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NEWS

FROM THE

ELERICK FAMILY

February

I98O

Dear Friends

in Christ:

We want to share with you about the

new and

exciting door

God has

opened

for

us.

While the Cook's

were

in

America, we were asked

by

Sandy and Charlotte

Sinclair

to

pray and seek God's will in

possibly

joining them in budi work among

the

Zulu p e o p l e .

A l t h o u g h w e

w e r e

f i l l i n g

a e e d

at A l e t h e i a d u r i n g t h e

t i m e

w e w e r e r e c e i v i n g m e d i c a l

t r e a t m e n t ,

we w e r e n o t

c o n t e n t

w o r k i n g

in the

city

in

a

alf

way house, and really m i s s e d our

w o r k

in the

b u s h among

the

a f r i c a n

p e o i l e . A b o u t t h i s s a m e

time,

t h e F l o y d S t a m m f a m i l y r e t i j m e d to S o u t h

A f r i c a from furlou^ in A m e r i c a ,

and

Floyd

too,

e n c o u r a g e d us in j o i n i n g the

w o r k

in

Z u l u l a n d , as

it

is t h e s a m e

kind of w o r k

w e h a v e a l w a y s

b e e n

i n v o l v e d

in in Africa. After much prayer, investigation, and discussion, I honed

our L i v i n g

Link

c h u r c h in

P o n c a

City, and

we a g r e e d

t o g e t h e r to m a k e this m o v e

-from Johannesburg to Eshowe.

P e r m i t s h a d

to b e

a p p l i e d

for, and

y e s t e r d a y Sandy and I

r o v e

o v e r to U l u n d i

the

c a p i t a l

of

K w a Z t l u

to

a p p l y

for

v i s i t o r s p e r m i t s

for Hap and J an

P r o u g h ,

and

^ d i i l e

there found

that our

permits to work in Kwa Zulu

had

been issued.

H e r e in Z u l u l a n d ,

w e h a v e

e s t a b l i s h e d c o n g r e g a t i o n s .

S o m e are l o c a t e d

in t o w n s h i p s a r o u n d

c i t i e s

s u c h as ] > u r b a n , and

o t h e r s

a r e

so

r e m o t e we c a n n o t

d r i v e into, but m u s t w a l k

i n t o

for t h r e e to four

hours

e a c h way. Z i a u l a n d

i s

the size

of

the state

of

Maryland

and has

a

opulation

of

over 3

illion.

Our work will be exactly like it was

in

Malawi. Sandy and

I

ill travel

a m o n g t h e v i l l a g e s h o l d i n g l e a d e r s h i p t r a i n i n g c l a s s e s in o r d e r to

p r e p a r e

t h e

men to b e c o m e s t r o n g men of

God.

We

will

c o n c e n t r a t e on w i n n i n g adults to

Christ

in

e v e r y

v i l l a g e and c o m m u n i t y , as in the Z u l u

s o c i e t y ,

the gospel flows m o r e

f r e e l y f n o m t h e e l d e r to t h e y o u n g e r .

Day

a f t e r t o m o r r o w , S a n d y a n d I

ill

be m e e t i n g w i t h all the C h u r c h leaders in

our

area of Z u l x i l a n d at M t u b a t u b a .

This

will

be

a

hance for them to meet

me and

for

me

to

meet

them, and for al l

of

\ a s t o plan our calendar for the

year.

We

make

our home

i n Eshowe. Eshowe

is

ighty

miles

northwest of

the

city

of Durban. E i d i o w e is inland from the Indian Ocean approximately 1 0 miles,

and sits

on

a

r i d g e

I625 feet a b o v e sea level. E s h o w e is a small town, h a v i n g

a o p u l a t i o n

of

7,500, but has e x c e l l e n t s c h o o l s for the children, a

odem

h o i ^ i t a l , and

s e v e r e G L

d o c t o r s in p r i v a t e p r a c t i c e . B u s i n e s s e s in

town carry

most things we need,

but if n e c e s s a r y , D u r b a n

is

only an

hour and

a

half's

d r i v e

away.

The

n w - i n

r e a s o n

w e c h o s e E s h o w e

h o w e v e r ,

is

t h a t it is

c e n t r a l l y

located for

our

work.

From

Eshowe,

we can

reach

any point in

Zululand within

four hours driving time.

The children

have

really settled into their new schools. Rhonda

i s i n

her

first y e a r

of

hi^ chool this year.

