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by: Becky Morecraft

February 28, 1990
I spent a restless night trying to
find a comfortable position to ease
the pain in my shoulder and neck.
I guess the long trip is fmally
catching up with me. Four extra-
strength excedrin later it isn't .
much better. Today, I'm
exhausted and still in a lot of pain.
All the precious "mothers" who
look after me here insist that I go
to a chiropractor. There's one in
Petermaritzberg, one and one-half
hours away, and at this point, Til
try anything.
Well, I'm 30 rand lighter in the
wallet and a bit better, but the ride
with Rev. Erlo Stegan's niece,
Margaret Olsen, was worth the
trip. What a delightful young
woman she is. I learned a lot
about the .Stegan family: there are
five brothers and one sister, all .
living in the Natal province. All
of them are either farmers or
were farmers (raising mostly
sugar cane). Their forebears
came here three generations ago
and have pretty much stayed in a
German community in the Natal
area. "Uncle" Erlo, I learned to
my surprise, has only been
married since he was 37! He and
Kay have six girls, ranging in
age from fourteen to
Trevor Dahl, Kay's brother who
is also a pastor here at
K wasizabantu, is married to
Naomi, who looks young
enough to be a sister to their teen-
aged daughter. Such sweet faces
and dear people. It's a beautiful
and fascinating family. Mother,
you need to come here and write
about them for your column in
the paper. Margaret and I talked
about many weighty matters on
our ride. together; future of
South Africa, the joys and trials
of children, what it's like
growing up in a minister's home.
I know if I lived here Margaret
and I would be great friends. She
would help me keep my focus .
and Jfd probably add a little "zip"
to her life!
Thank you, Lord, for arranging
this special time to get to know
Page 4 June 1990 The Counsel of Chalcedon
one of your special children.
While I was gone to the doctor,
Joe was speaking again at the
morning session at the mission
station. The pebple here really
respect him. It's good to see that
Too often for him the scripture is
true that " ... a prophet receives
no honor in his own country."
His sermon last night was so
powerful. It was .based on the
text: "0, Lord,
rend the Heavens and come
down ... that the nations may
tremble at thy presence." (lsa.
64:1-3.) His interpreter is a
young Zulu pastor named Fano,
who has a radiant face, and so in
love with Jesus. He and his
pretty wife also sang in the
Zwasizabantu Choir which sings
acappella in English, Afrikaans,
German, Zulu and French. They
did several selections from
"Messiah" that made the hair
stand up on the back of my neck -
to think of these people, many
saved from witchcraft and
terrorism now singing praises to
God is thrilling beyond
description.
Thursday, March 1.
We tearfully left Zwasizabantu
after morning tea today. I told
Trevor Dahl that each time I'm
here, I le;l.,ve a little more of my
heart behind and that someday all
of me will have to stay. He said,
war should 1;Je
wtth Christian friends who live
far apart. We leave, painfully,
only bits of ourselves with each
other looking forward to the day
in Heaven when we are
completely and sinlessly together
for all eternity, no separation
required, one in Jesus forever. I
love that thought. What a great
time we will have, my dear
friend, walking over Heaven's
hillstogether, enjoying the
delights Goo has prepared
especially for us for all eternity,
made whole people at last. Won't
it be fun sharing the things we
love in a recreated earth - a
beautiful sunset in the mountains
or at the beach, the wonder of
God's creation - all creatures
great and small - wildflowers,
rushing mountain streams and
waterfalls, massive trees we can't
reach around, white sands and
sea gulls dancing over white-
capped waves at sunrise, a good
laugh, joy in reading poetry ("A
Few Lines written Above Tin tern
Abbey ... "), knowing God's
Word in Heaven (Wow, that will
be an experience), being with
Jesus together, and just being
with each other and savoring the
specialness I feel for you and you
for me- to have Christ make this
kind of friendship perfect in His
presence is a glorious thought.
