His Call, My All: An African Drumbeat, A Missionary's Heartbeat

By Hennie Keyter and Janet Rodriguez

In His Call, My All: An African Drumbeat - A Missionary's Heartbeat Hennie Keyter looks back at his life in the service of the Lord, and forward to continuing His work for as long as God requires it of him. In the 1970s Hennie Keyter was an angry young man, fresh out of military service for the apartheid government of South Africa, unsure of his path in life and deeply uneasy about his faith. When God revealed to him that He had a purpose for him and a calling on his life, at first Hennie was not ready to hear it. When he finally accepted and understood his mission, a flame was lit in his heart that nothing could have extinguished. But nothing could have prepared him either for the extraordinary spiritual journey he was about to embark on which would take him wherever God wanted him to go: from Malawi, 'the warm heart of Africa', to Mozambique at the height of its civil war, where he was sentenced to death and faced a firing squad, from a less than welcoming beginning in Zanzibar, to the United Nations base at Lokichokio on the border between Kenya and Sudan (where on one trip he discovered that he had a price of US$10 000 on his head). Desiring only to do the will of God and to spread the Gospel, Hennie took up the challenge of taking the Gospel to many of the countries on the African continent and in the Middle East, building up leaders and planting churches in poverty stricken areas, lands devastated by years of conflict and deprivation, and war zones where soldiers seemed to have lost everything, even hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tracey McDonald Publishers
• Release date: Jan 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9780620585606

Book preview

HIS CALL, MY ALL

An African Drumbeat –

A Missionary’s Heartbeat

Hennie Keyter

With Janet Rodriguez

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First published by Tracey McDonald Publishers 2014

Office: 5 Quelea Street, Fourways, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2191

www.traceymcdonaldpublishers.com

Copyright text © Hennie Keyter 2014

Cover photograph © Brett Michael Innes

All rights reserved

The moral right of the author has been asserted

ISBN 978-0-620-58553-8

e-ISBN (ePUB) 978-0-620-58560-6

e-ISBN (PDF) 978-0-620-58561-3

Text design and typesetting by Reneé Naude

Cover design by Reneé Naude

Printed and bound by Pinetown Printers (Pty) Ltd

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Handwritten on the first page of Hennie Keyter’s Bible is this hymn …

I want, dear Lord, a heart that’s true and clean;

A sunlit heart, with not a cloud between;

A heart like Thine, a heart divine, a heart as white as snow;

On me, dear Lord, a heart like this bestow.

I want, dear Lord, a love that feels for all;

A deep, strong love that answers every call;

A love like Thine, a love divine, a love for high and low;

On me, dear Lord, a love like this bestow.

I want, dear Lord, a soul on fire for Thee;

A soul baptised with heavenly energy;

A willing mind, a ready hand, to do whate’er I know;

To spread Thy light wherever I may go.

I want, dear Lord, a faith that looks to Thee;

To cheer the way when naught but clouds I see;

A faith sublime, a faith divine, a faith that will not fail;

To trust in Thee and over sin prevail.

I want, dear Lord, a hope steadfast and sure;

A hope that holds to things that will endure;

A hope in heaven, a hope in Thee, a hope

that’s bright and clear;

Dispelling doubt and conquering every fear.

A Heart Like Thine © Homer Rodeheaver 1913

Contents

Foreword by Dudley Daniel

Foreword by Ray Oliver

Introduction: The Total Package by Rita Keyter

1: Firing Squad – Mozambique, 1985

2: Early Days – South Africa, 1953-1977

3: Course of God – South Africa, 1977-1982

4: All Nations – Africa, 1980-

5: Opening Doors – Africa, 1980-

6: A Change of Seasons – Richmond,

South Africa, 1992-2000

7: Sudan – Africa, 2001-

8: The Cost of Discipleship, 2006-2009

9: The Shadow of the Almighty – Sudan, 1998-

10: Wild Things – Africa

11: Ripple Effect – The Middle East, 2004-

12: One Life: Final Thoughts on Walking in Faith

Foreword by Dudley Daniel

I have often thought that if Hennie Keyter had been alive a hundred years ago we would in all likelihood still see his life story on our bookstore shelves today, fitting naturally and timelessly alongside all the other books about great pioneers in the Lord. Hennie is a man of great vision and energy.

He is fearless in the face of opposition and obstacles, and he has faced death on numerous occasions – even once in the form of a firing squad! – all because of the Gospel. He has been a faithful friend and partner in serving Jesus to my wife Ann and me, and we have felt honoured to know him and his family.

I have a deep appreciation for his commitment to and passion for seeing nations discipled and churches planted and cared for across the continent of Africa and various other places around the world, and for his dedication to building His church in a Biblical way. How we need more men and women like Hennie and his precious wife Rita: sold out to God, world evangelism, training leaders and church planting. Lord raise up an army of them!

