, who has spent some years working with our brethren in Germany, and Arthur W. Lovett and Leslie Blake, two South Africans who are working full time for the Lord, and one Native evangelist, Brother John Manape.

Although the four original men mentioned above did not enter the Union proper until May 15, 1950 we are happy to tell you that the following figures have resulted from their work (all figures approximate).

JOHANNESBURG:
All four original men on the felid worked together in Johannesburg, largest city in the Union, second largest on the continent of Africa, with a population approaching 1,000,000, until Septem ber of 1952. They established one white congregation with between 75 and 100 members; two Colored con-gregations with a total membership of about 50: and about 5 Native congregations with a total membership of over 100. The white congregation has a very nice church building which will seat around 300, with several class rooms, and which will be quite adequate for their needs for some time to come. This building was paid for almost entirely by churches in America. There are two young men from Johannesburg attending school in America, better preparing themselves for service to the Lord upon their return. They are Victor Lloyd, Harding College; and Abie Malherble, Abilene Christian College. A Native convert, Jackson Sogoni, is trying to make the necessary arrangements to attend Southwestern Christian College, Terrell, Texas.

PRETORIA:
The work in this city started a few months after that in Johannesburg by Don Gardner, later to be joined by Martelle Petty. In this capital city of the country, with about 275,000 population, there is now a very good white congregation of about 60 members and a Native congregation of about the same size. John Manape, the only full-time evangelist among our Native members labors with this Native church. The white church has some very valuable property only a short distance from the Union buildings—the very capital buildings of the country. Three old residences on the property are being utilized as Auditorium, class-room annex and preacher's residence, but they are accepting donations to build a nice church building on the corner location. There are two young men and their families in America from Pretoria attending school—Conrad Steyn, Freed- Hardeman College; and Andy DeKlerk, Florida Christian College.

EAST LONDON:
Brethren Don Gardner and Leslie Blake and their families moved to this city of about 900 in about May 1952. In this short time a nice congregation of about 40 members has been established, a small Colored church and at least three Native churches, one of which is about 150 miles away in the Transkei Native reserve and has about 110 members. The white congregation, with the help of churches in America, purchased an old concrete stable building, located on a large plot of ground. This was transformed into a beautiful little church building quite adequate for their needs. That small group, themselves, took over the balance of about $10,000.00 to pay. One young man from East London, Ramond Voogt, is attending school at Freed-Hardeman College.

PORT ELIZABETH:
Brethren Eldred Echols and John Hardin began the work in this city of about 2350 population in September 1952, being joined later by the Ulrich Steiniger family from Germany and then by the Leonard M. Gray family in August 1953. In Port Elizabeth the small white congregation of about 15 members meets in the Masonic Hall. There are also two Native mixed with Colored congregations with memberships totaling about 40. From among the Natives of this city have gone two men back to their home countries (Northern and Southern Rhodesia) where they are now preaching the gospel to their own people.

DURBAN:
Thanks to an adversity in the home of one of the first families to be converted in Pretoria, the church is now established in the resort and port city of Durban (400,000 population). After bringing their ill son to the warmer climate of Natal, this family in only the recent months has converted 5 or 6 of their acquaintances. Not much is known about this small church other than these bare facts, but we do know that we have no full time worker in that area.

SOUTH AFRICA IN GENERAL:
In less than four years, approximately 20 congregations have been es-tablished with a total of over 600 members in five main cities and surrounding areas (EXPLANATION: There is a very conservative group of the Christian church, calling themselves “Church of Christ” in that country whose only differing doctrine from us is the use of the mechanical instrument of music in worship. Since the Natives do not use an instrument in their worship in any case, they differ from us not at all. Because of reasons not pertinent to this report, some of those congregations prefer to work with us rather than the other group). Without detracting from mission work in other areas over the earth, it might be said that this work was accomplished without the usual fanfare and without the initial impetus that distribution of clothing and food might give a work. Except for the contacts obtained as a result of the radio broadcasts the work in the Union of South Africa has been that of ferreting out those people interested in our plea, gaining their confidence, teaching them by means of personal work as well as public worship. As yet no schools have been started or orphan homes established, nor are any contemplated at the present time. The number of workers on the field have not warranted any other work other than that of preaching the gospel, and as yet only the fringe of the possibilities in the country have been touched.

