Mills-Robert-Phyllis-1986-SAfrica.pdf

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P.O. Box 1347Alberton, 1450

Republic of South AfricaDear Co-workers, (Direc t d ia ling 01127 11 869-8331) January, 1986Thank you so very much for your many greetings over the holidays and particularlyfor the prayers that so many have assured us are accompanying them and during theyear as well 1 These are troublesome days for our black Chr is ti an b ro ther s ands i s ters in par t icu lar . There i s much in tim id ati on i n the townships and a ll thepeople have been forbidden to shop in the city, yet the few stores in their areasare unable to supply the i r needs and are raising prices to shocking levels . Most ofthe people smuggle their purchases in by various means. In some areas there hasstarted to be the planting of land mines and bombs to terrorise indiscriminately.These have usually proven to be of comminist-block origin planted or thrown by ANCmembers or sympathisers. We are quite safe here in Alberton area, however.I am s ta rt in g th is le t ter early in order to try to get them posted before thef i r s t o f Janua ry when we are told the postage will go up by a third on internationalmail. The chief culpri t is the extremely low value of the South African Rand overthe past year or so. That i s why in dollars our salary i s so very low. Some yearsago, we chose to draw our salary in Rands so it would be shown in our financialreports and to simplify the payment of our South African income taxes. Our salaryhas not changed significantly, but the value of the Rand has fallen to about .35c!The church has finished i t s Christmas season. Christmas day was a lo ve ly s ervi cewith the choir presenting a part of a cantata in lieu of a sermon. We were hamperedsomewhat in arrangement s as th e build ing was burglarised three times this month.A window was smashed, a door crowbarred open, (the security door as well,) andhalf of the ceiling was smashed in the classroom. Items stolen were the dishess i lver , dishtowels, communion cloths , and organ dustcover, all edibles, and on thel a s t trip the organ and organ bench! We have, of course, lodged an insurance cla imagain. The las t time we had to claim for the piano, and organ so this makes onepiano and two Lowrey organs in probably less than two years. The Insurance companymay cancel our coverage. We have full security bars, doors and a security fence,so now we are ins tal l ing a comprehensive alarm system as well .The People's Show went insolvent and closed since the last news le t ter , so we againhave our Saturdays available. We will make new plans in the new year. One new outletwe are looking into is a new Christian glossy magazine that has jus t been launched.Phyllis is planning to submit some material and they have promised to run a free"plug" of our work and may print some of our materials. We are to be mentioned inthe January issue. I gather that they are in financial difficulty as well though,so we must act while they are s t i l l publishing. They assure me tha t they have acirculat ion of 35,000 copies.We printed several thousand tracts this month as we were out of stock on those t i t lesand printed Afrikaans translations of Arrilla Harrington's book, "Know Your Bible"and an Afrikaans translation of a book written by one of our young ministers, "Growingto Maturity". In addition, I set the type fo r a Tswana translation of "Finger Lessonson Salvation" and returned it to the t ranslator for proof-reading. I would l ike tohave that one printed in time to take i t along when Phyllis and I plan a vis i t inTswana speaking area the week-end of the 12th the Lord willing. A lo t depends on whenour t ranslator gets his corrections returned. The phototypesetter had to have servicementwice this month. Service calls from E.A.C, Graphics are already shocking and we aretold will go up from January 1st. They charge for time, mileage, materials, etc. ands t i l l charge for a minimum of two hours per call even i f they do a ten minute job.Thank you once again for your prayers and support, and may you have a blessed new year!Yours Jesy^ Christ , Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson - Forwarding Agents

