Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1963 SAfrica

7/26/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1963 SAfrica

1/7

The Christian

Mission, Vol.

7,

No.

9 September 1963

Page

7

S OU TH A FR IC A N C HU RC H

O F

CHRIST

MISSION

Alvin

Nicholson

Began

at Kimberley through the preaching

of Thomas

Kalane,

who

was

converted in Amer

ica

by

W. H. Book.

A.

E.

Payne, first mis

s ionary from

America

d ied on the f ie ld .

He

was followed

by

C. B.

Titus. From

1930-1950

work was carried

on by Europeans o f

South

Africa

and

native leaders V/i ll iam O. Rees

family came in 1949, Max Randalls in 1950,

Lynn Stanleys in

1953,

Alvin Nicholsons in

1953, Robert Mills in 1955, John Xemans in

1958, A1

Zimmermans

in 1960, A1

Hamiltons

i n

1960

OUR

GOD

IS REAL

This

is

best

illustrated

by

the l ives

of

the

men who follow and serve him. George Fuphi

was an e lde r in the c hur ch i n Stut terheim and

earned

his living working

as

a

petrol

boy

ser

vice s tation attendant . He was so faithful

in

his work

that

even

after five years, when I

visit Stutterheim, there

are Europeans

who ask

where he

is

and how he is getting along.

However , he left

the

work of petrol

boy

that

he might

study

fo r

the

ministry

and pre

pare himself

for

the service of God. After

he

had

taken

training, he was sent to be minister

of t he C r addock Circui t Th is work covers

a

large area going

northeast

to Hofmeyer, 43

miles away,

east

to Tarkastad which is

57

mile

and west

of

Craddock, amongst

the

fa rms al

most

40

miles.

Now he has

written that they

have gone south to Cookhouse where they have

been able to

open a

new

work.

As a minister, his

salary is often below

that

which he reeived

as

a petrol boy. In fact,

today

he

is no t

certain

just

what his salary

wil l b e

unti l

he

receives i t

Yet h e work s

hard

to see the

work of the

Lord

move a he ad .

Alvin

and

Vemi t a Nicho l son

B ox

219

Por t

Shepstone,

Natal, South Africa

U

O

^iXlT

There

is

nothing which touches

my

heart

more

than

when the African people

take up

an offering for their missionary. Many t imes

theyliterally

empty

their

po kets

to

m ke

their gifts, and what they

give

is

often

a big

portion

of their

entire

income. Yet i t i s al

ways

given with singing

and

thanksgiving.

If

you did not

receive their

gift, they would feel

that

you were not

happy with them

and

with

th e

work

of the

Lord

which

they

are trying to

do. These love offerings are iways used

fo r

th e w ork

of

th e L ord and neve r

fo r

ou r

own

personal use; for

we

fee l they

have

come

through

sacrifice,

and

the best way to

use

i t

is to help

with

the

work.

Visiting

a

church in Pondoland

or

one of

th e other farming areas,

I

am sure to come

home

with a chicken o r two o r three Some

Philippians that their offering had

become

a

sweet smell ing savour before God.

GOALS

Church

building

in

Natalspruit

Location

in

Johannesburg.

Christian

Service Camp in Pondoland,

and

a

requested adult camp.

NEEDS

Increased

service link, funds for the

Johannesburg church buil hng, 10 a month

for evangelism..

Fi lmstr ips , primary Sunday school pa

pers, Junior

l i fe.

Straight, Used clothing.

Forwarding

Agent:

Mr s

Haze l Widlund

1603

Morley Rd.

Albert Lea,

Minnesota


2/7

Page

8

The

Christian Mission,

Vol

7,

No. 9 September

1963

SOUTH AFRICAN CHURCH O F CHRIST

MISSION

Lynn Stanley

John

Sherriff started

work

among

the Euro

peans

in Cape

Town in 1896.

First

work among

the Natives

started

by the

church in

Johannes

burg.

They called a Nat ive evangelist

in

1906.

Thomas Kalane was t ra ined

in

A mer i ca and

went to

Kimberley

in

1919

to start

a

work

among

the Natives .

This was th e

point

which

the

present

work has

followed up

most closely.

It is also

known

that

an

indigenous

work was

s t a r t ed a t

Kentani

on th e

eas t e rn

c o a s t in

1917.