Thank you, Lord, once again for
Kwasizabantu. Once again we
came to minister and were greatly
ministered unto. I always receive
more from you here than I could
ever hope to give.
Barney Mabaso is a Zulu. He has
a scar across his forehead which
I'm a little hesitant to inquire
about. When he preaches, he gets
angry about sin and
unrighteousness and compromise
with ungodliness. It gives me a
little shiver along my spine to
watch his face and think of him
as he was without Christ. His
testimony is thrilling. As a young
boy, his father called his family
together and warned them that if
any of them converted to
Christianity he would, without
hesitation, drive his spear
through their heart. The Zulu
religion is based on witchcraft
and ancestor worship. Respect
for your father is shown by
unquestioned obedience and
"body language" which is the
opposite of what we ask of our
children. For instance, when I
speak to my children I expect
them to look me straight in the
eyes, but for a Zulu child to do
this is the height of disrespect.
He may never look directly into
his father's face. I have trained
my children to stand erect and
carry themselves with dignity. A
Zulu child must crawl into the
presence of his father and back
out of the room. He may not even
use words in everyday talk that
sound like his father's or
ancestor's names, but must try to
find other words to use instead
because to use his father's name
so commonly would be "taking it
in vain"! And so, when Barney
Mabaso, as a young man, became
a Christian, it was with great fear
that he crawled into his father's
presence, averting his eyes to the
dust and saying, "Father, I have
come to ask for forgiveness. I
have disobeyed you and shown
disrespect. I have become a
Christian." He did not beg for
mercy but instead tore open his
shirt and with his head bowed,
waited for the death blow to fall.
Instead, his father wordlessly sat
and stared at him until at last,
trembling in wonder and gratitude
that God had spared his life,
Barney backed out of the hut on
his hands and knees. He
dedicated his life to preaching the
gospel from that day forward and
is a fearless and uncompromising
pastor throughout Zululand.
During the two visits we have
had at the Zwasizabantu
preaching conferences, Joe and
Barney have grown to greatly
admire each other. Even though
Barney preaches only in Zulu (his
English is flawless in private
conversation) and Joe only in
English both, of course, using
interpreters, there is a great
similarity in their preaching
syles. It is genuinely thrilling to
listen to this man preach.
We drove through Tugela Frry,
one of the roughest areas of
Zululand, to reach Barney's
home where we enjoyed
afternoon tea served to us by the
only white teacher there. She
was a lovely young lady who has
been living with the Mabaso
family for two years. God has
blessed Rev. Mabaso to purchase
a lovely white frame home, large
and spacious with beautiful
gardens and furnishings (I even
saw a compact disc player in the
living room with a collection of
classical music). It sat on a hill
overlooking the town. Barney
told us that as a 14 year old boy
he was the yard-boy for the man
who lived there and felt it was a
miracle t11at God had enabled him
to own it now.
Please Lord, continue to bless
your faithful and courageous
minister of the Gospel. Use him
mightily in the struggles that
threaten his land, to bring real
solutions through the applied
principles of your word. Surely,
Barney Mabaso is a token and
example of your grace and
promise that " .. all the ends of
the earth will remember and turn
to the Lord, and all the families of
the nations will worship before
Thee." Barney Mabaso, a trophy
of God's grace, my brother in
Christ, a symbol of the expansion
of God's far-reaching grace even
from Blood River to reach those
who were formerly His enemies.
May your kingdom come and
keep coming, 0 Lord!
What an experience to go from a
Zulu home to Blood River!
