Laughren Peter Fran 1997 SAfrica

7/27/2019 Laughren Peter Fran 1997 SAfrica

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The Laughrens,Pete, Fran & Denzil

ByEea r g e ! We've Moved ! 1Asmanyofyouknow, our planswere to movefrom

Cape Town upon our arrival back to South Africa andthat iswhat we have done. We n ow live in the townofGeorge,whichislocatedalongthe Indian Ocean400kiIometers(275miles)fromCapeTown. Therefore,ournew address is:

Peter & Fran LaughrenP.O. Box 10421George, 6530South Africa

Phone: 011-27-441-871-0014e-mail: [email protected]'ll talk more about the move later in this news

letter.

The End o f Fu r lough Ju lyt h r o u g h Oc tob e r ' 9E

This newsletter will cover two newsletters'worth oftime; thelastmonthsofourfurlough aswell asthetripto and the settling inof SouthAfrica. Furlough for usisalways an enjoyable time. We travel a lot, see a lotof different people and generallywear ourselvesout.This secondfurlough was nodifferent. Ifyourememberour lastnewsletter,wewere juststartingourcampseason and summer of traveling. In June we did acoupleofVacationBible Schoolsand July saw usintwoweeksofcampatWoodlandChristian CampinTemple,Georgia. Wedid a Juniorweekwith Rex Wisely and aSenior week with MikeWall. We always enjoy the

GEORGE, SOUTH AFRICA

Vol. 7, Nos. 2 & 3 Fall '96, Winter '97

camps aswe are abletomeetkidsand encouragethemfor missions. It was a busy two weeks, but veryenjoyable. Thanksmust go to JoeyWestbrookforthefine camp that he administers.

Wehadto leavethe secondweekofcampa dayearlyaswehad to travel toCorning,NewYork tospeakon July15.Wedrovetwodaystobethere, butincorporatedthatrip intoour longertripthatweweremaking toCanada.Rick and Betsy Raines work with the church there inCorning. We spoke for the Sunday Schooland churchhoursand inthe eveninghad a part intheir openingoVacation Bible School. Theyhad us as the missionaryguests for the week eventhoughwecouldnot bethereaswe continuedourtravelstoCanada.We really enjoyedourtimewith theTwinTierschurch and thankthem verymuchfortheirVBSoffering.

WetraveledfromtheretoDeer Island,NewBrunswickCanada. It took us three days from New York as westopped inMainealongthe way.Wewent there tovisifriendswhomwe had made when they cameto SouthAfrica toworkwithfellow missionary, Steve ZimmermaninMarchof 1993. Wepromisedthem then that, ifat alpossible,wewouldvisitthemonourfurlough. Wewerealsoabieto speakabouttheworkhere inSouthAfrica andupdate themonthe thingsthat theyhad seenand heardwhiletheywerehereacoupleofyearsago. Itwasgreato see these ten peopleagainand renewthe friendshipsthatwe hadmade in1993. Thanksmust gotoReid andJulie Brownfortheirfinehospitalitywhilewewere there.We lookfonA/ard to comingand visiting againsometime

LeavingDeer Island,we took two days to drive toNonway Bay, Quebecforthe Laughrenfamily reunionWe stayed with mymother's brother, Boyd Brownleewhile we wen t back and forth to the reunion o n th e


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weekend. Wesawmany peoplewhomweonlyseeonceevery five years andwehadagreat time. Leaving there,we spent four nightswithmycousin, Denzil Palmer, inMontreal,Quebecand thenthree nightswithDick andWilma Maclean inManotick,Ontario. From there wewent back toNonway Bayto finish visiting relatives beforemovingon towardswesternOntario.

