-SLd

MAR 1 7/?3)

NEWS FROM ZULULAND

Ron and Cindi KLerick & Family

P. 0. Box 377

Eshowe, Zuliiland 3815

2 March I98I
Dear Co-laborer*s in Christ:

It is hard for ns to believe that we will be retvirning to the United States

to see all of you in just nine short months. God opens up so many doors for
preaching the gospel that we think we have plenty of time to go to this place
or that place, yet we realize how short time really is.
Six weeks ago, we began a new work in the coloured township of Sunnydale.
Sunnydale is just a few blocks from our house, and has a population of a
thousand families.

The coloureds here in South Africa are a mixed group of

people who have a culture all their own, but are in many ways like the Zulu
in their thinking and outlook.

This new work evolves around the Neville Pratt family,

Neville and his

family are Christians and have a Church of Christ background. They came to
Eshowe three years ago from Mkuze in northern Zululand,
Neville works in
the butcher shop here in town, and when in the shop one day, asked me if I
would hold regular bible studies in Sunnydale. Since beginning, we have held
regular weekly bible studies, as well as starting church services in the Pratts
home.

We have met with a lot of opposition from the people, and we really

urge you to pray with us that barriers kill tumble down as we preach the gospel,
and that many in this community will accept Jesus Christ as Savior,

We have found that the people in Sunnydale are either invloved in witchcraft, &
spiritiialism, or have a traditional backgroimd superficially in either the
Anglican or Catholic church. Slowly, more opportunities have come to us, and
tonight, (Monday) we are having a cottage meeting in one of the homes. We are
praying that this will give us the chance to go into other homes whore we can
teach each family the gospel message on more of a one to one basis. We are
working towards the goal of one day being able to have a congregation large
enough to build their own building and support their own coloured minister,
Neville, is a solid Christian and a real soldier in the Lord, and is able to
take over in preaching and teaching, when I am out in the bush. How we praise
God for giving us this new opportunity to serve Him.
PRAYER NEEDS:

Peggy is a coloured teenager who the doctors believe has breast

cancer. We have taught her, and she needs to accept Christ,
Her foster parents kept her away from church this past Sunday,
and she was going to make her decision. Please pray for Peggy
and her family that all will accept Jesiis.
We have prayed for
her healing.

New contacts with the Zulu people. New area's of evangelism.

For God to strengthen our present leadership.
The government has refiised Cindi's application to work with the women inmates
at Eshowe's prison because we are not permanent residence.
We must live here
four years before we arc eligable to apply for permanent residence.
All of us are in great health, and the children are doing better in school,
Nathan and Summer are growing up very fast and Summer goes around often telling
the rest of the family how much she wants to go to Merika.
Thank you for both
your love and support.

We love and appreciate everyone of you,

BECAUSE JESUS CARES

AFRICAN VISION

Ron and Cindi Elerick & Family

P.O. Box 377

AUG 1 3 198)

Eshowe, Zuliiland 5815

22 July 1981
Dear Co-Workers In Christ:

Our Lord continues to bless the new work established in the coloured township

of Sunnydale. Although the Sunday services have not been well attended as we
would like them to be, we are now having between 20 to 30 people attending our
mid-week bible studies.

Lives are being changed, and seven people have been baptized in the past
throe weeks.

Between April and June, I have made trips in the northern area of^Zululand.
Two Zulu*s went with me and we traveled beyond Nongoma into a mountainous area
called Mashishini. There we held evangelistic services in the valley in many

villages. We were also given the' opportunity to speak in. two Zulu schools,, where
we distributed 500 gospels of Luke to .those who could read. From Mashishini,
we went through Mkixze and 'over Ghost Mountain to stay with Bro. Miyeni at Ingwavxuna. , We have made plans.with Miyeni to spend a week every month in his
area teaching among the. congregations we have there. We also distribpted food
and gave food to Miydni for those who are sufferring from the drought. Even
though we have had more rain this year, the earth has not recovered from the
effects of the previous two years of .the drought.'

I had intended on returning to this area last Monday, but Cindi woke up With
intense cramps in her lower back and left leg at 2 a.m; Sunday morning. I
phoned the doctor and she came and gave Cindi an injection and some tablets,
but the pains persisted, and.she was hospitalized, Cindi came back home after
two days, but she still has some pain and no feeling in parts of her left leg
and foot. A specialist who examined,the x-fays feels she has something known
as Shermans disease, which is similar to arthritis, that attacks the muscles and
bone, . An appointment has been made to .see a.specialist in Durban early next
week. We have already turned this over to The Great Specialist, arid have ^
claimed her healing in the name of Jesus. Will you'also agree with us in this
prayer?

