Piet Joubert, 81, died yesterday in Durban, leaving sadness in my heart.
Piet, a South African, was preaching the gospel in Durban when we moved to Johannesburg in 1968. He had a great personality and was a favorite of everyone. He preached a gospel meeting for us in Johannesburg.
But Mickey, his wife, had been married before. At one time I was told they were not sleeping together in order not to commit adultery. But as the years went by, Piet became looser and looser on the subject of divorce and remarriage. He finally came to take the position that the adultery Jesus talked of in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 was the act of divorcing and remarrying. If one committed that sin, then he or she could repent of that sin and receive forgiveness without leaving the second wife or husband.
As a result of his unscriptural teaching, some left the congregation where Piet preached, and he and the group he was with had no fellowship with other Christians in South Africa. And the results of his unscriptural teaching on divorce and remarriage will be felt long after Piet’s death. It was, and is, a sad situation.
Nduduzo is proving to be much different from Gretchen. She was sensitive; he is cheerfully nonchalant. She liked to sleep across my neck when I napped; he sleeps on my legs. Gretchen hated baths; Nduduzo loves them and drinks the water.
As you can see, he is getting long, and his nose is getting long and sharp. I am ready to start training him on a leash. I will start by getting him used to a collar. We will see how it goes. He is quite intelligent, but he likes his own way.
We are glad to have him.
(If you can post pictures of your children, we can post pictures of our puppy!)
Zipho is taking his matric (senior) exams. When he came home yesterday he said that an awaiting-trial prisoner in leg-chains was brought to the classroom to write his exam.
On the same day a girl in the school who had been having trouble with swollen feet died--no doubt, of Aids.
Those two incidents illustrate two of our biggest social problems--crime and Aids. They affect us all the time.
This was far from us--in the Transkei--and I am not in close contact with him. But Joel and Mzwandile say that he is out of prison and his trial is scheduled for some time in the future. He evidently is very sorry for what he did.
Yesterday morning and this morning there were a troop of at least 20 vervet monkeys in our yard and around it. They are all sizes, from big males to babies clinging to the stomachs of their mothers. They have a great time running, mock-fighting, jumping from limb to limb, and eating. They eat the papayas off our tree, whatever they find in the grass, things in trees and flowers, and what we have put in the compost hole.
And they steal. This morning after Helen cleaned the crumbs off the counter, she went away for a few minutes. When she came back she found a big bite taken out of the loaf of bread and muddy footprints on the counter. So we have to be careful to keep the back door closed when monkeys are around.
We are already very careful about Nduduzo, our 3 1/2 mo. old dachshund. A monkey bite could be fatal to him.
While you Americans are all uptight over your election, we in South Africa are watching in amazement as a large portion of the ruling ANC party are breaking off and forming a new party. They are having a convention today and tomorrow with much publicity and media coverage. If it is a large enough group, it could lead to the political balance South Africa needs for proper politics and governance.
(If you have not done so already, please check my webpage www.headcoverings.org. I worked hard on it to help you in your study.)
After she read all the letters Mzwandile presented for his visa application, the lady said, "You make it hard to turn you down." But she did anyway. We still think it is because his salary is below their arbitrary figure of $2000 per month.
Mzwandile is taking it very well. Christians know that God is in control, and that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord. Satan may hinder, but God is still in control.
