I’ve just returned from a two week trip to South Africa. There were a number of objectives to my visit:

• to impart some spiritual blessing to the church in Alberton
• to witness the grace of God working in an assembly of true Christians, unrestrained by the traditional American church model
• to visit my best friend and brother in Christ, Adam Cesar, and his family
• to experience South Africa’s culture and use it to broaden my perspective
• to have a much-needed vacation from work; to relax and enjoy life a bit

My stay was enjoyable and fulfilling in every way. I left Buffalo on the afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 15th, stopping in Newark, NJ, before my 14-hour flight to Johannesburg. I had a pretty good amount of rest on the plane and the flight seemed to go by pretty quickly. I met Brother Adam at the airport and we drove to his home in Brackenhurst. They had prepared a room for me by shuffling the kiddos around, and I was very comfortable there. Hannah, Adam’s wife, kept me well fed with a variety of healthy South African and American meals. Shortly after my arrival, we took an hour-long drive around the city and went for a little walk around the block where they live. I quickly saw that Adam’s description was not exaggerated: South Africa is a land of walls, gates, and bars. Literally, every single private and public property everywhere is surrounded by a wall and locked gate, usually with additional measures such as barbed wire and a prominently posted sign warning of a fast-response security service. There is no such thing as going to knock on your neighbor’s door, unless he happens to be a tenant at the same property, inside the same wall.

It was an indescribable blessing for me to spend time with the children. Adam and Hannah fear and love and seek the Lord, and his grace reigns in their home. There is no television, no video games, no worldly influence. Bible devotions and instruction are the daily pattern. The kids spend their time in wholesome activities, homeschooling, chores, playing together, and watching videos of Bible stories. For a household with 4 young children, it was very calm and peaceful… and right. This is how families are meant to be.

Adelaide, 6, is the oldest, and the only one of the kids born in the US. Obedient and responsible, she is the ideal big sister, watching and protecting the younger ones. Adelaide is a fantastic reader; she is self-motivated to read throughout the day, and already reads the KJV with ease and clarity (the KJV is supposed to be a 6th-grade reading level; she is in 1st grade). She is also following in the steps of both her parents in learning to play the piano, and she loves to sing. Adelaide was really shy around me for the first week I was there; instead of speaking to me directly, she would always ask her dad (right in front of me!) to tell me something on her behalf. More than anyone else, Adelaide resembles Adam’s mom, Deb.

Hudson, 4, is the next oldest, and he’s a gem. This guy loves to talk and explain things, especially Bible stories and his “dreams”. If he doesn’t know a word, he doesn’t let that stop him - everything he doesn’t know is just a “thing”; so on that “thing” there is this “thing”, and it has this “thing”… haha. It amazes me how he can tell his stories with a straight face, because I can hardly listen to them with a straight face. And his Bible stories are the best: he augments them with a full array of impressive sound effects and artistic license. Hudson also gave me a new nickname on my first day there: I am now called Uncle Stingray! Somehow, Hudson was blessed with very orange hair, and he knows it. When he drew a picture of his family, it was easy to spot Hudson - he looked like he had orange flames coming out of his head!

They also have twin boys, Benjamin and Judah, who are 1½ years old. Benjamin looks alarmingly like his mother, with his blond hair, blue eyes, and almost her exact face. He is at times strong-willed and stubborn, but he can also be very sweet. Benjamin is just starting to talk; his main words are “MA-ma”, “DA-da”, “DU-da” (Judah), and “BYE” (car). (He associates “bye” with cars, because whenever someone says “bye” they get in the car.) Benjamin LOVES to open and close gates and doors.