Today

a

weak congregation still

gathers

there

for worship . O. E. Payne came to South Africa

^out

1923

when th e

government

demanded

European

oversight

to

any

group

receiving

money from overseas. He only

Hved

18 months

and is buried in Kimberley. Mr. C. B . T itus

followed him and worked

t i l l

1930 when he

went

to

America

for

furlough

and stayed

because

of

advanced age. There were no missionaries

then until

1949 when

the m Rees family

arrived

and gave supermision to the

work.

Mr.

and

Mrs. Max Randall joined the

work

in

1950.

Both families

have

now en tered

new f ie lds.

Our

own

family joined t he work in

1953

as did

the

Alvin

Nicholson family.

John Keman and

family

joined

the work

in

1957. A1 Zimmer

m an

c a m e to w ork

with th e Polo R o a d c h u r c h

in

Cape

Town in 1960.

The A1

Hamilton

fam

ily

joined

the work in May, 1960.

They

now

work in

Johannesburg

with a mixed congrega

tion

and

give oversight to the native work in

the

a r ea

OUR GOD IS R E A L

The

most

thrilling story of achievement in

South Africa, recently, is that of the Afr ican

youth camp, though i t

is

still a

new

field which

we

are

only beginning to

touch

upon. Because

of the social structure amongst the

Africans,

little

attention has been

given

to Christian work

with

the

children

and

th e

young people. An

African has no wisdom,

i t

i s

said, until

he

becomes old

in

years, so little attention is

given to teaching

him. Sunday schools

are

comparatively rare

in

our African churches,

but are being established by t hose men

who

have been

in

th e Bible Training School.

Even

th en , the

Sunday school is for small children

only and consists of one class

for

all

ages

present. Very often th e

youth

quit

attending

at about 14 years of

age.

In

1961

we

decided to

attempt a

youth camp

to

be

held

at

th e Training school. The

three

Native mi n i s t e r s in th is a r e a had to

l e a m

from th e

ground

up

for they had

never

seen

such a camp held. There were 16 campers

the

first

t ime. The camp

was

held during

December summer holiday)

and in

spi te of

the inexperience, i t was enjoyed by all.

Much teaching was

given

and

six

were

bap

tized

at camp.

Our nex t camp was held

in

July

for this

is the winter season and

th e

young people

w ere

no t needed fo r work

a t

h o me O ur

number

had grown

to 27

campers and there

w e r e

f ive

confess ions

We

have just completed the third camp

with

32 campers

and another five confes

sions

of faith. The

idea is finding

favor

and the young people have asked if they could

have

another

during the summer

holidays.

Our biggest problem is transportation

for

them.

The Native people cannot afford the

cost of

transporting

them any

distance.

The

ideal

is

for

each

area

to

hold their own camp.

There again new leaders

will

have to be

trained.

As the

Afr icans accept the

young

people into

more

places

of

responsibility,

t he camp

idea

will

spread. Youth

evangelism

has untold promises

but

i t needs t ime to really

t ake hold in the

churches

GOALS

Introduction

of

full three

year

Bible Train

ing program with two

years

work offered

each

y e a r

N E E D S

Another

full

t ime

t eacher

fo r th e

School.

50

more

pledge support for

the

School.

Funds

to

help the Africans build

adequate

church houses.

A

help

basis

- 1

for

1

raised

as nearly as can

be worked

out.

Lynn

Stanley

B o x 2 9

Port

Shepstone, Natal,

South

Africa

Forwarding Agent:

Mrs. Lloyd

Evans

R t e

1

Ladoga, Indiana


3/7

The Christian Mtssion, Vol. 7 No. 9 September 1933

Page

15

c losed, l it tl e

African children ran

down

to open

i t. We have them a penny fo r doing that.

evisited with the people at the

church,

then

we

said

goodbye. eleft

Brother

Mar-

ongo there because he was going to stay a week.

Th en we drove

back to

E a s t London .

