Papyrus Pen Pals

By CO Stephens

Are you ready to uncover a hidden history that will leave you astounded? If you thought that the A-Team (A is for apostles) were all men, think again. We have a groundbreaking book that will blow your mind!

 

"PAPYRUS PEN PALS" takes you on a journey through the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles, all the way to Persia and India. We explore the lives of 24 inspiring individuals who launched the Great Commission. The breathtaking scope of this book will take you from the Atlantic to the Bay of Bengal, from the West to the East, and from the Crimean peninsula down to Ethiopia.

 

This is not your typical history book. The author has researched every detail with care and accuracy, but the style reads like fiction. The "chats" are imaginative but based on historical records. You'll discover novelties and insights that even astound historians and Bible scholars.

 

Be warned, once you start reading, it's hard to put it down! Some readers, however, like to check out the Timeline and the Map first. The author's deep admiration and fire-in-the-belly are contagious, making this book an exciting and unique interpretation of the Apostolic Age.

 

Don't miss out on the opportunity to uncover a hidden history that will astound you. Fasten your seatbelt, and get ready for an eye-opening and inspiring journey with "PAPYRUS PEN PALS."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mbokodo Publishers
• Release date: May 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781998970810

CO Stephens

Chuck Stephens is a Canadian who has spent, permanent resident in South Africa.  He was born and raised in the Belgian Congo, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.  He is 72 years old.  He has spent 46 of those years in Africa.  He has been a resident in Congo, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa.  A seminary graduate, Chuck chose not to be ordained as he felt that his calling was not to be a "father" (in the church) but rather a "brother" (in the community).  Chuck has continued his higher education while actively involved in ministry.  He obtained a post-graduate diploma from Regent College in Canada, the an Masters degree in Communications from the Paraclete Institute in Australia, and finally at Doctor of Letter (D.Litt.) from St Clements university in the UK. But his real education has come from the school of hard knocks.  Chuck has served in hand-on rural development work in Angola; in disaster response work in Mozambique; in organization development in Zimbabwe; and in human development in South Africa.  He is on the core team of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership, a nonprofit organization registered in South Africa.  He loves to quote philosophers such as Confucius who said "Find a job that you like and you won't work another day for the rest of your life".  For Chuck, service and witness are a vocation that is cyclical - passing through periods when the cows are fat, and other periods when lean cows swallow up the fat ones.  He has lived through this inevitable cycle more than once.

Book preview

A-Team Chats

Preamble

Book of Revelation 4:4

"And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats, I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold."

Who were these four and twenty, I have pondered?

There were the Twelve, its inner circle of Three, an outer circle of 72, the 500…and then the host of witnesses. But four and twenty?

Then my eyes were opened. I had always been looking at it, but had never noticed it…

So I wrote four and twenty throne speeches.

I love to tell the story

Twill be my theme in Glory

To tell the old, old story

Of Jesus and his love

Who’s Who?

Book of Acts chapter 1

¹² Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[c] from the city. ¹³ When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. ¹⁴ They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Let It Be

Month of Elul; thirteenth year of Tiberias

Beloved son Joshua

I miss you so much. It has been more than a mother could expect for you to have lived at home for as long as you did. But the way they treated you at the synagogue on your birthday, I could see that you need some space to do what you do best. People here in the hill country are not as open to change as those residing in cities along the coast of Gennesaret. Those folks are more open-minded because they trade with people of other cultures right across the lake from Capernaum, and up to the big cities. So I wish you well going forward and you can rest assured of my daily prayers.

Isn’t this new medium so exciting? Imagine me writing with a quill onto papyrus paper! And you can read my words within just a few days’ time, when the messenger arrives in Capernaum from Nazareth! It is amazing. I first saw it in Egypt, during our sojourn there as political refugees. It was much more common there, already in everyday use. Here we are still pulling scrolls out of clay jars and unrolling them to read! This new medium lends itself so much better to messaging.

