8/15/2019 Elerick Ron Cynthia 1983 SouthAfrica

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AFRICA

VISION

Vol. No.1

Ron Elerick

Family

May 1983

VICTORY AT NOLETSHENI

I n

mid-February, Dave Colleen Brown came

to

spend the weekend with us in Eshowe. Dave went

w ith

me

to

preach at N d l e t s h e n i ,

w hich

i s an

area

n ear Hlu h lu e. Just a mile o r-two from the

k r a a l w h e r e

t h e

m e e t i n g w a s b e i n g

h e l d , t h e

t i m i n g c h a i n

g e a r b r o k e .

W e h a d

b e e n f o l l o w i n g B r o . .

J o h n s t o n e G u m e d e w h o

h a d

a

v a n l o a d of

p e o p l e . K n o w i n g

h e w o u l d

r e t u r n t o h e l p

u s ,

w e

just

prayed and committed

the

problem to God. Johnstone returned and towed us

into

Hluhlue where

we

c o u l d s a f e l y l e a v e

t h e

t r u c k , a n d t h e n

w e

w e n t t o

t h e

s e r v i c e . O n

e n t e r i n g

t h e s t i c k a n d m u d

shelter,

we

sang

one

song

then Bro, J o h a n M k w a n a z i stood u p

and

t o l d

u s

not t o worr y about what

h a d

j u s t

h a p p e n e d . H e s a i d

t h a t

w e c o u l d h a v e h i s n e w D a t s u n p i c k u p

t o

u s e

t o g e t

h o m e .

H i s

t r u c k

h a d

o n l y 5 , 0 0 0 K m

o n

t h e

c l o c k . W e w e r e v e r y m o v e d b y t h i s e x p r e s s i o n of b r o t h e r l y l o v e .

The L o r d

continued to

bless t h e

service and

b o t h Dave

and I were

able to

minister.

A s

the

i n v i

t a t i o n w a s g i v e n , s e v e r a l

p e o p l e c a m e a n d

k n e l t d o w n i n f r o n t

of

t h e c o n g r e g a t i o n . T h r e e

p e o p l e

a c c e p t e d C h r i s t a n d t h e o t h e r s w a n t e d s p e c i a l

p r a y e r .

O n e o f t h e w o m e n w h o c a m e t o a c c e p t

C h r i s t

h a d n y a n g a ( c o l o r e d s t r i n g s

t i e d t o

b o t h

a r m s

w h i c h s h e

h a d p u r c h a s e d

f r o m t h e

w i t c h

d o c t o r ) .

I

t a u g h t h e r

t h a t

t o

r e c e i v e J e s u s m e a n t g i v i n g

u

h e r

f a i t h

i n

t h e s e t h i n g s.

S o

s h e

t o o k t h e m o f f . A f t e r

t h e

m e e t i n g

w a s c l o s e d i n p r a y e r ,

a n d

b e f o r e t h e b a p t i s m a l s e r v i c e , w e

w e n t

o u t s i d e w h e r e

a f t e r

t e a c h i n g

t h e

p e o p l e t h e r e a s o n s , I p r a y e d

o v e r

t h e

n y a n g a

a n d b u r n e d

it a s a

testimony

to t h e

power o f

t h e

Lord,

We t h e n a l l

traveled

a few

kilometers wh ere

there

w a s a

p l a c e

w i t h

e n o u g h

w a t e r ,

a n d

a f t e r D a v e

r e a d

f r o m t h e B i b l e a n d p r a y e d , B r o .

G u m e d e

b a p

t i z e d

F l o r e n c e

N t s h a n g a s e , P h i l i s w e K h u m a l o ,

a n d

H l e n - g i w e Z u n g u .

