GEORGE, SOUTH AFRICA

The Laughrens, Pete, Fran & Denzil

Spring 2008 -Vol.18, No. 4

Return to South Africa After Furlouah

As a way of introduction, the lateness of this letter is nobody else's fault but our own. But it has been a busy time as you will notice and we apologize for the lateness of this letter. We realize that "spring" has long come and gone .... We left Georgia on the 3rd of February after our last Sunday at Berea Christian Church in Hampton, Ga. Minister David Fulton had a prayer circle for us with all in attendance that day at the end of the service which we very much appreciated. Before we left our furlough
house for the last time later that afternoon, Paul Leslie,
out to South Africa on the afternoon of the 12th.

Arriving in South Africa, we landed in the middle of the summer here and it was quite a shock to the system coming from winter. It was good to get home. We live in such a beautiful part of the world here and the prettiest sight that I had seen in a long time was the mountains that surround George as we landed. We had told no
one in the churches here the exact date of our return,

and it was with delight that we saw the members of the George Church the first week back. Since our return.

the minister of McDonough Christian Church, and a small delegation from the church came and prayed with us at the house. In ending our Georgia part of furlough we can never say thank-you enough to McDonough
Christian Church and Berea Christian Church and all of

their members for all of their help during our furlough. McDonough Christian Church helped with transportation, housing, furniture, display and promotional materials and tremendous encouragement. Berea helped us with our monthly letters while many individual members helped us with many other needs In getting settled. We really appreciate your partnerships In the Lord's work in South Africa. Both of these churches helped to make our furlough year a lot easier. Thanks to everyone in these churches for your help during 2007.
That afternoon, we then flew on to Bedford, Texas

where we spent the last 10 days before flying on to South Africa. We spent time with Fran's family both in Bedford and Hurst and then spent our last Sunday, February 10, at Highland Meadows Christian Church in Colleyville, Texas. During the last week there we met with the people who were planning on coming to South Africa in June and spent time with the Don Hicks small group that is such an encouragement to us. After tearful goodbyes to family, and especially with Fran's brother, Jonathan, at the airport (see later in this letter), we flew

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The day of our arrival back home in George, South Africa.

a container back this time, but with all of the wonderful

donations of shoes, clothing, school supplies, furniture, and everything else that we received for distribution here, we loaded a container on January 29 and sent it on ahead. (See our next newsletter for pictures and a report of the distribution of these items.) In our furlough house, it took Fran and I close to a month to pack everything and get it ready for shipment, but Itwas worth the effort. Inorder to ship a container overseas, one has to list every box and Its contents and then give prices
of each Item enclosed In each box. Then the list has to

be sent and cleared by customs etc., so it becomes a very involved process. Since we had so many items of school supplies, shoes and clothing donated, we could not just pack them all In boxes together or it might be seen by the customs officials here as ifwe were opening
a store to sell the items. So all of the items had to be

mixed with everything else and included in boxes as personal items. After getting everything packed and ready, 25 people came to our furlough house from McDonough
Christian Church and Berea Christian Church and within

two hours we had the container loaded, sealed and

ready go. At noon on the 29th, we saw it leave on a

tractor trailer truck down the highway towards the port in Savannah, Georgia. Containers usually take about two months to arrive in South Africa, but we received word right after our arrival here in February that it was already in port in Port Elizabeth about 4 hours from George. To make a long story short, we were informed two weeks later that once again, (as in 2003) customs did not want to look at the contents of the container, but they took our
list at face value and let it be released to us here at our house. On the 14th of March we received all of our local

/As you can see, we found a strange plant growing in our garden when we arrived honie. And, no, it is not ours don't even asl<!!!

