laughren peter fran 1987 safrica

7/27/2019 Laughren Peter Fran 1987 SAfrica

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uEpnl^emaESoiniMISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICA

PETER AND FRAN LAUGHRENP.O. Box 165, Kraaifontein 7570, South AfricaTelephone; (Direct Dial) 011-27-21-902-0682

Dear F ri en d s,

5 5 1

J anua r v -Ma r ch 1987

Greetings from Summertime in South Africa. As we hear about th e cold weather in theU.S.A. this time of year, we do no t envy it . We enjoy summer whenever we can recieveit . Our las t three months have been rather busy, but enjoyable.In October we were part of a Colored Preaching Convention in Barkley West which is nearKimberley. While we were there, we were able to meet other missionaries that are workingin South Africa in Johannesburg and Port Shepstone. At the meetings, Fran taught twice and1also taught twice. We had a real enjoyable time meeting people that we had no t met beforeand also teaching and preaching.In November we took a 2= week trip that took us many places. We left Kraaifontein onNovember 14 and spent two days in Graaff-Reinet teaching classes and having Sunday morningservice with them. From there we went to the Transkei and held seven days of meetingsin Butterworth. Fran taught flannelgraph lessons a couple of nights and I preached eachevening. On Saturday that week, we even held outdoor services. OnSunday morning weheld an ordination for the minis ter there, Colben Mngonyama. As a result of th e weekswork, brother Mngonyama tells us that over for ty people made decisions and they are followingthem up for the church in Butterworth. It was a great week, and one that we thoroughlyenjoyed. From there we drove to Johannesburg to spend a week with Bill and Verna Weber,missionaries in Johannesburg. While learning about their work we also spoke at the KimberleyRoad church where Bob Mil ls works , a nd at the Eldorado Park church that Bill and Vernawork with. During Friday and Saturday of that week, we took a trip to Mafikeng inBophutatswana and had Thanksgiving dinner with the missionaries there. The Jim Conleyfamily and the Larry Mullins family, ii wa^ good to have an American Thanksgiving dinnerso far from home. After our trip, we arrived home exhausted on December 2.During all of this time we were sti ll teaching at Macassar and Bishop Lavis. The work atBishop Lavis is going very well. We have had some baptisms and the work is growing.During December, my mother, Flo LaCighren" came for three weeks and spent Christmaswith us. It was really nice to have someone here from home. The people at Bishop Lavisand Mfuleni were also glad to have someone come and worship with them from so far away.She brought with her some communion cups which are now in use at Bishop Lavis, and forthis we would like to thank the Berea Christian Church in Hampton Georgia. They havehelped greatly.Please pray for us as we continue to work here. Please especially pray for us as we teach,travel, and preach Jesus Chris t. We hope that you have a good end of winter and nicespringtime. May God bless you in al l that you do .

In Christ,

LAVERN & BARBARA CLARK. Forwarding AgentsPhone; (317) 689-7085

Route 1. Box 15 Bunker Hill Indiana 46914


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ylreacliti ^DnEemaooiniallMISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICAPETER AND FRAN LAUGHRENP.O. Box 165, Kraaifontein 7570, South AfricaTelephone: (Direct Dial) 011-27-21-902-0682

February 1987

p / --

Dear fr ie nd s in the Lord,We greet you from the work in South Africa, a work thatbe possible. We thank you from the bottom of our hca.ts for yhere in South Afr ica .It has been a pretty busy month for us trying to get back into the routine oft has been a pretty usy ^^.-assar have started again on Thursday nightsLnLrhas st;rted teaching a new one on Thursday afternoons '"^he sistersSte^ liLerli: cLri ^^rhirci Î't "eê on Tuesdayreî^g !lrL her -ay School .ery HLr/trlplrlJi^terLr-^: :^:-dThe weekend of January 16 , three churches and shared the teaching.a way. We both were real pleased with the results of the weekend.We have been working at a^we^'try^trget^ôrgLized to maL anotherefforfafstarti;g tirLhLl! We desperately need local leaders in the churchesanfwe fLl the bLt v,ay is to train them to work among thexr own people.is not as freely available. Everywhere we go, people ask us for materiateach the children with. Please help us if you can.Again, thanks for your help this month. Please pray for us as we labor herein this country, that more people might know know Jesus Chrxst through our work.Unti l next month. May God Bless.

