The Ochre and the Blue
THE OCHRE AND THE BLUE tells the story of the planting and development of the Xhosa-speaking Free Church in South Africa, located mainly in the Eastern Cape.
The book will have strong international appeal! Missionaries from Churches in Scotland, Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and South Africa have served with the FCSA throughout its history, and in the FCSA itself a new generation seeks to know more about its roots. Scottish Churches will be interested in the effect of the 'Disruption' of 1843 and the Union' of 1900 on the mission in South Africa. South Africans will see something of the mission's influence on institutions of learning and medicine and on culture. All will be fascinated by the eye-witness accounts of events in the 1990s leading up to the 'New South Africa.
It is a moving, engaging story of how the Gospel transformed lives in villages and towns, and of the difficulties, disappointments, hard work, and sacrifice that accompanied it. Billy and Elizabeth Graham, themselves missionaries in South Africa 1976-1996, tell the story. It is beautifully descriptive of the African scene, place-names, travel and personalities, made vivid with personal reminiscence and anecdote. It tells how a succession of missionaries and Xhosa Christians worked together from the 1820s to build a Church which achieved full independence in 1983 and from which emerged Dumisani Theological Institute.
The wider church will remain in the debt of Billy and Elizabeth Graham for this wonderful piece of work. They have said little about themselves but every page bears lasting testimony to their passion for South Africa and their bond with Xhosa believers.
