Elerick Ron Cynthia 1981 SouthAfrica

8/15/2019 Elerick Ron Cynthia 1981 SouthAfrica

1/5

-SLd

NEWS

FROM

ZULULAND

Ron and Cindi KLerick Family

P. 0.

Box

377

Eshowe, Z u l i i l a n d

3815

MAR 1

7/?3)

2

arch I98I

Dear Co-laborer*s

in

Christ:

It is hard

for

ns to

believe

that we will be retvirning to the United States

to

see all

of you

in

just

nine

short months. God opens

up so

many doors

fo r

preaching

the

gos pel that we think

w e have

plenty of time to go to this p lace

or that place,

yet

we

realize

how short time really

is.

Six

weeks ago, we began

a

new work in the coloured township of Sunnydale.

Sunnydale

is

just

a few blocks from our house, and has a

population

of a

thousand families. The coloureds here in South

Africa

are a mixed group o f

people who have a

culture

all their

own, but

are in many ways like

the

Zulu

in their thinking

and

outlook.

This new

work

e v o lv e s

arou nd the Neville Pratt

family,

Neville

and h is

family are Christians and have a Church of Christ background. They came to

Esho we three years

ago from

Mkuze

in

northern

Zululand,

Neville

works

in

the bu tcher shop

here

in town,

and when

in

the

shop

one day, asked me

if I

would

hold

regular

bible

studies in

Sunnydale.

Since

beginning, we

have

held

regular

weekly

bible studies,

as

well as starting church services in the

Pratts

h o m e .

We have met with a lot of opposition from

the people,

and we

really

urge you to pray w i t h

us

that barriers kill

tumble

down

as

we preach the gospel,

and that

many

in this community will accept Je su s Christ

as

Savior,

We have fou nd that the people in Sunnydale are either invloved in witchcraft,

s p i r i t i i a l i s m ,

or have

a

traditional

backgroimd

superficially

in

either the

Anglican or Catholic church. Slowly, more opp ortunities have come to us, and

tonight,

(Monday) we are

having a

cottage

meeting

in one

of the

homes.

We are

praying

that this w ill

give u s

the

chance to go

into other

hom es

whore we

can

teach each

family

the

gospel

message

on

more

of

a

one

to

one

basis. We are

working towards

the goal of

one

day

being

able to have a congregation large

enough to

build

their

own

building

and

support

their own colo ured minister,

Neville, is

a

solid Christian and

a

real soldier

in

the

Lord,

and is able

to

take over in preaching and teaching, when I am out in the bush. How we praise

God for

giving

u s

this new opportunity to serve H i m .

PRAYER

NEEDS:

Peggy is

a coloured teenager

who the

doctors believe

has breast

cancer. We have taught her, and sh e needs to accept Christ,

Her

foster parents kept her

away

from

church

this

past

Sunday,

and

s h e

was going to make her decision. Please pray

for

Pe g g y

and

her

family that all

will accept

Jesiis. We have prayed for

her healing.

New

contacts

with

the

Zulu people. New area's

of evangelism.

For God

to strengthen

our present leadership .

The government has refiised Cindi's app lication to

work

with the women inmates

at

Esh owe 's prison because we are not permanent residence. We mus t

live

here

four years before w e arc eligable

to

apply for permanent residence.

All

o f

u s

are

in

great health,

and

the children

are

doing

better in

school,

Nathan and Summer are growing u p very fast

and

Summer

goe s arou nd

often telling

the rest of the family h o w

much

s h e wants to g o t o Merika.

Thank you

for both

your

love and

support.

We

love

and

appreciate

everyone

o f

you,

BECAUSE

JESUS CARES


2/5

AFRICAN VISION

Ron and

Cindi Elerick

Family

P . O . B o x 3 7 7 AUG 1

3 9 8 )

Eshowe,

Z u l i i l a n d

5815

22 July

1981

Dear Co-Workers In

Christ:

Our Lord continues to bless

the

new work

established in the

coloured township

of

S u n n y d a l e .

A l t h o u g h t h e

S u n d a y s e r v i c e s

h a v e

n o t

b e e n w e l l a t t e n d e d

as

w e

w o u l d like

t h e m

to

be,

w e a r e now h a v i n g b e t w e e n 20 to 30 p e o p l e a t t e n d i n g our

mid-week

bible studies.

