Laughren Peter Fran 1996 SAfrica

7/27/2019 Laughren Peter Fran 1996 SAfrica

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The Laughrens,Pete, Fran & Denzil

tAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRIcAVol. 6, No. 3 Winter 1996

How H as Sou t h Afr i ca Chang e d ?Oneof the questions that 1am frequently askedthisfurlough ishowSouthAfrica haschanged sincethe change of the government in 1994. Manypeoplewonder how we coped during the transition

process and what it was like.While there was sporadic violencebefore, duringand after the three election days, itdid not affect uswhere we were. Only those areas that were politically volatile seemed to be affected.

Where we live in Cape Town is the last suburbgoing ou t of town to the east. We have livedinwhathas been known as a "white" suburb since, in thedays of apartheid, all suburbs were divided according to race. Therewere black and coloredtownships(to signify the two distinct races)and of course, thewhite areas. Most people felt that there would notbe too muchmovingfrom one area to anotherwhenit became legal and, for the most part, that is true.Most people, except for the affluent, have stayedand lived where they were beforehand. With therising pricesof housing and the not matching riseinincomes, most people still live in their same houses.Thesuburb that we live in,Kraaifontein, has slowlyseen some colored people move in, but not nearlyasquickly as we thought it would. We live withinwalking distance to a large "colored" township, butmost people who lived there before are still there.

Strange to say, but politically speaking, most ofthe people that we work with are not that concerned about politics. Theyare verythankful for theopportunity to vote and have a say in their government. As was the case before the change ingovernment, most of the people just want a fair

shake no matter who runs the country. They wanta fair day's pay for a fair day's workand theywantto be treated with respect. A fear among manypeople was that when the government changedthat would be the end of South Africa as we knowit. But there has been a great feeling of reconciliation inmanyparts of the new leadershipand a desireto moveforward for the good of the entire country,and for that we are eternally grateful.Theonlything that we hear isgetting worsefromthe people and from the news media is crime. Intalking to David JantjiesonChristmas day, he relatesthat crime is on the rise becauseof the rise ofgangsin the townships. This is because of the lack ofeducation and massive unemployment. Reports arethat Johannesburg Is now one of the most dangerous cities in the world and getting worse. WhileCape Town has not been crime free, its crime ratewasalways lower,but it,too, is now rising. As usual,innocent people are the victims of these senselesscrimes. People say that ifcrime could be curbed, thegrowth of the country would be even better.South Africa isa great country but still has a longway to go to overcome the obstacles of the past. Itisworking hard on this, and doing better than mostobservers figured. Society is changing as a whole,but at a slow pace. Asfor us, we can carry on withour work pretty well unaffected.

Please continue to pray for us, the Lord's workand the Lord's peoples' safety inthis place whereweare called to serve. And come to see us ifyou everget the chance to visit this most wonderful land.


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Fu r l o ugh Tr av e l s ~ Oc t o b e r t h r o u g h De c emb e rOctober through December saw us on the road

most of the time. After returning from TexasOctober 9 from our month-long stay, we spent the15th of October at Douglasville Christian Churchpresenting the work inSouth Africa. The followingweekend we traveled to Jonesborough, Tennesseeand participated in their fall revival starting on the22nd of October. The following Sundaywe were atLone Oak Christian Church for their yearly FaithPromise Rally. Thechurch there is really committedtomissions and justabout met their yearly goals.Weenjoyed being in Tennessee during the fall seasonsince the leaves are absolutely beautiful!"Starting on the 5th of November we were

Denzil during Christmas.

Ready to go to church.

involved in a revival a t First Christian Church inNewnan, GA. This is th e church where I wasordained and Ihave a lot of good memories from mytimes there when Iwas in college. We enjoyed ourtime there with these fine people. On November12th we were involved in a Faith Promise at NortonChurch of Christ in Columbus, OH. Between thatweekend and the next, when we were in Martinsville,VA, we attended a funeral of a friend's father inLeesburg, OH. It was on this trip that Fran startedfeeling sick (see her article) and we hurried homeafter a great Faith Promise at Chatham HeightsChristian Church in Martinsville.

