Mills-Robert-Phyllis-1994-SAfrica.pdf

7/29/2019 Mills-Robert-Phyllis-1994-SAfrica.pdf

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GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box 1347, Albcrton, Republic of South Africa, 1450Telephone - 011-27-11-907-1533 busuiess hours, 011-27-11-869-8331 homeCentral Christian Church Prayer Line & Answering Machine - 011-27-11-907-8651

Publishers andprinters ofmillions ofBible Study booklets andtracts for Africa

Dear Co-workers, January,94

Praise the Lord for His watching care! The building is beginning to come right now, and the Lordwilling, Dennis and Linda should be back by the time thatyou receive this letter, which means that Icanturn the Kimberley Road work back over to them and give more attention to the new work here inAlberton. We were delighted to have two of our young people asktobe baptized this week, however, westill must discuss this with then and also with their mothers.For the lastseveral weeks, I have been bringing a load of printed material from thegarage at home tothe basement storage here at the centre each morning. It is more than half here now, and most is storedin numeric sequence so that we can find stock when we need it. It is rather shocking how many boxesare either very light, or totally empty! That means the printing press must start producing re-prints shortly.

Some of the shop shelf spaces for the same materials are also nearly empty. Fortunately, I can printduring shop hours.In the meantime, I still have the floors of two toilets to be tiled, three doors to hang, the baptistery topaint inside, a communion table to locate and finish, a clothes closet to build, and the remainder of thestores shelves to take down and re-install with their books. The entire upstairs (14 rooms) also needs tobe sealed as it is unfinished knotty pine, including the ceilings. We need a work-team to come get usorganized again so that we can give our full attention to the work itself. Such jobs go very slowly whenthey are done by one person, and only during the first hour in the morning before opening the shopdoors. After that, we have towork at something in the Bible shop itself. Pray the Lord of harvest thatHe

will send workmen, even temporarily, to help. We need permanent personnel to take over theevangelistic work of the new church and to teach in the new School of Evangelism classroom. For now, Iam doing the preaching, andhave announced an introductory class using video materials.We have about decided that as soon as our daughter is a fully registered nurse and can find anapartment for her family, we shall sell our home and move to the apartment here at the church. It breaksour heart to give up the home and neighborhood we have lived in for so many years, but the buildingsneeda lot ofmaintenance work done, and the garden has become a burden thatwecandowithout. Wealso plan to sell the Bible van and the camper trailer that Kathy has been using as her bedroom sincesecure parking space is a problem here at the Centre. We shall also have to wall or fence off the parking

area for t he c ar to make it more secure.This month, I caught up with the mailing of all the Bible lessons and requests that had accumulatedduring our four months in America. It is good to see that lot gone. The starting of the new CentralChristian Church here in the centre isgoing very slowly, butIdo feel thatitwill take hold shortly. Pleasebe in prayer for us to that end. The Christmas Summer holiday season is not the time to be starting anew work, but that will be over by the time you receive this letter and people will be back from theirholidays.


2/13

G OSPE L T RA CT C EN TR EP.O. Box 1347, Albcrton, Kcpubltc or South Arrica, 1450Telephone - 011-27-11-907-1533 business hours, 011-27-11-869-8331 homeCentral Christian Church Prayer Line& Answering Machine - 011-27-11-907-8651