Leaving Norway Bay,wedrovethroughAlgonquinPark and, muchto Fran's dismay, saw noanimals. Wearrived andspent two nightsinBarrie,OntariowithKenandMae MacPhatter. WehadagoodvisitwiththemaswetouredTorontoandsawsightsthatwe hadneverseenbefore. After leaving thereonSaturday morning, westoppedinScarborough andhadaspecial breakfast timewith myUncleMarshall Laughren andAunt Lois Sparlingandtheirfamilles. We leftthere, visited withsome SouthAfricanfriends,theRowlandsinMississauga, OntarioandthenheadedtoSarnia.Ontarioforthenight. WedrovetoMichigan thenextdayandstopped ata mission organization called InternationalAidto buy supplies to bring backtoSouthAfrica. Wewould recommend anybodywho isgoing overseas tovisit thisorganization forsupplies tobeu se d o v e r s e a s .

Beforewewoundupback inGeorgia onthe25thofAugust, we spent a coupleof nightsin Indiana visitingD a vi da nd Linda Gilesand Adrian a n d He a the r B lowa ndaweekvisiting Fran's folks in Missouri. All in all, thetripcovered 7,000miles, 13statesand 6weeks. Getting backtoGeorgia felt likethe beginning offurlough again;wehadbeengonesolong.

SeptemberandOctoberwerespentingettingreadyto returntothe field InSouthAfrica. People askuswhatisthemostdifficultthing{personally)ofbeing overseas.Along with gettingusedto a cross


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been sold inCapeTownandwrap upa lotoflooseendsbeforeourmoveto George. Wearesoverythankfulfortheir hospitality and generositywhilewe were inCapeTown.

Thesecond week that we were inCapeTown,wemoved allofourbelongingsoutofthegarageofourhousethatweusedforstorageandhadthemputinotherstoragereadyforthe movetoGeorge(whenwe securea house).Whenourcontainerarrived inCapeTown onDecember20, we alsohad itsbelongings put instorage with ourSouthAfrican belongings. Wewereableto removeafewthingsfromItthatwe could usenow,whileweare rentingahouseinGeorge. Special thanksmustgotoJimmy andHelenCameronofHampton,Georgia, Ed andJanePhillipsofSeneca, SouthCarolinaand Leonardand Evelyn MinesofHampton, Georgia,forthe furniture thattheygave usto put inthe container thatwewere ableto giveto peoplehere. Theyareallreallybeingputtogood use. Thankssomuchforthose things!!

Duringthis time inCape Townwe also informed thelocal churchesandleadersintheareaaboutourimpendingmoveto the town ofGeorge. Word had alreadygottenouttoseveralpeopleandtosomeitwasnota surprise. Wespoke at the Macassar and Mfuleni churches whilewewere there. Macassar had a special sen/icefor us onDecember1and a dinnerafterwardsandofficially saidgood-byeto us.We really misstheCapeTownpeopleandthey holda special place inour hearts.While we were in Cape Town for the month ofNovember,wewereableto buyanewcarforthework.

Like father, like son.

WeboughtaMazda 323 in 1985,drove itfor10years,pu301,000kilometers onitandsolditbeforeourfurlough fothe same price that we bought it for. Through thgeneroushelpoftheHighland MeadowsChristian ChurcinColleyville,Texasandthe Longview Christian Church iLongview, Texas, we were able to buya MazdaEtud(which isalittlebiggerthanthe323)thatwillsuittheworperfectly. Thankyoutobothmission committeesforyougenerous help. Ithas already come inveryhandyandusefulforthework.

Theofficial moving dateforourselvestoGeorgewaDecembers. Whenwefirstarrived inSouthAfrica, FrawashomesickfortheU.S. Whenwe arrived inGeorge,washomesickforCapeTown. Withallofour belonginginstorage,wewereableto rentafurnished househereiGeorgethatsuited ourneeds perfectly. Thechurchherhaswelcomeduswithopenarmsand hada reception fousonDecembers.Wefeelverywelcomehere. Thepeoplheresaythattheyhavebeen prayingforsomeonetocomand helpthem for a longtime. Wearegladtobeabletobeananswertothatprayer. Everything hassettledinwelAsyouhaveseen bythe firstofthisnewsletter,we hava new address, phonenumberand e-mail address. Pleasfeelfreetocontactusbyanyofthesemeans. Wefeellikthat, inmoving toGeorge,we havemadethe rightmovand the Lord will bless our efforts here in the area oleadershiptraining.

