Early Missionary Experiences
By R. G. Flexon
Foreign Missionary Work Begins
In August of 1944 a move was made which foreshadowed one of the greatest contributions R. G. Flexon
was to make to Kingdom building. The family moved to Indianapolis, where he became assistant to Foreign Missionary Secretary
Paul W. Thomas. His vision was far-reaching. He felt that there were people outside the Pilgrim Holiness Church who were interested
in missions and ready to help finance them. Missionary conventions were organized and well advertised in several large cities.
They were successful. The money raised in these conventions was the first of the millions that he was instrumental in raising
for the propagation of the Gospel.
In 1946 he was elected as Secretary of Foreign Missions. In his own words, “I set out on
these duties with fear and trembling,” but with characteristic forthrightness he set to work. In 1947 the Flexons took
off for a three-month visit to Africa. No general official had visited the work for thirteen years.
An Answer to Prayer
A car was badly needed for the African work, as they had only one car for all the stations and
it was broken down much of the time. R. G. Flexon took money with him for this purpose and on arrival told the superintendent
of the field they had better buy the car in Capetown and drive it north. “The car dealers in Capetown laughed at us
and said we could not get a car in less than six months.” The missionaries went to the mission home and prayed. For
three days the process was repeated: each day inquiries were made with the same result; of the fourth day a dealer in English
cars called and “told me to come down and get my car. It was a brand new Hillman, just what we had requested!”
The next day they set out on a 2000-mile journey to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).
Seeking the Lost
The missionaries led Brother Flexon on a reconnaissance tour into the Zambezi River Valley. Leaving
a sandy road after a few miles, they struck out through the woods and over a plain where there were not roads. Stumps and
small trees had to be dug out of the way and boulders removed to make a path for the car to travel. At six in the evening
they made camp; they had traveled 30 miles in twelve hours! The next morning after traveling only four miles, they came upon
a mountain of boulders.
"We could not get over it or around it, so, leaving one of our helpers to watch over
the jeep, we set out to walk forty-five miles into the valley. We did not dare to stop at noon to eat, for the Africans ear
only in the morning and at night, and if we stopped, they would likely go on and leave us. As thy were not only our guides
but our baggage carriers, we could not risk that."
Several villages were visited, the same question asked, with the same answer, “No one has
told us of God and His Son.” On the long walk back to the jeep, R. G. Flexon collapsed by the roadside and asked the
others to go on without him. Two of them stayed and helped him to eventually reach the jeep. For three more years no one returned
to visit the valley people. The government said they should be left alone; they were too far down the ladder of civilization
to be helped, but R. G. Flexon did not think so and kept praying for them. After three years one of the missionaries volunteered
to go to the valley if they could send a replacement. “I sat down at my typewriter immediately and told him to get ready
to go, for a replacement was coming.”
"We Have Never Heard Such a Story"
During this first visit to Africa, a work was started in Pondoland where thousands of heathen lived
who had never heard the Gospel. The place was reached by traveling one hundred miles over fields, gullies and through the
woods. Two hundred heathen awaited them; the women were dressed in blankets greased and dipped in yellow clay. Each man held
a spear and a club with a big knob on the end.
"I preached on 'Prepare to Meet Thy God.' They had never heard of God, so I had to explain
who He was. I explained what sin was. Then I drew a crooked line in the sand to represent a life of sin and dug a hole at
the end of it to represent the grave and hell. The Holy Spirit came to my rescue and they got the message. The men gathered
round, laid down their spears and clubs, held out their hands, and said, 'Mufundisi (missionary), we have never heard such
a story. Won't you send someone to tell us more?'
I knew we could not afford it – we were already loaded down financially – but how was
I to turn down two hundred heathen, who had heard of Christ for the first time in their lives from my lips? I could not do
it. I turned to my interpreter who also pastored one of our churches. His wife was a nurse and teacher; they lived in a nice
house in Brakpan. I said, 'Maudi, you heard these men begging for a missionary. Would you and your wife be willing to leave
your nice home in the city, come here and live in a mud house, carry your drinking and wash water three miles from yonder
river and give them the Gospel?' He looked me straight in the face and said, 'I will do it.' In three weeks we built Maudi
and his wife a house and moved them into it. It was a move of faith. We did not have the money to run another station and
no place to get it."
Pray for $50,000
During this visit God began to reveal to Brother Flexon the purpose of a burden that had been laid
on his heart four years before.
"In 1943 while praying in my home in Reading, Pennsylvania, one morning, God told me
to pray for $50,000 from one source for foreign missions. He did not tell me what He wanted to do with it. Without telling
anyone, I prayed every day for a whole year for the fifty thousand. Then I told my wife about my burden and we prayed together
about it daily. We learned later that the Lord had told a pastor's wife in an eastern state that we were praying for fifty
thousand dollars and she should join us in prayer. We prayed on every day without knowing why."
Several contacts were made with South African Europeans. A group of them had organized a camp meeting
and were doing a good work under the name of South African Evangelistic Bands. However, they had no churches of their own,
so the people who found God in their meetings returned to dead churches and the work did not prosper as it should have. Some
of the missionaries made arrangements for a meeting for Europeans to be held in Johannesburg. It was well advertised and about
500 attended and some came forward for prayer.
"Several days later as I was praying, the Lord said, 'Get up. Write a letter to Mr. Bursch
in Buffalo, Kansas.' I had never seen the man. The extent of our acquaintance was two letters I had written him to which he
had replied. The Lord said, 'I am ready to answer your prayer for fifty thousand dollars from one source.' I wrote, telling
him of my burden for the white people of South Africa."
The Flexons returned to America and three months later a letter came, asking him to come to Kansas.
He found Mr. Bursch living in a brick farmhouse with no conveniences. After a few questions and a bit of conversation, Mr.
Bursch handed R. G. Flexon a check for $10.00, saying, “There will be another for this amount in two weeks.” The
check came and others followed. Within the next year Richard Flexon received $51,000 from this one source. The Lord told him
to use it to start the European work in South Africa.
