Dear Co-Worker,

April, 1979

APR 1

1979

The first great hurdle of the month was the Minister's Week and Committee Meeting at Upington.: The Minister's really enjoyed their week's activities though there were only a little more than half of them present because of the
distance and cost of travel. Our committee meetings progressed very quickly and necessary business matters were soon cleared away. One of these w s

handing over of the Supt.'s matters to myself since the Nicholsons were to have
fnriniiph 1-his time. Unfortunately, Vernita is hospitalized and they have had to cancel travel plans tor the time being. On Saturday, we had

the dedication of the new church building ther^

it is a very fine building

indeed, then on Sunday morning, I found on arrival for services that I was to

preach the first Sunday Service in the offically opened building. I planned my sermon on the spot, and preached without notes. (Not my usual way, but we had a

delightful service which was very well attended with many visitors.)
An elder of the African church took me to the airport and I flew back ahead of James and had a great pile of printing ready for him to assemble into books when he got here later in the week. In fact this month, we have printed nine booklets, including a Minister's Manual , A Christian Leadership Manual in two_ languages, A study book on the church in tluree languages, A booklet on teaching the plan of salvation using the hand, in two languages, and a rather large booklet, by our frierd Paul Benjamin of Washington D.C. which I think will be of particular value to the Christians. Two more booklets are ready for the press this coming week, and a number of tracts need to be done.

All this time away and at the press has resulted in our falling behind on the marking and mailing of lessons, so we have a flood of lessons stacked about in
corners of the study awaiting attention. In some cases the letters have not even been opened yet. I must come in and get busy here for a while now.

The grandchildren are all recovered their various problems of last month. In the end, we drove Becky with Susan and Tommy to Tzaneen where they now live.
This was a two day trip, but she was very anxious to get there and her work paid for the gasolene since they could not get away before a week end to take her up. I had an hour or two of "fruitless" fishing at the back of their property, before we started back at mid-day. They live on a riverside plot. As a holiday, I am afraid it was a failure, but we did get to help settle them
in their new home.

Without grandchildren to care for, Phyllis has far more time to type and I am having greater trouble in finding "typewriter time" available for the work she
does not attempt, typesetting, certificates, etc.

Enrollment in the correspondence lessons reached 212,481 this month. I am thinking that it-maybe-abS>Xutely essential to stop encouraging this tacet of the~'work too much for two reasons. (1)1 c^~~^hardly service them now. (2) Second Class postal matter is to be discontinued later this year meaning everything will have to go first class sealed rates. These booklets are heavy and not "standard" envelope sizes meaning a sur-charge as is. One can only spread himself so thin, and at times I feel lil^ a damaged veneer already. Pray the Lord that He will send forth labourers and backing to this particular
need.

Jesus Christ,

Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. Agents

706 E. Washington Street, Urbana, IL, 61801

Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors

toBert &/Thyllis Mills (+27 11/ 869-8331

(217) 328-2955), Anderson's Phone.

Dear vCo-worke

<v.i vv

*;'v

.'v 5-^^
*^May, 1979,

^ is a f^r day'holiday in South Africa, we had the visit of the b^ars of

lV, This ^as ^been^^^Ste-u^^efcimrable month. First in time for S^ter-week end which
FairfS^J, Illinois, and the Greenwoods of Flora, Illionis. It was the next best tlyng to a visit home. We exchanged our smaller car for a^larger Valiant
owned ^ a friend for the week end in order to have room for six adults and acted^'driver so that the visitors could make maximum use of their* short time.
They hosted us on a trip down a mine, we had never been, to a near by small
game park we knew of, and we took them up to the observation floor in downtown

Johannesburg, to services on Easter, etc. Their short stay was soon over,
however, and back to work with vigor.

Most of our efforts have been in the office this month. We did print two new translations of booklets and 14,000 tracts, but four further booklets have been
translated, typed up, corrected, and committed to film in readiness for printing and two more have been typed up and returned to the translator for correction before we set them and photograph them. James is hard at work

translating Paiil Benjamin's book to Zulu. I see that he has translation to type up when I have to work in the office and he has no printing to assemble. He will have plenty in a few days, the Lord willing.

I have been correcting lessons and getting them ready for mailing and much of
the work in the office is clearing away rapidly.

The second reason for the month being so outstanding is that, after months of delay, the estate of my Mother's sister has finally been partially settled, and as we have a small portion of it, this has enabled us to pay off the bond on our home, to plan a few improvements, and for the work, to make immediate plans to purchase a replacement camera and plate maker. The camera and plate maker
should greatly improve the quality of our work and make it much easier and

faster, and the bond clearance will ease the-struggle to make ends meet on $450 monthy. ($177 of that had been required to cover housing.) Other equipment needs replacement, but these were the most urgently needed. We give the Lord thanks for this provision when it was becoming an absolute necessity in some

way to do something.

