Zimbabwe
A communion season was held in Bulawayo at the end of June. At the Sabbath morning service Rev. P. Mzamo preached from Zech 13:7. There
were two reasons for encouragement: First, one of the late Rev. Alfred Mpofu’s daughters, a married lady with a family, was received for membership, and secondly, a former pupil of John Tallach School was received for baptism.
At the end of the second service on Sabbath Rev. A. Ndebele strongly urged the believers present to pray that the Lord of the Harvest would raise up ministers of the Gospel and leaders of the church. He also exhorted them to plead the promise: “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”
On Ingwenya Mission engineers have installed a new telephone system. (The present telephone system has been very unsatisfactory until now). They were to erect a 30-foot mast, surrounded by 8-foot high fence with large double gates, right in front of the John Tallach School. Miss Marion Graham, Headmistress, objected strongly, and it was agreed then to fix the mast in a less conspicuous spot. The new system works by radio link to satellites, and the Mission should now be able to communicate easily with any part of the world.
At the John Tallach School they are busy with midterm exams. In a community of that size (six hundred boarders, twenty African teachers, a few European teachers, the minister’s household and some domestic helpers), there are bound to be small crises from time to time. Recently, one of the teachers went to sleep with a small charcoal fire burning in the room and the windows shut. She became unconscious because of the carbon dioxide fumes. Providentially, the Boarding Master, Mr Dame Sibanda, and his wife found her lying on the floor. She had obviously been trying to reach the door. They quickly took her to a local clinic and then to the hospital. She is teaching again for which all are thankful.
We had a letter recently from Mr Levie Ndlovu, Headmaster of Lutsha School which is a few miles from Mbuma. He was a close friend of the late David Ndlovu. He mentions that he had been preaching at Binga, a place often referred to in reports of previous years. The people of Binga belong to the Tonga tribe and originally came from Zululand on the East coast of South Africa, but had to flee, as many other tribes had to do, from the warlike Tshaka. Eventually, after many conflicts and hazards, they arrived in the valley of the Zambezi River where they had abundance of fish and arable land. However, the Government of that time dammed the river to form a lake, the now well known Kariba Dam, to produce electricity for the whole of Rhodesia. The Tonga were moved to the present inhospitable, dry area where they are often hungry. Our Mission regularly brings help to them and conducts services. If they would receive the riches of the Gospel it would more than make up for their losing the riches of the Zambezi valley.
Mr. Ndlovu also mentioned in his letter that two elders have been ordained in Mbuma Congregation – Mr Mtandazelwa Dube, Headmaster of Mbuma School, and Mr Elijah Mpofu, Headmaster of Zenka School. Mr Milton Ndlovu, brother of the late David Ndlovu was made a deacon, and Mr Manford Mloyi is now Catechist at Mbuma Hospital.
Kenya.
Everyone was very sorry to hear of the sudden illness of Dr. James Tallach after a strenuous month in Kenya. When he arrived at Inverness Railway Station, where he was met by his wife, on his return from Kenya, he felt chest pains. His wife drove him to Raigmore Hospital where he was diagnosed as having had a mild heart attack. Dr. Tallach is now back in Raasay where he is convalescing. Our prayerful wish is that, the Lord willing, he will soon recover completely.
One of the nurses describes the alarming episode when the large water tank under the Health Centre at Sengera began to leak, and the water came through to the dispensary. The flowing water made the hole much larger and thousands of gallons of water rushed down the hillside. After the tank was repaired there was no rain for two weeks. They were now faced with another problem – shortage of water. However, they then had two weeks of heavy rain, and more water has collected in the tank.
At the time of writing, Rev. John Goldby is due to leave for Kenya on 30th July to begin his work as Missionary at Sengera. It is expected that he will be inducted to the work in September, God willing. J.N.
Protestant View
The one-way ecumenism of Romanism
ECUMENIST enthusiasts in the Protestant camp are deluding themselves in thinking that Rome may do a U-turn on such matters as the nature of the mass or the supremacy of the Pope. Therefore, there cannot be the shared partaking of communion between Roman Catholics and Protestants which the Iona Community calls for, unless there be full unity first – a fact recently stressed by Cardinal Thomas Winning.