Publishers and printers ofmillions ofBibleStudy bookletsand tractsfor AfricaDear Co-workers, February, 1994We ihnnk ih e Lord thai Dennis andLinda have relumed to the ministry atKimberley Road, and it saves a lot ofmiles and rush on Sunday morning,but as for making less work, I am notso sure. I am teaching the adultSunday School class here at Alberton,Cinda Schacffer taught the tiny totsclass, and Phyll is will have to take theenti re scliool age. ' Il iere is no one foryoulh, if we find we have any. 'Hiispasl week end our school boarders jwere liotnc and wc had to spread evena lilllc thiinicr. We dropped the adultclass as Cinda was not present soPhyllis look, the pre-school class.Altcndaiicc look a leap last week forchurcli. A ninnber of children canic lo _church. I also have ihe evenin};services, and ihc Saturday School of Evangelism classcs, plus themid-week .siiidy, and Phyllis is back lo her Bible classesduring the week. (I also attend one o( those as an "encourager"). Ii is a coiiplcs class and is in the evening. Do pray the Lordof the ifarvesl lhat Hewill send usan evangelist and tcacher to help with lliesc needs.With the exception ol the I'olding machine, the booklet .storage atid mailing tnom in the basement is now completed andevciyihing is in place. 1have brought a few iicm.s lor the dark room aswell. Iliai room isno where nearly ready to use, noristhe small slrotig room for the mission's documents.llie first clolhcs closet upstairs is fitted now with the exception of ihe sliding door which we plan to have professionallyinstalled. Iwill now give attention to the door across the passage way toclose oil the caretaker's apariment from the rest of theupstairs and a second closet. Wc had nt^l anticipated quite the rush necessary to finish that, but one result of the steady streamof vicweis lo see Ihc iiouse was that lw(> of them, quite unknown lo one anollicr, made offers to the agenl.s at the same time,and both of ilicni wanted access the firsi ofMarch orbefore. Hie loan for one ol them is now approved, however, he has foundthai he must .stay in his apartment till the Hr.st ofApril. As thai is the date that Knihy gels posession ofhers, wc shall ask ifshedoes not want lo stay till then in the house and we w ill move when things are ic.tdy. 'Hie parking area is being paved here atthe Centre, atid I will order a shade and hail car[XMt shelter as soon as that is done. Wc plan to have a security gate and fenceput on that before wccan |)aik hereall night.We had a teal abundance of rain la st nionth. One problem with so much was that we found the bascmenl storage room has asce[iage proliletn, and I carried out about live buckets of water. 1nccti lo install a sump pump. Fortunately, the .shelves in thatroom are well olf llie lloor. 'Hiat is Ihe room that has tliou.sands of printed booklets stored in it. We keep our Bibles on themain floor. Another problem wiih rain, is that wc don't get many shoppers al lltc Hible Shop on such days. Even the printing

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3/13

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. liox 1347, Albcrtoii, KcpiibHc of South Africa, 1450Tcleplionc - 011-27-11-907-1533 &Faxduring business hours in Soulh AfricaCentral ('liristian ('hurch Prayer Lhie & Answering Machine - 011-27-11-907-8651

Dear Co-workers ,Publishers andprintersofmillions ofBible Study booklets andtractsfor Africa

March, 94Praises to Ihe Lord, the T ract Centre isnow virtually complete . Only finishingtouches still rem ain to be done to th ebuildings, and ihey can be done as theya re ne ed ed , a few at a time. ITiere issome tiling to be done in the toilets andon window sills, and much of the pine tobe finished upstairs, but the churchbuilding, the baptistry, the School ofEvangelism classroom, (seen in ihepicture), the Bible shop, the Print Shop,and the caretaker's apartment are allvirtually comple ted, and we have soldour home and moved into the apartment.All of the building is in use regularlynow! I would be happier if we hadg reat er s ecuri ty f or the car an d Bib levan, but that is being arranged at thepresent time.

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Our pocket fax/modem was apparently damaged by lightning sowe replaced it with an internal computer-fax modem. It willbe"on" during local office hours, barring an electrical storm, lliis has been installed now, and you should be ableto contact usby fax, using the same number as the Bible Shop telephone, 'llic apartment is also the same aswe are cancelling the old869number. We can be reached on eitlier the church or ihc Bible Shop numbers, llie church has a 24 hour answering machine forprayer requests or othermessages andthe shophasa cordless extension forthe lounge, kitchen, or upstairs.Our School of Evangelism classes have been averaging three students each Saturday afternoon. We hope to start getting moreas we ofTer new short classes. I am making use of video lectures so far for these. We still need your prayers (hat theLord willsend us a full time minister who can build the church membership. I am dividing my own time among all the various projects,and some of tliem are coming a bit short. We have considerable printing wailing in que, that I a>n battling lo get done. Theoffset camera would not go tlirough the door to the basement, so itis in awide passageway, the only room that can be properlydarkened on the ground floor. Two of its limits were broken in moving it. It is unusable without them and it is so old tliey areprobably no longer availablelWe were encouraged to have Iwo first timers last week for church. One was a Zulu man from Natal, lie came to see me onMonday at the shop and offered to help mc in there on Mondays as he works niglils and does not sleep that day since he hasthe week end olT, TTie other was a lady Irom Phyllis' Wednesday evening Bible Study Class. Heather has participated in classesspread over several months. She promises to come on the Sunday Evenings when she is working at a restaurant in Alberton.She is only here on ahernale week ends. Wc have hadseveral enquiries at the Bible shop alK)ui the church as well. Continue topray that thesewill result in theirattending worship services.Ihe New South Africa" isalready going through teething problems, weeks hcfori' the elections. Ihe frozen food preparation


