Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Laughren Peter Fran 1991 SAfrica
Laughren Peter Fran 1991 SAfrica
Vol. 1, No. 3
Winter 1991
share In the National Missionary Convention, a faith promise rally in Hampton. Georgia, spend a week in up per east Tennessee, and make a five-week trip through As we near the end of this furlough, it gives us time Pennsylvania. Canada, Michigan, and Ohio. to reflect on the many places, people, and things that One of the enjoyable things about our trip to we have experienced this year. As this was our first Canada was the snow that Fran had wanted to see. furlough, we did not know quite what to expect, but Growing up in Canada. I had bragged to her about the we have thoroughly enjoyed our time here. We have 10-15 feet of snow she would be seeing. She was a lit made new friends, seen new places, and experienced tle disappointed when there was only a couple of feet. As this would be our last trip to Canada, we made every new things, all of which we will never forget. During the conclusion of 1990, we were able to effort to visit all of our aunts and uncles in Ottawa. On
Furlough Update
tario;
Shawville, Quebec;
We
were also afforded the opportunity to speak at the Shawft/ille Wesleyan Church in Shawville, Quebec. Thank you. all of you folks in Canada for the great time. As we look over our entire furlough, the facts of
travel amaze us. We have travelled over 41.000 miles, been in over 25 states from Georgia to Texas and from Wyoming to Pennsylvania. We have spoken to all of our supporting churches, seen most of our individual
supporters, and participated in many other speaking opportunities concerning the work in South Africa, such as VBS's. camps, etc. Many missionaries look at fur
lough as a chore, but we have not. and have therefore
'
-11,
^^
Travel Plans
While plans are in the process of being made, nothing is 100% final at this point. We are presently
awaiting approval of our South African visas in order to
make final plans. It looks like it will be sometime in April before we get to leave Atlanta on our way home to
Cape Town. We are hoping to stop in Hungary and/or Kenya on our way, travel and time permitting. Please pray for us as we make final plans to go home and con
tinue our work.
Etc.
We have had several visitors here in Hampton:
- Gordon and Estelle Nelson
(from Zimbabwe)
In the last three months, we have travelled to Bedford, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Baltimore,
Brother frj Upington preparing communion. work is still going well. The church
Maryland; East Tennessee; Shickshinny, Pennsylvania; Shawville, Quebec, Canada; Lansing, Michigan; and Columbus, Ohio.
By the time you read this, we will have spoken at
Institute. The churches in the Cape Town area are still going along well, not with phenomenal growth, but re maining the same. We also understand that youth
groups and Bible studies are still going along well. As you know, we are involved in Leadership Train ing in many different areas. Fran is especially interested in training Sunday School teachers, using prepared ma
terial. Through the generosity of many churches and people, we are going to be able to take back untold pounds of Sunday School and Vacation Bible School ma terial. Our attic here in Hampton, Georgia, is overflow ing and you can be assured that the material will be put
to good use. None of it will be wasted when it is used among people who are eager to use it. Also of encouragement, Steve tells us that the people are wondering about our return. We feel hon ored that the people we love, also love us in return and hope for our safe arrival.
If you need supplies for a Vacation Bible School, please contact Mark and Annette Tuttle.
Address Overseas:
Kraaifontein 7570
Republic of South Africa After mid-April, write us there. We would love to hear from you!
family.