A week and a half after Fran had her surgery onthe 22nd of November, we flew to Wyoming tospend two weeks with her folks and sister inGillette,WY. T he re st fo r Fran could not have come at abetter time. We flew back to Hampton on December 18, spending Christmas inGeorgia for the firstt ime since 1981 .We enjoy furlough and strive to see all of oursupporters during our time in the U.S. Please prayfor us as we travel during the next several months.

Denz// gets ready for snow in Wyoming.


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F r a n 's F e e l in g sTothose ofyouwho have been experiencingtheextreme coldweather, we hope that you have beenable to keep warm and well. It has been really coldhere in Georgia, but no snow. I'd love to be wherethere is snowso that wecouldplay in itand we could

enjoythe beautyof it. Thatiseasyformeto say,isn'tit ? We have had a rough time for awhile, and mostof you have already heard, but things are betternow. I got really sick while we were In Ohio andVirginia in November. Ihad to beg Pete not to takeme to the emergency room in Virginia - we justprayed that God would get ushometoGeorgia, andthen Iwould goto the doctor. Wegot to the doctorjust in time. There was a big abscess behind myuterus that was about to rupture into my bloodstream whichwould have been quite serious. Godpulled me thorugh with the help of a wonderfuldoctor and prayer power. Recovery hasbeenquickand good. Weappreciate all of the cards, prayers,calls andvisits. Now, if you would please pray aboutour insurance. We are being told that since we are

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Pete with Fran's dad, Al Hamilton, at Mt. Rushmore.

At Christmas in Wyoming.

in the U.S. so long that they will not cover since wewere on an international plan. Wehavealreadymetmy $1,000 deductible from when I was in thehospital with salmonella poisoning. Sowe have billsof approximately $25,000 hanging over our headsright now. We are negotiating for reconsideration,but it looksdoubtful right now.Otherwise, all three of us are well. We've been

able to be home more the last month because mostof our engagements have been inGeorgia.Denzli is growing upway too fast. He isa goodboy. He loves all of the different nurseries and stilltravelswell anddoesnotseemto mind meeting newpeople. He isa bitlate in talking, but is working hardat it. He is 19 months old now, which is hard tobelieve. He weighs 30 pounds now, wears 3T Inclothes and a size IVi shoe. Ijust don't understandwhy he isso big. Ha!Well, I'll sign off for now. Keep intouch and wewill be seeing you around. Lord willing.

- Fran

ETC - The computerdonated to us through the offeringof DeeperLife Weekat llliana Christian Assemblyisworking wonderfully. We are now onlinewithCompuServe and our e-mail address is:

[email protected]'d love to hear from you.

Our plans are to return to South Africa sometime


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jm ^ ^PE TOWN, SOUTHThe Laughrens,

Pete, Fran & Denzil Vol. 6, No. 4 Spring 1996

W h ere W e re W e f r om J a n u a r y to Ma r c h ?As is usual with furlough (ours anyway), there

is a lot of traveling to be done. We enjoy it, but itis nice to be at our home in Hampton (home awayfrom home) when we get the chance. We havearranged our furloughfor the lastthree months todo a lot of localspeaking and so we were able tospend more time in Hampton thanwe didfive yearsago on our first furlough.

r

Speakingtoa secondgrade classat HamptonElementarySchoolinHampton, Cjeorgia. (Photo courtesy ofDanOverstreet)

January saw us in various places presenting thework in South Africa. Since Fran was still recovering from her surgery, I made a trip to Amory,Mississippi bymyself on the 7th. That was whenthe storm was hitting the Eastern seaboard and itwas verycold even there inMississippi. Ispoke tothe Sunday School in the a.m. and presented thework in the evening. The following Sunday wespoke at the Christian Church inFairburn, Georgiaand thoroughly enjoyed seeing the people thereagain. Toround out the month we spent the 21stwith the First Christian Church in Newnan, Georgia, speaking both morning and evening.