Judah was the hardest for me to get to know in my brief stay there. He was born with Down’s Syndrome, so his behavior is more erratic. He doesn’t really speak yet, except for “ba-ba-ba-ba-ba” (though one time, after his dad said “hallelujah” in the kitchen, I heard Judah say something that sounded very near “hallelujah” - which is interesting, because Judah means “praise” - Gen. 29:35). Judah likes to pound his hands on a table, or hold your fingers and squeeze them; he gets really excited when he sees his own reflection in a mirror or window. Sometimes it takes a little effort to get Judah to smile; but when he does, it’s priceless. Judah looks most like his dad.

After resting the first day, we went on a 3-mile or so hike through the Wolwespruit (“wolf-spring”) Trail Park, which was when I first got to meet some the men of the church. I loved them all immediately. Although we chose the easiest trail available, it was a little rough for me because I’m out of shape and still dealing with a knee injury; but it was a great experience and we all endured unto the end. I got my first taste of the South African wilderness, worked out some long-forgotten muscles, and got to bond with a few of the guys as we walked. Following the hike, we had brunch outside a little cafe at the end of the trail.

~

On Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to preach to Alberton Bible Church, most of which I’d already met by this time. The church meets in a building owned by some kind of truck business. The owner offered to let the church use the space free of charge, refusing to accept any payment or rent, because it was “for God”. (Imagine such a thing in the USA!) We had a typical church setup: rows of seats, a pulpit for the preacher, makeshift hymnals with perhaps a couple dozen songs, etc. We had the same Bible, the same songs, the same “activities” that you’d find in a typical American church. The difference was in the Spirit. The church was a body, a tightly-knit family, who knew one another intimately, loved one another, and desired to seek the Lord together with all their hearts. It sounds very cliché, because churches are supposed to be exactly this; but this gathering was so “real” that it made all other church gatherings seem almost artificial. After having attended American church services for 30 years, it was like… seeing an authentic Christian church - the kind described in the Bible - for the very first time. They weren’t trying to emulate a popular model; they weren’t trying to be like other churches, or fit in with a denomination; they were fellowshipping together with a pure heart, worshipping the Lord, and seeking his will in earnest. There was no schedule; nobody was in a hurry to get out and go back to a worldly life. These people LIVE for God, and they were enjoying life in him.

Since I only remembered Jonathan F. and Natasha from the Zoom meetings a year or two ago, I thought it best to start by introducing myself to the church, with a little about my background and what I perceive to be my God-given gift toward the church: understanding of the true gospel of Christ. It was a blessing and privilege to minister to the Lord’s sheep, and I could see that they were swift to hear and to receive truth. After discussing it with the church, we agreed to take full advantage of my time with them by meeting in the evenings as well.

For our Sunday evening meeting, we met in the “upper room”, a small conference room upstairs where we could all sit around a table together. As Adam mentioned to me, there is a time to declare from the pulpit, and a time to gather at the table. For this time, the Lord put on my heart to talk about humility, as being prerequisite to the great need of receiving and walking in his grace. Jesus himself talked to his disciples in this way, gathered around a table, before getting down to wash his disciples’ feet and giving us the example to do likewise; which we also did. And he said, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” (John 13:17) It was a beautiful thing that night, to look around the table at God’s children, seeing them smiling and weeping for joy at keeping this simple, humbling, cleansing commandment of the Lord Jesus. Pride is such a burdensome thing to carry; how light and free we become when at last we drop it, and take upon us his yoke of meekness and lowliness!

We continued to meet throughout the week, and I had several more opportunities to teach. Whenever I get an opportunity to teach believers, it’s my desire to make the most of it by teaching on something of vital importance that is usually neglected or misunderstood in the modern church (and which I myself lacked for many years): the righteousness of faith. In my own mind, I think of spiritual things in terms of concepts presented in the scripture, and how they work together; and when I teach, that’s my first inclination. I’ve been told that I sound like a professor. I guess there were times that Paul sounded a bit like a professor; but the Bible is very big on giving specific examples and using them to teach. It later occurred to me that this is the proper way to teach children. And this church seemed very childlike: humble, ready to receive, hungry for the sincere milk of the word. As I was preparing to teach, reading through Romans 4, I felt that I was being prompted to focus on specifically “the faith of Abraham”, and how we are to walk in the steps of his faith. We prayed; we asked the Lord to be our teacher; and he taught us his doctrine. Specifically, he began bringing my attention to how the scripture speaks of “walking” and “steps”, and the importance of continuing in them; how beforetime the gospel was preached unto Abraham; and how he became the father of us all.