Nor, in Rome’s view, can there be any head of a universal united church but the Pope — another fact indicated by the following statement to the editor of Life and Work by the same Scottish cardinal: “It looks to me as though the ministry of the Bishop of Rome is the permanent and visible
source of unity as far as we are concerned. For good order, you need someone to make ultimate decisions about things. I can’t see how we can go forward without some kind of ultimate authority vested in an individual.”
There we see it once again — Rome’s road to ecclesiastical togetherness is a one-way road. The system is not for changing! When will the purblind leaders of the national Churches begin to see that this is so?
The Vatican’s devotion to Mary
A RECENT Vatican Press release stated that the Pope, in addressing 4,000 pilgrims, spoke of his recent visits to the Marian Shrine at Loreto. “This Marian basilica-shrine contains the remains of the house in which Mary is said to have received the visit from the Archangel Gabriel,” says the Vatican. “Towards the end of the 13th century, the house miraculously appeared- carried by angels…” During a visit of young “pilgrims” to Loreto last September the Pope urged them to “look always at the Mother of Jesus and learn from her…”
Four days later, another press release stated that the Pope spoke to pilgrims on the Romish dogma of “Immaculate Conception of Mary” – that there was “a total absence of sin in Mary from the beginning of her life”.
On the same day he said to a group from Foggia, Italy, “I am happy to donate to you today a crown for the sacred image of the virgin so venerated by you,” (the Crowned Madonna of Foggia).
All this demonstrates the extent of Rome’s mariolatry, which, as Herbert Carson shows in his The Faith of the Vatican, (see review in this issue) is nothing less than idolatry.
Sexual abuse by priests
IT IS a well-known fact that the Roman Catholic hierarchy has dealt with numerous allegations of immorality by priests by sweeping them under the carpet. Further proof of this has come to light at the recent trial of former priest, Desmond Lynagh, who was jailed for three years for sexually abusing two teenagers when he was a teacher at Blairs College, Aberdeen.
The Roman Catholic Church paid one of the victims £42,000. It also promised to review its policy on dealing with allegations of abuse — but such promises have been made before to no evident improvement.
These revelations (and we believe that there will yet be many more) are reminiscent of the unveiling, at the time of the Reformation, of the uncleanness of Rome. We hope that these increasing disclosures are a prelude to the downfall and destruction of the Roman Papacy and the setting free of those who are deluded by it.
Notes and Comments
The Churches and the “gay rights movement”
THE growing influence of the so-called “gay rights movement” throughout the world, and the succumbing of certain Churches to its arguments despite the explicit condemnation of sodomy by the Scriptures, is shown by the proposal of the Uniting Church of Australia, presently being considered, to give recognition to homosexual relationships. Also, in the Episcopal Church of America, an ecclesiastical court has ruled that “core doctrine” does not prohibit ordaining homosexuals who are in committed relationships.
This is in marked contrast to the decision of the Reformed Church in Hungary to condemn a recent decision by Hungary’s Parliament to give legal recognition to homosexual relationships.
The Royal divorce
SADLY, the crumbling marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana has finally ended in divorce. In less than two minutes, at a court hearing at Somerset House, the Prince was granted a decree nisi dissolving his marriage to the Princess on the grounds that they had lived apart for at least two years and the Princess consented to his petition. Thus ended a marriage which many expected would be a model one.
There are three factors in this divorce, apart from the heir to the throne being involved, which especially sadden those who prayerfully wish well to the Queen and her family. The divorce is on grounds other than those permitted by the Scriptures. Secondly; there has been the admission of adultery by both parties. Thirdly, the Queen requested the couple to begin divorce proceedings. It is to be feared that the Royal Family has gone far astray from the narrow, pleasant and safe path prescribed by the Word of God.
Islam’s persecuting policies
ONCE a wealthy contractor, Robert Hussein, 44, a professing Christian, has been stripped by Kuwait’s courts of his civil rights and material wealth (assets totalling \$4 million) and driven into hiding for fear of his life. His crime? Refusal to renounce Christianity and revert to Islam. In June, Judge Jafar Al-Quzweeni ruled that Islamic law calls for Muslim leaders to execute Hussein as an apostate. Like many nations, Kuwait declares by its constitution that it allows freedom of religion, while its Muslim-dominated court system contends that the constitution gets its power only from Islamic law, which does not allow conversion from Islam.