Dudley Daniel

Adelaide, Australia

Foreword by Ray Oliver

I first met Hennie Keyter in the early 1970s when I was attending Bible school and Hennie was doing his stint in the armed forces.

His reputation as being wild preceded him and so it was with great joy that we heard of his commitment to Christ and the radical change in him that resulted. Subsequently, Hennie attended the same Bible school as I did, and then began his ministry which has had influence in many nations and touched thousands of people. In the early years of his ministry into Africa Hennie would go on his own into Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and other countries and spend long periods of time there.

During this time our personal friendship had developed and so on one occasion, in order to keep him company and hopefully to encourage him, I went on a trip with him to Malawi. To be honest, the motive for my going was more friendship with Hennie than a love for the people and the nation, but that trip changed everything for me. It began a series of many trips and many adventures (some of which Hennie has described in this book) and covered well over 20 years. A heart of love for the people of Africa was born in me on that trip and it continues to this day.

This has been the ministry of Hennie all of his life. His passion, courage, sacrifice and love for the people has inspired many others to follow his lead. Hennie has a unique God-given ministry – that of being led by God through amazing ‘coincidences’ into nation after nation. In more recent years much of his activity has been in North Africa, which is not always a friendly environment for Christian evangelism, but his work has resulted in great fruitfulness. I believe the accounts in this book will continue to inspire many – as I myself have been inspired by this man.

Ray Oliver

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Introduction: The Total Package

A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies. Proverbs 31:10

I met Hennie when I was 23 years old. I had known him for only a few days when he shared with me that God had told him I was to be his wife.

My head was spinning as I tried to focus on what he was saying to me. I wasn’t sure at the time if he was the man for me, but something about him and the way he told me made me at least agree to seriously consider his offer.

After I had agreed I went down on my knees. ‘Lord, what just happened? Did I say the right thing? Is this really You?’ I asked. After all, I hadn’t heard anything myself up until then.

I soon found out that Hennie was a bright and sincere man who heard clearly from God like no one I had met before. I also knew that he had been called to great things and to evangelize the world. He was a man filled with passion for God and he had a calling on his life.

That year, in God’s providence, I had applied for my annual leave from my job in October rather than in December as I usually did. I had met Hennie in July. In October he invited me to come out to his farm to stay with his family. During the time I was there God spoke to me as well and I remember one particular day clearly, when I was inside the house with Hennie’s mother, when I realized that God had orchestrated the whole thing. He had brought me my husband, just as I had prayed He would.

When Hennie asked me to marry him two months later I asked him, ‘What do you expect of me?’

All I could think was: I can’t marry this guy . . . I’m not good enough for him. After all, I was only a girl from Reitz, used to a very small world.

‘What I expect of you is to serve God,’ Hennie replied.

He made it so easy for me to say yes.

When we got married I knew I would sacrifice time with my husband for the calling he had on his life and I was happy to do it. There was never any pressure to be someone I wasn’t. I was happy to be a wife and mother who stayed at home and raised our children, so that I could release him to go wherever God sent him.

I missed Hennie when he was away and at times I admit it was lonely. The life of a wife of a missionary is not for everyone. Many times, with the dangers that Hennie would be facing in the bush, I would say goodbye to him and pray, not knowing if I would see him again. There were many years when our children did not see their father often.

Nevertheless, looking back I can say that I have had a blessed life and I am happy to have been given it. I have no bitterness or regrets over the time God has given me with Hennie. Each day has been a gift. It has been easy to follow him because he hears God.

God had given me my own calling to be the wife and the mother and the lifeline at home, so it fitted well with the calling Hennie had on his life. It was exactly what I wanted to do.

It has been a pleasure and an honour to be Hennie Keyter’s wife. I love the total package.

The greatest reward of the ministry we have been involved in together is that we have worked together every step of the way. We’ve done it all for our King and His Kingdom.

Rita Keyter

Johannesburg, South Africa

1

Firing Squad – Mozambique, 1985

What, then, shall we say in response

to these things? If God is for us, who can

be against us? Romans 8:31

I was standing trial for collaborating with the enemy, the military court a crude boma made of mud and grass in a remote area of Mozambique on the east coast of Africa. The principles of law and justice were not a priority for the commanding officer who was standing in front of me, now holding my fate in his hands. He was already furious with me. It was the second time in one day that we had met and his temper had not improved. We were both well aware that I had disobeyed his orders earlier the same day. Mozambique was a country ravaged by the civil war that had raged for years, and I understood that the chances of me getting a fair trial here were very slim.

Next to me, trembling with fear, was a poor black man who was standing trial on the same charge. Like me, he had simply driven his vehicle on a road without a military escort, but this had put the two of us in deep trouble.

The several soldiers around us observing events unfold were obviously amused by our predicament and they didn’t hold back their laughter. They laughed at the unusual juxtaposition of a white South African man next to a black one, about to meet the same end for the same crime. It was funny to them, something that lightened their monotonous day spent supervising weary soldiers.