That evening, we talked about Jesus’ interaction with the rich young ruler, about which I had written an article back in January. This man came to Jesus with a desire for eternal life - a situation very relevant to us today. Unfortunately, he also took the wrong approach, as many still do today. First, he called Jesus “good”, without realizing that Jesus is God; without realizing that Jesus is not included in the “all have sinned”; without realizing that his own sin kept him from being justified by some “good thing” that he could do. Second, he did not approach with a heart toward God. Indeed, this man never mentioned God in the entire conversation! His heart was not set on being right with God, or on pleasing him, or on living unto him; rather, his heart was set on his riches, and on simply adding eternal life to the stockpile of possessions that he already had - so long as he didn’t have to give anything up to attain it. (Sounds like Christianity in America, does it not?) Jesus then addressed his question: “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” WHOA! Jesus said that he must keep God’s commandments to enter into eternal life! (How many Baptists would get to these words of Jesus, and then insist that he didn’t mean that?!) The man replied that he kept them. Jesus didn’t chide him for boasting about keeping the commandments; they are meant to be kept! In fact, right after he told Jesus that he kept the commandments, the scripture says that Jesus, beholding him, loved him! But then Jesus gets to the heart of the issue: which, unsurprisingly, is the heart of the issue. He said the man was not perfect, because he lacked one thing. Without telling him what that one thing was, he made it obvious by giving him another commandment, one which he couldn’t keep: “sell what you have, give to the poor, and follow me.” It’s good and right and necessary to keep his commandments (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!); but if it’s not from a heart that loves God above all, then neither ourselves nor our works are perfect. That doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor; whether we have millions to distribute to the poor, or two mites to cast into the treasury. Jesus had told him, “If thou wilt be perfect…”; but he was not willing to be perfect. He went away sorrowful, without eternal life, because he was unwilling to give the Lord his heart.

We then compared this rich young ruler with other rich men, like Abraham, Job, and Zacchaeus. These men had great riches; and yet, God never told them to sell everything they had. Why? Because their riches were not occupying their heart, the place that is meant for God to dwell in. They didn’t trust in their riches; they trusted in God. Abraham had something far more precious to him than riches: his only begotten son; but he would not withhold even Isaac from God, because he loved God more. Job, though he was convinced that God took away all that he had, insisted, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him”. Zacchaeus, so moved by Christ and his word, took it upon himself to give away half of his goods to the poor - without having been told to give away anything! So we saw that God is not after our riches: he is after our heart; and whatever we love most, God will demand of us, in order that he would be what we love most.

We spent Thursday morning in 1 John 1, appreciating the wisdom and clarity given to John to share the things of God with his church. First, that Jesus is the Word of life. Jesus said that his words are spirit; and we looked at how words are used to encapsulate and transfer and express a spirit. We know that the things of a man are not known to any other man, but only to the spirit that is within him. In order for those things in him to be made manifest to others, they must be declared by means of words. Truly we are made in the image of God in this respect also! For God, being a Spirit, to express and declare himself to us, and to deliver himself into our hearts, it was necessary to send his Word; so that, believing his Word by faith, we could receive his Spirit contained thereby. Thus immortal God, the Creator and source of all life, sent us his Spirit of life through the Word of life, manifesting eternal life in a visible, audible, touchable way to humanity! In Christ, he bridged the gap between God and man, creating a conduit through which his eternal life could flow into mankind!