Yours fo r South Africa ,

I,i (! BARBARA CLARK, Forwaiding AgentsRt. 1, Box 15, Bubker Hil l ,- ^ A6914


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fytreiiOTi ,l[n]l^er[n]ao[nialMISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICA

PETER AND FRAN LAUGHREMc' Cp'iC; icr ljic


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y&eacS^inite(rini(io[ri)^ "PiT/" tA^. O^ Trjc-V^ TcysL-Tf ::^v*/vv^.-w.-^'A^, i'k.^ o4-fe^fr w-


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yEreacSiotemattooiialMISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICAPETER AND FRAN LAUGHRENP.O. Box 165, Kraaifontein 7570, South Africa

Telephone: (Direct Dial) 011-27-21-902-0682Dear Fai thfu l Supporters,

551 f i l

September, 1987

First of all , I greet you in the name that is above a l l names, JesusChrist. I hope that you are doing well where you are.Secondly, thank-you so much for your support of the work here in SouthAfrica th is month. Without you helping us there, we could never be here helping the people. You will never know how much we really appreciate your support. We count i t a privelage to be here for our Lord and you.As I am writing and typing this let ter on August 25, Fran is on the buswith Pat Zimmerman coming from Kimberley. They went there for the weekendto be with Fran's brother Jonathan to plan the children 's sessions for th isyear's conference in Graaff-Reinet . While they were there, Fran taught theyouth group on Friday night, another group on Saturday evening, gave a flannel-graph lesson during church Sunday morning and taught Sunday School in theafternoon. Pat also taught dur ing Sunday. So they had a very busy and pro

duc t i v e weekend .Last weekend, August 14-18, Steve and I made a trip to Butterworth,

Transkei. We took Martin Khota with us [he i s a long time worker with A1Zimmerman] from Knysna. While there on the weekend, there were 12^ baptisms.Many of these were people who wanted to become Christians as a result of theevangelistic meetings that Steve held in that area back in May. The baptismstook place in Tafalofefe (say that word real quick) and we all walked overa mile to the pond ('pond' is a generous word for the watering-hole) to witnessthe new bir ths . I t was real ly a wonderful weekend.

Bill and Verna Weber and family from Johannesburg were here for weekendat the f i r s t of the month. Bi l l , Steve and I ta lked about Leadership Trainingcourses that we are going to s tar t to more fully equip th e local leaders.A re s iden t ia l school does not seem to f i t the b i l l a t t h i s poin t in t ime.Please pray for us in th i s endeavor. I t was very good to have othermiss ionar ies come to Cape Town for a v is i t .

On August A, we purchased a new Sharp copier for the work. We got agood price on i t and it has a lo t of features on i t tha t cos t ex tra on othermodels that we looked a t . I t reduces and enlarges and makes perfec t copiesf i r s t time, every time. Thank-you for your support in helping us get th ismuch needed piece of equipment.

Steve and I are making a quick trip to Graaff-Reinet this weekend [August

LAV^ERN & BARBARA CLARK, Forwarding AgentsPhone: (317) 689-7085



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5 5 1 v - i

29 & 30] to make f inal preparations for conference. Conference i s alwaysan important time for a l l of the churches to get together and everyone looksforward to the times of preaching and teaching. Please be e sp ec ia ll y i n prayerfor that time. Conference s ta r t s September 30 and ends Octobe r 4. Your prayers are rea l ly apprecia ted .

Again, thank-you so much for your support. May God bless you and keepyou safe t h i s month.Yours for South Africa ,

/Pe t e and F r an

P.S. My "Supporters Letters" tend to be *just th e facts* while the ones thatFran write give you a more expanded view. I hope that you enjoy them as muchas I do. Next month i s her turn again to share a more personal s ide of thework .

vCvjnv)vrY>i\vAri-,)

^ (S'v\r^

/"v.(yv~4. a ^ /-Jv-isv-e. V'/v-/"^. C

J


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MISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICAPETER AND FRAN LAUGHRENP.O. Box 165, Kraaifontein 7570, South AfricaTelephone; (Direct Dial) 011-27-21-902-0682