706 East Washington Stree t , Urbana, IL, 61801Robert and Phyllis Mills Webber Street Church of Christ Sponsors


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GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box 1347, Alberton 'j'"P1450, Republic of South Africa 'Dear Co-Worker, Telephone - 01127 11 869-8331 February, 1986Phyllis and I enjoyed a very hot, but also fruitful trip to Kimberley area onthe week end of the 12th. Kimberley was as dry and barren as ever. The sunscalded down so that the car, which we discovered after we had started, wasbadly out of timing, ran right on the verge of boiling, had absolutely nopower, and used gasolene by the litre! There was nothing much we could doon the road, but as soon as we arrived at Kimberley we called at the garage ownedby our fnend and former neighbors there. In ten minutes it was sorted out by hiselectronic adjustment equipment!We visited the open mine (diamond) which now has a museum historical villagealongside, and some of our friends who still live In Kimberley. Then on Sundaymorning we made the short trip to Delporfs Hope where the church was waiting forvisited there and the people came in large numbersfrom that very small community. I counted 165 when we shook-hands at the door.Brother Moroe was really excited when three people answered the invitation callone of them was a blind man who was led by his wife. The church prepared a meal'for the entire group at the home of one of the elders. This was thoroughly enjoyed.That afternoon we returned to Kimberley to attend a Coloured church service onthe invitation of the minister on whom we had called the day before. This too waswell attended with the school class room being filled, and again here we were'rewarded when a woman come forward at the invitation time! We were very Impressedwith the men who were working there on this visi t .The book van was put to very good use as we slept in It the three nights on the tripand we sold quite a quanity of Tswana Bibles. New Testaments, and hymnals as wellas of our own publications.Avery unusual thing happened on our return trip. Phyllis had been driving and justhappened to select a wide shoulder to pull off the highway so we could exchangedrivers. It was near a very colourfully painted Sotho African home. As It was timefor tea, we opened the side of the book van and got the thermos out. As we weredrinking our tea, a car came dashing up from the Sotho house and pulled In behind us.We wondered what the man wanted, but it soon developed that he had read our slqnson the van and he wanted a Sotho Bible if we had one! We did, so we sold a SothoBible right there beside the road and gave him a catalogue of our other materials.can not help but think i t was the Lord's leading that caused us to choose thatexact spot to stop as there was not even a road side table there. Who knows what maycome of th is unexpected encounter!

lastburglary at the Klirtjerley Road church, we have had an alarm systeninstalled. It is^^deafening! Every opening has a vibration switch installed andthere is also a radar sensor in the auditorium to detect movement. It has threesirens and a red light outside to attract attention. I don't have a key to It yetdoor myself. We also plan to repair the broken window glassand have aij "the damaged ceilings replaced. While we are working there, we plan tohave the building restored and the outside store room finished. The organ willalso have to be replaced. Insurance does _not Intend to pay out unfortunately.Thank you so very much for your prayerful concern for us. God Is good, and we arewe l l and s a f e !

Yours In Jesus Christ Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson - F. Agents706. East Washington Street, Urbana, IL 61801Robert &Phyllis Mills Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsors


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GOSPEL TRACT CENTREWE PRAY ^Publisher's Office ^ for souls,

_ _ ^ ^ WE BECOME PARTNERS WITH57 Collet Street, RaceviewP.O. Box 1347, Alberton, 1400 ^OD IN SAVING THE WORLD.Iphone (011) 869-8331 V yRobertft Phyllis Mills ^ ^ . . . .qorDear Co-workers, April, 1986

We praise the Lord for the wonderful way the people of the Kimberley Road church have responded to ourbuilding program. We are presently building the balance of our church house. We previously used what wasmeant to be the educational wing for everything. I am "popping my short buttons" with pride at the way thepeople responded to the fund raising. I sent out pledge cards for one time gifts or interest free loans to thechurch mid-week to be collected the following Lord's Day.At that time they had R13,000 ($6,500) inthe bankiThe first Lord's Day they promisedenough to bring the balance to R31,000, and the week following to almostR40,000l Ihad said in thatweek's bulletin, "Weplan to reach the fihaFgoal ofR61 ,OOO^is^week, God willing!"ByTuesday of that week one lady (the mother of a member) offered to loanthe remaining R20,0()0. The contract pricewas promised. Now, three weeks later, the roof isalreadyon the brickbuilding. The shell iscomplete.Ican not remember when Ihave seen so manyworkers on one project. They are everywhere, but allknowexactly what they are doing and ar e busy doing it.During that first week, Phyllis and I were away to attend the annual African minister's retreat, this time atBarbertonwhere a new building was ready to be dedicated. I am told that even before the dedication, it istoosmalll (Therewas no land to make it larger.) Thisturned out to be a delightful trip and was a good break fromroutinewhichwe both needed. The vanalwaysattracts attention, and this tripwas noexception. AtBadplaas(ahotspringsresortcalled Bathplace) wherewe stopped forfuel, two of the station attendants asked to buybooksand we sold several booklets and two ZuluNewTestaments. At Middelburg,where we stopped to buy a picniclunch, we had no sooner started to eat it when another car pulled in behind us at the roadside picnicpark andthe white driver bought several bookletsfor himself, his wifeand the children. Asfar as I know theywere alsotravellers as ourselves and were not from Middelburg.Requestsfor lessonsand sales of books havemovedso rapidly that I have runout of two majortitles, and a thirdis threatening. We are presently finishing the first of these. (The 36th printing of "NewTestament Doctrines'*)The covers for the second one, the Tswana version of the same book,are also completed. This about finishes allthe paper we haveon hand. Wealso havea great pile of typesetting on hand to be done, but there quite simplyis no time to do it. We need an expert typist, a printer, and a shop assistant urgently. Infact these were on ourlistof long range plans and prayerneeds. Iam thinking in terms of hiring local Africans, perhaps on a part timebasis. The realdraw-back is that we work Inour back yard and the presence of workers could cause zoning complications.We need your prayers more than ever. Nosooner was the new buildingstarted with such vigor than it becameapparent that satan was going to makean attact In another direction. Attendance is down. Some families aremovingaway. One lady became upset, while two other have been unable to attend because of broken bones.These two are still laid up and we have made numerous calls to take communion and to encourage them. Whenthe building is completed in a few weeks time, we must start an evangelistic campaign We ask your prayers aswe plan this. Itis clear that we cannot wait for an evangelist from America, even if other work has to suffer tomake time available! Perhaps that would be the right time to hire print shop staff.Phyllis is quite eagerly looking forward to her visit to family and friends and she does hope toseemany ofyou atthe NACC and Missionary Conventions in Indianapolis, the Lord willing. We do not plan to have a standthere as she wan ts t o be able t o a tt end workshops.Remember to pray that Chriswillbe able to come for his summer internship. The youth work needs the attentionof an enthusiastic young person.Yours in Jesus Christ, Mr and Mrs Raymond AndersonForwarding Agents706 East Washington Street, Urbana, IL61801Robert and Phyllis Mills Webber Street Church of ChristSponsors