We also saw what is possibly the most absolute and important statement in all of the Bible: “that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” If there is one phrase by which all of the scripture and will of God is to be interpreted and understood, this is it. God is light. The only way to have fellowship with him is to walk in light. One cannot walk in darkness and have fellowship with God. (Building on what we talked about earlier in regard to walking in the steps of the faith of Abraham, we defined “walk” scripturally: step after step after step, etc.; walking in light is not an isolated “moment of saving faith”, nor is walking in darkness an “oopsie!” moment of accidental sin.) We examined closely what John had to say in regard to sin, taking particular note of the difference between having sin (unrighteousness) in us, which is cleansed by his blood as we walk in the light, and actually committing sins, which we are expressly forbidden to do. God has given us in Christ the power to overcome sin, and he does not expect us to continue sinning. If (not when; it is NOT inevitable) a Christian sins, God has made provision. For those who walk in the light and confess their sins, God is faithful and just to forgive sins through the propitiation of Jesus Christ. For those who walk in darkness and don’t confess their sins, there is neither cleansing nor forgiveness. John doesn’t write these things to scare people about losing their salvation or whatnot; he writes these things to believers who actually believe the word, so they would continue to walk in the light.

Finally, the next Sunday morning, I preached on the topic of being accounted worthy of everlasting life. There is a strange idea in the modern church that Christianity consists of continually embracing imperfection and unworthiness. “I’m just a saved sinner! I’ll never be perfect in this life! I could never be worthy!“ This is a false humility. This is the prodigal son sending his father a letter, saying, “I have sinned, and am no more worthy to be called thy son”; and then proceeding to remain in the pig-sty instead of returning to his father and being restored to what he should be. From Genesis to Revelation, God has commanded man to be perfect with him, and provided every necessity to this end for those who walk in the light with him. God said to Abram, “Walk before me, and be thou perfect.” He testified that Job was a perfect and upright man. He commanded the Hebrews to be perfect with the LORD their God. David said that God’s way is perfect, and that also God made his way perfect. Throughout the Old Testament, God commended those who had a perfect heart toward him, and disapproved of those that did not. Jesus commanded us to be perfect. Paul commanded us to be perfect. He said that Christ gave pastors to the church for the perfecting of the saints, and the scriptures are given to us that we should be perfect. Jesus, Paul, James, Peter, and John all either commanded Christians to be perfect, or stated that God would make them perfect in this life. Perfect in faith, perfect in love, perfect in good works. Perfect, perfect, perfect. There is literally nothing in the Bible to say that we can’t be perfect, or we shouldn’t try to be perfect, but everything in the Bible to say that we can and should and must.

Moreover, Jesus said that those who obtain the next world, and the resurrection from the dead, shall be accounted worthy to obtain them. Was Jesus lying? Did he not know what he was talking about? Yes, some few will be worthy of life, and many will be accounted unworthy. Paul gives more detail on this topic in Acts 13, differentiating between those who judged themselves “unworthy of everlasting life” and those that were ordained to eternal life. We examined this, and found that the difference was in their response to the word of God: those who put it from them judge themselves unworthy, while those who glorify the word of the Lord are ordained to life. Remember, Jesus is the Word of life. Receive him, and he will dwell in you and make you worthy of life; reject him, and you judge yourself unworthy of life. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:12)

It really does come down to the heart. The rich young ruler we talked about, he was unwilling to hear what the Word of life had to say to him, and to receive the Word of life in his heart, because his heart was filled up with the things of this world and had no place for God. Having thus rejected the Word of life, he could not be made worthy of life; and went away in sorrow, not obtaining the eternal life that he had inquired about. May we learn from his example; may we take the more earnest heed to the Son of God, and hear his voice, and receive his word, and live.

