A brief history of faithfulness in Jansenville

Background

Jansenville was a small local assembly in a rural town in South Africa, not too far from Somerset East. It was Port Elizabeth’s nearest meeting, both by time and distance. The locality was formed around 1870, and had proved its worth through faithfully standing by divine principles in the face of serious opposition during the 1900’s.

The leaders there in 1970 were Dawid Betsha and John Stokwe, both faithful men.

English was not their first language, so when Dawid Betsha gave a word at three-day meetings with Jim Taylor, an Australian brother said afterwards to Mr Taylor, I didn’t understand a word he said! Jim Taylor’s reply was, I understood every word! and that he speaks the same language as me.

John Stokwe was a shepherd and a father, both by vocation and spiritually. He was attracted to the assembly by the fact that there were no clergy, and he and his family were baptized and came into fellowship in 1959.

Events of January 1971

Visit by Jim Brown to Jansenville – 5 January 1971

Jim Brown, who was in the process of resettling in Somerset East from Johannesburg, travelled to Jansenville on Tuesday, 5 January 1971, arriving at Dawid Betsha’s house at 7 a.m. John Stokwe was working on feathers with Dawid Betsha’s sons, Joel and Leon, at the back of Dawid’s plot. Jim Brown was seen coming around the back streets to get to Dawid Betsha’s house as though he didn’t want the other brethren to see him. However, Dawid Betsha immediately sent one of the children to fetch John and Notho Stokwe. Other persons present at this interview were Dawid’s sons Daniel, Leon, Joel, and also Raymond Langbooi.

The brethren in Jansenville recorded that when Jim Brown arrived he said there was big trouble – A big thing is happening with Deryck Noakes which is hard to tell. He was too scared to say what the big trouble was, so Dawid Betsha said to Jim Brown, Now this is a wonderful thing, that the whole world withdraws from Deryck Noakes, and you ask also us to withdraw from Deryck Noakes, but you cannot tell us what the reason is! Eventually Jim Brown said that, although Deryck Noakes is a very respected man, the ‘universal position’ and most brethren in Port Elizabeth have withdrawn from D.N. (for chasing another man’s wife). They – Jansenville – must now decide who they are going to go with: Deryck Noakes in Port Elizabeth or the ‘universal position’. If they went with D.N. they would not be allowed to go to the three-day meetings in Johannesburg (on the coming weekend). They must decide now.

Dawid Betsha said, I cannot believe this thing. He put his head down and thought for a few minutes. He then said to Jim Brown that he was not prepared to say what Jansenville would do until they had met together in the assembly. He asked John Stokwe (in Xhosa) to ask Jim Brown to leave as they wanted to discuss the matter amongst themselves.

Jim Brown said that if they wanted to know more they should telephone Port Elizabeth and speak to Cedric Morley, Eric Pudney or Fred Pudney ^[1]. Before leaving he said he would phone back at about 7 p.m. that evening.

After Jim Brown had left, Dawid Betsha said they should not telephone those that Jim Brown had suggested but rather telephone Deryck Noakes, Alf Kingon or Oliver Beattie to find out. John Stokwe telephoned Oliver first, then William Jurgens but could not get hold of them. Eventually he spoke to Deryck Noakes and said to him that they wanted to know more about this matter. Deryck Noakes replied, Well, what do you want to do? John Stokwe replied that they would like to come to Port Elizabeth. Deryck Noakes said, All right then, come to see if the assembly still exists in Port Elizabeth.

At about 6:45 p.m. that day, Tuesday, 5 January 1971, Jim Brown telephoned Dawid Betsha’s house in Jansenville. John Stokwe answered and Jim Brown asked, What did you decide? John Stokwe said that they were going to Port Elizabeth to see the brethren there first. He asked Jim Brown why he did not go to Port Elizabeth to see for himself. (Which would have been the principled thing to do!) Jim Brown had no answer except to say loudly, Then you are finished, you are lost! and put the phone down. This pressuring call was just minutes before the ministry meeting that evening, at which a rebellious band walked out of the assembly in Port Elizabeth. Despite the pressure brought to bear on them, the brethren in Jansenville continued to proceed according to divine principles.