From A1 Nicholson South

Afr ica

The sun was shin ing , th e

day

was

warm,

no breeze was blowing even one

leaf

on the

trees. Voices came from a long

narrow

build

ing, children s voices as

well

as lower adult

ones. Now

and

then a laugh, a cry,

and

much

talking, A door opened, a kinky black head

peered

round,

grinned

and retreated, We

en

t e r e d

the s a m e door

and

saw

a

room f i l led

with

ch i ld ren d r e s s e d in re d and w h it e c h e ck e d

dressing gowns. None o f th e children were

o v e r s ix and

m o s t

of

the m w ere in i r on c rib s

l ined

around

the wal l s A t ab le s to od in

the

cen t e r an d tw o

A f r i c a n

w o m e n

who

c a r e d fo r

th e little ones

were

busy in

the

room, A nurse

hurried

through, greeting

us. We

passed

through

th is room

onto

a long narrow

veranda.

Here more children were

gathered,

older ones,

sitting

on long

narrow benches. Most

of

these

were girls,

all wearing

the

red

and white robes

that

were

the uniform o f th e T.B.

patients

here.

The

table

was

prepared,

the

res t

of th e ben

che s put in order. The doo r

kept opening and

more

children entered.

Finally, th e boys be

gan to come

in twos and threes, most of them

in khaki shorts and shir ts, some

patched,

all

c l ean

T h e

f ace s

o f t he s e c h il d re n a re

fa t

and

t hey look

well

cared for,

so

i t is

hard

to

re

member that they

all

s uf fe r f rom Tube rcu

losis,

One girl does def in itely look

ill .

Her

eyes

are

glazed, her

mouth rather

swollen;

and as the teaching is

done,

she a lmost seems

to

go

to sleep. Now and

then

she rouses and

looks

about

her

One

wonders

if

she

really

hears th e

lesson.

V/ith th e

reading

of the

scripture

lesson on th e w is e

and

foolish man,

and as the pictures are placed

on

the flannel-

board,

her

eyes

suddently

seem to

have

a

gleam, a look

of

surprise;

comes

over her face,

Those

words,

where have I heard them? Are

they actua lly

in

th e

Bible? How did I

not

know

this

before?

The

Interest

stays unti l the

tale

i s to ld and th e

h ou se o n

th e san d i s

broken

down

in th e

f loods

Oranges we

pass

out are received with a

little

bending

of

the knees

and

a

polite thank

you.

But when th is l it tle

girl

is

handed an

orange,

her smile is pur e p le as ur e a s she

anticipates

eat ing the

f at o range fruit .

Many

gather

round

to

carry

our our

briefcase,

flannelboard,

and other

equipment,

and the missionary s purse is not forgotten.

All chorus Bye

bye

and the lucky

ones

accompany us

to

th e car. Another

uunday

school

c l a s s a t the S A N T A Tuberculos is

Hospital is closed and the Thames bus

leaves

the grounds with t he gate

swinging closed

beh ind

From Lynn Stanley

South

Africa

This is th e story of a

little

African girl

named Tulisa

(meaning

peace). Her english

na me i s Monica, H er home

i s

a t Imvutshini .

In

1960

her

father, Barnabas

Songos,

and

her mother , Anna Nxumalo , were marr ied.

Barnabas had

just

been

chosen

as th e mini

ster

o f t he

local

congregation to

succeed his

fatlier

who had just died. Anna

was

a nurse

in a T.B. hospital. She continued

to

work

unt i l about

th e ti m e

Tu l i s a w as

born

?.Tien

Tulisa

was

still a tiny

baby,

the

whole

fam

ily came

to

attend the Bible Training School,

Tulisa

lay

on a bathinette

at th e

end of

the

room during most of the classes

each

day.

S om e ti me s s he f us se d

and

h e r

m o t h e r

had

to take care of

her, but most

of the

t ime

she was

very good.

7?hen t he schoo l

presented

th e

Christmas

story, i t was Tulisa who played th e part of

th e baby Jesus. Anna soon had to go back to

work

so this

was

the only term t he family

cou ld be

in school, Tulisa

is

receiving Chris

tian training. V/hen she goes

to

bed at night

she

says,

Let s

pray .

Then she kneels be

side her bed.

Shen she

is given

anything

she

is taught to

hold

up both hands in a cup shape

to

receive her

gift.

This is th e African s

way o f showing

courtesy

and

appreciation.