~

Thursday afternoon, we drove a couple hours northwest of Johannesburg to Pilanesberg National Park. We had arranged to stay at a lodge overnight, and then to do a game drive early the following morning. (For those who don’t know, a game drive is like a guided tour through a park; not to visit specific places, but to locate and observe the characteristic wildlife of the region.) We arrived at the lodge and the guys started cooking for dinner. We had a Braai (pronounced “bry”; essentially a barbecue), grilling up some boerewors (South African sausage), while watching groups of elephants and giraffes make their way to the watering hole against a South African sunset. Yeah… that’s something you don’t get in NY: look up from your barbecue and see elephants walking by! That was a really cool experience. Picking up a couple pairs of binoculars on the way was a good idea.

We got up really early the following morning and just barely made it on time to the departure site for the game drive. We got on a truck, sort of like a mini bus with no windows, driven by our guide, a park employee. The game drive was supposed to be 3 hours; and after driving for 20-30 minutes, we still hadn’t really seen anything. I have to admit, I was starting to get a little nervous, like, What if we picked a bad day and there are no animals out and about?! But after a little while, I saw an elephant far off, way up on a hill. And then more elephants… giraffes… zebras… we started to see more and more. We weren’t the only vehicle on the drive; there were other trucks ahead of us and behind us. The guides would communicate with someone in a helicopter or balloon to find out where there were sightings of particular animals, and we would drive toward that area, keeping a lookout for anything interesting.

Most of the animals were 100+ yards away (we passed around the binoculars to share a better look), but we did have some close encounters. First, we pulled up alongside an elephant that was standing near the road. We stopped the truck and had a nice, long look at him, and got some great pictures. (Fun fact: the African bush elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal, 13 feet tall and weighing up to 20,000 pounds!) It’s hard to get much closer to an elephant than we did. Yet, somehow, we managed. Because a short while later, we met a very large male standing in the road in front of us. Our guide told us, “I know this elephant… he’s a very naughty one.” He stood there, looking at us, not budging. The guide said he would have a staring contest with us, to see who would move out of the road first to let the other pass. Eventually, the elephant decided to walk around us. Literally, he walked within a foot or two of the truck, which had no windows. We had no idea what he was going to do; I half-wondered whether he would reach in with his trunk! But he didn’t… he just calmly walked around us and continued down the road. One of the guys, our friend Andrew, reached out and pet the elephant as he passed by. The experience affected Andrew much more than it affected the elephant; I wonder if the great beast even felt the touch through his thick, leathery hide. It’s amazing how a creature that big and that heavy could walk so softly. I will never again compare my upstairs neighbors to stomping elephants - the elephants are quieter!

About halfway through the drive, we made a stop at a watering hole with a little observation shelter and restrooms. The shelter was right over the water, and enclosed with fences for our protection; it was a great place to watch the hippos bathing. After a little coffee break, we continued on the drive. There was a cheetah sighting, but when we got to the area we didn’t see her. We did, however, get to see a few lions, very close to the road (maybe about 10 yards away from us). At first, we saw a couple of females in a clearing, slowly walking into the bush. Then I spotted a male; only got to see him from the back and side, so no good pics of his face, but we were still glad we got to see one. What’s a safari in South Africa without a great, maned African lion?

In the afternoon, we took a cable car to the top of a nearby mountain, where we had some pizza and enjoyed a nice view of the surrounding area. It was great to just hang out and talk with my friends there. We talked about South African history, geography, and culture, and the differences between USA and South Africa.

Saturday, we went to a “squatter camp”, where the brothers and sisters have a ministry working with the children of a very poor community. This was perhaps my favorite experience of the trip. We gathered together in a field and talked to the kids; the older ones understood English, and translated for us to the younger ones who couldn’t understand. We sang songs and hymns with them, in English and in their native tongue (Zulu or Xhosa?), and then broke off into different age groups to teach them the word of God. They didn’t have Bibles, but Brother Jonathan had printed up some excerpts of scripture and we passed them out to everyone. The two of us had the group of older kids, aged about 8-15 or so, and taught them a lesson about fear, using the account of the spies who went to search out the promised land. We talked about our fears, how we often make them out to be much bigger than they are, and how small they become when we put our trust in the living God. We prayed with them, and fed them, and blessed them in the name of the Lord… what a wonderful open door to reach precious souls, and to minister Christ to those who are not choked by cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life! If the Lord permits me to return to South Africa, this is what I desire to fill that time with!

