Fenders Report

Penders
Dear Friends:

African Evangelism
Jan Feb. 19S1

SO' much has happened sinee vre last ivrote^! The last part of Nov. & First of Dec .our prea.chers continued to .go out in groups to the same general areas I wrote about be fore, In addition to the Gospel, they were-able to take food to many Christians. The source of the food wishes to remain unnamed, but the amt, was large & the food was

needed. Since we did not have enough for everyone^ our men gave what they had to needy Christians first, then they preached, This> in their opinion, took av^y the temptat ion to profess to believe & be baptized in the hopes of getting food. Even so, several
did respond & were baptized.

After the trips in Dec, our preachers who knew the area around Chidamoyo & vrest, said it v/as safe for me to go out there and spend some time. On Jan, 6, Mr, ICLamlvOj Mr, Marowa and I left Sinoia in our Peugeot station wagon pulling a. trailer with the last of. the food^ VJe spent the night at Chidamoyo idssion & the follov/ing morning went west into an area I had never driven in & only flown to a few times. For several yrs, until Chidamoyo v/as evacuated, doctors had flown to several places in that area to hold services fie clinics. In doing this a number of churches were started. There were 4 churches in this area with people who had wanted to be baptized before but there was not enough water^ The rains began in Nov. so. v/e believed there would be enough, I was a bit apprehensive about the security- situation, but we had no problems

At the first 2 places, building on the work done before, we baptized i+4J We called
in the vil?^gesj v/alking all over barefooted,, wading streams. It was good to be back in the bushi No noise but the.^birds, frogs, etc,^people were very happy to see a
missionary. after some yrs, IJe spent Ifed,,. Thurs., & Fri,,in those areas. Fri. we head ed, for the other 2 ar^s which a-jre. smaller &, closer together <S: intended calling that,

afternoon & evening telling those, V'/ho were r.eady to be baptized to come to a chosen place early Sat, morning. After 2 services, one at each place, we vrould head back for
the mission and, I on to Sinoia. But, Fri, night & Sat, it rained. By 8:00 Sat. morning weren^t sure when we vrould get out, Allday vre worked at it. we.knew we were, stuck The people got 4 oxen & tried to-pull with them but they weren't fully grown. So they brought 4 larger ones. Some progress was made but there was srill at least a kHometei to go at nightfa!l-l. Each night we had a service. Sat. night I told the people that I was expected home before then & that Betty would be. worried Sc asked them to pray for

her, V/e-decided I could catch a, bus at 6 A.M.. Sun-,-. The first- bus to go toward anj'^oi'jn. hence a phone, since we had arrived there, Eie man at vihose home we were staying said he had seen me at one of our airstarips.but never thought-I. would .ever be in hishome. He said I had been a great encouragement to themdidn't want me to, be discouraged Isy being stuck so far-out in the bush,, but to. come back,(After they g^t the .station wagon out^ 1-Q.ajnbo, ;&,Iferom,who both drive,, v^^ll .feeing.it in.),-6,Sun the ':t,I, baardc^^n African bus, the only white on it then or probably ever, I rode for 9 hrs,
over roads, you vrauldn't believe, I lost count of the times they stopped to -put Mg.ter-__

"in the radiator due td~driving in lovr gear so mucli. Ti^/o times we stopped to tights the lug bolts on a r^r vrheel. At 3j20 I called Betty fro^i Que Que, a town on one of the main roads far from Sinoia & she came & picked me up. Almost literally! The
people on the bus were very kind, even those I couldn*t talk to much. One took me right to the door of a hotel in Que Que, for he said he wasn't going to leave me un til I v/as where he thought I should be, I don*t knov: when the station wagon will ge": '"a dc, but I v;ill be going out again soon. Praise God for improved conditions! If you.-a txi shar^k .faith with people who want to hear v/ha.t_Ci

In His

Forwarding Agents:
Mr. & Mrs. John Gilliland

207 Mulberrii

Georgetown, Illinois 61846

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Fenders Report

MJf ^ m

The Fenders

African Evangelism

F'eb, .198^
Dear Friends:

If you are wondering why another newsletter so soon, we hope you are more pleasant ly surprised than wondering-it is because the last one ended with a certain Peugeot station wagon stuck out in the bush a good kilometer from the road along with 2 preachers who were to bring it in when, or if, i t somehov; got to the road. Also due to rain the baptismal services, we intended to have at those last 2 places were post
poned , Now we can tell you the results of both dilemmas. After I boarded that bus for

"leisure3^" 9 hr. ride, Mlambo & Marov;a promptly decided more pulling pov^er was need
ed to get the station v/agon out. So four oxen Sc two donkeys were hitched togeiher. Unfortunately they couldn't start the motor for the battery which I had just bought

had a bad cell. Bui even with some men pushing as well as the donkeys & oxen pii'lling
very little progress was made. In desperation Mlambo went to the store vrhere I board

ed the bus, & persuaded 25 men & some v/omen to help. In short they got enough people pushing, pulling & lifting to take that station wagon, not. running, at least a kilo
meter to the road. Then an additional push on the harder surface of the road & it v:as running. They got it out about 5p.m, Sunday & Mlambo & Marowa took off for their homes, Mlambo brought it on to Sinoia later that wk.

On Frii the 23rd, \'d.th another new battery & a few other repairs, I left Simia again & spent that night at Chidamoyo, Early Sat, morning the same preachers & I head ed back to finish vfhat we had intended doing before. This time we kept the car on the roads, V/e called in villages Sat. afternoon & on Sun, the 25th I preached at one place with Mai-oiva as my interpter & tllambo preached at the other place & there were

a total df 46 baptized into Christ, That makes a total of 90 in the past month. They
ranged in age from 14 to men & women who have no idea hovr old they are, I took a

picture df one old fellov^ who I would guess is in his 80'Si Needless to say the people
were very happy we had returned & we were too#

The trailer we took with us the first trip had been left at the village we stayed
in the night the rains earner l.'e asked if they could get some oxen or donkeys & pull it
to the road. Sunday services were to begin at 8 a.m., although we knew it would be later. At 9 a^m. many we expected to be there had not arrived, then we learned that

they & others were bringing the trailer by hand. They must have pushed &. pulled it a good mile or more, coming v;ay around the wet place where we had been stuck. Amazing
what people can do if they vrark together.

There is one more place in that general area we need to go when we can, and

hund

reds of other areas. The people, especially some of the men in the churches wehave

been to want us to come back & spend a week ar more teaching them on such subjec ts as Church leadership, IJhile there this time we instructed 3 men at 3 different places on hovf to baptize, but of course there is more to leadership than that & they realize it^ VThen v/e wiHTind the "tme to do this,"" althbu'gh xt"'ls"much heeded, I dori't knwl At the present time I am teaching two days a week at the Bible College in Salis bury which re-opened Jan, 13, and Betty has taken over the correspondence courses
while ^^idge Goldthv/aite is on furlough. VJe still have our Tues, night classes with

the 2 colored & one European couple and of course we help out some at the European church in Sinoia, VJith all this plus working v;ith the African preachers handling;...
"boe. used clothing we are kcp't. oiit of.txjo much mischief and we love it,
Bytj oani. Cod hl-oc
Tour brother and sister

INigh- and, Bet+.y

Forwarding Agents:
Mr. & Mrs. John Gilliland

207 Mu/faerry

Georgetown, Illinois 61846

A tie-

Fenders Report

I
I'

pr

l-iThe Fenders

Dear Friends:

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jsesus, Betty and I are well, in fact I can't re
member when WG' have both gone so long without even a bad cold, Wnat a blessinggDod
health is,

The Lord has blessed Zimbabwe with much rain this yr. The crops are very good al most all over & this was needed,. The past 2 or 3 yrs, rain has been scarce & crops

poor^ This along with many not being able to even plant because of the war brought
much distress. As soon as this yrs, crop is harvested there should be food for all Heavy rains have been hard on the roads_, especially out in the rural or bush areac Some roa^s have washed out, at other places..they have become very soft. In Tribal Trust Lands there are 3 types of crossings at streams. Some have; rocks placed In the

bed, or those that just happen to be there. These streams do not flow except in tne rainy'season & even then are not deep. But since little or notning has been done to aid in crossing you can eiasily get stuck, especially if even one or two otner ^^nic!!
have crossed ahead of you since the rains began.