Tu li sa h as a baby brother now

whose

name

i s Tu l i s an a I t i s th e m a sc ulin e fo rm o f th e

s a m e w o r d as

Tu l i s a

Little

children

in America

are taught of

Jesus and we expect i t to be so, but that

is

n o t

t r u e

o f th e

A f r ic a n c h i ld r e n

an d

Tu l i s a

has

a rare

privilege

in th at

her training

started very

young.


4/7

m

^ i

n M i i M mmi sm t

Beginning of

work

on Gcil ima church Blocks

a re

made of so i l and

cement

Sand

s

ca r r i ed

from th e

r iver by the women

on

their

heads

J i

Making

blocks

for

th e

church a t V arrenton


5/7

n

n

i JEV/S VJITII THE

niCIiOLSOllS

^

IH SOUTH

AFRICA

I m

Hovombyr,

I963

Vol. kf H

Today as I pulled sone radishes in the garden that were too big

to

eat,

I

felt

something

start

up one

finger,

^ên I shook it off

where

I

could see

it it

was

a big

clâKeloon. lwiCo

at

school the

mon have

started fires

when they nave

seen

snakes. home

to treat

ago,

the

nurse had to hurry back to

the

clinic at her home to treat

a

s n a k e

bite case

Our

sincere thanks to the Christian

Workers^

of Sutherland, Iowa,

for the

r.ioney

sent for Christmas gifts for our Liinisti^rs.

hank^

also

to the

Miriam Cirole and Gleaners

Class of VJobstor ^wa,

foi-money

toward the building at ilatalsprult. Peraiission_ So occupy

the

site

is

now

being sought

at

Pretoria and the building plan,

a rc bo ing drawn.

Our

income

for

October

was

enough

to

cover ex

penses, but

not

enough

to

promote

some

^ ^ ^hiMMoMhAcLs

done now. In Hovembor, a

trip is

being made to

visit

the chwches

as

far away

as Capetown.

I will

bo gone from

home

from

the

Jth

through the 25th.

At

Worcester, near Capetown,

and

have been planned, with the teaching emphasis for

Deacons. Both

A1

Hamilton

and A1

Zirvaornan shall be taking part

in this meeting.

The

trip

will

cover about 2^00 miles.

Agreat heart

ache on

the

mission

field is

when our

ministers

fall

into

sin.

A

letter

has just

come

to my desk, saying

that

one

.f

the

women

has had a

child

by

one

of the

ministers

kc

have

3U

.tad for

some

time,

that

not

all was

right

but did not

have

the evidence to

know

what he w as doing. Perhaps the

his

own

way, for

from

that area

we now

have a man in school

who

.

liko

he

could

do

a

good work

for the

Lord and

has shownthat desire

MA.

sMAAaps, while one goes out, wo shall

find

another

coming

xn. Uu are always aware that the doT-11 is never very far

away

and

that ho is alv;ays looking for those whom he

may devour

A le t ter this last month came from one of

our busiest

ministers

Brother Georgo Puphi, of Cradoclc. lie

was tolling me

of the now

work

which he has begun

at

Cooktiouse. Then ho named four other towns, ^

saying

i f

the

Lord

opens the

way,

I

vmnt

to

preach there

some

tîe

as wtjll

for there are r;iany

unsaved people

hero. How

we

pray

God

lor

mor

la b ore rs fo r

th e f i e l d l i ko him.

Seven

are present for this last term

of

the Ministers* Training

School. One man

has boon

present

a ll

year

one will have

done^three

term, an

other

two terms.

One man,

who

works

for the railway is

back. He can get time

off

for

each period of service over a year

so this is his second time hero. One man is new, Mrs Songo is

back fo r her

second

time a t school and

she

brought

a

young

woman

from

their

work,

that

she

raay

help with the Sunday Schools.

One

hundred

sixteen

baptisms

v;oro

reported

by

the

ministers

for

.î ber.

The

largest number reported was from Graddock,

James

is

now feeling

himself

once again after the operation.

His

throat did

not bother so much as the ear ache when ho wont to

eat . John has had to have glases so as tho Doctor says he can

see whet i s going on about

hlr.i.

When Cnrist

comes, whore will

He

find us and what will

Ho

find

u s do ing?

FOPALiRDIHG AGjHTT :

Yours

with Christ ian Love

Mrs.

Ed

Vlidlund

f

-

1605

norlay

Rd.