Saakie du Plooy, a pastor who
drove us around quite a lot during
our last trip, offered to take us by
car on the six hour drive from
Kwasizabantu back to Pretoria so
that we could visit the Blood
River monument. There was a
tremendous battle fought there on
December 16, 1838, between the
Voortrekkers and the Zulus. The
Voortrekkers had around 450
men, women, children and
servants while there were over
10,000 fierce Zulu warriors intent
on slaughtering them. The
Voortrekkers, who were devout,
reformed Christians, prayed and
The Counsel of Chalcedon June 1990 Page 5
asked God for courage and
victory. Impossible odds? Not
when the Lord is on your side for
the cause of righteousness. The
V oortrekkers circled their wagons
and commenced firing on the
Zulu warriors. When the dust
settled, only two V oortrekkers
had been wounded and over
6,000 Zulus had died. God was
with His people. Every year on
the date of this battle, called "The
Day of the Covenant" the
decendents of this godly group of
settlers celebrate and give thanks
to God for their courage and
faith. It was a moving experience
to stand and walk in the very
:place this battle occurred and
Imagine the terror that must have
been in the hearts of this small
band of Christians faced with
such a fierce foe.
God, give your people all over
the world the courage to face the
foe knowing that if God is on
your side, victory is assured, no
matter how strong the opposition.
After a picture-taking session of
the bronze replicas of the wagons
that were there and of the battle
site from different angles, we
paused to give thanks for these
great examples of godly courage
and ate a wonderful lunch
prepared by the "mothers" at
K wasizabantu for us. There were
dainty little sandwiches on
wonderful home-made bread with
honey produced by their own
bees, (it's flavored with
hazelnuts), delicious German
sausages and cheese, home-
grown plums and grapes and
especially for Joe , tied in a
bundle with a pink ribbon, was
his dessert - "kooksisters", a
sweet delicate pastry similar to a
crueller that he dearly loves!
(This personal diary from
Becky Moorecraft will
conclude next month.)
EDITOR'S CORRECI'ION -
In last month's Diary we
omitted part of a sentence
in the first paragraph. It
Emmett Kelly was one of the
most famous clowns in history.
My sister painted a picture of him
in his famous clown make-up
and I have it with me here today.
The striking thing about this
picture is the sadness in Mr.
Kelly's face. We are captivated
by the contrast. Clowns are
supposed to be funny. They
dress up in ludicrous clothing
and make-up and we are able to
laugh. But Emmett Kelly's
trademark is this woebegone
look, this exquisite sadness in a
funny costime. And so we
laugh, and yet he strikes a chord
in our souls, a chord of
mournfulness. You can be
laughing on the outside and
crying on the inside.
Emmett Kelly died some years
ago. His son took over his
clown personality. I don't know
if the son is still living or not, but
the picture of Emmett the Clown
will never die. It registers
something so true to life. Clowns
can put on a happy face, like
Bozo the Clown, but you and I
Personal Diary ..
should have read: The deep
blue sea crashing in on white
sand beaches or craggy shoreline,
and jung up out of nowhere is
Table-Mountain. It rises like a
towering monarch proudly
keeping watch over his bride, the
city of Capetown nestled below at
his feet.
Page 6 June 1990 The Counsel of Chalcedon
know that even Bozo the Clown
must have times when he doesn't
feel like laughing.
The Beatitudes mark off the
Christian from the non-Christian
precisely because they contradict
the philosophy of the world. The
one thing the world tries to avoid
is mourning. Like "Blessed are
the poor in spirit," "Blessed are
those who mourn," seems
absolutely ridiculous to the
unregenerate mail. The world
advises us to" .. forget your
troubles! Be happy! Put on a
happy face! Pack up your
troubles in your old kit bag and
smile, smile, smile!" How can I
be happy if I am mourning? The
world would say, "Happy are the
rich and full; Happy are those
who delight themselves in
laughter." It seems to be a
contradiction in terms to say,
"Blessed (Happy) are those that
mourn."
I. THE CHRISTIAN
KNOWS HIMSELF
1. The Lord does not mean by
this statement that a person is
blessed who has lost a loved one
and is now mourning their loss.
This is not a sorrow brought
about by the death of someone,
this is a sorrow that is brought
about by the convicting work of
the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught that
the ministry of the Holy Spirit
was to convict the world
concerning sin, and
righteousness, and judgment (Jn.