The second type of crossing is concrete poured over rocks placed in the stream bed
liTsually these hold up well. But some streams flow over these most of the yr,- &durthe rainy season it is quite deep & the cement is slippery from algae. The thirii

type; we call low level bridges* These; are: strums which oft^ flow yr,- round, tiiougrnot much in the middle of the drj' season. There is one or more openings for thewater

to flow thru , but the bridge is only a few ft, above the bed of the stream, so the,
are often under several ft, of"water.Around Chidamoyo ij.ssion, or almost anyi-JiB re. ir. the bush, there are some of all 3 kinds of crossings.
Since the last letter I have been to Chidamoyo 2 or 3 times. There is one,road

which doesn't cross any streams of any size. It is the newest way of getting tJere &
not all of our missionaries know it. Two men tried going out the first of Feb. tak

ing the old way & had to turn back where a stream has only the concrete poured on rocks. The water was too deep. Later I learned that the wk, before tney turned back 3 men in a Land Rover trying to cross at that point and the Land Rover drowned_ out.

juRiped but one didn't make it* Since then another man has drowned at the same place.
So I haven't tried making any long trips into the bush. By the end of March I shojilc
be able to start again*

Then a tree floated against it &they vvere swept off the narrow concreteTh^ all

The' Security situation continues to in^jrove in spite of what you may read inpaperf or seen on T.V. So as soon as the rains taper off there are even more large areas I
Can go into ae time permits, ' ^ *

Betty & I are at the Bible College in- Salisbury 2 days a wk, I am tea.ching & Betty is taking care of correspondence courses^ However this.was just for onet erm. Work in the area is going well & I believe this is true all over.- The buildings a*!

Chidamoyo are almost completely rebuilt or- restored. The Govt,, using funds given bi

tiptop shape:. Whether they will also pay for new equipment I don't know,. Keither ec
T know v/here; personnel is going to c6me from tO' staff it Much to do and few to do it , Hopefully some will accept the challenge & prepare as quickly as possible to
comei- aa d help out' ,
'
.

some country(maybe the U,S,.) has paid-, or will pay for everytning to put it bac k in

'
.
Yours- In Christ, Hugh and Betty

At the moment we have enough used clothings Many boxes were held up- around Ctiri&tmas,. But help vrith clothing l^^i[Ll b needed for quite some time,-Keep' tfle people ana
us in your prayers.

'Forwarding Agents:
Mr. & Mrs. John Gilliland

207 Mu/faerry

X3eorgetown, Iliinois 61846

Fenders Report

t,

'

d?'

The Fenders

A&ican Evangelism

June 1981
Dear Friends In Christ:

Greetings in the name of Jesus I Betty and I are well and happy and pray that you
ar^e the same.

Betty still goes to Salisbury each wk. to mark correspondence lessons and get them

in the mail. She is also working on the college library that she started in 197^ and
nobody has done anything since. We both attend Wed. night Bible study. Sometimes I
lead in it. I teach a scripture class on Tues. night and Betty participates.

Recently a European couple brought a young African man, who works for them, to see
me. This fellow believes he has had a spell put on him. The fellow had told them he

was quitting & going back to his home area to see a witch doctor. They didn't want
him to do either, so they brought him to me. I had met him before & knew he spoke english. After hearing his story I asked if he i-ras a Christian & he said so. I ex plained that there i-ras his real problem. One of our African ministers, Mr. Sixpence,

happened to be here & between the two of us \-jq showed him (I think) that as long as
he believed he had been witched he would feel bab, be sick oc in general not bo at

ease. He had been taught from childhood up that some people can witch others, & the
only remedy was to go to a witch doctor & let him tell you what to do. The problem
x^as all in his mind. But, without tho help of Jesus & the Holy Spirit he could not overcome this belief he had long held. We prayed for him and ho was to go to Six

pence's house to talk to him some more. He said ho bolievod in God & that Jesus is the son of God. So there is much hope that he xjill turn to Christ & accept him as his saviour* Jesus is his only hope both ptysically & spiritually, but he has to know it
& bolieve i t .

My trips to the bush are increasing in frequency. Since X last wrote I & Sixpence went to a place N.E. of Mt. Darwin. During the war there wr.s much hard fighting in

that area. The only preacher we had killed during tho we.r lived in that area. Now things around there are quite normal, or appear to bo. People from 2 or 3 congreg ations met & wo had an enjoyable time. Only after wo left did I discover that the man many think caused this preachers death, by branding him a "sell outj' was present. In
fact, ho played the part of one of the leaders.