4/13

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box 1347, AII)ci1n, RcpubHc of South Africa. 1450Tclcplioiic 011-27-11-907-15.13 & Tax during busiiu-ss hours In SouUt AfricaCentral Clirlsdnii Cliurcli Piaycr Line & Aii.swciing Machinc - 011-27-11-907-8651

Publishers and printers of millionsof Bible Sludybooklets and tractsfo r AfricaDear Co-workers, April, 94'lliis was a busy long weekend for us in South Africa. Some of it was not planncdl Having gotten ourselves moved to theGospel Tract Center Plaza buildingnot longago, we knewthat wewould havea busy start for April,but did not anticipateanumber of things all at once. Thursday -- The buyer of our former home had the estate agent phone and request that we mowilie grass befoii-. ihey moved in. We had hccn out a month and the back garden hitiJ badly needed mowing when we left, so Istruggled with getting a quarter acre of ft'ot high grass cut. in broiling sun, lliiisliinnjust as Kathy returned with the boardingschool children. We immediately loaded three truckloads oflier things and look ilicm to her new apartment. As she did notluivethe keys .is yet, they had to be stackcd on the third floiir stair landing and dt'S' tithe outside passage. As soon as that wassomewhat settled, I returned to the house to load a heaping van full of twenty yc!ii\s accumulation of trash for the city dump.Fridj iy started the actual " long weekend" and I had a number of tasks about ilio building planned for this time when thenible shop would be closed. I prepared the bulletins and Sund.iy School sheets fot ilie Easter services and in the aflemoon, wehosted the monthly Missionary family pr.-iycr meeting togetlicr. Saturday -- ' ll ic shop was open in tJie morning and the sermonwris llnalized ;itid typed up. Later we visii ':


5/13

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O.Box 1347, Albcrton, Republic ofSouthAfi ka, 1450TelcjAone - 011-27-11-907-1533 &Faxduring business hours in South AfricaCentral Christian Church Prayer Line & Answering Machinc - 011-27-11-907-8651

Publishers and primers ofmillions ofBible Study booklets and tracts forAfricaDearCo-Workers, 3rdMay, 1994We have just passed through the rather torturous rebirth of our nation. Many fict>ple IcA the country for extended holidays innearby countries, while otiiers actually sold their homes and moved into camper units as they were convinced that tliere wouldbe great violence. Thus far, there has been nothing to really disturb one. Tlie actiuil election days were pcaccful in spite of thefact that ballots and voting supplies went astray or were in short supply. Alberion only got materials on the last day ofthe threedays set aside. The wailing lines were unbelievable, but everyone was calm and hippy. 1am sure tliat many of them eventuallywent .to other parts ofthe city or even further away to vote as one could vole anywhere, not just at his home. There seem tohave been many "irregularities" but the ballots are now being counted and the eventual outcome is known. The ANC,including it'.s Communist sector, has been overwhelmingly elected. Even the PWV has gone to that party. Our area is caUedonly PWV . (ft used to be called the Vaal Triangle, after the three cities thai define the comers of the triangle, Pretoria,Johannesburg, Vereeniging.) Actually the "W" stands for Witwatersrand, "while waters". ITiat would be the State name inAmenca. Tlie newspaper has started acontest for proper new name suggestions. Iliey suggested the African name for the area,"cGoh", (place ofgold.) We live in the equivalent ofWashington D.C, also the smallest, but most populated area of thecountry. The Weste rn Cape will have a Nationalist local government, and in Natal the Inkata Freedom Party. The rest of thenine areas, (States) went ANC. There used to be only four provinces, and I comincnted to Phyllis tliat the weather man on TVhadnot changed hismaps yet.On Uie first day of the elections it was broadcast on the radio that our water su|)ply had been poisoned with rat poison, (ahoax), and there was a massive car bomb at Jan Smuts international airport, and a spate of them in other places, but thebombers were soon rounded up and everything else went on. Even the scheduled nights continued. Today is very nomial afterthe people took tothestreets in some places last night tocelebrate.We were saddened to hear that our good friend, Nicholas Qwemesha, minister ai Umzumbi, had passed away just before theelections. I was called to come there to preach the funeral message, so I parked ilie Bible Van at Jan Smuts and flew down toDuilian where Iwas met and driven to Port Shepstone. As the funeral was on SaUirday, I could only make it there and back intime for Sunday, ifI flew. It was actually a very well attended funeral in spite oflieing the day after the elections. The churchwas packed, the people were very responsive to the message, and I was safely back in Alberton by three thirty Saturdayafternoon. Phyllis was still out with her local commitments when Iarrived back home; then Sunday noon we were both invitedto abraai (cook-out) for the leaders ofthe Bible Teas program. PhyUis is a regional committeemember now.You may have had a letter from our Grandson Shannon. He has now completed two years at Nebraska Christian College andis to return to serve his internship with us this Summer. He phoned this week to tell us that he plans to arrive on the 19tli in tlieearly morning. I find that trips to Jan Smuts usually come In clusters! It will be good to see him, and there will be lots for himto do while he is here. In tlie meantime, wc have to get his room ready for him. It has no bed, only amattress, a foot-locker,an d a chair.