Lives

a r e b e i n g changed,

and

seven p e o p l e h a v e been b a p t i z e d in the p a s t

throe weeks.

B e t w e e n A p r i l a n d J u n e , I h a v e m a d e t r i p s i n t h e n o r t h e r n a r e a o f ^ Z u l u l a n d .

Two Zulu*s went

with

me and we traveled beyo nd Nongo ma into a mountainous area

called Mashishini.

There

we held

evangelistic services in the valley

in

many

v i l l a g e s . W e w e r e

a l s o

g i v e n t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o s p e a k

i n .

t w o Z u l u

s c h o o l s , ,

w h e r e

w e d i s t r i b u t e d 500 gospels

of Luke

to

t h o s e

w h o c o u l d

read. From

M a s h i s h i n i ,

w e w e n t t h r o u g h M k i x z e and o v e r G h o s t M o u n t a i n to stay w i t h Bro. Miyeni

at

In-

g w a v x u n a . We h a v e m a d e

p l a n s . w i t h

Miyeni to s p e n d a w e e k every m o n t h in his

area

t e a c h i n g

among

t h e . c o n g r e g a t i o n s w e h a v e

there. We

also d i s t r i b p t e d

food

a n d

g a v e

f o o d

t o M i y d n i

for

t h o s e

w h o a r e s u f f e r r i n g

f r o m

t h e

d r o u g h t .

E v e n

though

w e

have had

m o r e

rain this

year, the earth has

not

recovered from the

effects

o f the previous two years

of

.the drought.

'

I had intended on returning to this area

last

Monday, but Cindi woke up With

intense cramps

in

her lowe r back and

left

leg at 2 .m; Sunday

morning.

I

phoned the doctor and

she came and

gave Cindi an injection

and

som e tablets,

but the pains

persisted, and.she

was hospitalized, Cindi

came

back ho me after

two days, bu t sh e s till has

some pain

and

no

feeling in

parts

of he r left leg

and foot.

A

specialist who examined,the x-fays feels she has

something

known

as

Shermans disease, which

is

similar

to arthritis,that attacks the

muscles and

bone, .

An appo intment

has

been made to

. s e e

a.specialist in Durban early next

week. We have already turned this over to The Great Specialist, a r i d have

^

claimed her healing in

the

name

of

Jesus.

Will you'also

agree w ith us

in

this

prayer?

The

older

girls just

recieved

their rep ort cards for this last term, and

we

are

glad

to share that Rhonda has

received

the best rep ort

she

has

ever

had '

while being in Africa. We really thank

all

of ybu who

have

prayed for her and

her schooling.

Wendy

and Sus an

are

doing o.k ., but are'a bit.lazy . The y

can do the work, so Dad will have

to

stand over them this next t e r r a . Summer

and Nathan are growing like weeds, and are both;well and happy . Nathan h as

had his last cast taken off his left foot^ and his''foot is m u c h better.

now wears

his

s h o e s o n opposite feet' to k e e p correcting his problem.. f . y . A s it.

;

. .

warms u p , th e y are. enjoy ing being able to play

ou tside, and

they,

give the

p et

rabbit a hard

time,.

The

kids

got

a; rabbit

lafet.week, and now dad

is making

p e n s

in

preparation

for getting two more, . \ i

,

.

I

. .

We have a decision

to m ak e , s o I

will share at with you

now . I

hecked with

Immigration

in

Durban about our status boncerning permanent

residence

in

re

lation to o ur

coming home

thi s December

and

this

is what

I

ound-out. First

of

all,, as a minister

we

aro required to serve

-four

years: consecutive residerice

before w e can apply for permanent,

residence.

Until w e obtain permanent residence,

we m u s t obtain an extention to stay here every six months. At' the end of four

years, w e

apply

for and recieve an

identity document

in which

they

place, oior

drivers

licenses,

etc, ' • , •

We

w e r e

informed that if we leave

this

country for.

m o r e

than

50 days,

w e will

have to begin

our

four year period of probation all over

again. This

means

that

the

nearly

three years

we will have served prior

to

our proposed trip

home in December

will

not count, and w e

will have

to start all over again

when

we return to South Africa.


3/5

Permanent

residence

is

an

advantage, particularly,

in

regards

to

various

permits.