we have been in George, Graaff-Reinet and Knysna on

a regular basis and we have started the regular teaching classes again. As they say, there is no place like home and we consider George home. We have always said that it would be a lot more difficult working overseas if
we did not consider where we are as home and this is

how we think of George. Many people come here and cannot believe the beauty of this area and we consider ourselves blessed. After 14 months of furlough we arrived here in February ready to resume our work. Thanks one all for all for your help during furlough and in helping us return home safely to resume our work. We are thankful for your partnership In the work here.

belongings out of storage and, as luck would have it, the container arrived the next morning, the morning of the 15th. We were not yet moved into our house, and
when we arrived at the house on the 15th from where

we were staying, the container was waiting for us in front of our house. We had arranged for some help to unload it, but not until noon that day, so for the first three
hours, Denzil and I unloaded it ourselves in and out of

Container for South Africa

One of the details that always has to be taken care of at the end of a furlough is the packing up of our furlough house and the shipping of belongings etc. back to South Africa. We had not planned on bringing

the rain. Everything came through great, we were not charged any extra customs charges and we were very thankful for how everything arrived. Containers are an interesting way to transport belongings and It worked great. The only thing that was different this year was that it cost us twice what we budgeted for because of rising prices, but it got here all the same. Thanks must go to all of you who helped us fill the container and to those of you who helped us to load it on the 29th. We thank God for your help.

Jonathan Hamilton
Februarv 19.1962 - Mav 21. 2008

13)o not be

grieved, for

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We had lots of help from McDonough Christian Church and Berea Christian Church in Georgia in loading our con tainer for South Africa. Thanks to everyone involved.

]_orA is your strength.

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As many of you know, Fran's brother, Jonathan Hamilton, passed away on May 21. We were able to be InTexas during this time after the doctor told any family
MAERSK

members that wanted to come home, to come home.

The South African bound container leaves our furlough house in Georgia all packed and ready to go.

Doctors had done everything possible and it was just a matter of time. We were there a week before his passing and then for two weeks afterwards. We miss him terribly but we know that he Is now in a better place. The following Is the obituary that was written about him and published for the funeral:
Jonathan Lee Hamilton of Bedford, Texas went to be with

his Lord Wednesday morning, May 21st at 12:15 am.

Thanks must go to h/lark and Lisa Andrews of Grass Val ley, California for their donation of a couch for people in the churches here. As you can see, it arrived safely.

He was born in Kimberley South Africa on February 19, 1962 to missionary parents, Al and Annette Hamilton. Jonathan graduated from Trinity High School in Euless, Texas in 1980 and studied at the Lucas Memory School in Fremont, California. He was ordained to the ministry of the gospel of Christ at First Christian Church in Evansville, Indiana on January 8, 1984. Despite the health condition Cystic Fibrosis, he sen/ed in Uganda and Kenya (East Africa), South Africa and Hungary as an evangelist, church planter, youth minister and missionary. He also made survey trips and led mission internships. On April 17, 1997 he received a double lung transplant and continued in missionary recruiting through the missionary motivation ministry. Outreach International. He has acted as President of Outreach International since 2000. His passion and heartfelt desire was to "see that everyone has an opportunity to
hear about Jesus - at least once!"

Jonathan actively served with DeSoto Christian Church in DeSoto, Texas for many years. On August 9, 2003 he married Teh Lyn Layman, the love of his life, who sur/ives him.

Jonathan's contagious laugh, joy and love for the Lord was evident by all who knew and loved him. Jonathan now rests
from his labors in the arms of his Savior.

He is also survived by his parents, Aland Annette Hamilton of Hurst, Texas, his sisters; Fran Laughren and husband Pete and their son Denzil of George, South Africa, Sonja Hawkins and husband Dale of Bethel, Missouri, Karen Nguyen and husband Toai and their children, Jonathan, David, Tiffany, Caleb and
Joshua of Southeast Asia as well as several aunts, uncles and
cousins.

We had lots of help unloading the container once in South

Africa.

The family thanks you for all your prayers, support and encouragement. We rejoice over Jonathan's life and the 46 years God allowed him to be with us here sending the Lord together on this earth and the joy of knowing he walks with his Lord now.

