Floyd & Sally McClung

The following tribute was written by Pastor John Thomas about the life and funeral service of Pastor Phillip Mokson:

The last 17 days have been days filled with pain and tragedy as we have sought to work through the murder of Pastor Phillip.  There have been difficult days of deep, dark valleys and the fog surrounding his tragic death has caused us at times emotionally to fail to see our way ahead.  Despite that I’ve been extraordinarily conscious of the peace of God that passes understanding and the comfort that the Holy Spirit.  I have no doubt that many prayers around the world have helped sustain all of us and particularly the Mokson family at this time.  Thank you for your prayers, your emails of support and encouragement.  It has meant so much.  We have kept every single email and are cutting and pasting it into a scrap book type file for Minah, Nolifa and Nomzamo and the grandchildren to be able to keep and reflect upon what you have said about Pastor Phillip.  Some of you have not written but have given generously and for that we thank you.

You are aware of what took place on the tragic night of the 22nd January 2007 – it has become abundantly clear through eye-witness and police reports, that after two shots had been fired and missed, Pastor Phillip got up and took the bullet for the young people present at the Bible Study.  As he walked towards Vusi  Dondolo he said, ‘no brother no’.  Those few precious moments gave some of the young people chance to escape and when Phillip was at point blank range, Vusi shot and killed him.

The rainbow nation Memorial Service we held at King of Kings was one of extreme Christian character as Minah and her girls had the grace and the spirit of true Christian charity and forgiveness, to allow the Dondolo family to sit alongside them and together they wept over the loss of a father and a son.  It was so extraordinary that the Chief of Staff of the Office of the Premier of the Western Cape who had come to pay tribute noted it and said that this is the spirit of forgiveness and restorative justice we need in this country. Even in Phillip’s death, this family has taught us what it means to forgive.  At his Memorial Service, Vusi’s father told the long and complex story of his son’s emotional confusion.  He shared in detail how his son had in fact proposed to two women over recent months, one of them being Tamara.  Tamara, he said, had consistently refused any relationship with Vusi.  When that failed, he met with the church leadership on the 21st January and effectively asked them to force Tamara to have a relationship with him and even to sleep with him. That was the level of his confusion.  Pastor Phillip responded with strong, clear Biblical guidance on sexual pre-marital abstinence.  We were told Vusi left the church angry on Sunday.  The next time he returned to church was on Monday 22nd with a pistol in hand.

There is no truer verse in Scripture than the one found in John 10:11 if we apply it to Pastor Phillip, ‘the good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep’.   He gave his life protecting the sheep he loved and cared for.  He gave his life in every way serving the Lord and finally he gave his life for the Lord’s work and for his sheep.

Phillip was one of my closest friends and I feel the loss enormously. At the same time, I can best describe my feelings as one of incredible peace at the sovereignty of God.  I know that God ordained his 23 993 days which he lived, but yet one is left feeling sad and broken at times, and at other times numb, and at other times overwhelmed by the peace of God.  When African’s are in trouble, they sing.  I’ve been incredibly ministered to by the wonderful singing of African and Western hymns and songs as we have focused on God and His greatness in difficult days.

After his schooling Phillip went to VolksWagen in Uitenhage where he worked as a welder. He obeyed the Lord’s call to full time work and went and trained at the Baptist Bible Institute in Fort White. He served as a pastor for 30 years in three churches, Mbekweni in Paarl, Guguletu in Cape Town and Masiphumelele in Fish Hoek which he started from scratch.  There is no doubt that Phillip was a man who God used to bring many to Christ as Saviour and disciple them to Christian maturity.   He served on the Board of directors of the Cape Town Baptist Seminary, he was a founding Trustee of Radio CCFm as well as a founding Trustee of Living Hope Community Centre.  He also helped pioneered the first school in Masiphumelele and the helped established the municipal clinic.  His Church building is a daily hive of activity of people being treated by Home Based Carers and filled with children every afternoon who are in Children’s clubs learning about the God’s plan for their lives.

He was also a remarkable community leader.  He was a peace-maker.  He was a man of courage. There are many stories of his intervention in dangerous situations where he brought resolution and hope to tense situations. He was a great carer.  He was the unofficial community chief.  One of the more poignant moments for me after his death was when a group of Muslim Somalian businessmen who had been forcibly ousted from the Masiphumelele community a few months ago and then returned to Masiphumelele mainly because of Phillip’s intervention, recently arrived at the church to give a financial gift to Pastor Phillip’s funeral costs.  He was a great reconciler.  His Memorial Service was filled with people of all colour and class.  He was a great family man, a great father, whose last words when he left his family were, ‘I love you’.

The Funeral Service held in Uitenhage on Saturday 03rd February, was one of great organization and incredible dignity.  A crowd of about 1000 people gathered outside Phillip’s home in Uitenhage and then made their way to the community hall which seated 1500 people, where the actual service commenced.  On the way to the hall, the roads were closed and manned by traffic police to allow the procession freedom of movement.  After the service, again the roads were closed as a convoy of about 3 kilometers long made its way towards the cemetery.  It was truly remarkable to see the new South Africa, there was a white Afrikaans traffic policeman, standing almost at attention, as the hearse passed.  His grave was in the midst of the Smit’s, Taljaard’s and Uys’.   A true sign that we have really come to a wonderful new South Africa, where colour of skin makes no difference.  The Funeral Service was extremely well led with great dignity.  Over 40 Baptist Pastors attended and close on 1500 people filled the building.  I have never seen so many pastors at a funeral in my life.   Speaker after speaker described him as a deep man of God who worked tirelessly for his sheep and for the community in which he lived.  There is no doubt that he touched the lives of many people.  In fact, tributes have poured in from all over the world.

In August 2005, Jay Johnson took Pastor Phillip and me to Martin Luther King’s grave in Atlanta.  I’ve kept that photo and cherished it.  In many ways, Phillip was our own mini Martin Luther King.  He achieved so much in bringing people together in the community and around the Word of God.  What greater way to go to glory than with a Bible in your hand in a church building.  We have lost a great servant in the Kingdom of God.  He was a really good shepherd.  A true shepherd who risked his life for his sheep.   Job, when faced with the loss of all his assets and children said, ‘the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised’.   The Lord gave us Pastor Phillip and we have to hold onto the fact that the Lord took him away. May the name of the Lord be praised for his life well lived to the glory of God’.