We.cannot

obtain

drivers

licenses u ntil

an

identity

document

is.ob

tained, With the.

document, there

would

be no

travel

problems,

-and

as it is,

if

we return

in

December, our pe rmits w ill

expire while in the U.S.,

and we

would have

to

re-apply for permission

to

return

to South

Africa. Having

the

identity

document:

would

do away

with this

in

future travel.. Therefore, what

should

we

do?

We

have shared

this

problem with our Elders in Ponca City, and^.

they.have prayed about it and h a v e given us'Complete . f r e e d o m to return,to the _

.

U.Sa in December as planned, O r

. t o

remain here until .residency can be es tablished

and the identity documents obtained.

They

recognize the need for.us

to

see

o u r : . f . a m i l y ,

friends

and all

of

our

sup porting congregations,

but

also s ee

th e

validity of

the

need to

meet

government requ irements

for

residency as well.

We

are bo th

willing to remain until we complete the

requirements

by th e

government,

and

this^means

we will not be able to return

to Ame rica

before

December

of I983. • • If

we

do remain,

the Elders

of Eastern Heights

w i l l , ,

send

o u r

parents

ever-tot-eee us and their—nevf-grandchildren-,-and-we-are-extremely-grate

ful

to

them

for

this

act

of

love

and

considerationg,

. . . : .

•

In light of t h e

s t e p p e d

up acts of t e r r o r i s m over here, and^the areas w e a r e

working' in here,

'w'e-feel-that

we

may not

be able to continue our

work

without

the

security

of p e r m a . n e n t

resident status

when things turn worse

and

t h e s e acts

of

terrorism

increase.

Because

of

the-pro-terrorist activities

of

the

World

Co uncil of Churches, we are

somewhat'

sus pe ct and this i s - why the f o u r - i y e a r - r e - ^

striction is

placed

on missionaries. ' '

. Y o u and your congregations have sup ported our ministry here in Africa faith

fully

in the past, and we now ask that y ou will continue your su pp ort and stand

with us in our decision to remain here until we can obtain residency status.

Our own personal

desire

is to

be with

y o u ,

and be with

our,families for

, ,

.while

and ju st

enjoy

being

HOME ,

but for

the sake

of

the

Lords

work,here.,

we are

willing to

remain until Decem ber of I . 9 8 3 .

' / e ask for your prayers,

and

we

ask

y o u

to continue your support which makes

Chirists

witness

possible to the pe ople

of

southern

Africa.

If

y o u

have any

•questions

concerning this, please

feel

free to co ntact Hap Prough,

Minister

of

Eastern Heights Christian

Ch urch

in Ponca City, Oklahoma,

o r us.-

OUr

complete

address is on the first p a g e

of

this letter at

the

top.

.

Compared

to

Malawi, this is a resistant

field of

service

to

work in, bu t

God is

still on

His throne-, and His power remains the same always, and w e are

confident that as

we

evangeliz e, and continue teaching, He w ill bl es s o u r

work-and—precious-souls-win.

be-saved.-

-v. . - —;

-—c— 4 — ■ _ __

e

appreciate

each

one

of-

you,

and

are

very

grateful for

both the prayers,

and

support you have given.

May God

continue to

bless'

you and pur

labour,s.

together-.

BECAUSE JESUS CARES

•

CLLJU ^

4

■

'

Ov'. ,'


4/5


5/5

m M i i Y

mmi

too

lie

In July,

Cindi

was

having

some serious pro

blems with her back. The doctors dia gnos ed

her problem as

something similar to

arthri

tis. Even now when she

much the pain hits her

down.

Please continue to

During this past year

were both diagnosed

as having

feet problems.

The

doctor said there was nothin g to

be done

in Summer's case,

that she simply

had weak

arches

and

'to

leave them alone

until she is

old enough to do exercises on her own. Nathan

tries

to

tackle

and she

has to

pray for her.

Nathan

and Summer

(three in all),

has to wear

teach

him to

He's

his

keep

had to

be

put

in a cast

now out of the

casts,

but

shoes on the

wrong feet to

his feet straight.

Summer

had several bouts with sickness

the

past few months so we finally took her

into

the hospital

to

have

her tonsils removed. She

did fine,

but Mom

and Dad

suffered

from

post-

op nerves

Susan

has

had

an

overbite problem with her

teeth, but

with the braces the problem

should

be

under

control before

too long.

Rhonda, Susan and Wendy are all making pro

gress in school and growing

spiritually.

Rhonda

received the best report card s he

has

ever had

since

being here

in

Africa. All 3

girls are taking

Afrikaans,

which is the

sec

ond

official language

here

in South Africa.

