Abundant Life Crusades
Tony and Marge Abram have been sharing God's Good News for over 64 years!

South Africa Soul Winning Crusades & Seminar Mission Report
Volume XXXIX No.8

We have been on many long flights in our 40 years of international ministry. However, our flight to South Africa from the United States was one of our longest. Our first flight into Atlanta, was short, but our second was non-stop from Atlanta to Cape town, South Africa. It was over 8,000 miles and probably the longest commercial flight in the world.

We then flew to Johannesburg where the local brethren met us. It has been a few years since we were last in South Africa. Marge and I first came to South Africa in November of 1965 where we had wonderful ministry through June of 1966. The country has changed much since those days.

No people of the world can sing like the Africans.

We really knew we were back in Africa when we arrived at our first service and heard the singing.

I turned to Brother Fiddler and said, "Now I know we have arrived in Africa!"

Brother and Sister Bronkhorst

We were working with Brother and Sister Bronkhorst who have been missionaries for many years.

They have been married for 62 years. He is only 86 and she is 84 and they are both going strong in the Work of God.

They travel and minister all over the country as they have done for over 60 years. 

When I look at them, I am reminded of the scripture found in Psalm 103:5 "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's".

They have been examples to both Marge and I. They did all the groundwork and plans for our ministry on this trip.

It was a joy to once again work in ministry with Missionary Evangelist Harley Fiddler of Pickerington, Ohio.

We have worked together much in the former USSR.  He is a wonderful teacher. Our first outreach was in Alexandra, the oldest Township in South Africa.

However, the people came and many were healed but best of all were the ones who came to Christ. That is the greatest miracle.

The plan is that a great church will be raised up on this site and services will continue until a building can be constructed.

It was held in a large building, one of two that was recently purchased by the fellowship Brother Bronkhorst is working with.

Although I believe we have made wonderful purchases of buildings for churches. especially in the former USSR, this was one of the best values I have ever seen.

A Diamond and Brick Company built the two huge buildings. They have more than 75,000 square feet of space on over 4 acres of choice land.

It has a value of over 7 million dollars. They bought it for only 50 thousand dollars.

This is a miracle of God! It will be used for many different ministry out-reaches in Africa.

Our ministry has pledged at least one thousand US dollars for converting the buildings.

They can make 4 different halls that would hold over 5,000 people each.

Most of the people are poor. 

As an expression of their love,
we received offerings of flowers and fruit from the people.

God blessed the ministry, giving us many souls.

Once again, God blessed and gave us a great time of ministry.

This is why we ask you to pray for us.

We desire to be used of God in pointing many to Christ.

We must say the Lord provided good accommodation and food for us. However, as you can see in one of the photos below, some of the menu we had at one restaurant to which we were taken. It had foods that I had never eaten before. I did not enjoy one of them.

We have made plans to return next year for additional ministry due to the success and moving of the Holy Spirit in these meetings. Please continue to Pray for Africa.  There is a great fear sweeping Africa as millions have AIDS. I read recently that unless a cure is found, Africans will cease to exist in Africa, that AIDS will wipe them out. Praise God, we do know of a cure for AIDS and that is the Power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Once again we thank you for your prayers and support. Without you, we could not do what we are doing on the mission fields of the world.  God bless you and yours is our daily prayer.

Your missionary evangelists to the world, Tony and Marge Abram.

The following is some information on South Africa:
The San (Bushmen) are among the oldest indigenous peoples of South Africa. In 1488, a Portuguese navigator became the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope. Although European vessels frequently passed by South Africa on their way to E Africa and India, and sometimes stopped for provisions or rest, no permanent European settlement was made until 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck and about 90 other persons set up a provisioning station for the Dutch East India Company at Table Bay on the Cape of Good Hope. By 1662, about 250 Europeans were living near the Cape and gradually they moved inland. In 1689 about 200 Huguenot refugees, (escaping religious persecution) from Europe arrived. By 1707 there were about 1,780 freeholders of European descent in South Africa, and they owned about 1,100 s1aves. During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the British replaced the Dutch at the Cape from 1795 to 1803 and again from 1806 to 1814. In 1833 slavery was abolished in the British Empire, an act that angered South African slaves owners.

To escape the restrictions of British rule as well as to obtain new land, about 12,000 Boers left the Cape between 1835 and 1843 in what is known as the Great Trek. Some remained in the higbveld of the interior, forming isolated communities and small states. A large group traveled eastward into what became Natal. The first indentured laborers from India arrived in Natal to work on the sugar plantations, and by 1900 they outnumbered the whites there. Diamonds were discovered in 1867 and in 1870 at what be-came Kimberley; in 1886 gold was discovered.

These discoveries (especially that of gold) spurred great economic development in S Africa during 1870-1900; foreign trade increased dramatically, rail expanded from 70 mi (110 km) in 1870 to 3,600 mi (5,790 km) in 1895, and the number of whites rose from about 300,000 in 1870 to about 1 million in 1900. In 1961, South Africa left the Commonwealth of Nations and became a republic. In 1984, a new constitution was made. The new Parliament included the House of Representatives, comprised of Coloreds; the House of Delegates, comprised of Indians; and the House of Assembly, comprised of whites.

This system left the whites with more seats in the Parliament than the Indians and Coloreds combined. Blacks violently protested being shut out of the system. In 1989, President Botha fell ill and was succeeded, first as party leader, then as president, by F. W. de Klerk. De Klerk's government began relaxing apartheid restrictions and in 1990, Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years of imprisonment and became the lead of the recently legalized ANC. Despite obstacles and delays, an interim constitution was completed in 1993, ending nearly three centuries of white rule in South Africa and marking the end of white-minority rule on the African continent.

In April 1994, the first multiracial election was held. The ANC won an overwhelming victory. and Nelson Mandela became president. In 1994 and 1995 the last vestiges of apartheid were dismantled and a new national constitution was approved and adopted in May 1996. The population of South Africa is 75% black (African) and 13% white (European), with about 9% people of mixed white, Malay, and black descent (formerly called "Colored"). and 3% of Asian (mostly Indian) background. South Africa has 11 official languages, nine of which are indigenous: Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana Sotho, Swazi, Venda, Ndebele, Pedi, and Tsonga. Many blacks also speak Afrikaans (the first language of about 60% of the whites and the majority of those of mixed race) or English (the first language of most of the rest of the nonblacks. 68% of the population is Christian, major groups include the Dutch Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, Roman Catholic, and Zionist churches.

Over 28% of the population follows traditional African religions, and there are small minorities of Muslims, Hindus and Jews. Republic of South Africa, republic (1995 est. POP 45,095,000), and the land size 471,442 sq mil (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. It borders on the Atlantic Ocean in the west, on Narnibia in the northwest, on Botswana and Zimbabwe in the north, on Mozambique and Swaziland in the northeast, and on the Indian Ocean in the east and 5outh. The largest city is Johannesburg.

Cape Town is the legislative capital, Pretoria the administrative capital, and Bloeinfontein the judicial capital. Until about 1870 the economy of the region was almost entirely based on agriculture. With the discovery of diamonds and gold in the late 19th century mining became the foundation for rapid economic development. Whites largely control the economy, but nonwhites make up more than 75% of the workforce. South Africa is a world leader in the production of gold, diamonds, alumi nosilicates, chromium, manganese. vanadium. and platinum. Other leading minerals extracted are copper ore, coal, asbestos, iron ore, silver, and titanium. Uranium is also whole life mined.

THE RICHES ARE THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA!

 

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