^
%

Our daughter Becky was here for the v^ek end with Tommy and Susan. The trip was her birthday present from Chris and also Tommy's second birthday is today. This was the first time we have seen Susan since she was injured earlier this month. In playing on the swing with her cousins she was knocked down and
knocked three teeth out requiring three stitches. She was knocked completely unconscious and gave' them all a real fright. She seems recovered, though of

course, is mint^ the two front teeth now. The family was to have returned on

the train last^ight, but had no reservations and found the train filled with
boarding school children returning to school so they have to try again today.

June has made reference to our very tenative plan to come for a short furlough
in October and November of 1980, to be be able to attend the convention at Springfield, Illinois. I must say that nothing is certain and much depends on
conditions at the time and assistance with the work here.

Your^xdrir~[^^us Jl^ir^st,
Robert & P^llis Mills (+27 11) 869-8331

Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. Agents

706 East Washington St., Urbana, IL. 61801 Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors (217) 328-2955, Anderson's Phone.

JUN 14 1979
Dear Co-Worker:

5-5^
June, 1979

There are times when I feel absolutely "overwhelmed" with urgent matters to attend to, and this is one of those times. This news letter is almost a week late, two or three articals have been requested for publication, our mail box is overflowing, three books, some fairly large await the camera and printing, one largish book is at the typesetting stage, another being translated, and to add to the feeling, the car refuses to start at all and gasolene has shot up to

the vicinity of $2.25 a gallon. Perhaps it is as well that the car won*t go, but it makes mailing lessons rather a task. I have "caged" rides from any daughter or son in law who gets anywhere near here with a car.
Six new booklets have been printed this month and twenty thousand tracts. James

completed the translation of the Benjamin book to Zulu and it is ready for the
camera now, then the press and he is already well into the Xhosa translation as
well. We had a visit from Bill Brandt of Zambia early this month to see our

printing programme as he thought we might be able to work out some sort of cooperative programme with Zambia and Malawi where he hopes to move soon. As he pointed out, (we were well aware of it already), we really desperately need a full time typist and also a printer as one or the other of our rather complicated sets of equipment has to stand idle while I personally operate the other and we could do so very much more if we had the help and 1 coordinated their work. 1 could not agree more. That is just one of the reasons I have been placing so much emphasis on "saleable" Bible lesson booklets of late. It ought to provide for staff and equipment eventually, the Lord blessing. Right now, it makes more work and provides no income at all to speak of. I hope
shortly to send price lists to Religious bookstores. One that I had never heard of requested a book today even without a price list.

We have bought a new nu-Ark Mercury Lamp plate maker, but have not yet been
able to sell the old one or the camera so we have not ordered a replacement

camera as well.

There is just no room for new until the old is out of the way.

At the present we can not do halftones (pictures) as our camera is not vacuume
backed and we still develop all film in the tiny toilet room. As soon as we can build a car-port on the house we plan to take the old separate garage as a store room for printed matter, and hopefully darken our camera room for use as a dark room. The plans have been sent to the town engineer's office, and we are awaiting his approval so that we can have work started.

Becky, Chris and their two children have returned to Alberton and are living with us full time. They arrived without warning at breakfast on Saturday and

both had jobs starting today (Tuesday). In fact, we have four grandchildren here today and we have grown used to a quiet house so we are both struggling.

We posted 2856 lesson books in May and brought enrollment up to 216,438. One of
these days in about four months at the present rate, we should reach a quarter
million enrollment. That is our next "milestone" marker to the praise of the Lord and to the spreading of His wonderful Word. Please keep us ever before

Him in prayer, especially to the reaching of our goals that He might be

glorified. May He provide the staff and the means.
esus Christ,

Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. Agents 706 East Washington St., Urbana, IL. 61801
Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors

yllis Mills
-8331

(217) 328-2955, Anderson's Phone.