Visit to Port Elizabeth by Jansenville brothers – 6 January 1971

Five Jansenville brethren, namely Dawid Betsha, John Stokwe, Notho Stokwe, and two of Dawid Betsha’s sons, Leon and Joel came to Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, 6 January 1971.

These Jansenville brethren inquired both in the assembly – in the City Reading – and privately about the facts of what had occurred and all were fully carried in their consciences by what they found.

After attending the Port Elizabeth City Reading, the five Jansenville brothers returned home. At a meeting that same night in Jansenville, the matters Jim Brown had spoken about were discussed and Dawid Betsha said these were a lot of lies. He encouraged the brethren to hold fast to Deryck Noakes and not to go with the ‘universal position’. He asked everyone if they agreed that the assembly was still in Port Elizabeth, to which all agreed.

Visit by Jansenville priests to persons in Somerset East – January 1971

Later in January 1971, some Jansenville brothers including Dawid Betsha, John and Notho Stokwe, Daniel Betsha, and Leon Betsha, went to see some of those they had been in fellowship with in Somerset East. They visited Jim Brown while he was busy with his new house and appealed to him.

Dawid Betsha tried to help Jim Brown and spoke a long time with him saying, You are on the wrong path. Why don’t you go to Port Elizabeth to see. J.F.B said, I will have nothing to do with all you are saying to me. He put his hand on a green book (which was ministry of George Maynard in Barbados) and replied, Do you see this book? I believe on this man, on this man’s ministry. I go by this man. The Port Elizabeth brethren do not accept his ministry because he is black. After this, Dawid Betsha said to John Stokwe and the others, Brethren, let us go. I can see this man is very hard.

The ability of the assembly in Jansenville to judge

When the whole history of Jansenville is looked at, but especially the principled way in which the brethren there acted, it is shocking that Robert Beattie, who had never even once in his life visited Jansenville, should state in his wicked circular that the ability to judge by Jansenville had to be taken into account.

Lies about Dawid Betsha

Dawid Betsha remained faithful and served the Lord in caring for the local assembly in Jansenville until he was taken to be with Christ at 64 years of age and was buried by his brethren in Jansenville in 1974.

This did not stop untruths about him being spread universally. The following is a quotation from a brown book (Symington Vol. 50 page 200) which will show that the truth about Dawid Betsha was not accurately portrayed to persons overseas or was not properly understood. It wrongly gives the impression that Dawid Betsha was in fellowship with the so-called ‘universal position’:

J.H.S. South Africa . . . the completely coloured meeting at Jansenville recovered, carrying on the service of God, where they had defected for material gain. The feather business, a pretty light business . . .yielded them more money than they could get any other way. But the old man Betsha who died loyal to the truth, he wouldn’t give in. And all the rest did. Even his wife went against him, which she admits now. But he didn’t give in at all; he didn’t agree with it. The Lord took him. Somebody until death; He was his guide until death. That was David Betsha. And now they’ve reviewed the thing, and they’ve come to some conviction, and they’ve re-established the assembly position at Jansenville, which was the assembly that the wicked man was fixing on to establish his own position, the assembly nearest the slain man.

Passaic, New Jersey, USA (1978)

Footnotes

1. These three names proposed by Jim Brown would never have been able to help the Jansenville brethren, as they didn’t know divine principles:

   Cedric Morley withdrew from Deryck (without charges or witness) on the Tuesday morning, but then appeared at meeting that evening (in short pants!) to join the pre-arranged ‘walk-out’ (collusion outside of the assembly).

   Fred Pudney interrupted the service of God and announced that the Lord had taken away the franchise – meaning that there was no-one in the city prepared to act for the Lord, but at the same time insinuating that he was acting for the Lord – spiritual lunacy! He also named no evil as to why he was withdrawing, which was wickedness!

   Eric Pudney didn’t agree with the principle of 2 Timothy 2, and ended up joining the Baptists. Public records of the Supreme Court prove that he deceived brethren for at least seven years by secretly doing business with a man that was not only under discipline but also a self-confessed public hater of Jim Taylor. And further it was witnessed that he continued to violate 2 Timothy 2 by doing business with at least four other persons whom he had withdrawn from years before.

   Such was the quality of the three that Jim Brown suggested Jansenville should contact!

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