Angus Buchan: Faith Like Potatatoes

Angus Buchan: a farmer, an evangelist, a man of the soil and a man of faith.  Forced to uproot his young family from their farm in Zambia, Angus and his wife Jill moved to South Africa where they settled in the farming district of Greytown in Kwa-zula natal.

Angus: We bought a little piece of overgrown piece of bush. We literally felled it by hand, with hand axes. That’s the truth.

But this was not a job for just one man. Despite Apartheids efforts to keep the white and black races apart. Life put a friendship together that would last for the next thirty years. It was with the help of his friend and foreman, Simeon Bengu, that Angus turned 3,000 acres of wild African bush into a working farm.

Angus: There is nothing like hard times to draw people together of different cultures, different races, different creeds. When the fire is on, there is no time to play the fool. And you settle your differences and you get in there together.

Although Angus made a success of the farm, he knew something was missing from his life.

Angus: When I arrived in here in South Africa, I said, “I’ll show them.  I’ll do it again.”  And I did do it. But in the process it nearly cost me my life. And then on the 18th of February, 1979, in a little church here in Greytown. I went along to that church and I met Jesus Christ personally. Me, my wife and my children. And that was thirty years ago and my life has been completely transformed since then.

Despite the challenge of running a large farm, Angus still made time to study the Bible. He spent hours in what he calls his “green cathedral” reading and praying.

Angus: This is my agricultural handbook. This is the book that tells me when to plant maize and when to reap it, when to buy cattle and when to sell it. This is also the book that tells me to love my wife, not to antagonize my children, to respect my elders, to pay my workers a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay. This is the book of life.

This lifestyle of prayer overflowed into the lives of those who worked on the farm.  And soon they began to see some amazing miracles. A corn crop, downed by hail, seemed to resurrect itself after three days. As fire ravaged his farm, Angus cried out to God and a rainstorm no one predicted doused the flames. And during a season of serious drought he planted and reaped a bumper potato harvest.

Angus: The powerful thing about a personal testimony is you can either believe me or you can disbelieve me, but you can’t argue because you weren’t there. And I’m telling you it happened, that’s why the farm’s still here.

Yet amidst all these miracles, Angus vividly remembers the day his world was severely tested. The day a tractor accident claimed the life of his brother’s son.

Angus: That was probably about the most tragic moment, single moment I’ve ever had in my life. If I hadn’t been a Christian then, I would have either died an alcoholic or drug addict, or maybe committed suicide. And the devil was telling me, “You killed your brother’s son.” And Jesus was saying, “Angus, I’m sovereign.” I’m talking about somebody that was with me in the middle of the night when my wife was exhausted and she couldn’t keep awake anymore and my family was sleeping, I was wide awake. Jesus Christ became a friend to me that sticks closer than any brother.

During this season of restoration, God reminded Angus of His promises in the past and seeds of hope, faith and vision were planted for the future.

In obedience Angus bought and modeled a bright yellow four wheel drive truck. He named the truck the Seedsower and with his vehicle loaded with Bibles and Christian literature, he would continue doing what God had called him to do: to preach the gospel and share his story of faith and obedience.

Angus: People come to me and they say, “We want you to pray for us for more faith.” I say, “You want more faith? I’ll introduce you to the school of sorrows. That’s where you get faith from.” It does not come from naming it and claiming it. It comes from walking the Calvary Road. And that is exactly what I’ve done.

Even in small villages, huge crowds gather with dramatic healings and salvations accompanying the preaching of God’s word.

Angus: The Lord says, “Don’t say there are four months and then the harvest. But lift up your eyes and look, the fields are white unto harvest, and the workers are few.

Back at Shalon farm, he and Jill created a home for children orphaned by AIDS. He started simply, by moving some buildings the government was tearing down. Whether it is preaching to his own workers, travelling in the Seedsower or providing a home for orphans, Angus says his first priority is following the will of God.

Angus: You see, when you obey God, then God moves. When you do your own thing, God says, “You carry on with it.”

More than 30 years have passed since the day Angus was saved, and despite trials and family tragedies, he has come out with a greater love for God.

Angus: Jesus called me by name and it is my love affair with the Lord, and I am getting emotional when I say this, which draws me to keep on doing what I’m doing.

Apart from the travelling and preaching, Angus remains first and foremost a family man, a farmer, a man of the soil, a man of faith.

Angus: And in Zulu, we have a word, it goes like this, it says, “Normacanjan,” which translated means, “Come what may.” I preach the gospel come what may. If nobody gets converted or if everybody gets converted, I’m still preaching the gospel and that’s what gets me up in the morning. And by the grace of God, and only the grace of God, that’s what is going to help me finish race.