Dear Co-worker,

July

1979

One week to go until D.V.B.S. starts at Kinberley Road. Phyllis is teaching again this year. They had hoped to have sufficient space by this year, but if anything, space is even worse. The congregation has grown in the past Tionths and the building Is alnost literally bursting at the seans. Apparently the purchase of the new site has been approved, but we now face the shocking cost
of building and with a dwindled reserve*

JU1161979

5'i^^

Our aging car has picked this tine to give trouble. It will probably be needed for transport for Bible school, but at the present tine will not start before noon at least. We shall likely have to replace it innediately, whether we can

afford to or not. (A dealer phoned right there to ask if I had agreed to accept his offer to take it off ny hands really. Not QUITE that desperate yet.)
We started the printing of Edgar Nichol's Study book on The Gospel of John this nonth. It has turned out to fill ainost a hundred pages, spiral bound. At the present tine, we have it a little over half printed, and all of it has been put on negatives. The South African subsidised price will be 60c (72c), but the
A-nerican price with posting will be considerably nore. We will fix that after
we have finished and can weigh a copy.

At the sane tine we are working on the typesetting of the Benjanin book in Zulu. I have reached chapter nine of thirteen and will continue innediately on the Xhosa translation as well. I would really like to have all of these ready for the annual conference tine. It will not be particularly easy as there are
lots of other supplies that sinply have to be ready for distribution at

conference and as treasurer,, I have a report to get ready In addition to the

usual superintendent's preparations.

This nonth Burroughs cane up with two new type styles for the Redactor, one of then, I an .using for this Hetter. This one can be used as proportional spacing
though I really like it better with nornal spacing. I will be using it for the
next book we'set up, probably.

We clear^d.-:awSy the back-^-desk work of narking books and certificates once this

nonth, but the pile is already growing again. Of course, this is an unending task with so nany correspondence students. {217,034 enrollnents)

The footings have been poured for our car-port addition to the house and the
we hope to nake use of that space for the storage of printed naterials and

laundry off the kitchen. These will relieve the congestion In the garage and

supplies. Hopefully they will be finished by the first of next nonth. In the neantine, I an not doing nuch printing because of the fact that the inspector can pop in at any nonent and he night take exception to ny rather conplex printing equipnent operating on private property. Even though at the present
It IS not connercial" he could nake conplications for us and force us Into
connercial properties.

about 5:30 or so and picks then up again at 4:30 in the afternoon.

Yours

Becky, Chris and their two children have Just vacated our spare roon and noved into a caravan (trailer) at a caravan park. It was nice having then with us, for the nonth of June and even nicer having then back In Alberton fron Tzaneen. Phyllis IS caring for the children again and Chris brings then every norning
Jesus Christ

Mr and Mrs Raynond Anderson, F. Agents 706 East Washington St., Urbana, IL. 61801 Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors
(217) 328-2955, Anderson's Phone.

Robert ^hy Mis Mi I Is

(+27 11/) 869-8331

Dear Co-worker,

AU6 I c

August, 1979

S5S3-

The Kimberley Road church had a very successful D.V.B.S. again this year, especially when you consider the facilities available. (One room with a partition to make three areas.) Phyllis went every day with a couple of loads.
Our car gave out completely the week prior to Bible School, and as we had to provide transport, we bought another quickly. It is another four cylinder engined car and a bit smaller In capacity to try to save on expensive gasolene. We hope that it will last many years. We use It weekly to carry from ten to a dozen extra persons to church, making an extra two side trips.

The building of the carport and sun-room-1aundry is almost completed. They should finish today and start on the cleaning up of the mess. Once they empty
their building materials out of the garage, I hope to make use of It for printing materials. In fact, I am expecting a delivery of a double order of printing paper and could well use that area to store it today. We must tackle that again after spending the most of this month in setting type for the printing of two new books, translations of the Benjamin book. "Dad" Nichols'
book must also be finished as well as the materials for distribution at

conference in a few weeks time.

baptismal certificates yesterday.

I used up all my paper stock to print

This month's mailing was the largest we have been able to process this year and
we are pleased to have gotten so many lesson books mailed, but It also means that we have depleted our stocks of at least two languages of materials and
have to re-print them before we can continue. The "in" box is still

overflowing with requests for

lessons.

There is no question but that we

desperately need a full time typist to do this and to set type for printing

copy.

{Perhaps you could make this a prayer project for your group.)
that Clinton and

Ruth's mother-in-law had a heart attact this month which meant

Nikkle have been with us each day as well as Susan and Tommy. town.

For a week or

more, Kathy, Shanon and Rhonda were also staying here since Lee was out of

This made the place pretty caotic virtiat with Phyllis cooking for more
lunch every day, the place overrun with builders and

than a dozen people for

D.V.B.S. at the same time.

I can not imagine how she did It, even temporarily.

Naturally grocery expenses were completely out of hand for a while.