Iapologize in advance for the quality of this letter, my photo copier needs anew drum or the whole copier to be replaced. Theagency wants to sell me a heavy duty one in its place. Anyway, we have made no decision so have to limp along until wedecide what to do about it. I have been so occupied with setting up several booklets for printing, and processing the BibleCorrespondence Lessons that I have not rcaUy thought too much about it. In any case, funds will be short for anytliing greaterthan a drum replacement just now. That is like saying a "heart transplant" if it were human ISpcjiking of human ailments, Phyllis has gone to the Doctor this aftemoon. She has obviously not been feeling well recently,and discovered that her blood pressure was still up at the end of her prescription, so I suggested she go back as he may want to


6/13

Dear Co-workers,

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box 1347, Allicrton, Kcpublic of South Afi ira, 1450Telephone - 011-27-11-907-1533& Fax during business hours in South AfricaCentral ( tirlstiaii Church Prayer Line & Aiiswu-ring Machine - 011-27-11-907-8651

Ptihlishers ami pt infers of millicn.sof Bihic Study booklcf\


7/13

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box 1347, Alberton, Republic of South AfHca, 1450Telephone - 011-27-11-907-1533 & Fax during business hours in South AfricaCentral Christian Church Prayer Line & Answering Machine - 011-27-11-907-8651

Publishers and printers ofmillionsofBibleStudybookletsand tracts for AfricaDear Co-worker, 1 July, 1994I am sure that you will find this hard to believe about Africa, but my hands arenumb with the cold, and our water pipes have all been frozen every morning forseveral days! Much of the country to the South has been blanketed with snow. Iheysay it melted as it touched the groundhere.That is hard to believel I absolutelymustget a more efficient heatert All I have at the moment is a tiny fanêater under thedesk. I asked about bottle gas this morning, only to find that they are sold out ofthem. (Probably for the season.) I FROM OURMISSIONARIES

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IThis month we t ook car e of th e f inal i tem on ou r list o f alterations on the lYactCentre buildings, so now it will be "building maintenance" items, and it looks likeheating might be a priorityl The sale of our hmie was at last fuialized this monthand we used a tithe of the sale price to replace the mission's postage meter andlôtocopier , and added a new computer with sullicient memory to handle thedesk-top publishing andWord Perfect programs without flatly refusing.Ihe old one is in the church office where I woik onsermons and address letters, has a daisy wheel printer that is much better for addresses.We printed two booklets this month, but have been working a lot on typingthe Venda translations that have been arrivingregularlyevery fewdays, themonth's tumover of Bible correspondence lessons, and a stackof new applications. One largertranslation has taken days anddaysof work already. It is booklet number twenty in Venda andI havetwo moremanuscriptsready to start workon. AnaddedproblonwithVenda is that it has severaltypesof accentmarks that haveto be pennedin byhand as no computer can do themon the right letters!Phyllis and Shannon are working on DVBS plans, and Shannon will be assisting with that both here in Alberton at CentralChristian and at Kimberley Road in Johannesburg. He has already helped with a black camp, at the Bible College, andpreached here. I have plans to make use of him for door to door literaturedistribution here in Albeiton, and he still has to visittwo othermissicm centers to workwiththem fora while. While Cinda is awaythismonth hewillbe taking careof the jointyouthmeetings for Central andKimberley Road where he is jH-eaching this Sunday. NextSunday he is attending the diurch atDobsonville, personal safety permitting. Brotho- Ndamasa, the minister therehadhis beautiful pickup truck taken at gunpointright fromhis own front doora few weeks ago! Gannon has also beenassisting with ourmonthly old folk's home visits. Wedo wantto thank thoseof youwhohavehelped with theexpenseof his coming during theCollege Summer break. He expectsto fly back to Nebraska in mid-August; then hisnexttrip shouldbe when he r^ms in two years to helpWith the worii: on apermanent basis and relieve us of some of our work load, the Lord permitting. This past Saturday, a large group of wellwishers gathered here to give him a big "Haj^y 21st Birthday!"A phone call this morning reminded me that Johannesburg is to host the dAllAfricaMissionary Conference (Churchof Christand Christian Churdi) in 1995 and it is time to start laying plans. Already the first conference center contacted was booked, butAletheiaChristian Centre isto beentirely redecorated beforethensoStuCookhasoffered thatfreeof cfaaige asa place to holdthe meîngs and havemeals, and will contact a hotel that is about a half blockaway,aboutprices, etc. That particularhoteldoes not accqAadvancebookingsso I assume that it is first come firstserved.There is a similarhotel abouttiuw blocks awayfrom the "GospelTiact CentrePlaza", not tomention three shoppingmalls forMissionaries frommore remotepartsof Africa.Stu also asked about us havingtheyouth sleeping in sleepingbags on the floor,here and the diurch buildingfor youthservices