The older girls just recieved their report cards for this last term, and we
are glad to share that Rhonda has received the best report she has ever had '
while being in Africa.
We really thank all of ybu who have prayed for her and
her schooling. Wendy and Susan are doing o.k., but are'a bit.lazy. They
can do the work, so Dad will have to stand over them this next terra.
Summer
and Nathan are growing like weeds, and are both;well and happy.
Nathan has
had his last cast taken off his left foot^ and his''foot is much better.

now wears his shoes on opposite feet' to keep correcting his problem.. -f.y.As it. ; V..
warms up, they are. enjoying being able to play outside, and they, give the pet
rabbit a hard time,. The kids got a; rabbit lafet.week, and now dad is making
pens in preparation for getting two more,

.
\i
'
,.

We have a decision to make, so I will share at with you now. I checked with
Immigration in Durban about our status boncerning permanent residence in re
lation to our coming home this December and this is what I found-out. First of
all,, as a minister we aro required to serve -four years: consecutive residerice

before we can apply for permanent, residence. Until we obtain permanent .residence,
we must obtain an extention to stay here every six months.
At' the end of four
years, we apply for and recieve an identity document in which they place, oior
drivers licenses, etc,
'
,

We were informed that if we leave this country for. more than 50 days, we will
have to begin our four year period of probation all over again.

This means

that the nearly three years we will have served prior to our proposed trip
home in December will not count, and we will have to start all over again when
we return to South Africa.

Permanent residence is an advantage, particularly, in regards to various

permits. We.cannot obtain drivers licenses until an identity document is.ob

tained, With the. document, there would be no travel problems, -and as it is,
if we return in December, our permits will expire while in the U.S., and we

would have to re-apply for permission to return to South Africa. Having the
identity document: would do away with this in future travel.. Therefore, what
should we do?
We have shared this problem with our Elders in Ponca City, and^.

they.have prayed about it and have given us'Complete .freedom to return,to the _ , .
U.Sa in December as planned, ;Or ..to remain here until..residency can be established

and the identity documents obtained. They recognize the need for.us to see
our:.f.amily, friends and all of our supporting congregations, but also see the
validity of the need to
meet government requirements for residency as well.
We are both willing to remain until we complete the requirements by the
government, and this^means we will not be able to return to America before
December of I983. If we do remain, the Elders of Eastern Heights , will,, send our
parents ever-tot-eee us and theirnevf-grandchildren-,-and-we-are-extremely-grate
ful to them for this act of love and considerationg,

.. :

In light of the stepped up acts of terrorism over here, and^the areas we are
working' in here, 'w'e-feel-that we may not be able to continue our
the security of perma.nent - resident status when things turn worse
of terrorism increase.
Because of the-pro-terrorist activities
Council of Churches, we are somewhat' suspect and this is- why the
striction is placed on missionaries.

"

work without
and these' acts
of the World

four-'iyear-re-^
'

'

.You and your congregations have supported our ministry here in Africa faith
fully in the past, and we now ask that you will continue your support and stand
with us in our decision to remain here until we can obtain residency status.

Our own personal desire is to be with you, and be with our,families for a,,
.while and just enjoy being "HOME", but for the sake of the Lords work,here.,
we are willing to remain until December of I.983.

' V/e ask for your prayers, and we ask you to continue your support which makes
Chirists witness possible to the people of southern Africa. If you have any
questions concerning this, please feel free to contact Hap Prough, Minister"
of Eastern Heights Christian Church in Ponca City, Oklahoma, or us.- OUr
complete address is on the first page of this letter at the top. .

Compared to Malawi, this is a resistant field of service to work in, but

God is still on His throne-, and His power remains the same always, and we are

confident that as we evangelize, and continue teaching, He will bless our

work-andprecious-souls-win. be-saved.-v. . ; - .c 4-___
We appreciate each one of- you, and are very grateful for both the prayers,
and support you have given.
May God continue to bless' you and pur labour,s.
together-.

BECAUSE JESUS CARES

CLLJU ^

'4

'

Ov'.",' -

AFRICS^
VISION
Vol. 7 No. 1

Ron Elerick Family

December 1981

FURLOUGH POSTPONED AGAIN

"We'll be home for Christmas In 1981."

These were the new

furlough plans

for the Elerick's

when Hap Prough (minister of their Living Link congregation in Ponca City) and his wife, Jan
departed for home after a two-week visit in South Africa in the spring of 1980. The Elerick's
were approaching furlough time then, nearing the completion of four years in Malawi and South
Africa; but they agreed to remain another year "for the sake of the Ministry". They felt the
new work with the Zulu's needed to be better established. These plans were still in effect in
May of 1981 when Ron wrote: "We have made our

MoiUe^ ta

reservations and

December.

the U.S. in

We are looking forward to sharing

first-hand all

It!
myit 06 6chedcited Ron'6 mother, Mo6.
LuZa M<xe "Potiy" He.a6tcp,iva6 rmZ in Johanm6-

will leave for

that

God has

done

in South

Africa and Malawi since we have been away."