Books for distribution and for study have been un-available except in limited quantities, so much of the time of some of the workers has been spent in dupli-cating such work-books by means of mimeograph. Two Bible correspondence courses have been produced by the same method—one on the whole Bible and one on the book of Acts—and have proved most effective in teaching those who have enrolled. A very good eight page paper, The Christian Advocate, has been published since November 1950, it also proving to be of great help in teaching on doctrinal and controversial subjects. Several hundred, the number possibly approaching one thousand, have taken the two correspondence courses, and over 3,000 papers are distributed each month. Though designed primarily for use in the Union, the “Advocate” goes into over 20 countries over the world.

PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE:
Except for the small work as mentioned above in Cape Town, the church of Jesus Christ was unknown in the Union of South Africa six years ago. Much ignorance, prejudice and indifference as well as religious tradition has had to be overcome to accomplish what has already- been done. Much more will have to be overcome as the church progresses. But real religious hatred and bitterness hardly exists, as such, in the Union of South Africa. Rome and the Catholic church is no threat as yet, it being the fourth, only, in size and having a mortal enemy in the Dutch Reformed church, the lax’gest in the country. There is no great language barrier since English is spoken by most all in the country including both English and African sections of the white race and many of the Colored and Native races, especially among those who live in the cities. It is recognized, however, that to completely reach all people of all races one should know their different languages. So far, however, the men on the field have kept busy knowing only the English lan-guage.

Apart from the big job ahead in evangelizing fully even the cities where the church is already established, there remain the large number of modern cities varying in size according to population, but varying not at all in their need to have the saving- gospel preached, and, as yet, untapped as far as we are concerned. These include Pietermaritzburg (80,000) the capital of the Province of Natal; Bloemfontein (100,000) canital of the range Free State; Ver- ingiging (40,000) where is located one of the two steel mills of the country; and all the additional cities on the gold reef of which Johannesburg is only the largest—Germiston (over 100,000), Benoni (80,000), Brakpan (40,000), Springs (60,000), Nigel, Florida, Roodepoort, Randfontein and Westfontein, ranging from 15,000 to 40,000 in size—and many others. These things make for a picture of good things in store for God’s kingdom if we will only not lose the opportunities that are before us.

Brethren, when I plead for help for Africa, I plead for people like Enos Ncube, a native man from Southern Rhodesia whom we contacted in Port Elizabeth. He was a very wicked man, seeming to revel 'in telling of the many times he had been arrested for fighting and other forms of violence, never to have been imprisoned. Today Enos Ncube is a Christian and has returned to his home to preach to his own people. In two or three short months, according to latest reports, he had baptized 19.

I plead for people like Eddie Cowie, a young white South African in Johannesburg. He, proving himself a conscientious, hard-working young Christian, was entertaining high hopes of coming to America to study in a Christian school. He had sold a highly valued piece of personal property for that purpose and was saving his money for the venture when health conditions in his famdy forced him to cancel his plans. The money he had received for his property he had sold, and which he could very well have used for himself, was given to the Johannesburg church to help pay for the seats in their new building.

I plead for people like Walter Paul. Walter was an official in the Ebenezer Congregationalist church, a lay-preacher. Well-reaa in the Bible, though only with the equivalent of an 8th grade education, he is a brilliant man wasting his talents as a mail clerk and messenger boy for an insurance company because he is a colored person and according to South African practices he is not allowed to become more skilled. After his baptism he dedicated his life to the conversion of his former friends and relatives. His faith has remained firm and resolute even though the task has been long and hard. This man could be a power for the Lord if he could devote his full time to the work. The Gillespie family was converted by Brethren Gardner and Petty in Pretoria, the two parents and two young men. One of the young men developed a brain tumor and thanks to the perseverance and faith of the mother, especially, that tragedy has been turned into a blessing. The young man’s nurse was converted together with her husband and today that couple are in a Christian school in America learning better how to serve God so that upon their return to their homeland they can be of benefit to the Lord. But the story does not end there. As has already been mentioned, because of the young man’s condition the family moved to Durban. Since their arrival just a few short weeks ago, five have been converted as a result of their efforts—truly a case of a tragedy resulting in a blessing in disguise.

Many more such cases of the changing effects of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ in the great country of the Union of South Africa could be cited. But at the same time, we could recite instances where the lack of sufficient workers in the field has resulted in the loss of young, weak Christians who had to be left to their own devices only to lose faith and return to their former life. Brother and Sister G. A. Hawyes in Queenstown, Cape Province, is a case in point. These two people had been reading our literature and taking our Bible correspondence course and had come to trust us enough that when they needed help in routing a Jehovah’s Witness they called on us to come the 450 miles from Johannesburg. We found them to have been baptized scripturally before our arrival. They had been worshipping with a denomination. We urged them to meet in their own home and break bread each Lord’s day. But we had to leave them and return to our other work. Our efforts from a distance to keep in contact with them were not enough to keep them from finally being lost to another church.