T w o

w e e k s l a t e r ,

I w a s a s k e d

t o

c o m e a n d p r e a c h

a g a i n

a t

t h i s

s a m e

k r a a l . A g a i n , t h e p o w e r

o f G o d w a s p r e s e n t a n d t h i r t e e n p e o p l e c a m e f o r w a r d a t t h e i n v i t a t i o n . S e v e n r e q u e s t e d s p e c i a l

p r a y e r a n d s i x a c c e p t e d C h r i s t a s

L o r d . T h e

S p i r i t o f G o d i s m o v i n g a m o n g t h e s e p e o p l e a n d

w e

t h a n k G o d for

t h e r e s p o n s e s w e h a v e w i t n e s s e d i n t h e

p a s t

f e w w e e k s i n n o r t h e r n

Z u l u l a n d ,

T h i s

h a s b e e n t h e v e r y first time

that anyone

h a s

b e e n w i l l i n g t o p u b l i c l y

g i v e

u p t h e i r n y a n g a

r e c e i v e d

from t h e witchdoctor.

T h i s

has had

a very stro n g impact

upon all the

Zulu

w h o

h a v e heard about it. Please continue to p r a y

that

more will receiv e Jesus, and that the

po wer

satan has

on

the peop le

will

be

b ro ken .

Pray for me a s I travel among these people,

that t h e L o r d w i l l c'ontinue to s h o w

me

th e

spi r itual ne e d s and

h o w

H e

w o u l d

have me

mi n

ister to them.

H.

- 4 ^ 3 1 ? ^

Rhonda

Nathan

Susan W e n c l y

Summer

Bro, G u m e d e B a p t i z i n g

Our c h i l d r e n are

growing

u p

quite

fasti W e

left Ainerica almost

seven

year s ago w i t h

little

girls

and are returning

w i t h 3 young

women plus a

little

sister and

brother.

All

of

the children in

school

are doing

very well now. Rhonda and Susan are in speech

and drama this term and Rhonda had her first

netball

game

recently.

Summer has started

preschool

and

is

enjoy

ing

it very much. All are looking forward

to

seeing America and visiting with you.

8/15/2019 Elerick Ron Cynthia 1983 SouthAfrica

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D e a r C o - L a b o r e r ' s i n C h r i s t

T h e

f i r s t f o u r

m o n t h s o f

t h i s

y e a r

h a v e n e a r l y p a s s e d ,

a n d t h e s e m o n t h s

h a v e

e e n u s y o n e s

f o r u s i n

Z u l u l a n d .

W e

c o n t i n u e t o m i n i s t e r d u r i n g

t h e w e e k a t E n t u m e n i ,

w i t h

m o s t w e e k e n d s

f i n d i n g m e

out

a m o n g t h e

Z u l u .

I h a v e b e e n p r e a c h i n g m a i n l y i n a n a r e a

b e t w e e n

M t u b a t u b a t o

H l u h l u e .

W e

h a v e

s e v e r a l

p r e a c h i n g

p o i n t s

i n t h i s d i s t r i c t . C i n d i w e n t

w i t h

m e t o a k r a a l out

s i d e

o f M t u b a t u b a t h e

s e c o n d

w e e k o f J a n u a r y a n d s a n g a n d

t e s t i f i e d .

I t w a s r e a l l y g o o d

b e i n g

a b l e

t o t r a v e l t o g e t h e r a g a i n .

R a i s i n g

a

b u s y a n d

g r o w i n g f a m i l y

k e e p s

h e r q u i t e

b u s y .

The

third Sunday,

Caiphas

Ncanana, along with three men, Johan, Dladla, a n d Johan went w i t h

m e

t o o l d

S h a n d u ' s

p l a c e

n e a r M t u b a t u b a .

H e

w a s

a w a y o n h o l i d a y , b u t w e

s t i l l h a d a v e r y g o o d

s e r v i c e

w i t h n e a r l y

1 0 0 i n a t t e n d a n c e . I

h a d

b e e n p r e a c h i n g a b o u t

b e i n g f a i t h f u l

t o o u r c o m

m i t m e n t t o C h r i s t , i n s t e a d of c a l l i n g o n t h e w i t c h d o c t o r a n d t h e p o w e r o f s a t a n .

O n

l e a v i n g

S h a n d u ' s kraal, just

a

h u n d r e d

y a r d s

away,

w e

s a w

a w i t c h d o c t o r

d a n c i n g

at a n o t h e r m a n ' s h o u s e

d o i n g t h e t h i n g s w e s p o k e a b o u t i n c h u r c h . T h e p o w e r o f t h e w i t c h d o c t o r i s e x t r e m e l y s t r o n g ,

y e t i t i s

e n c o u r a g i n g

t o

s e e

t h e v i c t o r i e s

t h a t

h av e

r e s u l t e d f r o m o u r m e e t i n g s .