But then a trip to the Immigration Office

hiiAg ai 10:J0 a.m. on V2.cmbz/L 19th by Hon

revealed

and Rhonda (^oA. a tong awattzd Adunton. Stncd

g(U cannot be pan.cha6td on SatuAdajy a^tzA 6tx
tn the evening, the 500 mile A,eta/in tnip to
B6hoL{}e had to begin immediately.
LatzA in
the evening Cindi, Sa6an and Wendy iviiZ get
to 6ee the (^amZiaK iace i^om kmenZca; but
SummeA and h'athan LOitt get to meet "gJiandma"
^OA the veAy {^iMt time, 06 SummeA was boAn
in hialoLLt and Nathan in South k^Aica.
The
decibion to Amain in k^Aica meant that 6 even
yeaA6 ivoutd have p^l:.6ed without viiuot con
tact with {^ojnity and the eZdeA6 at Ba6teAn

stirred by the World Council of Churches, a

special residency requirement was in force
for the clergy.
A Permanent Residence Per

Heighti ^eit this was \0Ji too long. They be

and The Elerick's are still in Eshowe,

Another "for the sake of the ministry"

gan to exploAe the po66ibility o^ 6ending not

only Polly, but also Cindi'6 poAents, Bill

and Phyllis Bu6hnell. PAioA commitments pAe-

that

due

to the

racial

tensions

mit and a governmental "Book of Life" file

would now require a four-year uninterrupted
probational period that would start all over
again if they were out of the country for
more than 30 days.
The current permit must
be renewed every six months and in view of

the racial problems

and terrorists attacks,

the future of the ministry could hinge on the

permanent status..It is now Christmas of 1981

Why?
deci

sion had to be made.

The decision was not easy!

The time would

vented the Bu6knell'6 {Aom going at ChAistmas

time,but when Polly was able to make the txip

be up in June of 1983, but paper work could

postpone the departure date to Christmas of

BoMteAn Heights pAovided the ^2,000 needed.

Ji Cindi'6 poAents oAe to make the tAip this
6ummeA, we mu6t have oAound $4,000. VouA kelp

1983, or more than seven years away from fam

will be needed'.

It will be a ChAistma6 to AemembeA when 6he

ily, friends

and America.

Ron wrote: "We

both are willing to remain, but we do desire

to see our families again.
We could come

for thrity days during Christmas, but that's

unpacks 1 one moAe 6uitcase than oiA^aAe peAmitted];

in addition to the noAmal thing6

thousarfds of" Rands.

a gAondma would bAing, 6he also bAought much

needed clothing oa the family. Sunday School

when we return. However, the temporary per

mit could keep me out of some areas.
Home

Or, we could

come as

planned, begin the period of probation again

clas6es at Ponca City pAovided the $1,500

sickness

and Polly pAovided the tendeA loving coAe to

here in

hand pick eveAy itm.

year of American school as they know little

Why would BasteAn Heights shoAe so geneA-

ously? PiAst, to encouAoge the BleAick's in

thelA peAsonal sacAi^ice. They MUST know that
we OAe totally suppoAtive o^ thm. Secondly,

to encouAage chuAches that shoAe in the

SeAvice Link suppoAt. BasteAn Heights, with a
weekly aveAage o^ 190 in woAship, gave oveA

^2,000 to missions in 1981. We do not shoAe

this in a spiAit 0^ boasting, baf AotheA to

challenge VOU to "Li{^t youA eyes unto the

fields, ioA they oAe white unto haAvest". The
need is so gAeat'.
The time is so shoAt'.
TOGBTHBR, let's do what we can.

is

pretty

Africa.

much over; our home is

Our children need a

whole

about our history or the Constitution and we

would like a whole year to serve in the
churches at home. Our other concern would be
the Service Link congregations. Will they see

the point in remaining here and keep the sup

port coming? Just don't want the old adage
of 'out of sight, out of mind' to apply here!'
Surely Ron's concern about support was

un

grounded and Christians who receive this re

port will rally around them with continued

prayer and faithful financial support.

THEY

have sacrificed twice "for the sake of the

mission" -- now WE can do the same by giving.