Among

her tther

classes,

she

must

s t u d y

A f r i k a a n s

and

Zulu.

T h e

s c h o o l s h e r e h a v e b o t h

l a n g u a g e s as

c o m p u l s o r y

study. Even S u m m e r and N a t h a n

seem to h a v e b l o s s o m e d h a v i n g

a

l a c e

to play.

The Lord found

a

ice but old three bedroomed h ouse

for

us,

n d

after

nearly a y e a r s h a r i n g just two s m a l l rooms as

we

did at Aletheia, you c a n t

how it feels to

h a v e

a l a c e

we

can call home.

Because of our recent move, we have a ew address, so please send al l

corresponden ce to:

Ron

e Cindi Elerick

P.O. Box 377

Eshowe,

Zululand,

3815

Republic

of

South

Africa

We

know that this y e a r will be a great y e a r of s e r v i c e and v i c t o j p y for Christ

J e s u s , a n d a r e t h r i l l e d t o o n c e

a g a i n

b e

w o r i d L n g

a m o n g a f r i c a n p e o p l e In a u s h

ministry.

God bless you a l l as e serve God together.

Ron,

Cindi,

and

Family

8/15/2019 Elerick Ron Cynthia 1980 SouthAfrica

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Ron

Cindi ELerick

P o O .

B o x

377

OCt

E s h o w e ,

Z u l u l a n d

3 ^ 1 3 t

f Q O n

R e p u b l i c

o f

S o u t h

A f r i c a ^0

1 October 198O

Desir Friends in Christ;

The

drought in

Z i z l u l a n d is finally

over. God has

blessed

us

v r i . t h

n e a r l y

two

w e e k s of g e n t l e ,

s t e a d y rain.

T h e h i l l s

of K w a Z u l u (Land

of the Zu lu)

are

beginning t o

get green once

ag ai n , and

are

v ery

sceanic with cattle, goats

and

sheep grazing on th em.

Although God has been the ohe who

has

given the rain, most of the

Zulu

people

do not give Him

their praise

or thanksgiving. According

to

their culture, the

rains

are given

by

the spirits of their dead

smcestors as

a i g n

that

th ey

are

pleased

with

those who

are

l i v i n g.

By

he.time you receive t hi s newsletter, Cindi and I i l l have

already celebrated our fourth

full year of serving

our Lord in Africa^

We t h i n k

of

the many

who

have accepted

Ch ri s t , of

friendships m ade ,

and of

t h e

wotk

w hi c h lies before us

and

w e r e jo i c e

in

being

a b l e

to

be here. The Z u l u

people

a r e

more

resistant to the gospel tha n those

we w orked

with

i n Malawi,

and

their

langiiage is

hard

t o

leam, ut

we

wouldn't

trade places

w i t h

anyone.

We are

planning

t o return

home

ne xt

year

for furlough and

all

of u s

a r e looking forward t o seeing you once a ga in , a nd in being a b le to

s ha r e

f i rs t h an d knowledge about G od 's work h e r e .

Both

Cindi a nd I r e

getting more

a nd

more i n vo l v ed with

our

work.

Cindi

h a s started a bible

study on

Friday mornings. She

ha s

a lso made

application with the government

t o

obtain a permit t o work with the

Z u l u

women in prison

here in Eshowe.

Because

the

drought

had

caused

malnutrition

a nd

s t ar v a t i on a mon g t h e peopl e , s h e s pen d s one morning

a

w e e k h e l p i n g

prepare

food

for

Z u l u

s c hool c h i l d r e n out n ear Vum a.

Kiis

week, Sandy and I

ill

go to a

^ r a a l near

Melmoth to hold

a

wedding. Since getting

a

marriage

officer's l i c e n s e ,

h e

has had m a n y

requests to perform weddings among our

congregations.

B ro. Siaya, has

fi v e o r s i x congregations in nearby Swaziland, and we are planning on

meeting h i m there sometime

in

November i n order t o teach. He w i l l be

spending six weeks

there encouraging

the Church in Swaziland.

So

far,

w e h a v e

no m issionaries

in S w a z i l a n d ,

and t h i s w i l l c e r t a i n l y p a v e t he

way

for

workers to

enter

that

nation.

Last month, approximately

500

members

of the.

Church met in. he.

Ci s k e i t o w n s h i p

of

w e l i t s h a for

a

w e e k of

meetings.

Sandy,

Floyd

S t a m m

and

I

took the train from Durban.