551 'til

October 1987

Dear Friends,Greetings in the name of our Lord. Our hope and prayer is that you are well, happy and busyserving our Lord. Pete and I are well, happy and very busy with the work here in South Africa.The weather has been crazy. One day it is sunny and hot, th e next is wet and cold. Needle ssto say, we have been fighting colds. Summer will be here soon, though. We have alreadyhad some of our flowers bloom and are they ever pretty. Can't wait till the others are blooming.August 29 & 30 , Pete and Steve Zimmerman took a t rip to Graaff -Reinet . Plans fo r the conferenceare going real well. The folks there have all the arrangements taken care of . I think it willbe a success, Lord willing. Right now we are getting ourselves ready for the conference.The preparations are wearing us out before we even get there. But, we are looking forwardto the week of teaching, learning and fellowship. We do appreciate your prayers.For the month of August, one of us was gone every weekend. We were almost on the go toomuch. This month (September) we have stayed around here so we would have more timeto get our lessons ready for the conference. Our regular weekly classes kept us busy enough.Now here it is, the end of September, already. How time flies when you are busy and havinga good t ime.Every once in awhile we get invited to a family's home for a meal and fellowship. Last Sunday,Sept. 2nth, we had such an oppurtunity . David and Audrey Jantjies (a coloured family) askedus to spend the day with them in their home. We really had a grand time! They fed us a bigluneh and wg had the whok afternoon to visit before lhy fed us again and went home. Whilewe were there they found out about contact lenses, it is a shame the way we take thingsfor granted. I had to pop out one of my lenses before they couldbelieve 1had a piece of glassin my eyes to help me see better. They could not understand how the contact lenses did nothurt me. I wish you could have seen their faces - "Oh sister!!"As I am typing this letter (by the way it is Sept. 23rd) Pete is in the office making a bunchol copies for the conference next week. Today, we went into Cape Town and paid for ourcopier. Thanks to you and God, all of our new office equipment is now paid in full. That isa good feeling.I a lmost forgot to tell you about my trip to Kimerley. Pat Zimmerman and I took the bus

LAVERN & BARBARA CLARK, Forwarding AgentsPhone: (317) 689-7085

Route 1. Box 15 Bunke r Hill Indiana 46914


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on September 20th, arriving in Kimberley on the 21st. It was along 12 hour ride. The bus 551 jfMwas a real nice luxury bus. We saw two videos, were served drinks with cheese and crackers,and were given a blanket and pillow. It was l ike flying. When we arrived to the hotel inKimberley i t was to find out that the city was in the middle of a black ou t. There was noelectricity in the whole area, therefore no running water, no lights , etc. We had to waitthree hours before we were assigned a room. We had just put our things down in th e roomwhen the por ter said they have us in the wrong room. So , we thought, no problem. We werejust putting our things down when they said this room was also wrong. We moved a third time.Now this was rediculous. We were affraid to put our things down this time. But, much toour delight, they let us stay until two nights later. The third room had a door that would stick.Every time we wanted in or out we had to either give the door a body slam or put a foot onthe wall and pull. Two nights later, the key broke in the door and we were moved to a fourthroom. We were then above the k it chen and heard some sort of a lift all night. One nightin trying to drown ou t the sound of the lift I turned on the radio and there were terrible screamsand shooting. I turned on the simulcasting of the late night horror film. The next morningI turned on the radio to hear th e looney toons. Man! By then I felt like a looney. Beside allof the crazy experiences with the hotel , we had an enjoyable stay in Kimberley. We werewith my brother, Jonathan and the people he is working with. On Friday evening, I taughtthe youth group. Saturday the three of us had a meeting to discuss the children's programduring the conference. That same evening we went to a farm and all three of us were askedto do some teaching. On Sunday I taught twice and Pat taught once. Then on Monday eveningbefore going home, we were invited to a prayer meeting. We kept busy, but we had fun. Itwas Pat 's f irst t ime to Kimberely, so Jon and I took her to see "the big hole". It is a hugediamond mine that has been closed up fo r a long time due to flooding and falling rocks. Theyhave made it into a museum/park. That was nice. We got back on the 25th. Pete had stayedup al l night so he could go to bed with me when I got home. I thought that was pretty neat!He got a lo t of work done that night, in fact he typed the last supporter's letter at 2:00 a.m.on the 25th. He said he fell asleep once in the chair. Woke up with his face on the desk.Bless his heart. We were bo th ready for a good sleep after being up al l night. Aint he sweet!Well that is about it fo r thi s letter. We will have a lot to te ll you regarding the conference,next month. Thank you for your continued support financially, prayerfully, emotionally andphysically. We pray that God will bless you for your kindness. It is hard to believe we havebeen here for over two years now. Before we know it , it will be furlough time. Take carean d k ee p in touch.^ove and prayers,