F e b r u a r y f o u n d

me

n e a r e r Hl u h l u e ,

a n d

i n

Ma rc h

I p r e a c h e d o n c e n e a r t h e U m f o l o zi River

a n d

m o s t r e c e n t l y

a t

En t u m e n i .

Ou r

w e e k s a r e

f u l l l

M o n d a y m o r n i n g s

C i n d i

t e a c h e s a Bibl e

s t u d y

a t

En t u me n i

f o r

t h e

w o m e n . T u e s d a y n i g h t s I h a v e o n e f o r t h e me n

and o n

W e d n e s d a y n i g h t s

w e have

Bib l e

s t u d y

f o r e v e r yo n e .

F l o y d S t a m m h a d

a h e a r t

a t t a c k

a n d w a s u n

abl e

t o t e a c h

t h i s

p a s t

t e r m

a t

Umzumbe Bib l e

I n s t i t u t e n e a r P o r t

S h e p s t o n e . Lynn S t a n l e y

a s k e d

m e t o f i l l i n ,

s o I

s p e n t

T h u r s d a y s

and

F r i d a y s t h e r e

u n t i l

a f t e r E a s t e r . I t a u g h t

the Life of Christ.

C i n d i

and

I

attend Zulu

c l a s s e s

o n

F r i d ay a f t e r n o o n s o n

a

f a r m n e a r

Am a t i k h u l u , a n d t h e n a f t e r w a r d s w e h o l d B i bl e

s t u d i e s w i t h Paul and

T r i s h

B e r g h

w h o

w e r e

b a p t i z e d

a f e w

m o n t h s

a g o .

We

d e e p l y a p p r e c i a t e

e ac h o n e o f

y o u w h o

h a s

prayed

f o r u s a n d s u p p o rt e d

o u r Lord s

w o r k

b o t h i n M a l a w i and n o w continuing i n

Z u l u l a n d . P l e a s e c o n t i n u e t o k e e p u s i n -y o u r

prayers.

B e c a u s e

J e s u s

C a r e s , Ro n

The E l e r i c k s w i l l

r e t u r n

to

the

States some

t i m e i n A u g u s t for a long o v e r d u e a n d

much

n e e d e d f u r l o u g h . Pla n s a r e

n o t

i n a l i z e d y e t a s

t o t h e

l e n g t h

o f

their

stay,

b u t

we ll

k e e p

y o u

i n f o r m e d .We i l l n e e d t o

r a i s e a p p r o xi ma t e l y

 13,000 f o r

round-trip

a i r

fa r e

and we r e

attempting

t o h av e supporting

congregations

a d o p t t h e

u l l e x p e n s e for

a

p a r t i c u l a r

family

m e m b e r .

Eastern

Heig hts of

Po nc a

City

w i l l

u n d e r w r i t e

Ron

and F i r s t

C h r i s t i an

a t Med-

f or d , where

C i nd i s d a d . B i l l Bu s h n e l l m i n i s

ters, i l l a d o p t

N a t h a n .

See

f y o u r c o n g r e g a -

t i o n

w i l l

h e l p

C o n gr e ga t i o n

a t

Shand u s

Johan

Dladla

Johan

AFRICA

VISION

Field Address:

Ronand Cindi

Elerick

P.O.

Box

377

Eshowe, u l u l a n d ,

3815

R e p u b l i c o f South Africa

F o r w a r d i n g A d d r e s s

Zululand C h r i s t i a n Mission

c / o Eastern H e i g h t s Christian C h u r c h

Route2—Box88

Ponca i t y , OK

4601

ADDRESS

CORRECTION

REQUESTED

N o n p r o f i t

O r g.

U.S.

POSTAGE

P ID

permit No. 32

S h a r l o t t e Ra y

Mission Services

A s s n .

Box

2427

K n o x v i l l e , T N

37901

8/15/2019 Elerick Ron Cynthia 1983 SouthAfrica

3/4

AFRICA

VISION

Vol

9 No.

2

■ dMMm

Ron

Elerick Family

July 1983

A l t e r

7

V e e r s

I h e l i e r i c k ' s l l e l u r n t o i l i e

I I .