On

t h e

trip,

w e

had engines

pulling the tr a in tha t u sed

electricity,

deisel, and steam. How

m a n y

of

you c a n r e m e m b e r

t h e

s t e a m

en g i n es

at home? I

as

very

h a p p y

t o h a v e

b e e n a b le to

preach

the opening message,

a n d

the

time

s p e n t

there w as an opportunity to m e e t m a n y new brothers and

s i s t e r s in t h e

Lord.

The fellowship w a s g reat , and I no w m an y good t h i n g s w i l l c om e

from our having met

t o g e t h e r.

The f a m i l y is fine,

and

all

of

our children

are

g r o w i n g up

too fast.

Today

it is

overcast b u t v e r y

w a r m ,

and

N a t hg m is playing outside

on

the grass. Summer is in t h e

k i t c h e n

g e t t i n g in Mom 's w ay while.she is

f i x i n g lunch.

The three older

g i r l s get a t w e l v e d ay vacation from

s c hool

beginnin g tomorrow and t he y

are

r e a l l y

l ooki n g

forward

to

t h a t .

We t h i n k of you often, and do appreciate your s h ari n g in our ministry.

Thank you

very

much.

May God

richly

b l e s s

you

aG.1.

B E C A U S E J E S U S C A R E S ^

diUc

4

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Ron l e r i c k - F a m i l y

v o l .

- -

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-

e c e m b e r

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8/15/2019 Elerick Ron Cynthia 1980 SouthAfrica

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But first

there

would

be

Nairobi, Kenya,

the airport or assisted us

through

custom,

ed all passengers to the terminal. Dollars

I t w a s 1 0 : 4 0 a . m . S u n d a y a s t h e E L A L ( i s r a E L A i r l i n e s ) p l a n e

r o s e

f r o m t h e

T e l

A v i v A i r p o r t

a n d

h e a d e d S o u t h o v e r t h e d e s o l a t e w a s t e l a n d s

of

the S i n a i P e n i n s u l a . W e w e r e I n d e e d o n our w a y to

A f r i c a .

A f t e r

n e a r l y t w o

w e e k s

i n J o r d a n

a n d

I s r a e l , t h e t o u r g r o u p . I n c l u d i n g t w o o f o u r

children,

h a d departed for home on Friday

and

we were to spend the Sabbath i n

Jerusalem

before

making connections for Malawi,South

A f r i c a

and the Elerick Family,our Living

L i n k

missionaries.

We

were

going to be able to see first

hand

the fruit of their ministry in Malawi.

We

were alone

in

Nairobi.

No

friends

had met us a t

Instead,armed soldiers greeted the plane and escort-

had

to

be

exchanged

for

strange

currency and we were

swarmed

by

black

faces,

each

wanting to carry our luggage

and

drive

us

to town. The taxi

was

high,the

ride

fast,

the

room far

from

America's

Hilton standards

and

the streets poorly lighted

as we ventured a block away to window shop. The hoped

for

trip to the nearby game reserve never

materialized

the

next

morning,for we

discovered

our

plane would

leave twelve hours earlier than

our tickets said and that

we

had 40 minutes

to pack,

pay and

make

the airport—or—wait two

days for

the next plane.

The early departure

during the

daylight hours did permit the

taking

of a beautiful

picture

of

Mount Kilimanjaro and

later the

blue water of Lake

Malawi

was visible

as we flew

the length

of

the country. And then we

were in Blantyre and the

soldier and currency scene was repeated.

Jan put

on

the

required

long skirt,

as

the law demands of all the women,and

we

waited for

Ron

to

appear

since

he was unaware

of our

early

flight.

Then he

appeared,

beard and

a l l ,

and

ne ver

has a six

foot

ten inch hunk of man look so good. A night of fellowship and rest with the

Bill

Bryants, who are now giving

oversight

to the churches, and

we

were off to

the

"bush".

The two lanes of paving faded

into

one and then

to dirt and

finally

the

road ceased and we

were following cow paths. The crude grass structure of the Chingale congregation came into

view,

dwarfed by

the

giant

Baobab tree

it

was

nestled

under,

and we viewed

the

latest

effort

of

evangelism. Bro

Diamond

was

in

strumental in the

starting of

this

church and

finally

after an hour

of

wrong trails and waiting we found

To

sum up

my evaluation

of

the

work,I am

gratified

to

see

use

multi-media methods such

as tapes,filmstrips and slides

that we

accomplished what we

were

sent

to

do.