home, our good friends, the excitement of the work, and that in going to South Africa
we are doing what we feel God wants us to be doing. Then I feel better, and I get anxious to be home to South Africa again. Please keep in touch with us, because whether we are getting news from your or
not makes a difference on how we feel
(encouraged or depressed). Come see us and see the work that is going on in South Africa. I can assure you that you will be amazed and encouraged. Keep up the good work here in living faithfully, and re member us in your prayers as we remem ber you. On our way home,
Fran's Feelings
Our year-long furlough has gone by so quickly, I am having a hard time believing it is time to go home. Last year (1990) was a good year for us, because we were in need of a change, and a change we got. We covered many miles on the road, saw a lot of country, saw many people, ate all the time, and loved every minute of it. Having a nice van to travel in has made our travels very pleasant, indeed. Also, having 'a house of our own' for the year made it nice to 'go home.* It has been good to live in Hampton, Georgia. Pete had told me many times, in all the years we've been married, how nice it is to livein Hampton and now I know for myself. During the last few weeks, I have been busy pack ing up boxes, getting them ready to ship to South Africa. First I packed up all the Sunday School materials that were in the attic. Now I'm busy with our personal belongings. We left most of our things here the first time, in storage, and now plan to take most of it back with us. The only things we will leave behind this time are the necessary items for our next furlough. It has been a big job and I'll be glad to get it all finished. My heart is full of mixed feelings right now. it has been so good to spend time with our friends and family; it has been so good that i feel as I've not quite had enough yet. In a way it will be harder to leave this time because 1 know how lonesome it gets, especially for
ingredients:
1 medium camel
5 lbs. almonds
60 eggs
25 lbs. rice
until tender. Cook rice. Fry nuts until brown and mix with rice. Hard boil and peel eggs. Stuff chickens with eggs and rice; stuff the lamb with 5 chickens and some rice; stuff the camel with lamb and rice. Broil in a large enough (this is important) oven until brown. Spread the remaining mixed rice on a large tray and place camel on top. Place remaining chickens around camel. Decorate rice with eggs and nuts. Serves 80-100 people. Author Anonymous - Contributed by J.T. & Dot Thornton Amory Missionaries
uteac.
InitematoM
Addresses: Pete & Fran Laughren
U.S.
Mission Sen/ices
PO Box 2427
Knoxville, TN 37901-2427
Hampton, GA 30228
Kraaifontein 7570
Spring 1991
Summer 1991
on April 18 and watched it leave our home in Hamp ton. One week later, on April 25, we had many tearful good-byes at the Atlanta airport and started our jour ney home to Cape Town. We flew to London and enjoyed a wonderful day and evening with Ross and Cheryl Wissmann. The next day, we flew to Budapest, Hungary and were met there by Fran's sister, Sonja
and rode with her and two other members of the mis
sion team there to the city of Szeged in southern Hun gary. There they have been working with Hungarian students and doing a wonderful job making Christ known. Sonja and a team of 7 were all very hospitable to us and we enjoyed our time there. After we left Hungary (actually, after we left Sonja), we got stuck at the airport in Budapest be-
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cause one of the engines on the airplane would not start. After flying to Hamburg. Germany via another airline and getting to London 10 minutes after our flight to Nairobi left, we were forced to spend another day in London - but at a local hotel, thanks to British
Airways. When we did arrive in Nairobi, David and
hour trip to the bush near Narok in western Kenya. We absolutely loved the visit there and got to see a
to see all sorts of wildlife - everything from elephants to lions. We spent 6 nights there and enjoyed our time with David and Linda. It was very sad to leave them on May 9, but it was time to get home.
South Africa:
arrived. We were met by Steve and Pat Zimmerman and their son Kyle, and by Eric and Sharon Reid, good
friends of ours. I knew we were in a little bit of trou
ble when Eric says, "Hello, how are you? ... Do you want to rent a car today or tomorrow?" In other words, our car, which had been in an accident last July
Our Mazda 323 as we found it when ive arrived back in South Africa.
time and turning on the fan! Eric has been real good
in replacing everything that was stolen off of it. and it
Our first Sunday here was one of emotions. We worshipped at Mfuleni and I had a hard time preach ing. Thank goodness, the African people sing if there are any lulls in the service or else we would have had long silences while I composed myself. Starting with the third Sunday back, we have again been busy with the Bishop Lavis church trying to get things organized there such as the Sunday school, but I will let Fran talk mostly about the work in her part of this letter. We finally moved into our house four days after we arrived and immediately (with the help of Gordon
and Estelle Nelson. Steve Zimmerman and Jerry Kennedy) repainted our whole house inside. Before we moved anything in from storage in our garage, we also had the house recarpeted, thanks to the money which we received from renting our house. It took us a couple of weeks to get resettled in the house with our belongings from storage. On June 14. our con tainer arrived from the U.S. and we are still unpacking that. So far the only thing that got broken was one can of Dr, Pepper that got crushed, so we are thankful that it was nothing of great importance, All of the Sunday School material that was donated from many sources arrived here beautifully, along with Fran's china cabinet and other fragile items.