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GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box 1347 J 'Alberton, 1450

Republic of South Africa

Dear Co-workers May, 1986Praise to God, the Kimberley Road church has moved into their new building!The last day of April, after a short praise and prayer meeting, many membersof the church rolled up their sleeves and we shifted all the furnishings about,cleaning as we went. Now the beautiful sanctuary is furnished, we have a fibre-glassed baptistry, a choir loft, more than adequate seating, a cry-room, andevery class has its own room so that we can, at last, have a proper Sunday SchoolD.V.B.S. and even a nursery during church. It is lovely to have a hall for socialoccasions! After we had finished working, we had tea and cakes making use of this.I t was interesting to see that everyone stood around the table in the kitchenout of habit, however rather than going next door to drink their tea.For several years we have only had classes for the children during the morningsermon, but the first Sunday In May we had our first proper Sanday SchbbTwithnearly 40 teachers and students in attendance. On the 25th we are planning a bigday for the formal dedication service and have invited guests from far and wide.We are looking forward to a really exciting day.A few days after the dedication, on the 29th, Phyllis will be flying fromJohannesburg to America, first to visit her father in Oregon, then our childrenand grandchildren in the Dallas area, and finally to Indianapolis for the NorthAmerican and Missionary Conventions where she hopes to renew many old friendships.She will be doing some shopping on behalf of the church, but will be also lookingfor any used hymnals to match those we have that she can send back for the church.If you have usable copies of "Favourite Hymns of Praise", she would be delightedto accept them fo r the church. Post them to our forwarding agent and she will seethat they get to Johannesburg.Demands on our stock of printed matter were so great during this month that Ihad to rush re-prints of the Tswana version of "New Testament Doctrines", theEnglish and Tswana versions of the "New Testament Church", and baptismal certificates as well as Tsonga tracts. Several other booklets have been placed asidefor re-print as soon as possible. This demand has also put pressure on us so thatI have spent far more time than usual at the word processor entering new addressesand processing these onto books and envelopes for posting. The postage meter hadto be filled twice this month to post these. Incoming post was another matter.We managed to clear the marking and issuing of certificates and re-posting boxonce but already there are another two boxes accumulated that have only beenmarked, but not processed and re-posted! Next to them a stack has started tobuild up of newly received books!Because of this growing demand for a typist, I have been giving very serious andprayerful consideration to the possibility of opening a book kiosk/office in a highblack shopping area so that I could hire a typist/sales assistant who could bothsell the books and Bibles and do this typing at slack times. That would leave memore time for the marking, typesetting, printing, and needs of the church and alsoassist in getting the materials into the hands of the people. The typesetting hasbeen getting only token attention of late, but i t urgently needs doing too. Threebooks are in line but so far are just "waiting!"We continually give thanks for you all and for your remembrances and prayers int he se troubl ed days.

Mrs and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. Agents^ 706 E. Washington, Urbana, IL, 61801/ i Webber Street Church of Christ, sponsorsRobert and Phyllis Mills

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Dear Co-Workers June, 1986I apologise that our regular "IJotes" can not be sent this month. There are severalreasons for tha t . Pictures I want to use are s t i l l on the ro l l . The dark room andprint shop are frigid, and I am swamped with work. The day Phyllis left for America,a cold wave arrived and we have had unseasonal rain and sleet, and the mountains areblanketed in snow all over the country! I have been working flat our all day andeven evenings in my small study at the typewri ter as much as possible. Just fillingthe addressed envelopes has been agonizing with cold drafts flowing about and fingersnumb with the cold. This letter will be done on the photocopier which is in thatr o om .

