“Al Zimmerman was a veteran missionary to South Africa. He arrived in Cape Town in December 1959 with his wife Jean and sons Stephen and John Mark. A daughter Sara Jo was born in Cape Town on June 14, 1960. Al’s main service was for the African people and, to this end, he founded the Cape Bible Seminary in his home in 1962. Al was an evangelist, teacher, and preacher to an entire generation of African men and women. Of the initial seven students in the Cape Bible Seminary, only one is currently living–Thompson Ntobie, who is now 84 and still translating and evangelizing. A new generation of teachers, leaders, and preachers have been built on this foundation.
“In the early Seventies, Al began a work that has never been duplicated: A Bible concordance in the Xhosa language. It is still in print and used by many Christians.
“Al and Jean retired from the mission field after thirty years of service to Monroe, Washington. During his latter years, they attended the Central Christian Church in Snohomish, where he taught adult Bible classes.
“In Seattle, on November 30, 2007, at 5:57 p.m., Al went home to be with our Heavenly Father. He is free from pain (after three months of hospitalization and two craniotomies) and the slowly declining health he has endured. Jean (his wife of 61 years), daughter Sara Jo Shaw, and granddaughter Charity Zimmerman (John Mark’s daughter) were with him.”
