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.