Praises
*We are very thankful for our safe travel back to South
Africa and for the work that the Lord has for us here. *We are thankful for the Leslie and Patterson families

who helped us with housing for our furlough year near McDonough, Ga. We can never thank the Lord enough for your help during furlough. You will never know what you mean to us. *Denzil is doing well in school this year although he had a three month break because of our trip back to the US in May and the following internships.
*Thanks to all of you who helped us pack and get ready for the trip home. A special thanks to Clara Johnston
and Harriet Greer who made a meal for all of the

A'

Keith

McBrayer
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THE MOST SOUTH
OF THE

container loaders in January.

*Thanks must also go to McDonough Christian Church

and Mark and Lisa Andrews for donated furniture for

the people here in the churches.

P ravers
*Please pray for our nephew, Michael Andrews as he is in the Marines in Cherry Point, N.C. *Please pray for our sister in law, Jonathan's wife, Teri
Hamilton.

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*Please pray for the political situation here as it is a bit

unstable at the moment.

*Please pray for guidance in our work amongst the Xhosa and Colored people in South Africa.

Campaigning in Africa for a friend.

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GEORGE, SOUTH AFRICA
Summer-Fall 2008 - Vol. 19, No. 1, 2

The Laughrens, Pete, Fran & Denzil

Internships and Mission Grouos 2

One thing that we feel very committed to is hosting groups of interns and mission groups. We feei, other than helping us in the work here in South Africa, italso exposes both American students and work groups to what it is like to work cross culturally. This year we hosted two groups, the first one being from Gateway International Educational Services under the direction of Stacy Garner. Stacy arrived with his group on June 11 in Cape Town where we met them at the airport. While they were here for four weeks they were in Gape Town, George, Graaff-Reinet and Wellington, just outside Cape Town. They were a big help in every way. They were involved in Vacation Bible Schools (see Fran's report), a camp, and they led in Bible Studies, youth groups, Sunday preaching and teaching and even visited a prison in the Eastern Cape. They got a very rounded exposure to the work in South Africa. The second group that came was from Compass Christian Church in Colleyvllle, Texas. This group was supposed to be a group of five to come for the Vacation Bible School in George, withthe first three arriving on June 25 and the other two arriving on the 30th. Milt Selgele, Jeff Hill and Megan Jones arrived safely as scheduled. Airline delays and the non-honoring of tickets by two airlines conspired to not let the other two (Dave Kershen and Kristin Turley) arrive until July 4, as the first three were returning
to the U.S. They crisscrossed at the Cape Town airport, so we did not get to see Dave and Kristin at all while they
were in the country. Their plans were to be here for the

week of the Vacation Bible School in George, and then visit friends in another part of the country. With the airline problems, they only got the last part of their trip in, but we understand they had a good visit. We had a great time with the three that did arrive in George and their work in George was invaluable to the churches here in this area. The people are still talking about the good times that they had together here.
Both the Gateway International Educational Services

group and the Compass Christian Church group were great. In between times of work, we did some sight-seeing in the surrounding areas, had a big bar-b-que at our house one Sunday with the church here in George, and everyone worked well together. We enjoy hosting groups as it adds to the work here and helps visitors see a different part of the world outside of the U.S. If you would like to be a part of a group next year, please get in contact with us and we will point you In the right direction. We thank both groups for coming this year and thank everyone involved in their sending of the groups. Your work is still being felt by the people here in the churches. May God bless you for making an effort to come and help with the work in South Africa.

The Gateway Educational Services Intern Group (pictured with Pete, Fran and Denzil) --1, to r.: Matt, Dan, Aaron, Courtney, Andrea, Alex and Stacy in front of Spandoskop
in Graaff-Reinet.