Brethren Caskey, Miller, and Echols are returning from the Union this year. Unless they are replaced, as you can see, our work will be hindered. In fact, unless more and more men are sent we will be wasting the efforts already performed. Every denomination which can be found in America can be found in Africa. Africa has been chosen publicly by the Catholics and the Adventists as their next big field of endeavor and are putting hundreds of missionaries and millions of dollars into the continent. In order to retain the foothold that we have is not enough. To avoid having the efforts already expended go to waste we must increase the number of men on the field and, of course, provide them with the necessary funds with which to carry on the work satisfactorily. We are losing three men this year, but we have three more ready to go IF we can only find support for them. Brother Joe McKissick of Dalhart already has his support and travel fund arranged for. But a recent letter from Brother Forrest Rhoads, Princeton, Kentucky, informs me that he has had no success at all in finding support. Here is a man well qualified, willing and ready to go—is there no one to send him? I do not know the status of Brother Votau, who also has expressed his intention of going, but I do know of others who would go—leaving their families, loved ones and friends—if they could find support. I wonder if it is right to leave it up to the individual person to have to find his own funds. It seems to be that it is the church’s duty to send these men, and that being true the church should take the lead in finding such necessary support. One would almost think that it is a one-sided matter; that the church is doing the man a favor if he pays him a salary to go afield, while in actuality, the man is doing the church a favor by taking your place in going. Someone must go. If you can’t and he can and will surely you will want to hold up his hands.

We in Africa so realize that the one who is native to his own country can be of inestimable help in converting his own people. It is for that reason we have now five young men in this country studying to better equip themselves to preach. We feel that they will be of great help when they return to the Union. At the same time we have men yet in the Union who, if they could spend their full time at the job could right now be of great value. I mentioned Brother Walter Paul. For between $100 and $125 a month this man could be put to work and would be of tremendous help. Brother Arthur Lovett is now spending his time with the colored churches in Johannesburg and is proving his worth, He is receiving $100 a month from a church in America, but he is try-ng to support a family of eleven on that amount. Surely somewhere represented in this audience is a church that would help him on that support. The brethren in East London have a native man, Wilson Nomateye, who, for 11 pounds, ten shillings a month—or about $35—could be spending his full time preaching to his people. I hope there are those here tonight listening to me who are able to do something about these appeals. Here are chances to help in small amounts if you are unable to support anyone in greater amounts.

Brethren, when I plead for Africa, I plead for every mission field in the world, whether it be 10,000 miles away or only 50, The great commission which we quote in almost every breath reads, “. . . go into ALL the world. . . .” It is true that the church was to start in Jerusalem, and then spread to Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts; but you will agree with me that after 130 years in America it is time we really went 'into the uttermost parts. We hear the cry that there are not enough preachers here in America to take care of tne needs of the congregations already established and the needs of a rapidly expanding church. But consider with me these interesting statistics: There is an estimated 160,000,000 souls in America; 10,000 churches of Christ (?) with 10,0 (?) preachers. Outside the borders of the United States there is an estimated 1,840,000,000 souls and the number of full time workers outside the American boundaries is a generous 150! We have recently obtained a vision and a zeal for the great work that needs to be done, and which we have been so late in doing, and that is commendable. But we cannot, we dare not, stand on our laurels. We cannot afford even to be content with what we are doing. We must increase our efforts, or lose out all together. In the Union of South Africa we feel that much has been accomplished in the past four years. Our work has not been sensational, but it has been gratifying. At any rate, any new work should not be judged in too much haste. If it has taken the church in America 130 years to reach its present status do not ask that any new work be full grown in such a short time. I hope that you here tonight will never be guilty of trading for souls. There is a thinking today that we must put our money where it can do the most good— as though we must have so many souls converted for so many dollars spent. That may be good business practice, but, brethren, to me it is treading on dangerous ground. If in the sight of God one soul is worth more than the whole world, how can we say that the 1,000 souls that might be converted in one place are any more precious in God’s sight than the 50 souls in another place? The truth of the matter is that we must take advantage of every opportunity of preaching the gospel in all places at all times. God is pleased with nothing less. It is the only way in which we will carry out the commission to go into all the world.