The thirty-second annual mission meeting organised by the Mbuma-Zending was held at Geldermalsen on Saturday, 29th April, 1995. The venue was, as in previous years, a spacious building which is normally used as an auction market but, with seating and other facilities in place, proves to be an eminently suitable place for the holding of these meetings which, on this occasion, attracted a congregation of some 6500 souls. We can only marvel at the expertise of those responsible for organising the event. Outside and inside the hall there was evidence of careful planning and all concerned are to be commended for their work, so much of which is done voluntarily behind the scenes. On this occasion everything seems to have gone smoothly and by the end of the day approximately £47,000 had been collected. For this, as well as all their help over the years, we have reason to be thankful to our friends in Holland.
At the invitation of the Mbuma-Zending Committee I was privileged to be present together with my wife and, in the course of the meeting, which followed the usual pattern, I delivered the short address appended below. Mr van Vliet met us at Amsterdam Airport and after being kindly entertained by himself and his wife in their home at Dordrecht, we were taken by them to the Alblasserdam home of Mr and Mrs Leo Janse. Over the period of our stay in Holland we were to remain under their hospitable roof and we are deeply grateful to them as to the van Vliets and others, including, old friends Mr and Mrs Joh Freeke, ‘s Gravenhage, Mr and Mrs Beukers, Doornspijk, and Miss Peta van der Ridder who worked on our Mission in Zimbabwe for some years.
The Rev A B Ndebele and Mr E Zikhali were also present at the meeting. They were, over the period of their stay, kindly entertained in the home of Ds Tj and Mrs de Jong of Staphorst. Miss Celia Renes, who works at our Sengera hospital in Kenya was also present at the meeting but I regret to say that I was not able to contact her. My firm impression was that our Dutch friends remain as enthusiastic as ever as far as supporting our Mission is concerned.
Address
It gives me great pleasure to be among you once again and I wish to convey to you the greetings and good wishes of the Foreign Mission Committee in Scotland. We deeply appreciate your help — without it, we could not possibly maintain our mission work at its present level. As a result of your generosity, children are being educated, and taught the rudiments of the Christian faith. Also, the sick are now being treated, not only at Mbuma Hospital in Zimbabwe, but also at our Sengera Hospital in Kenya. At both hospitals, as you will know, we have on our staff those who belong to your country — Dr Hak, Lia Terlouw — Celia Renes and Truus Ringleberg — and we much value their contribution to the work. In Africa, however, our main purpose is to bring the Word of God to the ears of sinners, in the hope that the Holy Spirit will regenerate those that hear, and turn them from darkness to light. We believe that we are carrying out the commission given to the Church at the beginning of the New Testament dispensation — “GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD, AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE!”
The Gospel which we preach is the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it was delivered to the Apostles and which they preached to such effect that in a short period of time, on their arrival in Thessalonica, it was said: “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also”. The weapons of their warfare were not carnal, but they were mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, and the mightiest weapon of all was the Gospel. He who commissioned them was faithful to His promise — “And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” — and their labours, accordingly, were not in vain in the Lord. As many as were ordained unto eternal life believed. At the heart of that Gospel was and is, the doctrine of Christ crucified. Paul came to Corinth and would have left it again very soon afterwards were it not that the Lord revealed to him that He had “much people” in that city. They were there — in a notoriously wicked city — such as were chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world, but who were still in a state of spiritual death and alienation from God. The time had now come when they were to be awakened and brought nigh to God, and that was to be accomplished through the preaching of Christ crucified and that only. That is what the Spirit of God blessed to so many in Corinth to the salvation of their never-dying souls. It is the same Gospel that we preach in Africa and elsewhere. The Christ we preach is both human and Divine — “God and man, in two distinct natures, and in one person, for ever” — “The one Mediator between God and men.” — the Christ who assumed our nature, that He might bear the wrath of God and die the accursed death of the cross, in the room and stead of the guilty, according to His covenant engagements. Tidings of this is to be conveyed to sinners of Adam’s race irrespective of color of skin or place of residence. There is no difference — in Africa, in Scotland or in Holland — for all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. We are to tell sinners that they are by nature, as fallen in Adam, the children of wrath, and that except they repent they shall be lost forever and ever. “God commandeth all men everywhere to repent for He hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from the dead”. As Gospel ministers we are placed under the obligation of preaching the Gospel to every creature — to declare to them that it is “a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” — and that men are commanded to believe the Gospel in order to obtain the salvation of their souls. Our authority for doing this is the command of the Saviour. We are clearly to state that if they believe, they will be saved, they will be saved, and if they believe not, they shall be damned. That is indescribably solemn. It is our hope that there are souls in Africa who will yet respond to the Gospel and that this is why the Lord, Who sees the end from the beginning, continues to make provision for the work to continue. The promise is: “Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God”. We ask you to pray earnestly that the Holy Spirit will be poured out from on high that the Gospel may be accompanied with power. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”