8
The team from Compass Christian Church in Colleyvllle, Texas: Milt Siegele, Megan Jones and Jeff Hill.

Vacation Bible School

2008 by Fran
Itseems normal now to say, "V.B.S. was great this year!' V.B.S. takes a lot of planning, praying and work, but it is worth everything in the long run. The programs go off much smoother with the help of Stacy Garner and his interns from Gateway International Educational Services,
and the other mission teams that come over from the

States. Without their help, Itwould be more difficult, so we say thank you to them and give them credit for successful
V.B.S.'

This year was very exciting for several reasons.

First, we were able to hold a V.B.S. in a new area. Macassar

The interns and local people from Graaff-Reinet worked well together on the VBS in Graaff-Reinet.

(a suburb of Gape Town). Though we have never held a

V.B.S. in this area before, we have worked with this church

ever since we moved to South Africa in 1985. They have always brought children to the Mfuleni church where we usually hold a V.B.S. when we are in Cape Town. It was well attended, considering itwas the first time. The smallest crowd numbered 37 and the largest crowd numbered 130. We look fonwardto working with the Macassar church every year if possible. They enjoy it plus they are building a new church building, so they will be able to host the V.B.S. themselves. The members of the church are very mature and eager, so I foresee them being able to learn quickly and do the V.B.S. on their own soon. Pray for this church as they are struggling to finish their new building. It is very costly and they have problems with vandalism. Knysna had a well attended V.B.S. with 331 being the largest crowd. This Is such a small, one room church, that 331 kids makes the church building look like it is going to explode. We have very little help from the congregation (we don't understand why) but they like to attend. We do know we are reaching many children in the area with the gospel and we are teaching adults about the Word and how to work with the children, so it is all good. Stacy and his interns went to the youth camp in Wellington while we stayed in George with the mission team from Compass Christian Church In Colleyville, Texas to hold a V.B.S. One of the interns from Stacy's group, Vicky, stayed to help since it was only five of us and the more hands the easier it is. Vicky has helped us with many V.B.S', so having her experience was a big help since this was the first time for the Texas team. They were great! The team had prepared their lessons and crafts ahead of time, so the preparation was not as great. They jumped right in there and did an amazing job with the kids, lessons, and program as a whole. I was very proud of them. As usual, the attendance was high with the smallest crowd being 186 kids on the first day and the largest was on Thursday with 4091! The large attendance seems so overwhelming, but it is so much fun and so exciting at the same time. The second reason for this year's V.B.S. programs being extra special and exciting to me was because of the Graaff-Reinet church. We have been working with this church for many years. Every year they take on more responsibility and a leadership role in the V.B.S. program.

Bible study in Graaff-Reinet is always a pleasure with this

group.

They have always been the best group to work with due to the fact they all (from the youth to the elderly) help and are so willingto do anything and everything we ask them to do. They are very good about helping out as much as they can with the expenses too, and none of the other churches have done this. They are so mature, we really appreciate them. Every yearthe V.B.S. attendance grows. Lastyear they started with holding the V.B.S. in a bigger hall. The attendance on the first day was 393 and by Friday it was 623!!! Can you imagine!!?? We are proud to say that they are now ready to plan the V.B.S. themselves and they will let us know what materials they need and what they want us to do to help. They are very capable and excited about the way they have learned

pray for them as they

take this project on as
Brother Max Cudjoe
from Bibles the church in

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Graaff-Reinet with the

donated from the Don Hicks small

group in Texas.

a church. Pray they will grow from it and continue to be a witness to their community for the Kingdom of God. Thanks to all of you who are so faithful in helping financlaiiy, and with materials and supplies. We appreciate you and know that you will be blessed for your part in the work of the Lord here in South Africa. Keep up the good works, stay faithful and keep in touch.

Also a product of the VBS last year, Englewood gave us

their left over VBS
materials and their
mascot costumes

that were used very well this year in

VBS.