Beforethe end ofDecember,we madethetripbactoCapeTowntosettlethecontainerandspendChristma

With thehelp of the SteveStewart family,Denzilpresentethis car to his South African friends.


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withfriends. Whenwe arrivedbackinGeorge the dayafterChristmas, itfelt like home. Weare gladto behereserving the Lord where we feelthat Hehas calledus.To fully settle in here, we are looking for a suitablehouse, but this process will take longer than justmoving. Pleasebe inprayerfor usabout the housingsituation, as we want to secure something that issuitableto allfacets of theworkhere. Thanksfor yourprayers overthe lastsixmonthswhilewewerefinishingfuHough and getting re-situated backon the field.WhereDaWe G o FramHere?

Moving to a new place and getting involved inanew situation involves a certain amount of changes.We felt that it was a good time for us to leave CapeTown and theworkthere fo r several reasons. We hadbeen there 10 years working with a lot of the samepeopleand ifwehavenotmadean impactinten years,then anotherten yearswould not accomplishourtaskeither. There are threeotherfamiliesworking inCapeTown (theKennedys, Zimmermansand Butlers) and ifthe churches that we worked with need help, thenthose families are there .

Meanwhile, the churches in and around Georgehaveneverhad anybody living amongst them todo theworkon a permanent basis. While we naturallywill beinvolved inweekly Bible studies, Sunday schools and

Packing our South African belongings for the move toGeorge.

I youth groups, ourgoaland focus hereIs still leadershiptraining. There aretw o churches inGeorge and

A churches in th e sur-rounding townssuch as Knysna,

Mossel Bay, andOudsthoorn. When wetraveltotaketheWH I I classesofCapeBible

Seminaryto furtherI out areas, we areTheministeratGeorge,Andrew actually at leastone

CaWert. and his son, Andrew.areas inSouth Africa. This will help us greatly inourtraveling. Westill feelthat the bestwayforevangelization is through leadership training andwe feel thatby living here inGeorge,wewill bemore effective inouwork.George is a nice townon the south coast located5 miles from the Indian Ocean. During the summeseasonitbecomesquitethe touristresort,butthe resoftheyearitisarelativelyquiettown. Whileitisagoodplace to work from, it is also a good place to raiseDenzil. Wefeel quitehappywiththemoveandfee! liketheworkthatwedowill bemore productivestaying inthis place. Please prayforusaswearegettingadjustedto new surroundings and new challenges that laybefore us .

The church in George had a reception for us upon ouarrival.


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Deliveringfurniture ou t of container.

Baptism at river at George.

Members of the church in George.

Well, it's happened once again! Ourfurloughhcomeandgone. Weenjoyourfurlough so muchthno matter how longit is, itgoes bytoo fast.This pastfurloughkeptusonthe roada lot,butw

feltmoreorganizedwiththe schedule. Denzil travelewell anddidn't seemto mind newplaces and peoplHe got to know his relatives in spite of the hectschedule that we kept. Denzil even did well at thcamps and VBSs. We praise God for the safe traveand a good vehiclethat never broke down.

Thethingthat wewill neverforget ismyillness. Bwe saw God's handiwork in that situation as well, anwe'regladthat itis all behind usnow. Iam feeling gre-"Thankyou, God!"It was a bit crazy when we were packing ueverything to sendoverseas bycontainer. But itgodonewitha ]ot of help. To all of you who helpedvariousways,we saythank you. Thecontainer arriveIn CapeTown afewdays beforeChristmas. Everythinwas in perfect condition, and now its contents sitstorage until we buy a house inGeorge.