,1
Fran repainting the house.
The work here in South Africa carries on very well. Steve and Al Zimmerman carried on with Cape Bible
Seminary and had a record number of students. Steve
settled into our home. Whether we were ready or not. we started back to work. We are trying something
new as far as classes for the little kids. Instead of
of Gordon and Estelle Nelson and the Jerry Kennedy family, the work in South Africa looks up and we only
see great things ahead. We are restarting the Two Oceans preacher training program and have a Cape Bible Seminary session due in August. This, along with a youth camp, the yearly conference, and regular travels, and we are getting into the full swing of the work once again. Please pray for us and the work here that we might be fulfilling God's will in our lives.
ing much better, and we are able to get to most of the kids this way. The groups are called the Jr. Youth
Furlough Thank-You's
We do not know where to start. First of ail, thank-you to Berea Christian Church and all of the members there for everything you did to make our stay in the U.S. complete. You were a great home base
Oceans. (During the winter months he is having the classes, then starting up with the practice preaching when the rains stop.) We are still making occasional
trips up country and Pete is still doing the teaching and correspondence for the school. So, we are busy; but
then that is what we are here for.
lodged us, or both. Thank-you also to those of you who have started supporting us in 1991 and thank-you
to those of you who have continued to be faithful in your support, Thank-you, Mom and Collins, for meet ing our transportation and lodging needs. And thank-
you. Lord, for keeping us safe and healthy throughout 1990 and returning us safely home here to South
Africa.
Fran's Feelings
Well, like Pete said, it is good to be home and we have been having fun moving into our house again. We are still changing and rearranging things - but that is part of the fun. I have been freezing lately because of it being in the middle of winter here, but that goes with the territory. It is strange getting two winters in a row this year (one in the U.S. and now here), but it is good to be back in South Africa, no matter what the
weather is.
While we were here last term, we were struggling to keep the Sunday Schools going. There is always the problem of transportation and starting in time to have
a lesson before services. After we left, the teachers
got discouraged and stopped teaching. So, needless to say, we were a bit disappointed to see nothing g> ing on, because this is one of our main reasons in be ing here (so that they will carry on while we are not here). But, as soon as we got back, we were asked to start working with the kids again as well as the usual Bible classes we were involved in before furlough. We took the first two weeks here as our time to get re
There is always an opportunity for me to do some baking or cooking for special occasions or meetings. Well, I tried two new things and they are a real hit and now I always have requests for them. Guess what it is: Rice Krispie Treats and Mississippi Mud Cake (we just
call it Mud Cake). Pete and I have really become good friends with Gordon and Estelle Nelson. They are missionaries that
came to help out here in South Africa, but are heading up to Bophuthatswana to work while the Jim Conley family are on furlough. We will surely miss them, be cause they have been living close to us and we have seen a lot of each other. Pete really enjoys them be cause they know a lot about sports and enjoy sports. We wish you all well and God's blessings as you live for Him and serve Him. We also hope you are having a good and safe summer. One of our high lights of each day is checking the mail, so we are looking forward to hearing from you. We appreciate you all and miss you. Try to come see us and see the
work here in South Africa.
sionary work now. They are the Gordon Nelson family (who came from Malawi) and the Jerry Kennedy family (who came from Brazil). All belongings, such as Sunday School material, computer and printer, multi-system T.V. and VCR, furniture, china cabinet, and other personal things, came out of the container without a
scratch.
Our mailing address here is P.O. Box 165, Kraaifontein, 7570, South Africa. Our telephone num
ber is different from last term. It is 011-27-21-
With Love,
Fran
988-0682 (direct dial). Please call or write.. We would love to hear from you. Mark and Annette, our forwarding agents, are expecting child #2. Congratulations!
Praises - More African Recipes From Fran Baboon Soup The work in South Africa has carried on well.