At the time the last "Notes" went to press, we at K1nt>erley Road had decided tostep out on faith and hire a builder even though we had less than a quarter ofthe money on hand and did not know where the rest would come from. On the 25thof May, we dedicated the completed buildinq! less than two months from thatde c i s i on !

Praises be to God who led in every step from directing us to a wonderful builder,to every finishing detail , and the money to pay for i t ! We paid the builder instages as he progressed, and there was never a time in all four stages that when hesubmitted the bill we had any where nearly enough to pay i t . Virtually every paymentwas to be made the day after presentation. Always the money was there, usually onlyhours before the check would be cashed, perhaps even minutes a couple of times. Thepeople responded beautifully and we finished with half of the bill completely paidfor from gifts and about half loaned by three or four members with interest freeloans .Brother Charlie Delaney of Harare, Zinbabwe, was the speaker for our dedication dayservices, and other missionaries came hundreds of miles. At leas t four Africanministers were present, two for the entire week end. We broke all attendance figuresthat day though no one got an accurate count at t he ded icat ion. Chairs had to beset up in the aisles in th e end. We "guesstimate" "between 150 and 200. Letters andtelegrams streamed in from several countries to wish us blessings.Phyllis flew from Johannesburg on the evening of May the 29th. From there she flewon to Seattle and then she and her sister, Dorothy drove to Oregon to visit theirfather. Dorothy also planned to fly on with her to Texas where they will visit ourdaughters and her brother John. Kathy and the children were unable to accompany herat the las t minute. Perhaps later.Kathy was unable to leave just now as her husband Lee is involved In an Insurancejob. A few days before they were to leave, A.A. Mutual Insurance company went under!That was the fourth largest Auto insurance company In the country and was backed bythe Automobile Association. They were the backers of his company, so they had toarrange new backing urgently, and unnecessary expenses had to be cut to the bone.All our short term Insurance was with A.A. Mutual, so we have to re-insure urgently!Even our household effects were covered by them. We shall be paying monthly thistime on the advice of our broker jus t in case the next also folds. There are hintsthat they may pay out about a third on debtors claims though I really doubt if weeve r r ecover any of our payments.Three books have been printed this month completely, about 7500 copies of tractsto replace those in low stock, and new covers and t i t le pages were done for a Xhosabook that had a very old address on i t . That was a tedious job as the staples had to beremoved by hand and new pages put on and re-stapled also by hand. Since the change,the book has been going much more rapidly though and we shall have to reprint theentire book almost Immediately. In fact there are at least four or five sets ofnegatives set aside for immediate printing and are also several manuscripts waitingthe time to set the type so negatives can be made for them as well.Yours in Jesus Christ Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, F. AgentsiQ J 706 East Washington. Urbana, IL 61801Webber St. Church of Chris t , sponsors


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Mbnton, SoKtti AMei

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Publisher's Office57 Collet Street, RacevlewP.O. Box 1347, Alberton, 1400phone (Oil) 869-8331Robert ft Phyllii MIIliDear Co-Workers, July, 1986

From four o:clock in the afternoon until after eight in the morning it is stillcold putside, but our weather has returned to the normal winter pattern in thehigh VIeld of cold nights and warm sunny days so I have been able to work in thepress rom again. I have managed to complete two books, the "Church at Work" inxnosa and a large printing of catalogues of materials we print and have availablefor our students. We try always to include these in our mailings and they arethe way we offer Bibles, Testaments, tracts hymnals and specific study books. I-usually have to update and print these catalogues about every other month or perhapst h r e e months. rWe have battled with the cold at Kimberley Road as well. The new addition has beenicy cold and the baptistry feels like it should have a skim of ice, but needless tosay the church s budget is virtually non existant. One lady donated heaters, butactually they can not be said to do very much quickly enough. They are too lowwattage to help quickly. The baptistry has no heat. Attendance has remained goodthough we have a few who are not brave enough to come out. Plans are underway tostart the annual Daily Vacation Bible School in three weeks time. Phyllis will beback by that time and will be teaching.We started a new project this month in the hope that it will lead to me having moretime free for printing and other tasks. I had been praying for some months aboutthe next step in our long-range plan and that was the opening of a book store andthe hiring of a typist and translator. I knew of a small shop available not farfrom our home and near the black bus terminus, so when I saw greeting card cabinetstor sale a few weeks ago, I made enquiries. In the end the owner decided not tosell those but he told me of a stationery shop which was closing down. This manoffered me book display shelves, four card cabinets, a rotating stand, and his nearlynew cash register for so little that I could not refuse. The card cabinets displaym publications and the book displays the Bibles, Testaments, andthe like from others. The walls have posters. It really looks lovely. My firstadvertisements come out this week in a local door-to-door advertiser newspaper. Iam now planning to move the word processor there and I am looking for a typist-Dif=t hopefully Tswana to do all my address typing and translations there.lease be praying with us that we find exactly what we need. Educated Tswanas arenot easily found, but we shall continue to look. The permits, the shop and the