Across from me, the commanding officer was screaming into his radio, talking to his superior officer in Zimbabwe. Even though he had turned away from me, I could hear him clearly and he was speaking English.

‘We have caught two drivers who are certainly collaborating with RENAMO,’ he said. ‘What shall we do with them?’

The only sound I heard after the crackle of the radio transmission was the soldiers laughing and jesting. I stood still.

‘You have done this before,’ the answer came, also in English. ‘It is your decision. You may execute them. It’s up to you.’

Having received confirmation of his autonomy, the commanding officer ended the radio transmission and gave a command for the soldiers to form a firing squad. Soldiers suddenly came to attention and did as they were ordered. They formed a line, uniforms straightened and guns ready.

I looked at the big red African sun setting on the horizon. I thought that it would be the last sun I would ever see in this life and it was beautiful.

My co-accused, the driver of the other vehicle, was a man probably in his thirties. He began to cry and tried to reason with the angry officer. ‘Please, sir,’ he said, ‘I have a wife and children . . .’ Tears were running down his face and I felt terrible for him. He was an innocent man. But I, too, had a wife and children at home. I, too, was innocent.

‘No talking!’ the commanding officer shouted. The soldiers had stopped laughing, sobered now by what they were about to see or do.

There would be no blindfolds and their version would be quick.

I suddenly thought of a saying I liked and often lived by – ‘Cowboys don’t cry’ – and for some reason I started to laugh uncontrollably.

The commanding officer turned to me, enraged that I had made any sound, let alone the laughter that I couldn’t stop. He spun around and faced me, placing his hand on the handgun at his side. For a second I thought he would take a shortcut and kill me himself, right there and then.

And then suddenly, at that moment, the presence of God descended and there was total and wonderful peace.

. .

That morning I remember waking up to a beautiful African sunrise and a day that was filled with promise of what was to come: evangelism. I had two things on my mind – to get to Malawi and to share the Gospel. My friend Ray Oliver was travelling with me for the same purpose. Ray was one of the only friends I had who would dare come with me on a trip like this. Ray was always ready to come out of his known comfort zone.

He and I had been to the same Bible school and we had the same heart for spreading the Gospel in the world. That day we were excited to be going into the nation of Malawi, the poorest country in the world that was not at war. As a land-locked country, there were only two ways to get there. If you were coming from South Africa, you needed to drive either through Mozambique or through Zambia.

The trip itself was one that was fraught with danger. In 1985 Mozambique was involved in a very bloody and violent civil war. The ruling party, the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), was involved in a deadly battle for control of the country with the Mozambique Resistance Movement (RENAMO), which was funded mainly by Rhodesia, as it was then, and South Africa. FRELIMO had control of the Tete Corridor (which was known as ‘the Tete run’), the area connecting southern Mozambique with Malawi, and everyone travelling through the area was required to have a military escort. The escort was made up of Zimbabwean soldiers.

These soldiers’ job was to protect the trucks filled with valuable goods and foods which passed daily through this dangerous territory. In reality, the military escort also served to control the traffic on that route to ensure that there was no collaboration with RENAMO.

The daily routine was for FRELIMO’s escort to direct the north-bound convoy coming from South Africa going into Malawi and also the convoy travelling from Malawi south to South Africa.

Early that morning Ray and I climbed into my Toyota 4x4 and joined the north-bound convoy. We met the south-bound convoy coming from Malawi at the one-kilometre-long suspension bridge that straddled the Zambezi River.

The commanding officer from the south-bound convoy took special notice of us, as well as a second vehicle also travelling north that did not seem to fit in. Two ordinary vehicles among the goods trucks would have stood out and attracted attention anyway, but both vehicles had South African number plates as well. Being South African, we were not looked upon favourably, even if we had absolutely no connection ourselves with RENAMO.

The south-bound commanding officer gesticulated madly, swearing and motioning toward us. The ensuing commotion caused all traffic to come to a halt as he took some time to make sure we were removed from the convoy and our vehicles turned around.

‘Get back in your vehicles and go back to South Africa!’ he told us.

His instructions were clear and concise, filled with swear words, but still easy to understand.

I said nothing. I knew it would be useless to argue with the man. My mind was made up, however. Ray and I were halfway to our destination and we were not going to go back to South Africa if God had told us to go to Malawi.

After the officer had left with the convoy I decided Ray and I would make our own path and continue on our journey north, only this time not as part of the protected convoy. The driver of the other vehicle which had also been turned around overheard me and Ray talking and he asked if he could travel with us. We agreed that it would be good to have more than one vehicle driving together. After all, we were going to be travelling through a war zone and we knew it was dangerous, especially with the landmines that we knew were regularly being planted on the road by both FRELIMO and RENAMO soldiers.

We travelled for about 30 kilometres without mishap and