Many, many safe miles in travel. Thanks. Bill and Lynn, for the tape. We feel the
same way.
Ingredients:
1 medium-sized live Baboon (with muzzle) 53 gallons of lukewarm water (so not to scare the ba boon when placed in pot)
Salt to taste
Berea Christian Church had a fellowship dinner on our last Sunday in the U.S. Thanks, Jimmy Cameron, for the biggest hamburger I've ever seen! (see picture)
2 large rocks 1 elephant gun (in case baboon gets out of water and tries to make you the meal) Pan large enough to hold all contents (except for gun)
This recipe is best cooked over an open fire. (It also helps with the smell to be outdoors.) Combine all elements over a roaring fire after re moving muzzle from baboon. Bring water to a boil.
This is done while baboon is in water so that he will
die a quick, painless death. (Using the baboon while he is still alive adds to the flavor.) Boil at largest fire possible until all of the water has evaporated. This may take several days as pot must be large and fire strong. After fire dies down and water is gone, re move contents and serve to 35 people. Most people who have tried this delicacy say the recommended procedure for taste is to throw the baboon away and eat the rocks. Enjoy.
The hamburger giver) us at Berea Christian Church ~ our last Sunday in the U.S. (Photo by Wanda Fulton.)
Etc.
We left a windbreaker somewhere in our travels
Prayers
Transportation needs. Stronger local workers.
have seen it, please let us know. We have two new families in Cape Town for mis
For Fran as she restarts Sunday Schools. For Mark and Annette as they serve as forwarding
agents.
Vol. 2, No. 2
Fall 1991
1991 Conference
The yearly conference of the Churches of Christ was held here in Cape Town at the Mfuleni Church from September 25-29. Three hundred Christians from places as far away as 500 miles came together for this annual gathering. The theme this year was "The Seed of the Word" and all speakers developed the theme as asked by Steve Zimmerman, the organ izer. Steve arranged for David McLaughlin from Indi anapolis, Indiana to come and help in the teaching, and it was good to have him here. Fran and I taught
3 classes apiece and really enjoyed seeing a lot of people that we had not seen since before furlough. Classes ranging from young children to adults were also taught by other missionaries and local brothers
and sisters. Other than Fran and myself, the mission
Youth Camp
In July, we were asked to be a part of a youth camp inthe northern town of Upington. Organized by
the local brethren, we were just thereto assist with the teaching to the seventy young people that attended. While teaching several classes, two prominent ideas kept popping up: politics and immorality. In the changing South Africa, the young people are wanting
to know to what extent a Christian should get involved
helps to fill that need. Since we returned from our furlough, we have had one session that was held here in Cape Town. Jerry Kennedy taught the class of II Corinthians and Steve Zimmerman and Itaught a class that was written by hisfather, AlZimmerman. We had anywhere from 5 to 15 students for the 3-day session
and 5 students received full credit for the classes. Fran
in politics. While no great conclusions were reached, it was interesting to see the liberal perspective that is being taught to the young people here. Please pray
for us so that when these situations arise, we will know
usually helps with the cooking for the school sessions, but decided to do it by herself this time. With amaze
ment some of the brothers looked at her and said, "We did not know that you could cook." Our next
session is scheduled for November 11 -16 in the Karoo
the appropriate responses. The other subject, immorality, isone that we have been teaching for several years. We expressed to the
young people the ideas of Christian moralityand that iffollowed according to God's plan, they will have less problems as teenagers. We find too many teenage single parents here who are still children themselves. Trying to explain to them that they put themselves at a severe disadvantage early in lifegot some attention. As in other times, some of the young people ap proached Fran and said that they had never had any teaching in this regard and were thankful that some one had finallytold them right from wrong. We feel that in bjjilding a strong church, we must teach the youth the ways of the Lord from this point on. We were very pleased to be a part of this camp, and the plans are to have it every year. We look for ward to good things in the future.
town of Graaff-Reinet. Please pray for Jerry and me as we teach there that we may build up stronger leaders
in the churches here.