^ 3m sure the Lord will provide thet yp i s t to s t a f f It.vital, as the translations and re-prints are piling up in the press room,and I urgently need to spend more time there. There is a back log of about eightbooklets there to be set and printed! Our materials are beginning to be moreBible Bookstores as well. One bookstore bought a hundred eachrecently. There is presently a back order for fifty of(I have to reprint those.) In both cases these werebooks with strong doctrinal emphasis!for US as there is the occasional bomb in the city these days.Four of our church people were in near proximity to one which exploded in a

^ shaken by i t . Bagthankfully entrances since the state of emergency was instituted.Yours in.Jesus Christ, Mr and Mrs Raymond Anderson, f. agents7 706 East Washington, Urbana, IL 61801Bob an/phyllis Hills sponsors


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Dear Co-workers, August, 1986pyvllis 1s safely back to South Africa for which we give the Lord thanks, andwe are both back to our usual tasks except that we have both been badly effectedby bad colds and coughs. The Bible and book depot has been open fairly consistentlyfor a couple of weeks now and while business is hardly encouraging as yet, it doesmake a very comfortable working space for the word processor, the marking of lessonbooks, and other jobs that do not require the equipment in the print shop and itmakes all our materials, along with Bibles, Testaments and hymnbooks readily availableto the public to examine. For the first time in months we brought all thecorrespondence course completely up to date, then the post came in with great stac sof books being returned for marking and 350 new requests! I was delighted, but we doneed a typist/sales lady to work here so I can give full attention to the print shop.Please PRAY for this need. We are also delighted to have several new translations inthe recent days. These need to be printed quickly.The Kimberley Road church still needs prayers as we are still urgently in needof a full time minister who can give attention to their needs. Ayoung minister, MrKim Nelson and his wife are travelling with a tour group led by Mr David Reagan andthey are expected in Johannesburg for a short preaching rally next week. I am toldthat they are interested in South Africa as a mission field, so we are much inprayer that we will find them and they us a good solution to this common desire. TheDYBS has just been completed at Kimberley Road, and we had a delightful week. I wasnot a regular teacher, but I did stand in for Phyllis one day. Her class of primarychildren was a joy as I usually teach high school age and beyond. They are not nearlyso responsive! There were 68 present for the Friday evening closing program. A goodtime was had by al 1.We particularly wish to express our thanks to Rosa and Willard Brewer for adonation from the estate of our former forwarding agents, Mr and Mrs Wilbur Boyd,Rosa's father and mother. They served for several years after my mother was no longerable to do the work. As all our photographic equipment is very old and unreliable,we decided to invest in a modern video camera so that we can report our workaction, colour, and full sound! This camera is not compatible to South African IV,so i t is clearly for the work, though we could couple it with a monitor to displayAmerican tapes for classes at the church at a later date, funds permitting. AsPhyllis brought it with her, it arrived just in time to use it to record highlightsof the DVBS at Kimberley Road. I added a segment on our correspondence ministry andstill want to make another of the printing and publishing work and the distributionof these materials. When they have been added, I will airmail a copy to JuneAnderson so that you can borrow i t to see. I am delighted with the play back resultsand hope to have i t to her in a few weeks time.It is very disturbing to see Satan so on the march in Africa and much of the worlddetermined that he shall have full control of the whole of Africa and its mineralwealth. We are gravely concerned for the Christians here, and particularly theblack Christians as 1t is they who will suffer most under world sanctions, at leastuntil the country can adjust and new job opportunities be created for them. Theelderly and the unskilled will be the first to suffer, as they already are in anycase. Many people come to the door looking for jobs these days, and often ask forfood or used clothing. I have a small stock of their basic food, corn meal, at theBible depot to give to those who look really deserving. To God be the glory!Keep us all before the Lord In your prayers.Yours in His service, June Anderson, forwarding agenti 706 East Washington Street

Urbana, IL 61801/(W ebber Street Church of Christ)Bob and Phyll is Mills


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r.O.Be>tM7 \ ^Q IAlbfrtoo, SrvOi AM^\ Ô V - J |T GOSPEL TRACT CENTRE

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Publis he r's Office57 Collot Streot, RacoviswP.O. Box 1347, Alberton, 1400phone (Oil) 869-8331Dear Co-workers,