MUlII-RACIAl MINI6IRY

mMiiY mmi
In July, Cindi was having some serious pro
her back.
The doctors diagnosed
her problem as something similar to arthri

blems with
tis.

she tries to tackle too

her and she has to lie
down. Please continue to pray for her.
During this past year Nathan and Summer

much

Even now when

the

pain hits

were both diagnosed as having feet problems.

The doctor said there was nothing to be done
in Summer's case, that she simply had weak
arches and 'to leave them alone

until she is

old enough to do exercises on her own. Nathan

had to be put in a cast (three in all), He's
now out of the casts, but has to wear his
shoes on the wrong feet to teach him to keep
his feet straight.
Summer had several bouts with sickness

the

past few months so we finally took her into

the hospital to have her tonsils removed. She
did fine, but Mom and Dad suffered from postop nerves 1
Susan has had an overbite problem with her
teeth, but with the braces the problem should
be under control before too long.
Rhonda, Susan and Wendy are all making pro
gress in school and growing spiritually.
Rhonda received the best report card she has
ever had since being here in Africa.
All 3
girls are taking Afrikaans, which is the sec
ond official language here in South Africa.
Wendy is the one who is really coming along
in this language.
All of the

students

in Rhonda's class had

to give a 5-minute speech, and Rhonda came

home with the highest marks in her class. She
spoke on the American Indians and took some
of Dad's artifacts to show the class,

^pne ^^roblem that the girls have is ihat

everyone wants to know if they have ever been
to Dallas or Hollywood.
Seems like T.V. has

helped put "Big D" on the map. We recently

received some gospel tapes from friends in
Dallas, and we were the

"hit"

of

the

post

office.

Ron was working among the coloured in the

township of Sunnydale.
These people were
either involved in witchcraft, spiritualism
or had a superficial background in either the
Anglican or Catholic Church.
Ron was making
headway among these people, but due to de
nominational disputes and the "spirit of di
vision" betv/een

the local

Church of

Christ

people and the Pentecostal people, the work

at Sunnydale had to be discontinued.
Ron is now working full time at the Entumeni Sugar Mill, which employs around fifty
Indian families as well as

double the number

of Zulus. (The people from India came to

Africa more than a hundred years ago to es
tablish businesses

for

the cane

or as endentured laborers

fields;

now there

large Indian community.)

is a very

Ron has the use of

the small community hall and the support of

the management at the Mill. They have Thurs
day night Bible study as well as services on
Sunday. Most of the families are Hindu, with
the exception of eight families who are Cath
olic.
Soth the Hindu priests and the Catho
lic priest have told their people not to go
to the Bible studies or services.

The Zulu people at Entumeni are very apa

thetic concerning Christianity.
The Zionist
movement is very popular because it permits
witchcraft, polygamy, and native traditions
to mix with their version of Christianity,
Three times before, others have attempted to
establish a

Pray

work here

and it did

God's grace and

that in

not last,

power

things

will be different now.

Ron

has been

burdened

with the

need

to

reach the Zulu people in the northern section

_pf.Zul uland _ known . as,th_eJ1ak_athinj ._Elats^
Earlier in the year he made a week's evange
listic trip which took him from Eshowe to
Ulundi, Nongoma, Mashishini, Mkuze, Jozini &

Ingwavuma. The Chief at Mashishini gave per

mission for Ron and two Zulu preachers to
preach in this area.
They distributed 500
Gospels of Luke in Zulu.
This was the first
time any of our missionaries had gone into

Rhonda takes piano lessons from Cindi and

Susan takes guitar lessons. Wendy and Susan
are also taking ballet classes. Cindi plays
piano for the ballet teacher a couple of af
ternoons each week.
This pays for their

spending one week a month in the Flats and

lessons.

asks for our

Nathan and Summer are

growing up fast too.

this area and Ron and the men have been asked

back

to hold

more meetings.
continued prayers

Ron

will

be

in this out

reach.

Summer can already tell you the gospel I

Since Hap PROugh and CONnie Pardee (minister S secretary at Eastern

PRRS & COMB

Heights) act
an appearance
you" to Tom Pardee (Connie's husband) and
to George and Hazel O'Mealey who continue

AFRIC
VISION

as editors of this newsletter, this feature will make

from time to time to cover odds & ends, A big "thankKirk Roush for the new art work for this edition and

their service as the "best" forwarding agents ever','.

ADDRESS
CORRECTION
REQUESTED

Field Address:

Ron and Cindi Elerick

P.O. Box 377

Mission Services

Eshowe, Zululand, 3815

Box 177

Republic of South Africa

Kenpton, Indiana

Forwarding Address
Malawi Christian Mission

c/o Eastern Heights Christian Church

Route 2Box 88

Ponca City, OK 74601

46049

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