More recently Mr. MLambo & Mr. Marowa & I went back to the area where we got stuck in Jan, Wo visited 2 of the 5 congregations in the area where I proachod & there were
k to bo baptized. Wo arrived in tho area Fri. eve. & slept at a police camp. After going to bed I

heard a noise sounding like someone pounding on a tin pan. The follows told me some

one was chasing elephants out of their maize. As wo drove around the area signs of
elephant was abundant. Fortunately on those narrow roads wo didn't moot any.
Tho men at one of the"olacos have asked us to come in Juno for a 3 day area mooting.

Lessons on Fri. & Sat. with services on Sun. People from ^ other congregations will

participate. Much of the teaching will be for men on leadership. When wo go out, or when just our african Ministers go. clothes are taken & given to those in need. Just recently 2 of our ministers wont into a T.T.L., where we haven't

been -in A long ti.me. They found many in desperate need. Since Jan. we have rociov'od very little clothing. That is going doi-m rapidly. It takes about 2 mos, for a box to
reach us. Please if you can send more clothing. Wo recieve very little for chxldrun, and thore are many of them. We are also beginning to get low on womens dresses, ei'"^.<ocially those with waist 3^" -''nd up.

Continue to pray for the people and for us, that they vrill accept Jesus as Savior.r and continue to grow and that we will by words & actions be good ambassadors of.
J.,ord.

Your fellow servants,

Hugh and Betty

Forivarding Agents: Mr. & Mrs. John GUliland 207 Mulberry

Georgetown. Ulinovt 61846

Fenders Report

xTm.
Tlir PenckTS

'i^Ki

African Evangelist

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

July 1981

letter. The meeting began June 12 15-20 miles wide. The people have from last Nov, thru May. Some are May that we come in June to teach

It is winter-'in Zimbabwe. It gets quite cold at night, XVe have had frost several nights. Lower elevations are x^armer but June thru part of Aug. is our winter. The weather report ties in i^ith the account of the 3 day meeting I mentioned in our last

& ended the l^i-th, in an area 25-30 miles long by been most responsive with over 100 being baptized growing in faith, as evidenced by their request in & preach. There was an average attendance in the 60

for 2 lessons on Fri, & more for preaching at night. On Sat. ^ more lessons with an

attendance of 90-100 with a short sermon about midday, 33 responded & were baptized, Sunday morning 200-250 in attendance, 7 more made their confession. Wo preachers are happy with the way things are going in that area, but know they need a lot more teach
ing,, Fortunately they know it too/

Much good comes from asking questions about what has been taught. In one lesson I said the office of apostle no longer exists, knoxd.ng that one of the major sects in the country call themselves apostles. During question time I wasn't surprised to be asked why I had said there were no longer apostles. I replied by asking, "If I said,
I'm a cow," would that make me' a sow?" They laugh6d & said "no." I then showed them Acts ch.1, the qualifications needed by any man to be considered to take the place of

Judas Iscariot. That he had to be someone who had been with Jesus and the other apos tles from the baptism by John. I pointed out this took place over 2000 yrs ago & asked if they knew anyone that old. They again laughed & admitted they didn't, so they could see those who say thoy are apostles today are not at all the same as were tho 12 plus
tfetthias then Paul.

I can't begin to tell all that happened at that meeting , but here are a few side

lights that may interest you. The meeting was at a school which was being rebuilt. We
preachers slept in a new part. There were no floors, x^ndows or ridge roll. Wo er.ch had a folding cot, MLambo & Iferowa had sleeping bags. I had an inflatable mattress &

3 light blankets. Was cold, but seemed fine at first. In the night I woke up frozen! Ify mattress had no air in it & I was laying on 2 piccos of rubber &a thin piece of cloth. I quickly got up and put on all tho clethes I could find over my pajamas. I
blow up the air mattress by mouth, crawled in bed & rmnaged to sleep some, but was
ready to get up before day light.

Sat. was a busy day, but we took time to examine tho mattress for leaks, but could find none, yet by bedtime much air had leaked out even though no one had been on it.