O c t o b e r 1986repaired!hun?redl S^randl wrth of posta^^^ Pos'aa "le'er to betow-car repaired and ready to make the trio to Sada S o f fnr thf a mailings, and then hundreds more to get thewas ready in time and we left for Ciskei aweek aao to'dav havinn HnfrH church conference! Somehow allasubstitute preacher at Kimberley Road. closed the Bible depot for the week and arranged forreceived, herrwarno Wm oVinreTfna"nooriousl^^^^^^ P"'"' '"'' '"thirteen centered on the theme of "Xove" TT^hundred setenfv ^ sermons, all taken from ICorinthianstickets, plus twenty two missionaries rndudin^cSân^^^^^^ 'êir meal-tiny'êlite, and'thTre wlâ' co'ld drizzll day an^d^nfgh^^^^ "?h were housed inwere very cold with snow being reported Tn theSns not far awav" f'sot'ely beautifull Nightsvery poor supply of hot water in the showers in 0 ^ ^ and thp! nfL t V"" '??'' "^ '='"P âd areached homeâgaln "u'was*^ anêlTven' hourdrivl 'throuar?^"ri'" 'h "'' troubling before weQueenstown where we camped and we were absolutelv PxhanctoH a "h *^^1? -i ^ lengthy gravel detour towell the first night. The car had worked well however sleep veryservices that things began to go wrongi As we êre thrpari^ "'y 'os'ng Sundaychurch, we were suddenly yanked to avery abruot halt Lnok^nnTth through the crowd to the parking behind thesitting ata shocking angle, and Iassumed we had broken an axleseen a steel cable guy-line overhead which braced a itahtnnî happened however, was thatwe had notyanked to a stop. Iwas sickened when Isaw that the van bodv hooked it and we were literallyches in the air at the front. It would have been rlDoed tota^^^^been re-enforced with angle Iron forminq a "box'Tor thp hnH.?faster or if the chassis had notactually bent like apretzel that time bv bad maHî Ic it^ collapse ayear or two ago. It wasthe front this time, the chassis is bent again an^tht bodvSs whpn^^^^ h damaged atvan. It did stay in place, however and theVunnino liaht^wnrLHwind and rain, the mountains and another lona detou? schedule. Because of thereturn trip took thirteen hours. We did not stoo for thp ninhThl^l u ^fO"' oura^galn under such conditions. We arrived at home Lt^hrPP am thought of campingThe first time Phyllis was negoÎtinTa moumaTn oa^ the lights of the car fuse on us twicefind the emergency flasher light switch before she could stnn nr^!t e" ^''y''Qhtwent out. Fortunately, Imanaged toat least. We got them working and had no more trouble until k'"' T glimpses ofwhere we wereM^cL^t:d%Tsre^^LTcfSrfter midnight in th e h op e of not being^Sl^&tird^Kânir i-o^d^^r^^~ e%^ L7e^Wfhe boTy -Place the car with amall truck that can carryyunsafe on the road. The chassis is so badly ben that it wou dha^^ T'^J. "' ''ook-van is now total-local trailer builder. To add insult to injury Xe discovere^Jhi? th ^ ^ u''""" with aStored away wet before being returned and is Lw KohTw ii? ^ i ^'"^ ^ '"* *he tent out It was folded andwhen we were scheduled to take the book-van to the p ' h ' * " ^ ' ^ ' ' " ' ' ' w e e k s timeneither the time nor the money on hand to make Lch achange befo'rete^^ Convention at Barclay West. There"]sPray His will be done.Yours in Jesus Christ, Mrs Raymond Anderson-Forwarding Agents" '06 East Washington Street, Urbana, IL 61801 .

MISSjONp

Bojjtarfml^lis Mills _______ _ _ ^ . Webber StreetXhurch of-Chrlst-Sponsors-


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Publ isher ' s Office57 Collet Street, RaceviewP.O. Box 1347, Aiberton, 1400phone (Oil) 869-8331Robert fr Phyllis Mills

Dear Brother: 6th Noveirtoer, 1986I am writ ing th is l i t t l e note out of sheer despe ra ti on . Our work was heavy beforebrother Ron passed away, and with the church turning to us us for leadership in mostmatters and natural growth of our own work, i t has grown only heavier! Would youplease us the bulletin board or any other facility at your command to le t our needbe made known to possible recruits or supporters? I really see no way we can continueto cope le t alone grow without help. In spite of adverse, and probably satan inspiredpublicity. South Africa is the key to Southern Africa a t the moment.Thankfully Yours,

A CRY FROOM AFRICA!"Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.""There stood a man of (AFRICA), and prayed him, saying. Come over into (AFRICA) andhelp us." *(name in brackets changed to f i t the need now)We feel like a voice crying In the wilderness. Come and help us while there is yettime! We are overwhelmed! I write of two great needs in Johannesburg alone.

