THE SOUTH AFRICAN BORDER WAR: THE SPIRITUAL SIDE
Those who saw one of my previous blogs, https://steemit.com/life/@minnaloushe/wow-moments-in-other-words-special-memories, may already understand that I admired my father hugely. To me, he was father, mentor, spiritual leader and confidant.
Dad was a down-to-earth man, no frills. He was not a confrontational man, but when he had to say something, he said it, always with his deep, calm voice. He also had a very good sense of humor, sometimes a little on the black side. (Refer to my post above, where I posted a photo of him having lunch on a coffin – I will still relate that story at some stage.) He was a devoted husband, father and friend. Most of all, he was a Man of God.
He was deeply rooted in his Christian faith and was a reverend in the Gereformeerde Kerk (Reformed Church) in South Africa. His first flock was the congregation of Ventersdorp. (Ventersdorp was also the home of one of our controversial political leaders, Eugene Terreblanche.) After that he was a missionary in Siloam, Venda.
In the pictures below, he is ministering to his flock in Venda.
Unfortunately, he struggled with the language (although my mother thrived on learning this new language), and he returned to the cities to minister in the Springs congregation and the Edenvale congregation, respectively.
Reformed Church, Springs
Reformed Church, Edenvale
My father was also someone who responded positively to his Father's calling, and during his time as reverend in Springs in the 1970's, he became chaplain to Regiment Springs, one of the regiments that was sent to fight in the South African/Angolan border war. @gavvet writes in his blog, https://steemit.com/war/@gavvet/africa-s-forgotten-cold-war-angolan-war-of-independence, about the time when South Africa was involved in the Angolan war. (Go check out his posts about the South African Border War. They are very informative and well researched.)
By Caracal Rooikat - Own collectionPreviously published: Nil, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55578551
Above is the insignia of Regiment Springs.
Dad, however, was called to tend to the spiritual side of the men who took part in the war. He was the one who brought the Gospel to people. He was the one who listened to the fears of his men. He was the one who had to tell family back home when one of his soldiers died. In short, he was their spiritual leader in every way that he could.
The picture above is of Dad in his uniform.
And on Sundays, come what may, he would bring the Gospel to whoever wanted to listen. The photo above was taken by one Koos van der Merwe during that time. Unfortunately, I could not find any information about this Koos van der Merwe, but there was a book published called "MY MENSE – Hoogtepunte uit die Foto-joernalistiek van Koos van der Merwe" (MY PEOPLE – Highlights from the Photo-journalism of Koos van der Merwe).
The poignant picture at the top of this article was taken at the end of 1975, while my dad was ministering to his people. The caption to this photo reads, "In a Roman Catholic chapel without congregation, Rev Willem Kuperus brings his reformed message during the South African action in Angola, end 1975".
He was a Man of God to his last. The photo below was taken when he ministered to his children and grandchildren for the very last time.
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This is my grandfather! His life was truly incredible and he lived by what he preached. I have some really incredible memories of him but my proudest memory is beating him in a game of chess...
War is a terrible thing and this was a war faught for terrible reasons but he never let the politics get in the way of ministry.
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Dankie vir die uitstekende artikel. Ek was ook in die jaar 1978 in die gereformeerde kerk Edenvale waar jou pa dominee was!
Sal ek jou dalk onthou?
Ek weet nie, het self probeer om jou te onthou maar kan nie. Weet Ds het kinders gehad en ek dink ons is min of meer dieselfde ouderdom. Ons was drie kinders Ryno die oudste nou 54 jaar, dan ek Marcel nou 52 jaar en dan my suster Ingrid nou 48 jaar. Ons van is Wilson (nogal ongereformeerd ne) . My ma en pa is Nic en Bep wilson. My ma is n nooi van Gent watuit nederland in 1955 geimmgreer het saam met hulle hele familie.
Ons was net so n jaar in edenvale en is daarvandaan na Pretoria toe. Ek was die tweede helfte van std ses en die eerst helfte van std sewe in hoerskool edenvale. Weet nie of dit iewers n klokkie lui vir jou nie!
Ryno is dus 'n jaar ouer as ek (my naam was Riki Kuperus). Jy en my sus, Nelia, is ewe oud, en Ingrid is ongeveer so oud soos my jongste boet, Wynand. Die naam Ryno lui tog 'n klokkie.