August Kast And The Mount Tabor Mission Station
Profile by Dr CUTHBERT CHIDOORI
My First General Conference of the Assemblies of God
The Congress on Mission and Evangelism held in Durban
W F P Burton and some Congo Missionaries
Nicholas
Bekinkosi Hepworth Bhengu
– His Youthful Dreams
– His Preaching
- Bhengu and Education
- Bhengu and Money
- Miraculous Experiences
- Spiritual Happenings
- The Sanctifying Spirit of God
– His Departure
Bhengu’s “Isinthunzi”
- Government and Politics
– Some Faults, Virtues and the Burden
of His Heart
President Lucas Mangope of Bophuthatswana
William
Frederick Mullan
The Fairview Assembly
Fred Mullan and the Gifts of the Spirit
A Miracle and a Vision
The Revival in Norwood
James E Mullan
Paul O Lange
William Branham in Durban
Oral Roberts in South Africa
Billy
Graham in Salisbury and Durban
The American Missionaries from Springfield, Missouri
C. Austin Chawner and the Portuguese Work
August Kast and the Mount Tabor Mission Station
Colin
La Foy and the Coloured Leadership
The Work in Zimbabwe
Mauritius and Reunion Island
Special
Answers to Prayer – 1
Special
Answers to Prayer – 2
A Beautiful Square with Good Vibes
Prayer and the Hippie Revival
The Young Turks
Tensions within the Group
The Split
of 1981 – Part One
The Split
of 1981 – Part Two
The Beginnings of the Faith Movement in South Africa
The Statement of September 1989
The Charismatic Renewal
The Start of the Pentecostal Revival World Wide and The Swedish Pentecostal Assemblies
Epilogue
APPENDIX 1 : How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit
APPENDIX 2 : The National Church by Nicholas Bhengu
APPENDIX 3 : Article from the Argus 5/02/1981
APPENDIX 4 : Pointers to the future of the Assemblies of God in the New South Africa (10/06/94)
Attie Prins - a powerfull evangelist
My
good friend Colin la Foy is a keen fisherman. One of his favourite
holiday destinations is Port St Johns situated at the mouth of
the beautiful Umzimvubu River in Pondoland. At a spot called
Second Beach in Port St Johns there is a table of rock extending
into the sea. At high tide the waves crash over it with enormous
explosions. At low tide the deep water gurgles and washes about
the table. Then a fisherman may bait up and be almost certain
to catch a fine fish, a shad perhaps or maybe a salmon or a grunter.
One day Colin hoisted his rod onto his shoulder and made for this special spot
to fish. To his surprise when he arrived there, he found a strange looking apparition
in possession of his rock. It was some sort of tribesman, clad in skins and feathers
like a witchdoctor, brandishing stick and shield, attended by a young acolyte
carrying a spear. He was babbling away at a group of would-be fishermen who stood
uncertainly listening to his tirade. The gist of his theme was that these rocks
belonged to him. His ancestors had owned them. Now in the new South Africa he
intended to claim his rights. No one could fish any longer from his rocks. “None
of you can fish here!” he declared.
Colin La Foy
Colin’s heckles rose at this violent speech, but he said nothing.
He merely sat down on a convenient rock and quietly baited his hook. When
at length he advanced with his rod to cast in his bait, the freakish challenger
came towards him, thrusting his shield forward and twirling his stick about
his head menacingly. Colin’s gorge rose. He exploded. “Look
here, my friend,” he burst out, “I have spent my life with
the white man having his foot on my neck telling me what I can and cannot
do. Now that’s over; I’m not going to let you tell me what
I can do!”
The feathered figure hesitated for a second or two. Then in a gesture of
compliance he waved Colin forward onto the table of rock. Somehow he made
himself clear. “All right”, he said, “You can fish; but
not these”. He brandished his stick at the group of fishermen he
had been addressing. Colin cast in his bait with a sense of victory. He
had won a small battle by his boldness and political rhetoric.
This vignette could illustrate at least two characteristics present in
the new situation South Africans find themselves in. In the first place
the bizarre claims of the feathered tribesman might demonstrate the notion
of entitlement influencing in a greater or lesser degree many Africans
in the new dispensation. Whether well-founded or debatable, demands are
made, often on very arbitrary claims, with no regard for the rights of
others, and without their being tested in any legitimate forum. Who can
say what part such a notion plays in the spate of farm killings, crop raidings
and stock thefts which threatens the farming industry in some districts?
Certainly it argues the need to implement an orderly and equitable process
of land reform without delay.
Then Colin la Foy’s reply demonstrates the bottled-up indignation
still present as an ideology in many of those previously disadvantaged.
As someone who knows Colin well, I am convinced that the apparent bitterness
of his remonstrance reflects a ‘persona’ that he has grafted
onto his true personality, for I know him as a companiable person, not
overtly racialistic in one-to-one relationships. It is a pity he has cultivated
a style of public rhetoric that often might seem abrasive. To some degree
it harms his credit as a leader. It has been taken amiss by most of his
white confreres. On the other hand, it has opened doors for him in certain
quarters too. Nevertheless ther are those who think it might have diverted
him to a degree from the forceful and blessed gift for preaching that is
undoubtedly his.