MINISTER

1. Two years ago our brother Ron Whisman died of Lukemia about this time after ashort i l lness and th e men of the church (Bob and George primarily) stepped in totry to fill the void temporarily. I t had long been brother Whlsman^s dream thatthere would be a proper worship facility for the church In Johannesburg, and wehave worked to make this dream come true as he would have l iked i t . A lovely newhouse of worship has been dedicated, capable of seating about 150 persons, but thechurch has been without a minister who can give his time to call ing, personal work,and leadership of the various groups, any church has. The congregation 1s crying indesperation, "Come minister with us to one of the largest and most modern cities Inthe Southern Hemisphere! a city where English is the spoken medium."

PRINTER & TYPIST2. For thirty-three years Bob and Phyllis Mills have worked in the ministry now knownas the GOSPEL TRACT CENTRE. They conduct a Bible correspondence ministry touchinghundreds of thousands, publish and print their own materials, and maintain a catalogof over four hundred Items of which they personally print 312 representing 18 languages.

(OVER)


10/14

Ihanbamnqc c

Dear Co-workers,

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP .O . B ox 1347

Aib e r t o nRepublic of South AfricaNovember, 1986

Praise the Lord for His blessings! We found Itabsolutelynecessary to stop enrolling new students abroadbecause of the very high postage charged, even for countries which are actually physically surrounded bySouth Africa! Ourmailings are still growing at a tremendous rate and our postage bill is growing accordingly.-We purchased R700 ($300 +) last month alone. Literally hundreds of these people are prisoners, now representing a number of different prisons. This is the only way to reach them.Our trip to Barkly West for the Coloured People's Preaching Convention was veryenjoyable and everyone islooking forward to another next year, the Lord willing. We were unable to take the book-van with us as it wasstanding at a local trailer repair firmwaiting for a reply to our insurance claim.They gave us a loanvan from theirrental fleet, however, and it carried all the Bibles, Testaments, hymnals and English and Afrikaans printedmaterials that we reallyneeded. The facilities at the camp site were beautiful and there was plentyof roomto setup tables at the front of the auditorium to show all that we had taken with us. W6 had expected to share ac-comodation, but inthe end Phyllis and Ihad an 18bed cottage all to ourselves! The bedswere arranged in threetiers of three bunks in each of the two bedrooms plus hanging space and a shelf for each bed. All cookingwasdone and served inthe central building, Iunderstand that there were about 200guests there for the week end aswellas an almost complete change of mission staff from that at Sada two weeks earlier.OnlyMichael Stanley,BillWeber and ourselves had been at the African conference. This timewe had the LaughransfromCapetown,Jim Conley and his co-worker from Mafeking in Bophuthatswana, and Stu Cookof Johannesburg. Everyonehad a great time. Our only blot was that the borrowed trailer leaked badly and we encountered drizzle goingdown and a realdeluge coming backhomeafterwards. Muddydetours, soft verges, dazzling headlightsand therain made uswell aware of our need to trust inthe Lord! We simply could not see wherewewere, nor couldwestop; so we really breathed a prayer of thanksgiving when we finally drove safely into our own driveway.The repairman gave us a quote of $775 for the book-vanrepairsas hewould have to removethe body, completely rebuild the chassis, and then replace the body and redo the wiring. Iam anticipating an insurance refusal,however as theyseem to rejectthe fact that we had a genuine accident.Whenwe finally get their reply, wewillhave a better idea what we can do. Iwas very sorrywhena long wheel base Toyota panel van came availableandwas soldImmediately, evenbeforeIcouldget togetherwiththe salesman.Aftermeeting him, Idecidedthatit maywell havebeen the Lord's leading as Iwas not at all impressed as to his likely honesty. In any caseweneedmoreheightthan a normal panel van could provide, sowewould likely haveto liave a "pop-up-roof"add

ed .

The officeand showroomhas been a real blessing to our lives. It not onlygivesa place to workquietly at thewordprocessor, but adds the necessity foran established routine. Afterbreakfast anddevotions eachmorning,my first job isto take theenvelopes Pliyllls hasaddressed theday before and assemble thematerials to go intoeach from the printshop. If there Is time, Iswitch on the typesetterand typeas many pages ofa translation as Ican beforeI leave for the post office not later than 8:45.The tripto the post office gives the opportunity to postthe lessoris finished the day before, ordersof Bibles or books, and to clear the post boxandget to the shop byopening time, nine orclock. A quick dust around and I am ready to open the mail and to remove the lesson requests and put them aside for Phyllisto type up envelopes. When this is finished, Ican run off the addresses onto all outgoing lesson booksand put them Into theirenvelopes alongwithcatalogues. Hopefully therewill alsobetimeto mark bookswhich havearrived In themail beforelunch. Sometime during theweektherealsohavetobea sermon and Bible Studyprepared andtheSunday Bulletin done! Atnoon we switch places. Phyllis goestothe office in theafternoon to typeand Istayhome towork in the print shop. Ihave to tryto keepupwith reprinting the booklets wepostout and new translations; alsoto find time to use the postagemeterto get the morning'swork ready for thepost.Sometimes this requires staying at the task till well after dark! We presently havefive booklets startedandtwomore going low onsupply, plus threemanuscripts waiting attention at the typesetter. Both of us simply fall asleep in our chairs as soon as we sit down after supper.

