Eastern Cape Mission

Hole in the Wall, Wild Coast – Eastern Cape

As a reconnaissance mission for “On Mission For Africa”, Lungisa Zondi and I went on a two day Gospel sharing drive into the Eastern Cape. We left at 07H30 on Saturday 21^st July and arrived home in Pietermaritzburg at 18H30 on Sunday 22^nd July. Our mission was to go to Qunu, a village where the ex-President Nelson Mandela lives to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to him, if our Father would open the door for us to do so.

En route, we stopped off at Kokstad and preached and shared the Word of God outside a shopping centre on Hope Street. It was encouraging to hear Lungisa, a Zulu-speaking brother, conversing quiet fluently in Xhosa as he preached the Gospel of our Lord God – all praise to our Redeemer. It was also the first time that I had shared the Good News in depth in Afrikaans, although it was somewhat interspersed with some English words, when approached by an Afrikaans coloured man named David Hopp. He is from a broken home, who had done six months jail time for assault and now found himself as a drunkard who has unforgiveness, but he wants change in his life. We ministered to him and pointed him to the Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk Kokstad – which we were able to locate prior to our conversation:

A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps. ~ Proverbs 16:9

where he would be able to hear the Word in his home language and where hopefully he could obtain an Afrikaans Bible and some counselling. Our Father gave us opportunity also to “rebuke” David’s son Estivan who came looking for his dad and who we learned from David that he beats his mother. Estivan was reminded that irrespective of what his parents are he was to honour them because God commanded it and that he must stop beating his mother. We also met with some Christian believers, including a security guard and his friend who came to faith in 2011, upon Hope Street, too, and encouraged them in sharing God’s Word with the lost.

We arrived at Qunu late Saturday afternoon and found Nelson Mandela’s home right next to the N2 highway. It was rather chilly outdoors, but we approached the security guardhouse at the entrance to the property and were met by a South African Police Services’ officer named Spho. We enquired whether the ex-President of South Africa was home and whether we could see him – the flag was up! The answer was an emphatic “No,” but we were told we could see him if we made an appointment through the Eastern Cape’s Premier’s office (Monday – Friday). This however allowed us to briefly share the Gospel with the officer and also express our concern that we have travelled from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal and we are concerned with the following: “What if Mr Mandela would die without hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ?” It was then that the SAPS official said we should not talk so negatively as Mr Mandela would live, even maybe to 100 years. It was at this comment that I mentioned that Nelson Mandela is a man who is not guaranteed he will live that long and as he is 94 years old, not getting any younger with a health that is deteriorating he would need to hear it. Whilst we spoke we noticed about five other SAPS law enforcement officers were seated in the comfort of the guardhouse out of the cold wind watching the Ajax Cape Town vs. Manchester United soccer match live in Cape Town. Well, we left after we gave the officer a Gospel tract for himself, a tract each for his colleagues and, yes, one extra tract for Mr Nelson Mandela, with the request: “Please give him this one.” He said he would; only time will tell. From there we crossed the highway in the “seed-sower” and we met some young children who we presented the Gospel to, some who had never heard the Gospel before. Please keep a girl named Lalisa Nelisa and a boy named Lwando in prayer. We also drove around the streets of Qunu handing out gospel tracts and having brief conversations with all we came in contact with as the sun set on our first day out.

We had no place to sleep, so we tried to get accommodation with a pastor Lungisa knows in East London which was too far to travel, so we headed off to Coffee Bay instead to see if we could stay there for the evening. On our way there in the early part of the winter evening, with it dark already, we saw many youngsters and especially young girls hitching lifts on the roadside. Later we started making the connection as we would come past some shebeens (drinking houses) alongside the roadside in these rural areas where there would be partying going on. We also wondered whether some of these girls were involved in prostitution. On the way we also had to negotiate some huge potholes that could, figuratively, swallow a vehicle. This is a request that we are praying to our Lord to provide us with a 4×4 vehicle to get to some out of the way places where the roads and rural terrain require vehicles built for toughness! At Coffee Bay we decided to spend the night in the comfort of the “seed-sower”. We praise God that we had a place to lay our weary bodies and He protected and cared for us.

