This article appeared on the Church’s South Africa website (lds.co.za) in December 2005 and was linked from our December 2005 update. That website no longer exists, so this copy was preserved from the Internet Archive’s September 2006 capture. Text © Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
Just recently, the Johannesburg missionaries have been re-named Miracle Missionaries.
There is a good reason for that moniker. These young men, ages 19 and above, serving the Lord for two years, literally moved the set design walls of Bethlehem, and countless other things, in preparation for the Christmas pageant, Miracle Called Christmas, held in a ‘rainy way' recently at Bedfordview Chapel.
The list of their labors is long and to their tribute. Johannesburg Mission President James Bowden is congratulated for his stripling warriors. In the last month, these young men have sung Christmas carols in Johannesburg malls promoting the second annual Christmas pageant sponsored by the Key City Committee. They have handed out flyers, learned to paint, varnished the Bethlehem tableaux; helped construct wooden frames that secured the Bethlehem cityscape fabric. They set up painting tables and took down painting tables. They carried heavy screens outside and brought them back into the chapel after drying.
The list continues: They helped set up scaffolding for the event; they hauled chairs outside and hauled them back; they set up concession stands; they helped bring in platforms; they helped set up the sound. When it rained, they helped people into the chapel. They carried boxes and bottles and chips. They helped people to their cars.
Most of all, they brought a positiveness and enthusiasm to the pageant project. Little did they know but their spirit and willingness were part of the Miracle of Christmas.
Below find a cluster of pictures of our South African missionaries in action. Not all the missionaries are listed by name. However, they are all loved.