IVew W a r i i e r s
You may have read in past newsletters about Jerryand Aleta Kennedy. Jerry and Aleta and their two daughters, Heather and Amy, arrived in Cape Town in February to help with the Cape Bible Seminary and other areas. Before they arrived, they served in Brazil for 11 years and have already helped greatly in the work here. Aleta enjoys working with children and Fran is looking fon/vard to having someone who likes working in that area to help. They are already busy planning a VBS that we hope to have here in Decem ber. Jerry is a good student of the Bible and has already added to Cape BibleSeminary. I look forward to working with him as we plan our next year of school sessions and as we work on other things together here. Please pray for them as they continue to get adjusted to life here and the work that the Lord has led
them to.
Zimmermans an
Prayers
Pray that a VBS planned for December reaches the
children as it should.
Furlough
Steve, Pat, and their two boys, Kyle and Kelly, are back in the U.S. on their furlough. Pat and the boys arrived in July while Steve left after conference and arrived in October, They are based in Coldwater, Michigan and have a busy year ahead of them. Please pray for them as they travel.
Pray that the churches of Mfuleni and Bishop Lavis grow as they should. Pray for Fran and me as we judge when to stand back and let the local people do the work and when to step in and do things ourselves.
Praises
h; KB
Our support has continued steadily since we got back here and we have been notified recently that
we are going to receive additional from the first of
the year.
Thank-you to those of you who sent us Christmas parcels. We really appreciate it. A new buildingisfinished at Mfuleni and it isadding
to the work there.
Fran's Feelings
One of the things that Pete and I wanted to do
Etc. In September, we had Charlie and Betty Delaney from Johnson City,Tennessee; Jeff and RobinVines from Harare, Zimbabwe; and Jayne Free and Jill Shaw from Zimbabwe for a 10-dayvisit. We really
enjoyed their time here. Funds are still coming in for a van and we thank all
of you who have helped. We anticipate being able to purchase in the near future. Fran has sorted through all of the Sunday School material that we brought with us. Thank-you to those of you who helped with the gathering of this. We will be spending Thanksgiving in Bophuthatswana with the Gordon Nelsons and the BillWebers.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all who read this letter. May the Lordmake 1992 productive for you.
to South Africa with materials so that the Sunday Schools would continue. Many of you responded when we let you know our needs in this area, and because of all who contributed, we brought back more materials than Icould have ever imagined (much of it brand new). At this year's conference, I had a special class to show interested people how to use the materials and then Igave them whatever they wanted of the material. With me I had fifteen huge boxes of material that is now spread out all over South Africa. The people were so excited and it was such fun to watch them dig into all of those boxes. Now we must pray that they will continue with teaching (children, youth and adults) so they won't be totally dependent on us to do all of the teaching. This December, Lordwilling,we are going to try to have another VBS. We have plenty of books now, and we have volunteers to help with the teaching. Aleta Kennedy is being a great help, along with her family, which I really appreciate. Regarding Sunday School material, Iwould espe cially like to thank Helen Sizemore, Hazel Zook of the
ing. Iwould also liketo say thank-you to those of you who helped with supplies (crayons, construction pa per. glue, scissors, pens and pencils, stickers, crafts, styrofoam balls, yarn, wall decorations, pipe cleaners, prizes, etc.) as these are always needed. If anyone would still liketo help, we can always use more when
these run out.
Prayfor us. There are a lot of classes going on, a lot of projects that need planning now and we need the interest of the South African people. Praythat we don't get tired and discouraged. Pray that we don't get so busywith allof these good things that we stop
Thanksfor your prayersand encouragement. We thank God for you and we pray that you are all well, faithful and serving God.
Love,
Fran
Beforeyou move, please send the mailirm label with a copy of your new address to
Non ProfitOrg.
37950-9998
Onl^iriniiilD[niiill
Addresses:
Pete & Fran Lauqhren
U.S.
Knoxville. TN 37901-2427
ADDRESS CORRECTIONREQUESTED
Hampton, GA 30228
00043962
001
CTL
Forwarding Agents:
Mark & Annette Tuttle 3416 Sunset Hollow
Knoxville