\ C- VV \

Pe t e a nd Fr an Ov_ v

-/i-v , 5l) ;II Ou Ml i


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yteacSiolEe(rin)ao[nialMISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICAPETER AND FRAN LAUGHREN

P.O. Box 165, Kraaifonteln 7570, South AfricaTelephone: (Direct Dial) 011-27-21-902-0682

H ello F olk s!

551 !

November, 1987

We pray that this let ter finds you all well, happy and busy serving our Lord.Pete and I are happy and busy. Lately we have not been very well. Since ourconference in Graaff-Reinet, I have been sick, and Pete ha s f e l t bad off and on.Pete had the touch of the flu and I had a bad chest and eye infect ion. We bothwere coughing like crazy, had sore throats and just fe l t bad. We are almost well,again. I t was nothing serious, just run down and t ired.Our annual conference in Graaff-Reinet was wond'erful!! There was a great crowdof around 320 or more. They came from all over the place. Some travelled by smalltrucks, cars, buses and vans. They would put as many as possible in each vehicle.Cramped space did not keep them away. Those who wanted to come bad enough putup with i t . Everyone seemed pleased with the way conference went. A few madethe comment tha t i t was the best ever. So far , i t has been g ettin g b ette r everyyear, in my opinion. So that is good. The teachers this year were: Steve andPat Zimmerman, Jonathan Hamilton, Pete and myself. Several of the African mengot an oppurtunity to preach during the main sessions. This year, we were ableto have more a va ila ble f or th e ch ild re n in classes and recreat ion which was a bigsuccess. We were also able to have classes for the teenagers. Jon and I taughtthem about morality and then we had a combined question and comment t ime. I t wentover real well. The kids suggested that we do that every year. We are willingto do anything to help them be a Christian in this world of sin. All in all i twas good. The weather was good too. We just had a b it of rain the f i r s t evening,bu t that was al l . During the service that even ing, Jona than was preaching andgoing strong when there was complete blackout. We found out later that someonehad run into a l ight pole down the road. The l ights were out for about 20 minutes.Jon kept on with his sermon. He was preaching by candlelight, could not see hisnotes or his bible, but knew what he wanted to say. I t was fun. I already mentioned th is in ou r quarterly newsletter , bu t I thought I 'd te l l i t again. Thiswas the f i r s t conference for the Zimmerman boys. Kent [16], Kyle [7] and Kelly[5 ] really got to experience quite a lo t for the f i rs t time. One of those experiences was being able to watch the men ki l l the goat for o ur m ea ls. Kent was concerned for his l i t t l e brothers getting sick or upset. I t turned out to be theother way around. Kent could not watch while the l i t t l e boys were fascinated.In fact , when the men were opening the goat, Kyle said, "Look Dad! There's meatin there!" I wish I could have been there, but Pete was and got a good chucklefrom i t . Thank you for your prayers about conference. God did take good careof us and the conference. I t was well organized and problem free. Everyone workedhard and did their part the best way they could. So now we can star t thinkingabout next year ' s conference. The location is not cer ta in , but we will know soonenough.