S .

If

all

continues a s planned, o n Wednesday,

August

10, 1983, w h e n American Airlines Flight

32 9

touches down at Tulsa International

Airport, the

R o n Elerick

family

will have returned to

the

States after

nearly

seven

years on

African

soil. Ron

and

Cindi

(his

bride

of four months) to

gether

with Rhonda, Susan, and Wendy

left

Oklahoma on October

18,

the country

that

had claimed the

life

of Ron's first wife and the

continued in Malawi

until

continued health problems forced a move

and service with Stu and Marilyn Cook

and

the Aletheia Ministry,

have

lived

in

Eshowe

and ministered

primarily

with the Zulus. The

due furlough

until the four-year

residency

requirement was

fulfilled

Permanent Resident Visa status.

S u m m e r and Nathan, the

two youngest

children, will

accompany

their parents

to the

States,

but

the three older girls will remain in Eshowe until

the end

of

November

when the

current school

year

will

end. Rhonda

and Susan

are being boarded at a hostel

and

Wendy is staying with Frank

and Allison Blair, friends viho

minister

in Eshowe. The

family

will be

reunited

the last of

November and

then

all

will

return

to South Africa before

the

first of

the

year because of

Visa

requirements.

The four

and one-half

months will provide a

time

to

renew

relationships with

many friends

and

congregations but will of necessity be a working furlough . All major supporting congregations

must

receive

a report on ministry past and be challenged for

ministry future . Additional

Service

Link

must be raised i he v/ork is to continue and

additional

needed to purchase a new

four-wheel

drive pickup and to equip itwith a

tor

and

amplifier

can

be

used. Ron has

an

aggressive new approach to

1976, to

return

to

Malawi and

girls mother.

The

ministry

to

Johannesburg,

South Africa

For

the

past three

years

they

family postponed a long over-

so they

could

acquire the

one-time offerings are

generator

so a projec-

evangelizinq the Zulu

and this

will

be implemented when he returns. The emphasis of the work will be to

no

man's

foundation ,

but

rather

to

be to build

upon

evange

lize, nurture, and mature new converts into

strong disciples and to

establish

strong

N e w

Testament congregations. Government recogni

tion

is now being obtained

and another m is

sionary has been added to the

Living

Link of

Eastern Heights

Christian

Church,

Ponca

City,

as a co-worker with Ron, (A future newsletter

will

introduce

this n e w family

to

you.)

A s

R o n

reports to the churches,

h e

will explain

in detail

the

future plans and how you can be

a

vital

part of

this

outreach

ministry.

During furlough, the

Elerick's

will make

Ponca

City

their

h o m e

base.

A

house

has been

rented

and preparations

are underv/ay to

m a k e

their ^ ' h o m e

away

f rom h o m e livable and

e n

joyable. The Elerick's will m a k e

their

visits

in a

Pontiac

station wagon that the Central

Christian Church

of

Dodge City, Kansas, is

making available. (Our

thanks to

Clyde

Goff,

minister

of

the

fine

people there.)

If

you're

within

driving .distance of Tulsa,

you

might plan to

be

part of the welcoming

committee

on the

evening of August 10.

Bring

a banner and join

the crowd for

a

personal

  welcome

home

touch.

(You

might

call

Ponca

City that day just to see i

o n

is

o n

sched

ule. C all 405/765-3956

(church) or

762-5166

(Hap

Prough) or

765-7761

(forwarding agents,

George and

Hazel O'Mealey.)

8/15/2019 Elerick Ron Cynthia 1983 SouthAfrica

4/4

  i r l i f t

n e e d s

i f t S p e a k i n g

DaU>

It's

not

only

thousands

of

miles

from

South

Africa

to

America, it is

also

thousands of

dollars. Thirteen thousand dollars at least.

Thirteen

thousand

that

the General Fund

does

not

have.

Therefore,

we have asked some

of

our supporting congregations

to

airlift a

family member home to t h e States. The approx

imate ticket

cost per

adult is $2,200, with

the two younger children coming for half

fare. Only Ron,

Cindi, Sunmer

and Nathan

will

b e

returning in

August

and

their tickets

have

been underwritten by

these churches:

Ron's

fare was underwritten

by the

EASTERN

HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN CHURCH of PONCA

CITY,

the

Elerick's Living Link Church.