In FebruaryIspoke to the singles classat BereaChristian Church in Hampton that Bill Stanleyteaches. While we were overseas this class sent uspackagesof encouragement, so we haveenjoyedvisiting with them this year. Two days later wewent to Alexander City, Alabama and spent acouple of days with Brian and Twila Bierman,friends from College. The next Sunday we weresupposed to be inLenoir, North Carolina,but Franwas suffering from the flu and we stayed behind.She recovered enough a couple of days later so wecould make a trip to the homecoming at JohnsonBible College. Itwas good to see old friends therealso. The following Sunday Denzil was sick, so heand Fran stayed behindwhile1spoke at PeachcrestChristian Church in Lithonia, Georgia. After that,Fran and Denzilflew to Bedford, Texas to spend aweek with her brother, Jonathan Hamilton. Shewas able to celebrate his birthday with him. She


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arrived back in Hampton on February 24 and westarted speaking on the 25th at the Georgia Missionary Rally. For this we spoke on Sunday atFayettevilleandWoodstock, Georgia. OnWednesday the 28th, we spoke at Adairsville, Georgia andwe rounded out the week speaking at the mainsession inEastPoint,Georgia on the 29th. Duringthe rally on Wednesday and Thursday, Fran and Iboth spoke at workshops concerning various partsof missions, and Fran spoke for a devotional onThursday morning. We were very pleased withhow the whole week went .

On March 3, we spoke for the Faith Promise atmy home church of Berea Christian Church inHampton, Georgia. ! reallyenjoyed speaking hereas we areso often on the road, it isalways good tospeak to the home folk. We also presented thework in the evening and got to show our slides.After speaking to the Senior Citizens group on the12th at Buffington Road Christian Church in College Park, Georgia we spoke to Bethel ChristianChurchinConyers,Georgia on the 17th. Followingthis, we spoke at Stockbridge Christian Church inStockbridge, Georgia three times on the 24th ofMarch. We shared briefly intheir two services andfor one of their Sunday School classes. Two dayslater Franspoke at theWestern DistrictMissionarySociety's meeting at Calvary Christian Church inStockbridge, Georgia. Many people had already

Denziland his buddy. Chase Cameron.

heard me speak, so it was Fran's turn to speak sotha t those who had not hea rd h er b efo re couldhear her speak.

To end these three months, we made a week-longtrip to northern Pennsylvaniatospeakat DerrsChristian Church in Benton, Pennsylvania. Alongthe way coming and going, we stopped in Charlotte, North Carolina and Sparta, North Carolinaand also made visits In Pennsylvania to supportersof the work.We are thankful to the Lord for His travelingmercies. We will spend May in Texas and June inIllinois, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia, and workour way to Canada in July. Please pray for us as wetravel to make these visits.

F r a n 's F e e l in g sHi folks!

1hope and trust all is well with you and yourlovedones. Withthe temperature jumping upanddown so much, we have all been fighting continuouslywith colds. It couid be worse, so Itry not tocomplain.We reallyenjoyed the Georgia MissionaryRallyin February in East Point, Georgia. Pete and Iboth

Fran and Denzil on visitto Texas in February.


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had the chance to share workshops with othermissionaries. Theywere fun and seemed to go verywell. Itwas great to have a chance to get to knowTim and Lisa Turner, missionaries to Japan. Theyhave a genuine lovefor the Lordand for the peopleof Japan. We must remember them inour prayers.

Denzil isstill a good traveler and a greatjoy. Heisgoing to be two soon; isn't that amazing? Timeflies and he is growing up so fast.It has been good to see those of you that wehave seen and we look forward to seeing those ofyou that we have yet to see.Keepwelland busyfor the kingdom. Write andlet us know what is going on with you.

Love and Prayers,Fran

IV lBd i c a l Insurance?Many of you know by now about our medicalinsurance problems. Fran had major surgery in

November of '95 and we assumed tha t our insurance coverage was still valid. We were notifiedafter the fact that it was not. For the past severalmonths we have tried several avenues to ge t the

Jonathan and Sheila Hamilton with Denzil.

insurance company to pay for the bills. We havetried consumer affair programs on the radio, Investigators from the Insurance Commissioner's Officefrom the state ofGeorgia, and even written appealletters to the insurance company involved. Allsources have told us that the insurance companywas legallyright and we would have to pay the billourselves.