All of

the

growth that

we

have witnessed

in

the

nation

of

Malawi

has

been the result

of an

indigin-

ous

movement.

As

a

missionary,

I rovided the instruction,

the

teach ing, th e dis cipl ing

him. It w as a

tearful

departure

as

he and Ron

said

good-bye,but we had to

be

on our

way

for

t here was much

to

see. Finally around

ten in

the evening we forded the river and arrived

at

the v il l age

where

we would be

s pending th e

night.

Sleep

came

quickly as

we spread our

sleeping

bags on

the

mud floor and we tried

a n d

the

e n c o u r a g e m e n t , - but t h e ^0 n o t i c e t h e b i g s p i d e r s i n t h e c r a c k s

' bet w een"trre' "m ua""bri c"k s

peopl e th ems el v es ,as th ey were

l ed

by

God,preach ed th e gos pel

a n d t a u g h t others. New

co ngre

gations have been the result.

Today, if there we r e a

way,

I

wish

that

we

could

be

back

among these people. Ma l a wi

is

a n

excitin g field. The people

are

so responsive. The poten

tial is limitless,but the time

is

limited. My

heart

do es

ache

concerning

the

c o u n t r y and

the

people.

Seeing

what has b e e n

done

in

so short

a

time, what

could be done from this time

on?

If

ur

ch ildren

couid

g e t

the help in school t h e y need,

we

would

go back

if we

knew

t he

Lord was leading. What a

t r a i n i n g

ground M a l a w i has

been

for e . Our

be i n g down

here does

not mean

that we

don't care about

Malawi,

for

we

do;but

the

Zulus must

also

hear the gospel.

.

reakfast~5ras

ensema

and a tough

old

goose,

but

they shared their

best. For two days we bounced around

Mal awi,

seeing

the

evidence

of the Elericks

ministry.

And I was impressed Impressed with the peo

p l e , .their

love

for Jesus,

th eir joy

i n

th e

mids t

of

pov erty,

th eir zeal to tell

others

and their pride i n

th eir

s impl e meeting

places. There had not been time for

th e

n ew

missionary to really be involved in

the work

and Ron

had

been in South Africa

for a

whole

year; yet the churches

had

grown, new congre

gations

had

been started and the baptisms

ha d

continued.. Only one

church knew

t h a t

Ron

was

back

in th e country with American v is itors ,

yet we

found six

men

working on the church

building

in the

middle

of the

week.

Reports

of growth and maturity were

confirmed

as we

t ravelled

from

p lace

to

place.

Conclusion?

The

work

we sent

Ron

t o

do—was done.

The

money

was well spent and the

time worthwhile.

Ron

fulfilled

his ministry by

"equipping the

s aints

for t he

work

of s er v i c e ,

to th e

bui ld

ing up of the body of Christ. . "{Eph. 4:12)

as

well

as

tracts and printed

lessons. Eventually

I

would

like

to

provide teaching

tapes

in

Zulu and obtain reasonably

priced but reliable tape play

ers that could be

left in

the

care of the local minister for

use in my absence. 1 plan t o

work as much as

I

can in

the

northern

area where

the people

have been

ne gl e cte d

a nd

little

teaching done. In

short,

I

would like

to

be

used to

es

tablish contact in new areas,

nurture those interested by

t e a c h i n g

a nd pro v id ing Bibles

and

materials

in

Zulu;

and

through it, form them into a

New Testament congregation and

d i s c i p l e

t h e m

until

t h e y

are

able to

reproduce other

groups

in their

area.

The

work

will

have to be indiginous, coming

from

Zulu's to other Zulu's.

What we

accomplished

in Malawi

is

the

Immediate goal,

but to

surpass that is the long term

goal. The work here

Is

differ

ent

and

in many cases harder.

It is

a more resistant field;

bu t with God's

help and

being

open

to the leading

of the

Lord,

I

am confident that this

will

come

to

pass.

 

FIELD

ADDRESS

ZULULANDCHRISTIAN MISSION

Ron

and

indi

Elerick

P.O.Box

377

Eshowe, ululand,3815

Republic

of South

Africa

FORWARDINGADDRESS:

Z u l u l a n d Christian Mission

c / o E a s t e r n H e i g h t s

C h r i s t i a n

Church

Route

2 ox

88

Ponca C i t y , Ok la ho m a 7 4 6 0 1

ADDRESS

CORRECTION

REQUESTED

Nonprofit Org.

U.S.POSTAGE

PAID

permit No.

32

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