Distribution
While on furlough in 2007 we did a Vacation Bible School at Englewood Christian Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Their project for the week was to collect enough money to make school packets for 100 kids in South African schools as school supplies are hard for the kids to get here because of availability and costs. The people at the Vacation Bible School did a great job in gathering the monies together during the week, and after the week was
over, Patrice Bowser, the director of the Vacation Bible

Coats and Shoes Distribution

Another project during our furlough year was taken on by Ross and Marie Carmack of Jonesborough, Tennessee. They made it their project (with the help of their church) to collect shoes and coats for the kids we work with in South Africa. Ross showed up at our furlough house right before Thanksgiving a year ago in Georgia in a truck packed to the gills with shoes and coats to be put in the container for sending to South Africa. All in all they had collected over 300 coats and 300 pairs of brand new
shoes. You should have seen the faces of the kids when

School, went out and ordered all of the supplies and had them delivered to our furlough house in Georgia. We then boxed them up with all of the other supplies that we had shipped here in the container. After they arrived here with the rest of the belongings, we then separated and distributed them in George, Knysna, Graaff-Reinet and Cape Town. As you can see by the enclosed pictures they were well received by many, many people. Thankyou Patrice and everyone else involved in this project for making many kids here happy. You will never know how much you have touched them by your generosity.

they received their coats and new pair of shoes! Thanks Ross for all of your work in this project. Please thank everyone involved as they helped many people get through
the winter here a lot better. In addition to the new coats and shoes from

Tennessee, McDonough Christian Church from McDonough, Georgia also had a group of kids who donated some of their own shoes that were still in good condition. A really special thing they did was to write little notes to put inside the shoes. The kids that got those shoes with the notes

Q. m 9

felt encouraged and |~

happy. Thank you guys A
for taking the time to Thank-you to everyone who donated

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anything to be used
you for your service.

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fortunate here in South

among the less

Africa. May God Bless

V.

Thanl<s to the VBS in Englewood Christian Church in Jacf<sonville, Florida, kids here got new school supplies.

As you can see from their faces, the l<ids were very pleased with the clothing distribution from the churches in Tennessee and Georgia.

"Along with other activities,

we have had othervisitors

since our last report. Teri Hamilton and her mother, Janet Layman, arrived
-

a joy to work with. We have also gone to Knysna several times and, as usual, it is good to be with them. *We have an intern arriving from California on November 23 for four weeks. Amy Hagedorn from Occidental, California, is coming to do work with the churches and organizations around George.

5 days after the interns

left in July and they were here for ten days. Teri

^
Teri Hamilton and her moth-

Prayers
*Please pray for the churches here as crime is still bad in the townships and many Christians still live in fear. *Please pray for Denzil as he completes his grade 8 school work. Please pray for his teacher who is also
his mother

brought \he memorial er, Janet Layman, brought gifts that were given in the memorial gift to Romemory of her husband land Joseph in Kimberiey in

{Jonathan Hamilton) to memory of Teri's husband,

give to Roland Joseph Jonathan Hamilton. Roland in Kimberiey and we was very pleased.
delivered
them to him.

*Please pray for Fran's mother, Annette Hamilton, as there

is some recurring medical problems. *Please pray for us as we have a lot of visitors coming during November, December and January.
*Pray for Amy as she travels here on the 22nd and 23rd
of November.

*We are so thankful for the safe travels of all interns and

mission groups and other visitors during the last reporting

time.

Town (approx. 2,000 miles in 10 days). They left on the 30th of July. It was a pleasure to host them. During the first week of August we attended the South Africa Missionary gathering in Port Shepstone in KwaZulu Natal. There were about 10 of us in attendance. It

was a good time of refreshment.

*We have made a couple of trips to Graaff-Reinet for weeks of teaching. These have gone welland the group there is

*While traveling in August, our house was broken into but other than the ceiling being ripped out, there was no other damage. *Thank-you for your encouraging words when you write as it is great to hear from home. Thanks must go to those of you who faithfully support the work here in South Africa. We could never be here without you. *We hope that you have a great Christmas and New
Year's!

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