LAVERN & BARBARA CLARK. Forwarding AgentsPhone: (317) 689-7085



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551 - i iP*lFrom October 23 to 25, we attended another conference in Barkly-West, which isnear Kimberley. We just got back on Monday the 26th. It was a very hot driveup, but not so bad coming home. It is about an eleven hour drive one way, andwe had no problems [praise the Lord]. The conference was grand. We were ableto be with the people, which by the way were more than last year. We were alsoable to be with most of the missionaries from South Africa. Most of us taught,but some were there for the fellowship, which is also important. The missionariespresent were Jim and Ginger Conley and Larry Mull ins from Bophuthatswana, Bob andPhyllis Mills, Bill and Verna Weber, and Stuart Cook from Johannesburg, JonathanHamilton from Kimberley, Lynn and Lucille Stanley, Micheal and Caryl Stanley andFloyd Stamm all from the Durban area, John Nichols (Phyllis Mill's brother) fromAmerica, and Steve and Pat Zimmerman and ourselves from Cape Town. Most of themissionaries brought their children and some of the people that they have beenworking with. I t was really a great time. Pete taught a lesson for the men onmarriage and i t was well recieved. I was asked to do Bible stories with my flan-nelgraph three different times (during esch main session) and the people seemedto enjoy i t as much as I did. Two of our coloured brothers were ordained intothe ministry on Sunday. They had been taking training and schooling under BillWeber. That was a joy to see.One of the colored brothers in Kimberley [David Jossie] gave us a beautiful 31day mechanical clock while we were there. I t looks and works like a miniaturegrandfather clock. He wanted to show us in some way how much he and his wife,Ann, loved us . They knew that Pete loves clocks so they gave us this one whichwas dear to them. Now it is even more dea r to us .On November 6, we will be leaving again for the Kimberley area. We will be inHolpan for a weekend of meetings. Then later in November we have a t r ip toUpington to make. So as you can te l l , we are very busy, but enjoying i t . InDecember we will have the Larry Mull in s family coming here for a two week res t .They have not had a vacation fo r two years. We look forward to their coming.Also in December we will have Pete's mom, s is ter and brother-in-law and Jon comingfor Christmas. That means there will be some great fun a t Christmas.Well I guess- I had better go. Until our next letter , may God bless you as youlive for Him. Thank-you for your prayers and support. You are also in our thoughtand prayers. Have a nice Thanksgiving.

Love in Chr is t ,X

, . I ^ Pete and FranUJe ^

T'e CC' ^ .


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oEreactimilteiroaEtooalMISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICAPETER AND FRAN LAUGHRENP .O . Box 165, Kraaifontein 7570, South Africa

Telephone: (Direct Dial) 011-27-21-902-0682 Decembe r 1987

Dear Fellow-laborer ,We greet you in the precious name of Jesus Christ. It is summertime herein South Africa, and you would not believe the beauty of the flowers this year!

We are well , as we hope tha t you are .November was busy as usual. On November 6-9, Fran, Steve and I made a tr ipto Holpan, which is a small farming community near Kimberley. We were there forthe dis t r ic t conference for the churches of the northern Cape province. We reallyhad a good time. We also took Jonathan Hamilton with us from Kimberley. Steveand Fran taught the people there. As Kimberley is not the coolest place in theworld, i t was really hot out on the farm. There were people from Upington,Douglas, Barkly-West, Hopetown, and others in attendance. It was really a goodweekend to be with the people. One interesting note was that on th e way back,we started having car trouble 100 miles from Beaufort-West, which is the midpointof the trip to Cape Town. We hoped that we would make i t there, and we did. Thecar quit on us as we were rolling into the town and had enough rolling power togo into the service station that we always stop at. Some people might call thatcoincidence, but we prefer to call i t the Lord taking care of us. What do you

t h ink?

Steve and I have made plans for our education program next year. Please prayfor us in this. Feeling that a residential school would not adequately meet theneeds of the people, we are starting an extension program where courses will beoffered on short time basis in different churches. This way the leaders of thelocal churches can get some education and not have to leave their job or familyfor long periods of time. We hope to have three of them in 1988, with the f irstone being in Kimberley. We are also continuing to do correspondence lessons.At present, we have about 20 students taking lessons in various stages of progress.Other plans that we have are of selling the Polo Road building, having one or twoVBS's and also a training program for women teachers. Fran will be heading thatup. Please pray for us in all of these things, as we will be having a busy year.Fran's class with the women at Bishop Lavis is going real good as is mineon Revelation a t Macassar. After a year of meeting in member's houses in BishopLavis, we are in th e process of obta in ing the use of a local hall for meetings.

We are a l l excited about that . I t will give more room for Sunday School andc l a s s e s .

We thank-you for your support this year. We could not be here without you.Thank-you very much for t he oppur tuni ty to be here. We hope that you have a greatChristmas and a happy 1988. May God bless.

Lave,LAVERN &BARBARA CLARK, Forwardi^^gw

laughren peter fran 1987 safrica

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