In the morning we were pleasantly surprised to wake up to scenic surroundings – something we did not envisage in the night as we had never been to this place before. We took a pre-sunrise walk to the beach and captured some early morning photographs. After a morning prayer we asked our Father to lead us to where He wanted us to go. It was to the “Hole in the Wall”. We stopped at a T-junction on our way and got some directions from some locals that we would get lost if we went another way, but I was not sure if it had proper road markings, being a rural dirt road! I settled for the more “tried and tested” road where there was a proper road sign that read “Hole in the Wall.” A few kilometres up the road we came to the road we had seen the night before; and the road was also tarred and in great condition – off the potholed road of death! It would turn out to be a better option as our Lord lead us to witnessing to a young girl and boy we had noticed at a distance “groping” one-another in the middle of this road in the early hours of this Sunday morning. First we pulled up and spoke to the girl named Onele who was on her way home after sleeping with the boy. Lungisa in Xhosa shared the gospel with her and then as we drove off we pulled up on the same stretch of road and spoke to the boy named Unathi, who was walking in the opposite direction from Onele. Fornication appears rife in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape and our Lord was showing us that there is an urgency to speak to the people of these areas. There were so many “couples” of teenagers to young adults walking the highways and byways so early in the morning. God warns in His Word:

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. ~ 1 Corinthians 6:18

Later our enjoyment of a well-tarred road turned to surprise as we had to take to the off-road. On the dirt the road became decidedly more wretched that truly needed a 4×4 – but the front-wheel driven Ford Bantam 1.6i XLT pushed on and carried us along as we would hand out gospel tracts to people walking these rural dirt tracks. At one point the road was so “un-drivable” that I contemplated turning around, but we pressed on. We approached a steep incline with water coursed gouges cut in it and got going up, but then stopped a short way up to give some tracts to some people in a rondavel. As we continued our journey barely a meter or two up, problems started – and in hindsight it was not a wise choice to stop there. We could not get proper traction and the vehicle started to slide backwards. We would try a few times more before, as the driver, I attempted to back the vehicle up down the steep slope, but did not negotiate the line properly and fortunately stopped the vehicle just in time as it had come to rest precariously on a sliding-grass verge. We exited the vehicle very carefully as the vehicle tottered and we could hear the strain of the hand brake. Fortunately a large rock was under the vehicle which I managed to prop behind the right-back wheel to stop it from slipping over the edge as brother Lungisa pushed at the rear of the vehicle with some able young boys who came to help. Even as I write now that gut-turning feeling can be felt. It was at this point that I thought we were destined to be stuck out there for good and I had a sickening feeling that the vehicle could run away backwards down the steep gradient and plough through a rondavel below us. But Father God had other plans to rescue us as His Hand was in preserving the vehicle and us. Some fishermen from the KZN Angling club, returning from the “Hole in the Wall” were good Samaritans as we waved them down frantically, but praising God for them. They seemed calmer than us – well me at least – in dealing with the situation, and one guy said, “We will have this sorted out, no problem.” No one at first had a towrope, but then some refreshing news – a towrope was located in the one 4×4. And yes – after that, it was no problem as they dragged the “seed-sower” up the dirt track from the precarious position to a safer spot on smooth dirt. We praised God and it was a lesson in trusting Him and that He would send help. We barely waited ten or so minutes when the God-sent arrived. What a relief! God is Good!! The driver of the 4×4 Shaun was given a tract as the others were some distance from us, but we pray he will share the message with his ‘buddies’. We got rolling again in the right direction and it was plain sailing from that point onwards. One African man we had given a tract to in the valley had caught up with us and asked for a lift to the wild coast where we were headed, which we did. After all the events of the past hour we found that the sea was basically just over a few hills away. We enjoyed the view, spend a while in prayer and then started our way back home. While we travelled and took an alternative route – one we were given directions by the locals initially – we found many more people walking the dirt roads that we negotiated as we handed out tracts and had brief conversations with them. We were also able to be helpful in giving a few women a lift along the way before we got onto the potholed road leading inland towards the N2 highway. We wondered which was worse – the off-road dirt tracks? or potholed tar road? The good thing is, out of all of these adverse situations, God carried us faithfully to our destinations and looked after us. We give Him all the Glory for He is Worthy of all Praise!!! After one brief stop in Mthatha (Umtata) for a meal, we headed home to Pietermaritzburg on our last 360km trip arriving safely in the early evening.

Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: ~ Isaiah 26:4

The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. ~ Nahum 1:7

We thank you for all your prayers, and we pray for the souls that heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and received the Word, and we know that trusting in God He will move to take the Gospel across South Africa – we do pray that you will partner with us in fulfilling the Lord’s work for His Glory! We cry for the souls that have yet not heard the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and how they can obtain Peace with God our Father. After travelling 1047.8kms, this would appear to be about a 1/18^th part of the Southern Africa commission of “On Mission For Africa” that lies ahead.

Please visit the link to see how you can partner with us and be a part of the TEAM = Together Evangelists Achieve Much.

** Photo Gallery of some sights along the way **

All Glory to our God JEHOVAH!