Cindi's and Sunmer's fares were covered b v

the

DAVIS PARK CHRISTIAN CHURCH of

ENID,

home church

for

Cindi.

Nathan's ticket was

paid for by the FIRST

CHRISTIAN CHURCH of

MEDFORD where

Bill

and

Phyllis

Bushnell, Cindi's parents

minister.

Since

Rhonda,

Susan,

and

Wendy

will not be

ab le to fly home

until

November, we have a

little

more time to raise their fares. The

situation a t the

present

is this:

Rhonda s ticket: The SANDUSKY AVENUE CHRIS

TIAN

CHURCH

of TULSA

will

receive

a

special

offering for this.

Susan's fare

has been

underwritten

by

the

HIGHLAND PARK CHRISTIAN CHURCH

of

TULSA.

Wendy's

travel

fund

has

received

gifts from

PARKVIEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF CHICKASAW,

$400, JON ES CHRISTIAN CHURCH of JONES,

$405

a n d M R . & M R S ^ B I L L B U S H N E L L o f

E N I D ,

1 0 0 .

 

his means

thafwe

still need $1,300 on

Wendy's

ticket and

possibly

additional

help

on Rhonda

(pending

the results

of

the special

offering).

We are now

making

an appeal

to any

congre

gations

or individuals to share in meeting

this

need. Any

funds

in

excess of

the

needed

t o t a l w i l l be

used

for

the

purchase of

the

new four-wheel drive pickup.

We are

most

encouraged by the ab ove re

sponse to our

AIRLIFT

needs.

Let's

lift

it over

the

topi

Due to

Visa

requirements,•

the

Elerick^s

must be back in South Africa before the first

of

the year. This schedule permits less than

five months

to

report to the churches

and

to

visit family

and

friends. Since

they

have

been in Africa for

seven

years without

a

fur

lough, we anticipate

that

the requests for

speaking engagements

will

exceed the avail

able time, especially in light

of

Sundays

available.

Therefore,

a schedule must

be

de

termined immediately.

Of necessity,

prefer

ence must b e given to those congregations

that

h ave

faithfully supported Ron

the past

seven years. These

churches

should

contact

Eas tern Heights Christian Church immedia tely

and schedule

their

preferred date. A Friday

night, Saturday

night

and Sunday Mission em

phasis

would

certainly

give ample

time for

both the

congregations

and

the

Elerick s

to

get

reqcquainted .

The next

preference in scheduling must

b e

given

to those

congregations

who

have not

supported regularly in the past, but

who de

sire to be

a

regular giving

partner in

this

ministry in the future.

We

will schedule

as

many

of these

as

time permits.

We understand that there

will

be

many con

gregations

whose mission

giving

is already

committed

on a

regular

basis

but

who would

still like the opportunity

to

hear

a

report

from the Elerick s and to share in a one-time

offering

to assist in the purchase of the

specially equipped (for

visual evangelism)

four-wheel

drive

vehicle.

We

may

have a lim^

ited number

of Sundays available, but

cer

tainly meetings during the week

can

be sched

uled.

We

are sorry

that we must

establish

a pri

ority in

scheduling,

as Ron feels strongly

that he

has a

mission

in

the States to

chal

lenge churches to

see

the need

and

to

catch

the Vision of African Evangelism. A normal

furlough of

one year

would permit

Ron

to

share with all interested congregations

on a

Lord's

D ay , b ut this cannot be done in less

than

five months.

e

AFRICA

VISION

Field Address;

Ron

and Cindi Elerick

P.O. Box377

Eshowe,

ululand,3815

Republic of South Africa

Forwarding Address

Zululand

Christian Mission

c/o

Eastern Heights Christian Church

Route —Box88

Ponca i t y , OK 74601

ADDRESS

CORRECTtON

REQUESTED

Sharlotte

Ray

Mission Services

Assn

Box 2427

Knoxville, TN

37901

Nonprofit

Or|.

U.S.POSTAGE

P I

Pormit

No. 32