IN SOUTH AFRICA


8/13

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box 1347, Albcrton, Republic of South Africa, 1450Telej^onc- 011-27-11-907-1533 & Fax during business hours inSouth AfricaCentral Christian Church Prayer Line & Answering Machinc - 011-27-11-907-8651

Publishers andprinters ofmillions ofBibleStudybookletsand tractsfor ^ricaDear Co-Worker s August. 94We had the funeral of a very dear friendin the church here this week. Mrs Haupt(Hope) was 89 and had lived in a nui^Ing 4^9home the l as t few years. Her daughterasked if I would preach the funeralservice which was expected to be mostlyfamily. The sen/ice was hereCentrai Christian and they served a lightmea l to those who came from out of town kkin our dining room. We were invited to eat ^^^^j||||||||^ ' ^with them. - 'Kr-. -Things happen siowiy Africa! When ^H|||H|B ^||||HH

to the church tobought two reclining for ourupstairs. They were both faulty and

be fo rwas a ssur ed we would have t hem back in *less than a weekl Today, after numerouspromises, excuses, and admitted lapses of memory, they came back. It has been over four months since wereturned them and we have been sitting on chairs that should have been taken to the city dump ages ago. Theonly reason these were re timed now is that several weeks ago 1sent copies of the receipts and a tetter ofcomplaint to the newspaper whowould have printed a "Thumbs Down" letter for thatmajorchain store andLa-Z-Boy if they were not honoured quickly.it Is considerably warmer here now than last month. The birds even think it is spring time. If the evenings justget a few degrees warmer, Iwill do some of the dark roomwork for that great pileoftypesetting I have beenaccumulating during the really cold weather. Other things keep intruding as well. This morning I spent thewhole morning searching out information forthe publication, "Books in Print in South Africa." They had notbothered to enter the languages intotheir computer, so nowthey sent a print out and wanted me to fill in theblank language column.They gave the titleand the International Standard BookNumber, which i don't have Inmy catalogue, but not my catalogue number, so I had to pull copies from my shelves inalphabetical order andcheck the numbers on the booklet itself. That was no small job, but it is done now and I posted their paperback t o t hem .I also took three parcels of books of our own pubBcations to the post office for customers, and now I'm busywith the August news letter. The day will soon lie over and Iwon't be finished.Shannon is in MafeWng witii Phil and Roxana Smitiithis week. This is expected to be his last tripout of town,then he has to get busy getting thingsfinalizedfor his return to Nebraska Christian Coiiege where he will be a


9/13

GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box1347,Albertoiif Republic of South Africa, 1450Telephone - 011-27-11-907-1533 &Fax during business hours in South AfricaCentral Christian Church F^yer Line & Answering Machine - 011-27-11-907-8651

