This article was authored
by the Scribe of the General Synod, Rev Dr Dawid Kuyler
Courage is the ability
and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.
Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or
threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face
of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courage)
The Bible teaches us much
about people with courage. Noah had the courage to build an ark while everyone
was ridiculing him. Abraham had the courage to leave all that was known to him
and obey God’s command to journey to an unknown land. The many prophets had
courage to preach even when their lives were in danger. Daniel had the
courage not to follow the ways of the Babylonians. Paul showed his courage in
preaching the Gospel of Christ. Church history is full of people who had
the courage to go beyond the known.
What lesson of courage
can we learn from the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA)? In
1990 the Dutch Reformed Mission Church and Dutch Reformed Church in Africa already had plans for
re-unification. This, however, only became a reality on the 14th April 1994. Many congregations of
these two churches had received financial support from the white Dutch Reformed
Church (DRC), which was not in favour of the re-unification and (especially) the
acceptance of the Belhar Confession.
Congregations and
ministers knew that the re-unification of the two churches would have a
negative financial impact on them. It is one thing to say that we live by
faith, but faith does not pay our bills. The ministers had families to support
and their congregations, which consisted of poor people, were not in a position
to provide financially for them. Many of these ministers’ names will not be
recorded in history. I would like to share with you the brief stories of two of
my colleagues who had the courage to do what was right. They represent many
others in the URCSA who had the courage to be obedient to God.
Rev Baks Lebakeng
One is Rev Baks Lebakeng.
He was a minister in the Botshabelo congregation. It was a macro
congregation with five ministers – of which three were white. Once it became
known that he was supporting the re-unification and the Belhar Confession, the
white ministers made life difficult for him. They even stopped his salary.
Rev Lebakeng and his
church council decided to join URCSA. Legal proceedings were instituted
against them and they were barred from using church properties. Together with
his congregants he had to start all over again. Together they erected a
tin shack as a church structure and continued with the ministry. Rev Lebakeng
had the courage to live the Belhar Confession. His salary was much less and his
family had to rely on the salary of his wife Susan, a teacher.
Rev Lebakeng later became
the Scribe of the Free State and Lesotho Regional
Synod. Currently he is a minister in a URCSA Congregation in Thabong in
Welkom.
Rev Langa Fokase
The other minister I
would like to tell you about is Rev Langa Fokase. He was a minister at
Excelsior, a small rural town in the Free State. They were also
supported financially by the local white DRC. When the local DRC minister came
to know that Rev Fokase was supporting the re-unification and the Belhar
Confession, the church council and Rev Fokase were informed that they would no
longer receive any financial support. What was Rev Fokase supposed do? He
was married and had a family to support. He could withdraw his congregation
from the re-unification process. Yet, with courage, he stood by his
decision. With the help of a URCSA school inspector, he got a teaching job at
the local school and continued his ministry. Today he is still a teacher and a
tent making minister. He had the courage. Today he is in the leadership of the Free State and Lesotho Regional
Synod.
Rev Lebakeng and Rev
Fokase represent many others who had courage. May we remember the ordinary
ministers and congregants who had the courage to be obedient to the Lord of the
Church.
Dr Dawid Kuyler
Dr Dawid Kuyler served as
Scribe* of the General Synod of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa from 2008 till 2016.
Kuyler is a church historian, who has become a practical theologian teaching counselling. He has been in
the ministry for 30 years and continues to enjoy its challenges.
*A position that is
equivalent to a Stated Clerk of the General Assembly or highest governing
body of a denomination
Source:
http://www.ecclesio.com/2014/05/lessons-from-the-past-2-courage-dawid-kuyler/
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