VVe do thank you for your prayers without which we simply could not continue. Do beincontinual prayer foraminister for the Kimberley Road church inJohannesburg as well as help for us.Yours in Jesus Christ

Bob and Phyllis Mills


11/14


12/14

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP .O . B ox 1347

Albe r t onRepublic of South Africa

1986On Hand December 1 , 1985

INCO^EWorking Funds ($18,068.01)Dona t i ons i n S .A f r i c aSa le o f Books and Bib le sRepayment on loan to Kimberley Rd. BldgIn t e r e s t on checking accountPrint ing and Pho to Cop ie sSale of redundant equipment($21,236.22)

R 41,063.68639 .622,608.422,916.00424.02362 .40250 .00R 48,264.14

EXPENSESR 7,800.006,778.584,121.452,737.301 ,687.532,724.212,551.151,662.881,210.00906.56747 .25676.16108.00206 .14172 .2590 .0019.00

963 .3315,000.00 ($6600)R 50,161.79

Mil ls SalarySuppli esPostageGaso l eneI n s u r a nc e s

($3432.00)($29 82 . 58)($1813.44)($1204.00)($742,51)Equipment Repairs ($1198.65)Air Tickets for Phyl l i s to AmericaOffice and Show Room Rent ($731.67)

Books and Bibles ($532.40)Equipment ($398.89)Casual help ($328.79)Advert isements ($297.51)Vehicle Licences ($47.52)Telephone ($90.70)Bank Charges ($75.79)Translat ions of Books ($39.60)Photos for Promotion ($8.36)Misc. ($423.86)Loan to Kintoerley Road Church Building($22,071.18)On Hand December 1, 1986 ($3424.16)

Exchange Rate of .44c to the DollarThis naturally varies from day to day.

^6pO/it

R 9679.84

R 57,943.98

R 7782 .19


13/14

dlbShow Room end OfficeShop No , 7 Rac(>vifw Cornernipi' Albyn & Jiibili StreetsAlt'Ritod I'UiOrt' l^plmnp 1011) 9(i; 1533

GOSPEL TRACT CENTRESEASON'S GREETINGS TO YOU ALL

May God bless you and give you a happy Christmasand a New Year niled with His praises.

Print Shop57 Cnllot Streot, PnrcvipwP 0 Qn x 13'17Albtifton I4TOTelnphonp '0111 8Rr> 8331


14/14

GOSPFL TRACT CFMTREP.O. Box 1347

AT be r tonRepublic of South Afr ica

1987$3953,57

INCOMEOn Hand December 1, 1986

Working FundsDonat ionsShop and Book salesKby Road Church loan repaymentI n t e r e s t On Bank accountBorrowed to buy Bible VanPrinting DoneSale of Redundant Equipment

Sal a ryPostagePhotographsTran s l a t i on sBible Van and AdaptationsInsu rancesPe t ro lStock for the Bible ShopSupplies (printing and mailing)Bank ChargesTelephonesRepament of Bible Van LoanEquipment RepairsMisc .Adver t i sementsRent and Ut i l i t i e sEquipmentCasual HelpOn Hand December 1st , 1987

$16763,90$399,37$2138,62$5261,00$41,01$3993,70$390,37$515,00$29502,99

EXPENSES$4100,00$2402,60$22,68$95,00$7265,85$2212,69$1568,19$2082,97$5354,50$151,29$303,92S3368,70$391,51$58,51$134,00$1143,00$1869,97$686,25$33211,66$244,90

R 33527,80R 798,75R 4277,25R 10522,00R 82,03R 7987,41R 780,75R 1030,00R 59005,99

R 8200,00R 4805,20R 45,36R 190,00R 14531,71R 4425,38R 3136,38R 4165,94R 10709,01R 302,58R 607,85R 6737,41R 783,03R 117,02R 268,00R 2286,01R 3739,94R 1372,50R 66423,32

Figured a t an exchange rate of .50c to the dollar.There has been wide variation on a daily basis this year.

R 7907,14

R 489,81

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