Publishers andprinters ofmillions ofBible Study booklets andtracts for AfricaDear Co-Wori:ers, September, 94Praise the Lord, He cares for His own! Over a month ago, I had a very hard fall in the chapel. It could easily have been fatal,but as it wasI seem to have broken a few ribs and bruised my chest badly. I still can not bear sleeping on my left side andsitting up or lying down has been very painilil for a while. All the ribs, save one, seem to be healed, perhaps the others wereonlycracked. I didn't bother with a doctor as I figured there was little hecould do anyway.This has also been an expensive month with the dentist doing two crowns and a root canal, which involved several very longvisits. He now wants to clean, but may get the brush off. I would rather have the root canal done than a dental cleaning!We enjoyed a very good trip to Postmasbui^, though very tiring. Even driving ^ the maximum speed limit of 120 km/hr mostof the time it took us over sevenhourseachdirection.This time, we stayedin the onlymotel in the smalltown.The women of the conference had a lovely party for Phyllis and also for Mrs Mahlinza, as she and her husband are going onpension this year. He is the last ofthe ministers who was here w^en we arrived over forty years ago to retire. Most of the restare now deceased. I taught my class as requested and we left immediately to return so that we could make ready fortomorrow's church services .I have finished the typesetting on hand, and have managed to get three of the new Venda language booklets and a Tsonga oneprinted and onto the shelves, as well as die color portion of the covers done for seven others. While the press had ink on it, Ialso printed tracts for free street distribution in seven ofthe official languages and the other four are now on film. That is about10,000 tracts sq far. Over two thousand, mostly Xhosa and Tswana, were taken at conference and those will have to bereprinted next week. The Risograph conpany is to bring one of their new printers for a demonstration today. I almost regrethaving permitted this as I do not think I am going to be satisfied with the quality ofwork itdoes. Asimilar, but used, machinewas demonstrated to me last week and I was not at all sa ti sf ied with it.In an experimental trial, I ran about fifty copies of the newest catalog on our photocopier. The catalog is a sixteen pagebooklet, and the local agency has been tr^g to persuade mc that this would be cheaper than printing. Because of recent pricechanges on all the basic supplies, I did a new "costing estimate and comparison" on the variable materials for both offset andthe copier. I have to admit that I like the quality, the cleanliness, and the fact that so much is completely automated with aheavy duty, double sided, copier. Even the pictures were acceptable, but the copier is only cheapcr on short runs. If there are500 to 1000 copies made, the "service charge" for toner and maintenance makes It far more costly than ihe ink, metal plates,film negatives and chemicals needed for ofTsetl Those are really the only variables. (Not considering that most of myequipment is in very sad state of repair.) Those items cost three to four times what they used to cost, but spread over fivehundred to a thousand copies of a booklet are a small percentage of the total cost. The big advantage is space saved,cleanliness, and convenience, cutting out several steps, the dark room, and using a lighter weight paper than our ofTsel willhandle. If one could just cut out the .034cents per sheet service charge!Toward the end of the winter, we finally gave in and had a large vented bottle gas heater installed in the Bible Shop. It is notreally large enough for the size of the area, but is certainly a blessing and takes the chill off enough to work reasonablycomfortably. They say this was the coldest winter in thirty years. Anyway, now Spring is ofTicially here and we have not usedit for a few weeks. In fact, the public swimming pool is already opened for the adventurous. I, personally, am far from that


10/13

dc GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP.O. Box 1347, Albertoii. Republic of South Africa. 1450Telephone - 011-27-11-907-1533 &Fax during business hours in SouUi AfricaCentral Christian Church Prayer Line& Answering Machine - 011-27-11-907-8651