0

Albe r t Lea Minn. y

Tho

Hicholsons

^


6/7

i ia/s

WITH THE

iriciiobsoiis

n vol k. no

12 I

,

December, I965

r rif-H Christmas season when

we

remeiiiber especially the crbat

- -e

f

son

Jo 1, oL S^vK

lloSlhl

,

?961i

So\S. rS. s.'

~

d y r?wr?

SiftSrioof

m flQ Po-nr^-t-z^Tf^ Tru

t s

trip tooK US

a s

f a r

n

for

I taflw th^/

tho oar chains

in

tho

garage

dnvc ^

would

only be off the main roads for about three

T would have been

bettor to

have taken them

hitched to the car three different times.

One trip

of

iiroublt wlW

this with twp^t^^ea w s

-he_onlyb

^

rhono 2^^

cities

was

at

Port

Elizabeth.

Wo have

T fe

George

Puphi

to take the oversight of this

work,

r-tid thing,

and

secondly

i t was difficult

for Robert

^ un h African Location because he is Coloured.

oiir^BwW^ h shall be

strengthened because

some of

PrLBBb

have

been transferred to this

city

by the railways.

The

n congregation showed

their

wisdom by sending one of their

I elders

with

the minister to

spoak

for

them and lend

a hand

if needed.

n Elizabeth, Brother Puphi went along for he

the churches of

the lower Cape.

This route

is known

as the garden route. But wo did not see

much

because of tho fog.

However,

at

the Storms River Bridge

I had a

good

laugh.

W o

stopped

walked back

to

the middle.

There

are

sidewalks

on

tho

f

u P^strians but the

two men

walked in tho road.

When

we

reached

the

deeper

part

and looked

over, the men,

still keeping

their

un t i l

they could see down. Tho r ive r i s

more

than I1 50 feet

below tho road. They had

never

looked

down

so

l r

before

J_iossel Bay,

we met

William Tusha

and

his family.

The homes

rnP location are

a ll made

of wood

as

i t is

just a temporary

one#

ihe buildings were

buil t

for trdops in the l as t war and are s t i l l

being used today.

They

do not yet

have

any idea

when

they

will move

to a pemianent place.

Our two

days with the church here

were

very

profitable. Tusha then took us to Ashton for one day. This is a

new town, being

only about

ten

years

old, erected

around a cannery

bui l t

for

the.-fruit

of the valley. Most of

tho

monibors work on-the-^ -

farms, so I only saw them at the services that night,

Tusha went

with

us to Worcester

to prepare for

Saturday and

Sunday services| the

rest

of us went

on

to Capetown. It was good

to

have

time and opportunity to

visit

with the

A1 Zimmerman

Family,

Because the

building

which they were

using for

a church has been

torn

down

and they have

no

other meeting place, I did not

go

to the

^.Ipcatlon fbr. seryicOS,

But.

did

have a part with

the

Brethren at

Captetown, both, on Friday

night

and on

Sunday

when

I preached

in

the

morning at olo Road and in the evening

at

Wynberg.

Saturday

morning, both

Brother Zimmerman and I took

loads of

and

went to Worcester, where

a

s pe cia l s er ie s of sermons

were

given

on the Office and Work

of

the Elders

and

Deacons. t was

a

profi table

meeting but it was seen that

it

wil l be bet te r to

s ta r t

on Saturday evening and run

thru

Sunday.

Monday started our ruh up thru tho Karoo. This area is always

hot in summer

and

generally very, very dry. But

this

year they

have

had excellent

rains and water

was every

where

af ter we

croseed

the

viountains.

Brother

Mvane

asked us

to

make

two

stops

in

his

circuit

?ather than take

two

days

at

one

place. The

first day wo

visited

Beaufort V/est. This was my first tiiiie here. But

what

a welcome they

;avc us

In sp ite o f the

ra in and mud there was a cont inual

stream


7/7

of visitors to greet us and have a short period for talking before wo

wont to services

that

night. The

next day we drove

to

Nelspoort which

is

a

Provincial

TB hospital. I t really

sits

by i tself

many

miles

from any other

town

and has

its own

railway

station. The

location

which

is

provided

for

the workers there

is

very

nice,

i^ecause

It

was

a week day and those

from

outside places would not be able to

come

they decided

to

have

services in

the

l i t t le wooden building

they have built in their

location.