That Sunday, following our last meeting with the church, Adam and I flew to Port Elizabeth for my last few days in South Africa. (Port Elizabeth was officially renamed to Gqeberha in 2021, but most people still refer to it as Port Elizabeth, or PE.) We stayed with one of Adam’s friends, Brother Jan, and his family, who were very welcoming and hospitable. We had a few reasons for visiting PE. First, Adam had been telling me about Brother Jan, even going so far as to describe him to me as “the South African Ray”, and wanted very much for me to meet him and share the experience of his various ministries there. As I understand, Jan is in full-time ministry and lives in a home provided by a missionary organization.

Second, Adam has felt the Lord leading him to move his family to Port Elizabeth, and we made a visit to a particular property to check it out. Everything just seemed right about it - the central location, the property itself, the arrangement of dealing directly with the owner, even the house number! (By the time of my writing this, Adam and family have already moved to the new place and are getting settled in.)

Third, I had actually never been to a real ocean beach before, and Adam wanted to take me to see some of the beautiful beaches in South Africa. So each day, for the last three days I was there, we visited a different beach. Monday, we walked along a sandy beach close to the city. I wasn’t used to walking on a beach (nor even walking outside barefoot!), so I did my best not to step on anything that might be sharp or dangerous. What an odd site I must have been, carefully stepping along the beach! Everyone else looked as though they might have trod on broken glass, and it wouldn’t have bothered them. It was wonderful to see the ocean and experience the beach… but I’m not gonna lie: the other two beaches were more interesting once I had seen them! On Tuesday, we went to a different type of beach that had big rock formations instead of sand; and Wednesday, Adam and I went to Jeffreys Bay, which is very popular as a “surf capital”. I could see why; the beach was long and beautiful, and the waves were enormous! We walked along the beach for 2 or 3 hours, just taking in the sights and collecting interesting seashells to take back home. (At least, that was my intention…)

Our plan was to fly back to Johannesburg Wednesday afternoon, where I had a few hours to wait before my flight back to the states from the same airport; and the guys from the church were to meet us there for dinner so we could have a final goodbye. However, probably due to my dallying at Jeffreys Bay, we were late getting to the airport in PE, and almost didn’t make the flight at all. The airline clerk told us that we were too late to check my bag (I had brought all my stuff to PE so I’d have it at the airport for my departure). We tried pleading with her, because we were only a couple minutes late, but she continued to insist that it was too late to check a bag. Well, I decided to give up on the bag; otherwise we were going to miss the flight ourselves! So, to make a long story short, I had to leave my larger bag in Port Elizabeth, with almost everything I had brought to South Africa (i.e. most of my clothes) and some of my souvenirs (e.g. the seashells). Fortunately, we were able to reach Jan and call him back to the airport to grab the bag, so at least our friend has all my stuff. (Update: now in PE, Adam has all my stuff.)

Anyway, we got back to Joburg and met up with the guys from the church, and it was a great time. I met these men for the first time in South Africa, and immediately loved them as brothers in Christ. I have so many great memories of our time together: hiking, praying, eating, teaching, worshipping, driving, talking… sharing our lives and the things God has done for us and with us. I really look forward to returning.

Things are different in Africa. People are open to talk and hear and consider in a way that it is hard to find in the US. If you have something to say, they will listen. If you ask them to read something, they will thank you and take it and read it. People are more… organic… the way people are supposed to be. Being there with them really opens one’s eyes to how things have become in the US, and other more “developed” countries: we’ve become so afraid of offending people, or even of offending ourselves, that we’ve forgotten how to be real. Well, that was one of my observations. Maybe you’ll find that hard to believe. Maybe you need to visit for yourself, and see the difference.