Publishers andprinters ofmillions ofBible Study booklels and tracts for Africa

Io apologize for the lateness of" recent letters butnfortunately can not promise any better service inthe future. The country has been all but paralyzed by strikes everywhere and the post office service has deteriorated,but struggles on. The news last night showed piles of mail bags awaiting sorting in the main sorting centers. (That isbetter than the great pile they found down a sewer a few weeks ago!) I have posted hundreds of Bible study lessonpackets this past week as well as the newcatalog.Hopefully, theywill be delivered.At a time when all our printing equipment isgetting very worn, the Lord setus Sean, who demonstrated a RIsographdigital duplicator. 1really had my doubts about it. Ihad seen another brand second-hand machine and was not happywith the quality. This machine was delivered one morning and that afternoon Sean came and showed me the basicoperation of it. He then said, "1 am leaving it with you. Print something you want printed. The men will pick it uptomorrow." I took him at his word, bought some paper, and printed five hundred copies of our sixteen page catalogplus the cover which had photographs both front and back. Thatwas so exciting, Icarried on and printed 500 copiesof another booklet, a thousand copies of a tract, and 4000 booklet covers! The speed, the ease of operation, thequality, and the total lack of spoiled pages absolutely sold me on it! Added to that, it does not need a dark room, film,or printing plates. Iam sure that he did not really mean me to go "hog-wild" with his new machine, but I just workedtill 1was out of paper. A few days later 1phoned him and placed an order for our own. We had hoped to get itimmediately, but unfortunately, it has to come from the factory in Japan so it will be sent by a container shipexpected to arrive in late November, the Lord willing.In themeantime, 1am advertising our old equipment for sale in the paper. One phone call sold the entire dark room,much to Phyllis' joy, as it had been set up in the passage to the toilet. That was the only accessible place that couldbe darkened sufficiently. Ihope to be able to sell the rest before the end of November aswe will need approximately$10,000 then and have about half of that in the bank. Sean has assured me that if 1have any printing I need to do,he will send me another demonstrator or will divert someone else's order shouldthey happen to cancel at the lastmoment. 1plan to get lots of paper and take him up on that offer. Those four thousand covers need the pages to go


11/13

"Info t h e da rkne s s .. .Light"

^ GOSPEL TRACT CENTREP*0. Box 1347, Alberton, Republic ot South Africa, 1450Telephone 011-27-11-907-1533 &Fax during business hours inSouth AfricaCentral Christ ian Church Prayer Line & Answering Machine - 011-27-11-907-8651 anyWme

Publishers and printers of millionsof BibleStudy bool


12/13

From01/Dec/93 To30/Nov/94

Category

INCOMEBROUGHT FORWARDBUILDINGDONATIONEQUIPMENTINTERESTPRINTINGCHAPEL RENTSALESFORWARDINGAGENT

EXPENSESADVERTISEMENTBUILDINGCASUAL HELPCASH FE ECLEANINGEQUIPMENTBANK FEESINSURANCEINTERESTLICENCEPETROLPHONESPOSTAGEREFUNDSREPAIRSSALARYSERVICESTOCKSUPPLIESTRANSLATIONTRAVELUTILITIES

lrKX>me - ExpenditureNOTE:

DOLLARSR3.50 = $1.00

3,726.3420,855.88

6,102.00

3.428.57

RANDS

12,045.51118.78

13,077.764,666.31167.90714.00885.00

13,042.1872.995.61

117,713.05

-2.469.79-21,357.26

-100.00-92.00

-1,545.00-16,698.82-619.70-10,333.30

^ . 37- 92 . 00

-2,626.73-1,630.12-4,053.55

38.50-1,794.14-12,000.00

-986.97-12,961.31-3.715.06-380.00-603.20

-2.443.49

-96,745.31

20,967.74

"The approximatety R40,000 cash account (or theRisograph RA 5900 withDigitiser will be due beforethisatatemenl arrives!

& aDe a r c o -Wo r ke rs

MERRYCHRISTMAS

December , 94Prom our home to your home, a very joyous Christmas in memory ofour precious Lord's physical birth. We are both wel l and have verymuch to be thankful for. We thank the Lord daily for each of youas we work together to His glory.Th is has been a truly blessed year which our Lord has chosen toclose with delivery of the new Risograph pr in te r th is morning. Wehave held our news letter back to print on i t , bu t we have alreadybeen delayed several days as the final bank statement only arrivedyesterday, and i t was impossible to finalize the financial reportwi t h o u t it .The pictures used on the back side of this letter are beingprocessed to day so t he y are absolutely new Ionce we have paid the big account for the Risograph, we hope to beable to star t building island display shelves fo r the shop and toput them to use in displaying al l our publications already on handand those we wil l be printing, th e Lord willing.In the meantime. I t is planned that we will close the shop fo r th eweek between Christmas and New Years, and that we will take a breakand go for a few days visit with Lynn and Lucille Stanley. Thatweek, sandwiched between two major holiday weekends, will be theslowest week of th e year anyway as so many people ar e away onholidays. {I t may be an impossible time to travel the highways,bu t i t is our best time to be away so long as we can ge t backbefore Sunday . )This year, we are not planning a b ig fami ly gather ing as some ar egoing away and Kathy has night duty scheduled at the hospital. I tlooks l ike only two of our grandchildren will be her e fo r dinner.May God's richest blessings be on you all .

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13/13

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Mills-Robert-Phyllis-1994-SAfrica.pdf

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