The emperor’s father even established a courier service for official messages. But we use personal contacts for delivery. I spoke to a trader who sells your father’s tables and chairs in a furniture shop in Capernaum. He knows you from his many business visits to Nazareth over the years and will find you in Capernaum to hand-deliver this letter.

At the risk of sounding fatalistic, we can thank the Romans for many things – roads, the Pax Romana, and this amazing new medium. It was Julius Caesar, the emperor’s grandfather, who first made a habit of using Codex. He started the trending. But he used parchment and vellum more than papyrus. He later spent some time in Egypt where he fathered a son by Cleopatra. That is when this medium really took off – when he returned with her and his new son to Rome. The Nile Delta began to produce papyrus paper on a scale never seen before! Demand has been rising ever since. I think that our scrolls will soon be redundant?

I am writing in Aramaic, even though I can read Hebrew. I am not comfortable writing in an ancient language. Too many words are missing. How would you say Codex in Hebrew, for example?! And I am not going to betray my own people and culture by writing in Greek. Not when I write to you, my eldest son, my pride and joy. The rising hope of our oppressed people.

I hope that you will find time to write back once in a while? The controversy that you generated has not died down around here yet, so it is too soon to return. But it will eventually fade away. Even our own family is split, but rest assured that your young brother James, for one, looks up to you as more than just an older brother. He is still around helping your father in his carpentry shop. Father is not getting any younger, so having a son around to help with the heavy lifting is a big encouragement to him.

Father is not sure about what to think of your claims. He does remember the signs and wonders at the time of your birth. And a few years later, his dream - warning us to flee into Egypt. Funnily enough, that’s where we now get Codex from – from one of the furniture retailers that he supplied while we were dwelling there and still supplies once a year. When they send papyrus paper to us via the furniture traders, they always ask after you. But not all of your siblings agree with your younger brother James about you, so Father tries to stay above the controversy, to keep peace in our home. So let it be.

The distance between Nazareth and Capernaum is not very far. So I will send you more letters from time to time when I can. Have you thought of writing down some of your poems and parables?

Try to send us some salted fish. The fish from the Mediterranean are not as sweet. The furniture business is good right now, so Father is busy and we are comfortable. Our years as refugees in Africa make us appreciate the standard of living that we enjoy now. But that political storm that caused us to flee makes father very wary of your career. What you say and do is something like moving past parchment scrolls to papyrus paper! It’s radical, and our people are very traditional, very conservative. It will take time to be accepted.

Please find some time to hike and relax at the beach. Gennesaret is so beautiful at this time of year.

God be with you

Mother Mary

Gone Fishin’

Month of Tishri; fourteenth year of Tiberias

Dear Journal

Today my life turned a corner. Last year I went down to the Jordan with a friend of mine called John Boanerges, to hear the prophet John the Baptist preach. While there, I saw him baptize a Rabbi named Joshua. Something moved in my spirit, to see a Rabbi humble himself before a prophet, but then he hastened away into the Trans-Jordan desert.

Suddenly today I saw him again - walking by the lake. I was just fixing our nets because we had a terrible night, and the few fish that there were slipped away through holes in the nets. This has been the way things are going – small catches and big risks. Like bad weather and too much competition. It seems like everyone in Capernaum owns a fishing boat now! That’s why we moved our business from Bethsaida to here, and it’s happening here too.

I was stunned to see him again, so suddenly on the beach. He walked over and spoke to me. He asked how the fishing business was these days. I told him that it is not going well for us.

So he invited me to join him as a disciple. He has established a ministry and needs some staff. I decided to take a leave of absence from the family business. But then I felt a twinge of loyalty for my older brother Peter and our father Jona. So I asked him two things – first could I see the place where he stays in Capernaum, and second, could I invite my brother Peter to join as well? He agreed.

We went and saw his place, then I went and found Peter. He was with father Jona. The old man told us that business has been tough, but he can always hire young lads to help him.