Ourtripto SouthAfrica went realwell.WestoppeoverinZurich, Switzerland for a coupleofdays. Moofthe timewasspent in sleeping time. Poor littleDenzwasvery confused timewise, butwe all adjusted verwell. Zurich is a lovely place, but we did findexpensive.

We stayed inCape Town several weeks with thKeith Clarkfamily. Keith, Christine andtheirdaughtersHolly and Robyn, werevery gracious hosts. We realappreciate them for sacrificing In manywaysto makusfeelcomfortableand cared for. They havealway

Fran and Denzilby the Indian Ocean in George.


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Hi (H^tpe 'dltme^tSEORGE, SOUTHAFRIC

The Laughrens ,Pete, F ran & Denzil

T he L as t S ix M on th s : a l o ok b a c kAs you know,we moved to the town ofGeorge in

December 1996 and have been doingourworkfromhere. The last six months have been spent gettingused toour new townand people, dealing withDenzil'sillnessandevenatriptothe UnitedStates. Wheredowe begin?

First ofall,we are real pleasedwith how wellthemove to George has worked out. When we firstcontemplated moving from Cape Town, we wereapprehensive. Butthrough manythings, the Lordhasshown us that this is where we are supposed to be.Thechurch here ismade upofwonderful peoplewholove the Lord and they are a joy to work with. We areinvolved in the weekly services, Bible studies andSundayschools and havedeveloped a close relationship with the people here. The minister, AndrewCalvert, is a joy to work with and has done his workhere under difficult circumstances for many years.The membe rs are faithful and even on the coldest orhottestdayscome to the services to learn about theirLord. George isagood place totravel fromandweareavailableto go tomost areas thatwe teach ininSouthAfrica within several hours. That has been a big helpto ourwork. Thank you for praying about ourmove toGeorge aswe feel that this iswherethe Lordwants us.Things areworking outwell.

Among the regularthings thatwewere involved insinceJanuary, therewere afew different events thatmight interest you. On the day before a trip to GapeTown in February, Denzil began complaining aboutstomach pains andwas running afever. We took himto the doctor here inGeorge and the doctor said that

Vol. 7, No.4; 8, No.1

he just had "toddlercolic" and gave him some medicine and sent himhome. WewenttoGapeTown thenext day and he complained more that night whichmade us take himtothe emergency room. Thedoctorthere said itwas tonsillitis and he , too, sent him homewithmore medicine. Two days and two moretrips tothe emergency room prompted the emergency roompeople to call in a pediatrician who took x-rays anddiscovered the problemwhich was a kink inhis largeintestine that required surgery. Two hours later, thesurgeon operated on Denzil, "unkinked" the kink,rerouted the large intestine and Denzil has been fineever since. Itwas a scary time for us as we had noideawhatwasgoing on; but hewas a trooperthroughall of the six days in the hospital, and has recoveredvery well. The technical term forwhat he had was a"Sigmoid Vulvulus" and doctors say that it is extremely rare. Wethankthe Lord for all of His supportthrough this time and thank you for praying with usduringthattime.

On Thursday, April 17, we received a call fromFran's sister, Sonja, that Fran's brother, Jonathan,who has Cystic Fibrosis, was about to undergo thelong awaiteddouble lungtransplantinDallas, Texas.After discussing whether we should go or not andtalking to peoplewho recommended thatwe should bethere, we made the trip. We drove to CapeTown onFriday, flew out of there to Miamion Saturday, andarrived inTexas on Sunday,April 20. Talkaboutafasttrip! Jonathan came through the operationgreatand,aftertwelvedays, was outofthe hospital. Beforetheoperation, his lung capacity had gone down to 30%


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andthe doctors said that the lungs he was to receivewere "not ideal." When doctors informed him of thechances before hewent into surgery, he replied thathewas in a "win-win situation." Ifhedied, then hewasgoing to heaven and ifhedid make itthrough, then hewas going to beableto livelonger. WhatatestimonylNotonly did he make it,but he has recovered remarkablywell. He isoffofmostofthe initialmedicinesandfollows a strict routine ofanti-rejectiondrugs and willhavetocontinuethisforthe rest ofhis life. Thankyoufor all ofthe prayerson his and his wifeSheila's behalfas his recovery is nothing short of miraculous. Weserve a mighty God that answers the prayers ofrighteous people according to Hiswill.