Wendy is the

one

who is really coming along

in

this

language.

All

of the students

in

Rhonda's class had

to

give a 5-minute speech,

and

Rhonda

came

home

with the

highest

marks

in

her class. She

spoke

on the American Indians

of

Dad's artifacts to show

the

^ p n e ^^roblem that

the

girls

everyone

wants to know if they

to Dallas or Hollywood. Seems

and took some

class,

have is ihat

have ever

been

like T.V.

has

helped put

Big

D on the map. We recently

received

some gospel

tapes

from friends

in

Dallas,

and we were the hit of the post

office.

Rhonda takes pian o

lessons from

Cindi an d

Susan

takes guitar lessons. Wendy and Susan

are

also taking ballet classes.

Cindi

plays

piano

for the ballet teacher a couple

of af

ternoons

each week. This pays for

their

lessons.

Nathan

and

Summer are growing up fast too.

Summer can already tell you the gospel

M U l I I R A C I A l

M I N I 6 I R Y

Ron

was workin g among the coloured in the

township of Sunnydale. These

people

were

either

involved

in

witchcraft,

spiritualism

or

had

a

superficial background

in

either the

Anglican

or Catholic Church. Ron was making

headway among

these people, but

due

to

de

nominational

disputes

and the spirit

of d i

vision

betv/een the

local Church

of

Christ

people and

the

Pentecostal

people,

the work

at

Sunnydale had to be discontinued.

Ron is

now working

full

time

at

the Ent-

umeni

Sugar Mill, which

employs around fifty

Indian

families

as

well

as double the

number

of

Zulus.

(The people

from

India came

to

Africa

more

than a hundred

years

ago to

es

tablish businesses

or

as

endentured

laborers

for the cane fields;

now

there is

a very

large

Indian community.) R o n h a s the u s e of

the

small

community

hall and

the support of

the management at

the Mill. They have

Thurs

day night Bible study as well as

services on

Sunday. Most

of

the families are

Hindu,

with

the exception

of

eight families who are

Cath

olic.

Soth the

Hindu priests

and

the Catho

lic priest

have

told

their

people not to go

to the

Bible studies

or services.

The Zulu people at Entumeni

are very apa

thetic concerning Christianity. The Zionist

movement is very popular because it permits

witchcraft, polygamy, and native traditions

to mix with

their

version

Three times before, others

establish

a

work here and

Pray that in God's grace

will be different

now.

Ron

has

been

burdened

with the need to

reach

the

Zulu

people in

the

northern section

_pf.Zul

uland

_

known

s,

th_eJ1ak_athinj

._Elats^

Earlier

in the year he made

a

week's evange

listic trip which took him from Eshowe to

Ulundi,

Nongoma,

Mashishin i, Mkuze, Jozini &

In gwavuma. The Chief at Mashishini

gave per

mission for Ron

and

two Zulu preachers to

preach

in

this

area. They distributed

500

Gospels of

Luke

in Zulu.

This

was the first

time any

of

our missionaries had

gone

into

this area and Ron and

the

men

have

been

asked

back to

hold

more

meetings. Ron

will be

spending one week a

m o n t h i n

the

F l a t s

an d

asks

for

our

continued prayers in this out

reach.

of Christianity,

have attempted to

it did

not

last,

and power things

P R R S

& C O M B

Since Hap

PROugh

and CONnie Pardee (minister S secretary at Eastern

Heights) act as editors of this n ewsletter, this feature will make

an appearance from time

to time

to cover odds & ends, A big

thank-

you

to

Tom

Pardee

(Connie's husband) and Kirk Roush for

the new

art work for this edition

and

to

George and Hazel O'Mealey

who

continue their

service

as the

best forwarding

agents

e v e r , .

AFRIC

VISION

Field Address:

Ron

and

Cindi Elerick

P.O.

Box

377

Eshowe,

ululand,

3815

Republic of South

Africa

Forwarding Address

Malawi

Christian Mission

c/o Eastern Heights C h r i s t i a n Church

Route2—Box

88

Ponca C i t y , OK 74601

ADDRESS

CORRECTION

REQUESTED

Nonprofit Org.

U.S.POSTAGE

P I

PermitNo. 32

Mission Services

Box

177

Kenpton, Indiana 46049

Documents

Elerick Ron Cynthia 1981 SouthAfrica