Collapse of U.S.S.R.
The collapse of the U.S.S.R. and its break-up into independent nations has brought to an end the Communist experiment, carried on for several generations at the cost of millions of lives, to try and prove that man can live by bread alone. The monolithic structure of the Communist system in Russia and Eastern Europe collapsed, as it was bound eventually to collapse, for it was established on two great lies — that there is no God and that man is inherently good. It was surely a costly lesson which had to be learned at the expense of indescribable suffering and misery. So must all attempts made by men to establish a Utopia on earth utterly fail. How good it would be for the people of the former Soviet Union if they would come to know the truth of God’s Word and embrace it by the effectual working of God’s Spirit in their hearts. For this we should pray. It is not enough to be delivered from one false system if it means being swallowed up in another. Nothing will avail but coming to the knowledge of the truth as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Crime
The latest crime figures for England and Wales show an increase of crime of 18.7 per cent over the previous year. The continual rise in crime figures is very alarming. The sad matter is that it is but a solemn reflection of the moral state of the nation. The young are growing up without any knowledge of the law of God and so become a law unto themselves. The great need of the nation is for a spiritual awakening throughout the length and breadth of the land. Only then will a reformation take place in the moral state of the country. Every other means tried has proved ineffectual.
Mission News
We should all be thankful that the Rev. John MacLeod has arrived home safely in Stornoway after a mammoth journey which included Canada, New Zealand, Kenya, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
We have not yet received full reports of his visits to all the centres in Zimbabwe, but we understand that the services were much enjoyed and appreciated. The first weekend was spent at Ingwenya which old John Mpofu used to call, “Jerusalem wetu” or “Our Jerusalem.” A service was held at Cameron which is about ten miles from Ingwenya. This school and preaching place was called after the late Rev. Neil Cameron. The Rev. A. B. Ndebele reports that the service was very much enjoyed. Another was held in Insiza, a more recently opened station where a congregation of seventy gave the greatest attention to the speaker.
The next weekend was spent at Zvishavane, where the Rev. Z. Mazvabo is minister, and where the Communion was held. Several of the staff from other stations attended.
From Zvishavane Mr MacLeod and Mr Neil Murray travelled by the small M.A.F. plane all the way to Mbuma, landing on a little airstrip near the hospital, causing a flurry of excitement there.
On Sabbath Mr MacLeod took the first service there, and the second at Zenka forty miles off. Zenka is without a minister since the late Rev. B. B. Dube passed away. It was once a busy station where the late Rev. James Fraser spent his first ministerial years, and he and his wife, Chris, ran a Clinic, and from which 22 small schools were supervised. There Magaya Ncube, elder, said on one occasion, “One day the whole Reserve will be lit up with the glory of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
On the following Monday the Rev. P. Mzamo took the Rev. John Macleod to Nkai where old John Mpofu began the first of our church services in that area. His grandson, Mr James Mpofu, is elder, there, but Boarding Master and Carpentry teacher at Ingwenya during the school term.
Mr MacLeod and Mr Neil Murray also paid a short visit to Binga, the remote station near the Zambezi. Two services were held there and Mr MacLeod was very interested in that part of the field.
The following weekend the Communion was held in Bulawayo. This congregation is chiefly composed of young families and of young men and women working in Bulawayo. The Rev. John MacLeod was assisted by the Rev. Z. Mazvabo. On Sabbath morning the service was very impressive and moving. The text was from Psalm 22, verse 15. “And Thou hast brought me to the dust of death.”
On Monday Mr MacLeod referred to the great men of every nation who had gone before, such as Luther and others. He then referred to their late Pastor, the Rev. A. Mpofu and the Rev. B. B. Dube. Mr Ndebele addressed the congregation and advised them to make a habit of reading good books. He recommended the Shorter Catechism, and said that the late Rev. James Fraser had advised him to memorise the Westminster Confession of Faith, which he had endeavoured to do.
Another short visit was paid to Zvishavane and Mr Mazvabo’s home. Then the flight to London and Stornoway. We hope some were caught in the net of the Gospel. J.N.