I am a few days late with the news letter this month owe Ing to the fact that just when I should have been preparing it. We were getting a stream of long distance-phone calls and telegrams concerning a rift between the minister and a part of his congregation in our largest single African circuit. In the end it
was necessary to call an emergency meeting to arbitrate the matter, and I was away to make a fifteen hour train trip each way there and back, plus hotel
expenses there. One of our co-missionaries and three African ministers met me

there as well. We do hope and pray that the problem will be settled, though I doubt If it is that easily over. (Prayers are requested for Robert Geldenhuys and the Cradock church as well. He plans to change congregations at the end of the school year.) Robert was so concerned for my personal safety after the
meeting that he enquired if there was not a white only waiting room at the
railway station and that I could not walk there so he came with a taxi and a group of Christians to escort me there.
rs In/lesus Chr i st

Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. Agents 706 East Washington St., Urbana, IL. 61801 Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors

(+ 27 l/) 869-8331

(obert ^/Phyllis Mills

(217) 328-2955, Anderson's Phone.

1 -,
Dear Co-worker, September, 1979

The additions and alterations to our house are now complete and I have shifted much of the printed material out of the camera room to the old garage and had the envelopes delivered there so that we now have a little more room enabling
me to darken the camera room and use it as a dark room rather than using the

toilet. I also changed film suppliers to a type which will permit development under a gold light rather than the almost pitch dark ruby lamp. This may not sound like much, but it may enable us to install a new camera and makes film developing and plate preparation far easier. The camera I would like to install is a nuArc VIC 1480 as it both meets any need we now have plus any likely need in the foreseeable future, as it can handle film large enough for a

Davidson 700P, the Lord so leading.

Its South Africa delivered price is $3739.

Dad Nichols' 93 page workbook on the Gospel of John is now complete in time for
conference, though three others we also v/anted to have done will not make It. We do have two re-prints ready so that we have started mailing stacked lesson requests again. Hundreds have already gone into the mail, all for Venda which is to have independence next week. We are In the rush of pre-conference preparations now with less than a week to go. As treasurer, I have a financial statement to prepare and an itemised report of church giving and also catering purchases for the table food for up

to 250 people for five days, as superintendent, a message and a "welcome" to prepare, plus a business meeting to "chair", and documents and supplies to get ready and the program to prepare, then as the printer there is everything to be printed and transported there. I need to be three people and most of all need
a better "memory". I am sure that I will forget something vital. I also want to take our printed booklets for distribution as this is the best opportunity of the year to do it. Fortunately, I have James to help me with some of these things. At conference Itself there will be the finances and supplies and itemised, indivitual receipts to be done and the banking. Of course I can delegate jobs but I am personally responsible for any inaccuracies and experience cautions me to be careful in that area.

Our eldest daughter, Kathy, is expecting her new baby any moment now and we
expect it will probably be while we are away. She is counting on us to care for their two older children at the time and this may mean we shall have them

with us at conference. As we shall be rather "camping" it is not very convenient, though perhaps necessary. Becky will stay at our house that week so that her daily help can care for Susan, Tommy, Clinton and Nikkie here. I
suppose we can be grateful that we do not have to cope vnth six pre-schoolers

as well as our routine while campingl

This week end was brightened by the visit of Miss Marcia Thomson of Fort Victoria, Zimbabwe Rhodesia, on her way back to her mission field after

furlough. Stu and Marilyn Cook also had a meal and evening with us as they leave for a short furlough the same day we leave for conference. May God
richly bless, and do remember us in prayers.

Yours in^jle^us Christ,

Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. Agents 706 East Washington Street, Urbana, IL. 61801 Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors (217 ) 328-2 955, Anderson's Phone.

Robert &R^llis Mills

(+ 27 11/ 869-8331

/Dear Co-wprker,

October, 1979

As I said in the last letter, I had many preparations to make for the annual conference at the last moment. This was primarily because I had three responsibilities, those of treasurer. Superintendent, and as the mission publisher, my own real ministry to them. Unfortunately some of our visitors

could not come, and one of the missionaries of the few who were not on furlough this year, was taken ill. This resulted In last minute anxiety. Little was I to anticipate all the burden of problems that would be "dumped" Into my lap at

conference itself.

As a result, I simply could not really enjoy the gathering

as I had hoped, and decided that it would not be wise to try to continue in all three capacities. I, therefore, declined nomination for superintendent as it

became apparent that they planned to "railroad" me into both Superintendent and treasurer again. These just Involve too much responsibility for one person. I felt the pressure terribly this past few months. As a result, they voted
brother Nicholas Qwemesha as Superintendent until brother Nicholson returns in

January.

This is the first time that they have chosen a black superintendent,

but they chose a very capable man for the job.

for conference, through lack of time, we still distributed more printed

afford to go this year.