Five weeks after his surgery, Sheila deliveredtheir firstchild. Crystal Annette, and allhas goneweHwiththat. They have had one blessing after another.

Afterwe spentfourweeks inTexas,we completedour quick U.S. trip by spending two weeks in Hampton, Georgia before returning toSouthAfricaon June3. WhileinHampton wewere pleased to speak totheSunday School at BereaChristian Church on June 1beforewe returned home two days later. We thank allofyou who helpedmake this trip possible and appreciate the chance to bewithfamilyduring a criticaltime.

Wearrived back inGeorgeon the5th ofJune aftera night in Cape Town and got ready for a trip toKimberley. After spending five nights at home, wedrove to Kimberley (500 miles north)and participatedin the Kimberley Seminar. This year's topic was"unity" and all classes were geared towards thatt heme . We had amaximum of fifteen students, downfrom 25-40 inpreviousyears; but evenwith the lowernumber,we stillhad a beneficial time together.

RolandJoseph, ministeratKimberley at theKimberleySeminar.

Franklin Hardesty, internfrom Ozark Christian College.To end themonth ofJuneirrSeorgerwe havetrad

two interns from Ozark Christian College with us.Franklinand Susan Hardesty. Theyare here inSouthAfricafortwomonths and arevisitingdifferentworks,startingwith theKimberley Seminar. Aftertheywerewith us for a week, they headed to East London forseveral days with the Gordon Nelson family beforeending their trip in Transkei, Bloemfontein andJohannesburg. Weenjoyedhavingthemhere. Theytaughtduring theweekly Biblestudy, prayermeetingand thetwoservices and Sundayschool on Sunday.ThefirstweekofJulywe ar e moving intoourown

house here inGeorgeand our belongings are arrivingfromCapeTown. The next several months promiseto be busy withCape Bible Seminary sessions, theyearly conference andweekend travel getting backinto full swing. We are looking forward to gettingmoresettled hereand being ofservice to the Lord inmanyways. "

New missionaries in Cape Town, Ron & Carolyn Butler.


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Left: Denzilan dhisfriend, Andrew Calvert,Jr .

Below: Fran & Denzil in front o f GeorgeM o u n t a i n .

We had a birthday party for Denzilon his birthday withthe Sunday School kidsfrom George. He did notknow what birthday parties were, bu t he is catching on real quick.Th e house that we have purchased will serve the needs of the work well. Itha s an apartment attached sothatwe have lots of room forcompany. Doyou want to come an d visitan d helpwitha Vacation BibleSchoolsomet ime?

Fran could still us e craft supplies an d prizes for students for Sunday Schools an d VBSs should you havean y extra an d could s end them for use here.InApril,after a visit to th e local doctor, I(Peter) found out that Iwa s diabetic. Th e doctor said that sinceitwa s in both my mother an d father's family, that itshould not be a surprise (itwasn't). Iam able to controlitwith diet and things are going well.Crime is still on th e upswing here. While we were gone forthe six weeks, the house next door was brokeninto, but ours was not. The house that we are moving intohas been broken intotwice inthe last year, sobeforewe move in, we ar e installing burglar b a rs a nd an alarm system.Since th e last newsletter, we have ha d five baptisms here in George and we ar e thankful to th e Lord forth a t.

Thanks toallwho helped uswith meals, cars, accommodation and in manyother ways duringourtrip. Wecan never say thank you enough for your kind generosity.


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Laughren Peter Fran 1997 SAfrica