It was once recounted to me how Colin had coped with a dangerous threat
while preaching in a marquee in a rather degraded housing zone in Wentworth,
Durban. Three young men had entered the tent and walked about among the
congregation brandishing long knives and menacing the people. The congregation
was becoming distracted. Panic threatened to disrupt the meeting. Aware
of this Colin cried out “Don’t take any notice of them; they
can tell you nothing that you need to hear!” With that, one of the
three leaped onto the platform in front of Colin. He stood before him,
hand held high above his head, with knife upraised as if to plungeit at
any minute into the preacher. Colin preached on with increased energy,
his straight black Chinese hair whipping about over his forehead, his voice
staccato and urgent, raised one or two decibels in the face of danger.
At length the man lowered his knife and the three gangsters ran from the
tent. As they went, Colin cried out “God is great!” A voice
from the back row responded , “Amen!” Another voice cried out, “Praise
the Lord!” and someone cried again ‘Amen!” With that,
the Holy Spirit came down on the people.
There was a great roar of praise from the tent. In the uproar, wonderful acts
of God took place. More that a score of people were filled with the Holy Ghost
and spoke in tongues for the first time.
Outside the tent, not twenty yards away, the three hooligans set upon a young
man walking in the street, stabbing him to death.
Inside the tent, God’s glory shone; outside was darkness, Satan’s
work and murder.
Such is the Colin we know and love.
As an executive member, he shows up well. He has remarkable grasp, insight, and
administrative talent. We Executive Members, say among ourselves that he has
the memory of an elephant. In discussions he is congenial and courteous. All
of the foregoing suggest that his leadership should find a wider scope than it
does at present.
The coloured and Indian work of the Assemblies of God has been linked together
for executive purposes since 1957. In that year it was decided to allocate one
executive seat for a coloured member. Brother W.F. Creamer was proposed. There
was a regrettable turn of events on that occasion. Brother Fridjoff Langeland-Hansen
took the floor to object to the nomination of Brother Creamer “Because,” he
said, “he is not a man of God”. That, of course, stirred up a hornet’s
nest. I remember even now how the American missionary, Brother Irvin Schaffer
strode purposefully to the front of the conference tent, displayed his Assemblies
of God credentials between thumb and finger and stated to the conference, “Brother
Creamer holds these credentials. Anyone holding Assemblies of God credentials
is a man of God. I second the proposal!” Creamer was elected onto the General
Executive and has filled the position without a break for 45 years.
This incident left an unhappy legacy. Fritz Hansen thereafter withdrew into his
shell, working more and more in isolation from his brethren. He did an excellent
job, be it said, leaving behind him when he died five strong congregations, an
old-age complex, and a children’s home, all run under a team of competent
Indian pastors. But the disunity inherent in the situation is something to be
concerned about.
There is another group of Indian assemblies in Durban, started by Brother Steven
Govender who died in 1997. Somehow through the years Govender’s work, too,
has operated somewhat in isolation. It is linked with the coloured and Indian
assemblies of the Association as a sub-branch bearing the name F.O.S.A (Fellowship
of Sovereign Assemblies) but at heart it has never been truly committed to close
co-operation with anybody. It would be a great benefit all round if all the Indian
assemblies could combine unequivocally under one leadership.
I’ve mentioned elsewhere the beginnings of the coloured work in Cape Town,
and the attempt I made to help with financial assistance from the white assemblies.
In the 1950s when the work was young, there was no strong overall leader in the
coloured churches. There were some strong ministries indeed, perhaps the most
dynamic being that of Brother Attie Prins who has for years exercised a blessed
ministry as an evangelist. As the years passed other gifted men came to the fore;
such as the Valentine brothers, Eddie Roman, Tommy Coetzer, Brother Clarence,
the converted owner of a fishing business, and Bob Jacobs of Johannesburg, to
mention but a few. One of our white ministers Dr Paul Watney, (now lecturing
in America in Oral Roberts University) with help from our white churches started
a Bible school for the coloured assemblies. Apart from that there was little
we could do to raise up leaders. Younger coloured pastors gravitated to Brother
Bhengu for advice, but even he did not supply the practical leadership that they
lacked.
The saga I am describing began in 1955 and extended over a 20 year period. A
further 20 years or more have elapsed since then. In that time the coloured work
has been growing steadily like a tree maturing to fruitfulness slowly and unnoticed.
Leadership has been maturing. Once the work was in confusion, one might even
say it was chaotic. Now cohesion is becoming apparent. Promising young men are
waiting in the wings.
Colin la Foy himself was converted in an assembly in Red Hill, Durban pastored
by Ashley and Pam Woodroffe of the Glad Tidings Assembly in Durban which I had
once pastored. One has seen Colin mature into a significant leader. He has the
talent to bless not only the coloured and Indian work, but the African and White
work as well. His intelligence and forceful qualities could eventually make him
a bridge between the races.
One singles out Colin la Foy in particular from among other coloured leaders
because he is the most thrustful and articulates the most vigorously what probably
lurks in the background of the whole coloured leadership. He has been a catalyst
stimulating the Assemblies of God to express themselves (as they did in 1989)
on the political situation in South Africa.One must cry down any suggestion that
Colin la Foy is no more than our ‘enfant terrible’. His utterances
do throw a salutary stone among the whites. Some of us are sadly insensitive
about paternalistic attitudes of superiority and aloofness. The whole problem
of truth and reconciliation in South Africa is so subtle and complex, subject
to so much unwitting self-delusion on all sides, that a little sand in the shoe
might be a blessing in disguise to prevent the uncomprehending from marching
obtusely on to become trapped in a racial ghetto of complacent white assemblies.