When services started hero the

building

was

about

half

full|

by the time I

started

to

proach

i t

was

full . But

s t i l l they kept

coming and

i t

was

raining

outside,

r i rs t

they took out the table, then in a l i t t le while they moved the

chairs

that

we

had been, si t t ing on and moved the

children

r ight up

to our feet. I t

is

rather difficult to have

to

stop

several

times in

the sorrion and s t i l l

feel

that the people got a l l the message, but

there

is not

much else

that

can bo done. Jim

Labatala,

the older

here has always

led

a

strong

work whereever he has been.

When

you

^\eet-:him-

ypix will-

find that he

is

a v ory quiet man but he

rbair^__

knows

how to

wi tness

-for

h is

Lord .

Next

stop

was Tarkastad where plans had been

laid for

the pour

ing of the foundations.

But

this

time

wo

found our ditches completly

f i l led with water. We helped then

to make more

blocks

and moved on

to

Queenstown. Because i t w as the

f i r s t

election

in

the Transkoi,^

the minister had

been

unable

to come, but

the

Elders

had

everything

arranged. I preached each evening and Enock Zobolo

tocJca

street

meeting after each service, l.rs. Malafu wanted us to see the child*^ - - p

ren of her Sunday School, which she had begun after she

returned

from | |

school

here . She had more than ^0 chi ldren present on Saturday mor

ning at 7*50

that we could give

them a

Bible

lesson and

take

a

picture

before

wo lef t

Her husband is hoping

to come to

school

in

H

1965.

'

V/hon we

lo f t Queenstown

i t was raining, and I

hoped

it

would

^

not bo

so

a t

Tsomo.

I t had stopped bofopo we arr ived but the road . |

up

the

mountain

vras just too sl ippery, so

we lo f t tho

car

and

went

on by foot .and caiie later

with

tho oxen but by

that

time

i t

had begun

to rain again.

V e

did

have a

meeting with tho

men of the church

that night and a good

meeting

on Sunday morning despite the

fact

that

i t

was s t i l l ra ining. That afternoon we moved on to Idutywa for

our

l a s t s e rv i c e The l a s t se rv i ce

was

not

a

happy

one,

fo r

wo

have

th e

ev idence

now

t h a t

this

man

has

o th e r c h i ld re n b es id e th ose

f o r

his own wife Wo sha l l be having a meeting with =him

and

the church

in tho new year and t hen h is work wi l l

be

t h rough

On

th e way home

we

had to s top to see one

o f

the bre th ren so

t h a t Enock

cou ld

buy h is Chr i s tmas sheep A nurr.ber o f people had

Lei ed to

H-eu ua-,e-ven- I ti cmglx bhey

knew

wu

would only

t op

s ho r t t ime When we go t home Enock found t h a t h is fa th e r had been

very s i ck

Ho did no t th ink

he

would

ge t

to

see

h is son again

bu t

he is bettor

now V/hen we

saw

hir i i

wo

c o u l d

s e e

th t

h e h ad f iled

g re at ly in

hea l t h

over

t h i s

l a s t month .

Bro the r

Radobe

o f Ladysmi th

bur i ed

h is younges t

ch i l d

and t hen

i n

j u s t a few days

h i s v j i f e

She had TB which had a f f e c t ed he r t h r o a t

n

n

n

When

I

go

to

Johannesburg

t h i s

month,

I

wi l l

s ig n th e

papers

fo r

tho

si te

at

Natalspruit. That means that we shall begiim/jorlj^JtheiT^'

shortly. V e

hr go

for

faho

w

ork in

196li. ^ilfiTl^you

pray

with

us and

give

some

extra if i t

i s

afaXl jo

slb le^ t ha t

the

work o f

th e

Lord may go forward.

May th is bo a

great

year

for

tho Lord in 19^^ in America, in

S o u t h fric

a nd

in

ll

t h e

wo r l d

PQTiWx^JtDIlTG / .GEITT;

Mr s Ed

Wid l u n d

]/ 605

Morley

Road

Alber t

Loa, Minn.

{ ^

fours in tho

service

o f

Chr i s t

T he

N i c h o l s o n s

lb 19S3

Documents

Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1963 SAfrica