Wha t is our si tuation now? As this is writ ten onApril 26, all debts were finally taken care of todaythrough the help of many, many people. Fran'sdoctor wrote off his fee completely; the anesthesiologist cut hisfee down by2/3, and the hospitalwas able to acceptwhatwas left over of the fundsdonated to cover their fee in full. Churches, youthconventions and individuals have dona ted fundstotaling $7,000.00 for expenses and this has covered expenses right down to the penny. Miraclesdo happen and Franand Ihave witnessed a majorone through God's people and the organizationsinvolved.Let us again say thank you from the bottom ofour hearts for all of the concern that you haveshown us through this time. Words can neverexpress our gratitude. MayGod bless allof you forall that you have done for us during this time.

ETC .

Fran's brother, Jonathan, is still in bad healthwith Cystic Fibrosis. Fran was able to visit himinFebruarybut he isstill awaiting a double lungtransplant when funds are raised.Our plans now are to go back home lateSeptember or early October. Please pray withus abou t this.Fran's mother, Annette Hamilton, came toGeorgia to visit Denzil (she said to visit us, butwe know better) in March for 10 days.The latest reports from South Africa tell us that305 students have taken classes at Cape BibleSeminary with many having many credits.


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The Laughrens,Pete, Fran & Denzil

iiiSVol. 7, No. 1 Summer 1996

T r a v e l s in Apr i l , IVIay a n d JuneAs this is th e last news le t te r from th e States

before we return in October to South Africa, ourreport on travel becomes more complex. We aretrying to see everybody that we have missed therest of furlough. Furlough has been great fun,but the last months can get hectic. The firstthree months of 1996 were mainly local, butApril saw us hit the road. In the first part of themonth we returned from Pennsylvania and NorthCarolina. On the 14th of April, I spoke to theyouth class at the Rock Baptist Church in Rex,GA. Thiswas arranged by a high school friend ofmine, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The nextweekend, we drove to Lenoir, NC and spoke atFirst Christian Church of Lenoir. Along the waywe met with Fran's sister, Sonja, who was traveling from Elizabeth City, NC and spent a nightwith her In Hickory, NC. While in Lenoir wespoke for both the morning and evening services. We left for a long trip from Hampton onthe 26th of April and headed to Amory, MS.

When we arrived in Mississippi we took partin the Faith Promise Rally of the North Blvd.Christian there in Amory. We spoke on Fridaynight, Saturday night and in both services onSunday. We thank J.T. and Dot Thornton fortheir wonderful hospitality while there and to BillLaPorte, the minister for a great weekend. Iwasespecially glad to visit there this second time onfurlough as Fran was not able to visit the firsttime. We enjoyed our stay there and left forLouisiana on Monday the 29th of ApriL

We drove to Ft. Polk, LA on Monday andspent the night with Lavern and Barb Clark whoused to be our forwarding agents from 1985until 1990. They are still enjoying military life asa chaplain in the military. Since they stoppedbeing our forwarding agents they have been tovarious places such as Macedonia and Germany.When we left there, we drove to Alvin, TX to seefriends that we had met several years ago inCape Town. Curtis and Melody Witie workedthere with an oil related industry and are stilldoing the same in Texas. After we stayed withthem we headed north to the Dallas-Ft. Wortharea where we would spend the month of May.

During May we visited with the HighlandMeadows Christian Church in Colleyville, TX. Westayed with Fran's brother and wife, Jonathanand Sheila Hamilton who live in Bedford, TX.

Fran and Denzil at HighlandMeadows Chn'stian Church,Colleyville, TX.


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. . . on the road again . . .

Highland Meadows is one of our largest supporting churches and we had promised them that wewould spend both last September and this Maywith the church there. While there for fourSundays, we spoke to men at a prayer breakfast,taught a Sunday school class, and presented ourwork one evening. We got to visit with a lot ofold friends and, since Fran considers this herhome church, it was good to see the peopleagain.

