Letter of Mr. Jeffrey Abbis to the editor, England, 2008
The value of Fred Flack’s and Raymond Golsworthy’s teaching ministry in the early days of the assemblies in India is inestimable—from the point of view of the truth and value of God’s Word, Christian doctrine, our union with Christ, and God’s purpose for the church of the redeemed (Ephesians 3: 3-11). The later is emphasized in brother Flack’s little book ‘Bringing Many Sons to Glory’, published in 1944. Recently I reread it carefully as I have been studying in the epistle to the Hebrews, and it came to me with much freshness and Life.
Sometimes my wife Blanche, Fred Flack and I visited ‘Hebron’ in Hyderabad, or other places, at the same time. During these visits it frequently happened that Fred and I shared a room during the day for study, letter writing, etc. In his study and preparation he was a very prayerful man and when he delivered the studies and messages, he did not gloss over the difficult, controversial passages.
During the Holy Convocations he had a remarkable way of organizing the serving teams and the system he used was also followed when he was not present. In fact the last Holy Convocation that I attended was in 1984 and on the second Sunday and the last day, in the two large compounds that were some 25,000 people present. After the morning worship service, that lasted from 7 am to around 1 pm, most of the people stayed for food. The actual serving took not much longer then 30 minutes and certainly less than 45!
Our Indian fellow workers had a very high regard for Fred, because of his identification with them over many years, in living, food, availability, etc. His hard work and dedication in difficult circumstances, such as the heat, were very much appreciated and admired.
Blanche and I entered the assembly ministry in the autumn of 1961, after our first furlough. Until 1970 we had had no fixed abode and saw our headquarters in Lucknow about twice a year. Early in January 1964 we were asked to initiate ‘Vacation Bible School’ (VBS) at Hebron, Hyderabad.
On our return from furlough in 1971, I was able to give most of my time to the teaching of young men who believed they were called of God for his service. From 1971 to 1984, until Blanche went to be with the Lord, we were staying in a rented house in Hyderabad. Blanche was pretty well full-time in the VBS office, working with Indian sisters in preparing the materials needed. At the present time 75 to 80 VBSs are held throughout the country in the various assemblies and most of them in the hot season.
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