Dear Robert, Joy and, Sandra
Please edit and use as you see fit, in Word and Work or elsewhere
Best Regards
CHESTER AND ANGELA WOODHALL –
LONG TERM BRITISH MISSIONARIES RETURN FROM AFRICA
We fell in love and married in our home town of Birmingham, England in January 1971 and, with the encouragement of Christian friends at the Summer Lane church of Christ in Birmingham, went immediately.on faith that the Lord would provide, to the African mission field. The Summer Lane church had more than a century of experience of sharing the Good News of Jesus and shared with us how to tell others the Gospel of Christ.
Our friends of many years on the African mission field are Robert and Joy Garrett who came as a missionary couple with three young children from the Portland, Kentucky church of Christ in1961 to join his parents, DeWitt and Dolly Garrett and remain active in assisting churches in Zizmbabwe to this day. They gave us encouragement and back up with obtaining needed supplies especially when we were based near the Congo/ Zambia border. We enjoyed visiting the congregations with whom they worked in Zimbabwe. The Garretts are the longest serving missionary couple known to us serving in Africa and our term of service in Africa is only a half century!
We have been involved in church planting in Africa of at least 800 congregations with 50 000 baptized members. The numbers too may be higher as we encourage self governing, self financing, and self propagating congregations and we keep hearing of further congregations that have been formed. For example, one of our converts to Christ from many years ago made contact recently with news of planting 300 new congregations in another part of Africa. The Lord is the only statistician who really knows the numbers of those saved, and faithful, during extensive outreach in many places over many years.
We have been actively involved in church leadership training workshops in many African countries and have had good results. David Murphy from the British churches of Christ was an agricultural trainer and had a farm in Zambia near the Congo border. He provided premises for accommodation and classrooms for leadership training for fruitful church planters in both Zambia and Congo. His uncle Frank Murphy was a British missionary who planted the first churches of Christ in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital in the 1950s. He worked as a nurse tutor during the day and worked as an open air preacher at night in the townships. We are in contact with church leaders over a wide area of Africa from the north of Congo to Cape Town in South Africa.
* Our three children, Mary, Kim, and Ian, were born during our time as African missionaries and assisted in different ways at different times with the African mission work. Mary, for example, was very effective in organizing the Bible correspondence program. Kim was with Chester on a preaching and teaching visit in bush areas of the Congo when their vehicle was ambushed and surrounded by an armed militia group. Kim helped her Dad with getting out Bibles and Christian literature to the men the guns. After Chester preached the Gospel of Christ to the armed group, they were told by the militia leader to continue with their preaching journey. When there was baptising at the river, Ian would watch out for crocodiles. All our children now live in England.
* In the Eastern Cape we have a children’s home associated with us which has rescued 25 + abandoned children who might otherwise have died. The matron of the children’s home is Agnes, a retired widow.
* We were one of only two church of Christ missionary families currently resident in South Africa, the only other missionary couple about one thousand miles away.
Our contact details are :
Chester and Angela Woodhall
Apt 14 Boldmere Place
Sutton Coldfield
B73 5FU
England
Angela’s phone number +447794054015
Chester’s phone number +447944330286
Chester is unable to drive or to travel now due to advanced Parkinson’s affecting his mobility. He has retired from the mission field as he approaches his 83rd year,
Chester has written two books on missions in Africa which are available free by email.
With best wishes,
Chester and Angela.