We left there on the 27th of May and arrivedin Georgia on the 28th. We spoke for theWednesday night service of Southwest ChristianChurch in East Point, GA on the 29th and hit theroad again on the 31st. This time we traveled tosouthern Illinois and spoke for the Faith Promiseat Long PrairieChristian Church inWoodlawn, IL.We spoke there Saturday night and for bothservices on Sunday. Leaving there Tuesday, wedrove through Louisville, KY for lunch with acollege roommate and his family and headed

Denzil loves sv\/imming.

#On vacation in Florida

back south . On the 8 th of June we went toFlorida for a week of vacation with Bill and LynnStanley at their time-share in Ormond Beach, FL.They had made us promise to block that weekou t a year ago and it was well worth the wait.Thank you so much for sharing your time withus!

When we arrived home on the 15th of Junewe immediately got ready for two Vacation BibleSchools in one week. In the mornings we did aVBS at Berea Christian Church in Hampton, GAfrom 9 to 12 each morning. In the evenings wewere able to do a VBS a t First Christian Church inNewnan, GAfrom 7 to 9 p.m. Itwas a very hecticweek, but we felt a very good week. TheSaturday after they were over, we hit the road

Teaching VBS at Berea Christian Church, Hampton, GA.


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Denzil's cousin, Pintu.

again, driving to Mountain City, TN. We spokeat Dewey Christian Church there for both themorning and evening services. Monday we leftthere a nd d ro ve to Westside Church of Christ inJonesborough, TN to participate in the VacationBible School from the 24th to the 28th. This isth e church w here w e served before we wen t toSouth Africa in 1985 and it is always a joy to staywith Ed and Donna Hayes and visit all of ourgood friends in the area. We left the area on the29th and ended the month in camp at WoodlandChristian Camp in Temple, GA with over 70 7thand 8th graders.

Have we been busy traveling? Ithink so. Butwe really enjoy it. Denzil has been a greattraveler and a real joy to share with everybody.We have three more months to go with stops inNew York, New Brunswick, Canada and NorwayBay, Quebec, Canada for a family reunion theend of July. We thank all of you who have madeour travels joyful and fun. We look forward toseeing you all again next furlough.

B r o t h e r , Wh e n are y o uc om i n g h o m e ?

I talked recently with some of the Christiansin Cape Town and that was their quest ion. Ourplans are not in concrete yet, but we have a lotto do before we go. Our plans are to leave

around the first of October after getting everything packed and shipped. That is always a long,drawn out process. We have to nnove out of theplace that we are in in Hampton and ship thosethings that we need in South Africa back toourselves. Then before leaving, we have to packthe things that we do not need there, but needhere for next furlough. Please pray for us as wemake our plans accordingly. We look forward togoing home to South Africa and getting on withthe work as we have been gone a long time.

Impressions of ourS e c o n d F u r l o u g h

We often hear fellow missionaries, both hereand abroad, complain about having to do theirfurlough. We all know that it is somethingtotally necessary, taking us away from ouradopted homes and the work that we enjoy.This has been our second furlough and it hasbeen a rather lengthy one at that.

We enjoy our furlough although it doesge t tiring at times. It is our pleasure to try andvisit all of our supporting churches and individuals, and we enjoy the travels that it lets usdo .

As of this writing we have traveled over30,000 miles and visited over 20 states. Ourplanning this time was a little bit better as we didnot have as many long trips as before. We havevisited many wonderful Christians, have seenmany great sights, and have been able to sharethe work with many interested people.

The added bonus this furlough has beenour two-year-old Denzil and showing him offto everybody. That has been a real joy in ourlives and we thank God for th e miracle he hasbeen .

Do we look forward to furlough? Yes we do.But we also look forward to going home toSouth Africa and getting settled again. Ifwe didnot see you this time, maybe we will duringfurlough #3, three or four years from now.


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Documents

Laughren Peter Fran 1996 SAfrica