I removed the covers & began to lay clothing of all kinds on it (clothing we had tak en for those in need) then my blankets on top of these. Air again leaked out, but I kept fairly warm. I also coverod my head, oars & eyes with a stocking cap I found in
tho clothing. Since then I have been loaned a sleeping bag.
Sun, morning early one of tho teachers came asking that I tr.ke his wife to a clinir
as thoy i^ere expecting their firstborn momentarily. She had started labor about 2 tL'-J

morning. Thoy hoped to catch a bus at 6, but it hadn't shown up. I had to fir^t docid'. if T-re had orrough dioscl. Wo did. No ono was'avsllatTQ who ^yas "orp'orienced in deli/cr' ing babies in tho back of a Pougoo-': 3tation wagon, so I took Marowa, tho man c: i:i.3 vi/ ft J.oft in a cloud of dust for Iho clinic 29 miles avay I cirove as fast as the road bi

llowed missing as many bumps as possible. Occassionally t'c.o woman would groan & I
would speed up a bit more. We -m^dc it, but from tho reaction of tho nurse who took

ch<irH;o, a few more Tiiles would havD geon too many. I then drove back, ate a bit of broakCast; changed clothcs quickly and preached.

Vfiuii all that ld.iid of "fun'- ana all that fresh a,ir accomodations is it any wonJ.^iwe enjoy being missionaries over hero? Wouldn't some of you like to join us?
In Christ's Love, Hugh and Betty

Forwarding /Ifionts: Mr. & Mrs. John GUliland 207 Mulhorry

J^iihlicily Directors: Mr. ^ Mrs. Archii'Cmslafson

H.H. I

(frarfiotoii-n. Illinois 61846

Grorficloivn. Illinois 61846

Fenders Report

Tlic Penclers

African Evangelism

Nov. Dec. 1981

Dear Christian Friends:

Please note that we have a new address, also our Forwarding Agents! We are now back at Chidamoyo Mission, living in the house we lived in before being evacuated in "78", In "78" there were three families and three single missionaries here. At the present time we are the only ones here. A nurse, Miss Kathy McCarty will be moving
out shortly from Salisbury. Dr. Gloria Cobb, now working in Salisbury, plans to move back when there is enough equipment at the hospital to warrant her being here. The buildings are almost completely restored. IVe have been very busy since bring ing our first load of furniture on Oct. 22. We have put up a fence around our yard and garden to keep goats and cattle out and maybe in time our dog in. There were ^ "fox holes" to be filled in, they vjere left from the war. We still have one of those to fill in. When we moved in there was no electricity and no way of heating water. I
managed to get our hot water heater going. In case you have forgotten our heater is a 50 gal. drum built into sort of a fireplace at the back of the house.

The church here is doing well considering I haven't had time to do any calling*
If nothing else goes wrong I should get to it soon. We have two large cement tanks upon a hill into which we pump water which is then gravity fed to the hospital and house. I and some men repaired some holes in these.

I am the only male missionary here, and the job of maintenance man^ as well as preach er falls to mo, with help as they are capable of giving, coming from two African men,
one a preacher. The other preacher will soon be working in the hospital. Both live on
the mission.

We expect the hospital or a clinic to open in perhaps two or three weeks. At the moment x-;e have no medicine. Then as wc recieve more equipment, more of the hospital
can open.

My task first of all continues to bo helping with the evangelizing of this part of the country.There is much to be done and I am anxious to get at it. Betty feels she is beginning to get the house made into a homo and will soon have
some time for womens groups and many other activities. As you likely i-rill not get another letter from us before Christmas we wish you a merry and haopy one as well as a joyous Now Year. I^y God bless and keep you. Continue to remember the people and us in your prayers.
Yours in Christ*

Hugh and Betty

Field Addressi

Forwarding agents I
Mr. & mrs. John Gilliland

Mr. & Mrs. Hugh Ponder

Box 330 Karoi

Zimbabwe, Africa

Box 596 R.1 Georgetown,Illinois

618^6

it hn

Pondor

Foriva Mr. & 207 Mitlbor

f*itl>licilY Directors:
Gilliland
its 61H46

Mr. ^ Mrs. Archie (mslafsiin

H.H. 1

Go nrlie to

Gf'orgpiotvn. Illinnis 6IU46