Even.though we were not able to print four books we had hoped to have available

materials that we ever have before, to the smallest gathering we have had for some time. The high cost of travel and distance meant that many could not

On our return to Alberton, we v/ent straight to work trying to catch up on the

backlog of accumulated work. We had to print 17 thousand tracts immediately
I also finalised the
and to reprint one of our lesson books, and the certificates for the lessons.

This being done, we started mailing out lessons and managed to get over 2000
into the mail before we ran out of time and postage.

draft of the directory of the Mission for printing and prepared the negatives of that for the press. This means another book to be added to the waiting four
not to mention the fact that we are nearly out of stock on two more lesson

books.

It looks like another high pressure month ahead.

Kathy had her baby this past v/eek and they named him Cameron Michael. Phyllis made daily visits to see her at the hospital in Johannesburg and took the children with her. Both Shannon and Rhonda ended up staying with us for the week. This week we have only Clinton, Nikkie, Susan and Tommy. Last week it
was all six of them.

Please keep us in prayer that God will lead in opening the way to equipment renewal and a larger staff to use it. I simply do not see how It 1s possible to catch up, let alone expand as we are. We are already actually working under
an ever growing backlog of requests and needs, {our enrollment in the correspondnce lessons now stands at 223,532 persons, and I have not been able to mark papers and type certificates for weeks.) It is at times like this that

He is able to show His great power. We certainly can not manage on our own power, either financially or physically. Each evening I find myself absolutely
drained.

Yours

Jesus Christ,

Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. Agents

706 East Washington Street, Urbana, IL. 61801 Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors

Robert ^Phyllis Mills

phone (+27 11) 869-8331

Anderson's phone (217) 328-2955

NOV 121979
Dear Co-worker, November, 1979

After nearly a year, the church at Natalspruit had a reception for James as their minister. The major service was on a Saturday night and they had invited all the other churches near them as guests. I understand that there were about

200 present for the all night services. the morning services.

We had been invited, but as I doubted At the

that we would be given permission to enter Natalspruit at night, they asked us to come Sunday morning instead. There were about 80 sleepy people there for

Even so, we had a wonderfully blessed morning.

close of my sermon, I was asked to give out four baptismal certificates for

those who had been baptised earlier, then six more came forward to make the good confession and be baptised later. One lady who had been baptised already,
sermon, and one of the men who came to be baptised had been assumed to be a
Christian as his family had long attended services.

asked to make the confession as she had not realised the need before the

We still have not gotten all four of those books printed we wanted done before
conference.

language are done, but we had to take time to re-print two lesson books as well
so there are three still waiting attention. I particularly wanted the Tswana
book as we are short material in Tswana and a minister from Botswana, a

The ministers directory and the Leadership book in the Tswana

neighboring country, has sent me a number of addresses of his people and now
I have sent him this

has written to ask to become a part of the mission.

material and written to see if I can arrange to visit him and his work in a few

weeks time.

It will require passport and visaes, so is not so simple being

across an international boundry, even though relatively near in miles.

In the mailing category, we have really been working haying mailed out 4675
but, we ran out of postage and as my car has been in the body shop for panel
sets of new and return lessons this month. The office Is still piled high,

to v/al k everywhere this week. I can not walk with 500 lesson packets to the post office, hence they have accumulated unmailed for the time being.

beating all week, (Phyllis backed into a pole and did $240 damage), I have had

We feel that the Lord has answered one prayer this month in that we have just

arranged to purchase a "new" camera capable of 12"xi8" work. I am to pick it up this evening. It is used but nearly new, and v/e will be advertising our "museum piece" and some other minor equipment ininedlately. We pray it will sell If only chiefly to clear the space. Also, I really feel the Lord is leading toward replacing the press as I went to a friend v/no has a rebuilding
service about a faulty part in the press and he Informed me that he will

shortly be rebuilding a Davidson 700P press. That is just like ours, though caoable of 15"xl8" paper. It Is exactly the press we have been looking for and
rebuilt, will be like new. His product Is almost undetectable from new

equipment. We pray that God will financially open the way as the camera has not only wiped out our reserves, but left us in an interest free debt of $600. I expect that the sale of the old equipment will more than cover that, the Lord
willing.

Thank you for your prayers, but keep on praying His renewal of the equipment
and provision of staff for its operation.
esus

Christ,

Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. Agents 706 East Washington Street, Urbana, IL, 61801
Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors

Phone (/27 11) 869-8331

Robert &/?hyll1s Mills

Anderson's Phone, (217) 328-2955

(PS: PLEASE pardon my ribbon problen this month, it is only temporary.)