Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1981 SAfrica

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1981 SAfrica

1/38

K

Clinic Day is held

each

week at

Umzumbe

Bible

Institute. P at ie nt s c om e

with

colds, sores,

malnutrition, and variousdiseases. Family planning

a nd t uber cu lo si s a re a ls o hand le d by the African

government nur se .

Jfuf

ujOidUAtafKfunUimii^andA

lujkaiUofiufpalk TialM 111:105

rmc

Republic

of

Sou t h Africa

TORCH

Port Shepstone

Transkel UmzumbeBibiejnsiiiuie

tCape Town

Eas t London*

N u m b e r

1 Fi r s t Quar te r

1981

V o l u m e

3 2

Meeting The Need

By Michael

Stanley

Max Randall, concerned

over

th e lack of qualified

leadership in 1950, urged Lynn Stanley to

enter

the

South African work in order to d i rec t the

ministers

training

program

which he cal led

Th e

key to the

fu ture of

our

Sout h African labour.

For almost 27 years now there has

been

a

school

which

has sought to

meet

th e n e e d f o r e d u ca t ed Ch r i s t i an l eaders

in th e Republic

of South

Africa.

Max

Randall wrote of

the leadership

of

th e

churches at th e

time:

Many o f th e

ministers

with

whom

we

were

trying to

labour

were immoral, and corrupt, and

dishonest, and

no t

on e

o f them

had

anything approaching an accurate

concept

of the New Testament

church.

He

also

expressed

th e

belief

that The Bible Training School was

the key

to

the

future of

ou r

South

African labour. Lynn

Stanley went

to

So u t h Afr ica in 1953 to h ead th e

teaching

program and

by

mid-1954

th e

BibleTraining

School

was in operat ion

in Kimberley. With

one or

tw o

brief

exceptions,

it has

been

i n con ti nuous

s e rv i ce s i n ce

then .

Here in th e United Sta tes

we t ak e

i t

fo r granted

that anyone

who

enters

th e

ministry

will

have

completed

High

School

and

probably

also

has

a degree

in

Bible. Som e h ave m uch

more .

Among t he

Africans,

this

is not

th e

case. Many

of the

men who are serving

today were unable

to attend

school

beyond

th e s ix th or seventh

grade.

At

least

on e

student has come

fo r

training

who

cou ld ne ith er read n or

write.

Limited educa tion

has

a lway s mad e

th e

process of training leaders a slow

an d

diff icult

one .

In 1954 th e

Bible

Training School

offered

te n weeks

ofstudy

which

was a

complete

course.

At

that

time th e men

who

wanted Bible

training were

often

working

part t ime jobs

to

support their

famil ies

a n d cou ld not

affo rd to

be

away from

home

longer

than

that.

As

the years went

by , some

of the men

returned for a second

ten

week period.

Gradually over

th e

years

th e

needs

have changed. As

younger

men came

to receive tra in in g, th e l en gth of t he

course

was extended to one year.

Also

during the

1960 s women

were

admitted and t oday t he re

are women

as well a s m e n w h o h a v e a f o rm a l B i bl e

education. During

th e 1970 s

th e

task

o f te ac hin g w as m ad e

easier as

more

a n d m o re o f t h e s tu d e n ts w h o c a m e to

school had completed

either ninth or

tenth grade.

Gradually the Africans

recognized

a

need fo r more formal

training

and so

th e course

of s tudy was extended to

tw o

years. Today provision

is

also made

for a third year, but only- a few students

h av e been able to remain fo r t ha t

amount of study. I t was dur in g

th e

1970 s t h a t

t he A f ri ca n c h u rc h

l eade r s

recommended two y ea rs o f

training

be

c o n s i d e r e d

m i n i m a l fo r

a

m a n

planning to

ent er th e

ministry. We

trust

tha t dur ing the 1980 s, threeyears

of

training will

be

considered

minimal.

As the

needs

change, th e

school will

continue to see k to m e e t t ho s e needs.

Changes

hav e t ak en place in th e

program, the

faculty,

and, of course,

th e

facilities also.

Beginning

in

1954

in

a four-roomed

structure

in Kimberley,

t he t ra ining

program

was

moved to

a

fa rm o n

t he S ou th C o as t

t o c onfo rm

to

government

requirements.

In th e early

days, we

simply

called

it

the Bible

Training School ;

now we

are

officially

th e

Umzumbe Bible

Institute.

The re a re

living

facil i ties for

about

18

students,

and

academic

facilities

include four

classrooms (one

for typing

and

sewing), a library,

an

office

and

a

well equipped work room for

m ain ten an ce a n d woodwork .

S o m e

n ew ad d i t i o n s to

o u r

ed u ca t i o n

program

began

after th e

school moved

to

th e

coast. A you th camp p rogr am

was

started. In this

way

th e school has

helped to provide Christian fellowship

and Bible study, while a t thesame t ime

encouraging

th e

campers to

get more

Michael Stanley

teaching

a f ir st

year

class of men

an d women

a t Um zum be Bible

Institute.

continued

on

page 3


2/38

Page

2

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3/38

Firs t Qua r t e r

Meet ing The

Need

continued from

page

I

education

when

they finish

their public

schooling.

Extension

classes

havealso

been taught to

reach those

who cannot

attend

school

full time. Future plans

include

th e

expanding o f bot h th es e

programs

an d

also the holding of

t raining seminars fo r

ministers

already serving.

In the last 27 yea rs , e no rmous

Sou th Afr ican Tor ch

changes have come about in southern

Africa. These

changes range

from

increased freedom

and authority

fo r

women to more prono unc ed B lack

consciousness among

students and

a

desire op

th e

part of

Black

leaders to

take greater responsibility for their own

affai rs . Some ofthe political and social

c ha nge s h av e

had

t he ir imp ac t

on

Christ ians . Through

al l

these changes

the school ha s cont inued t o f un ct io n

Good

t imes

a s well a s bad have

come

and

gone.

At

times

th e

school has had

Page 3

more than

20

students,

a t

other

t imes

only on e or

two. Some

of the

a dj us tmen ts h av e been

difficult

to

make, o th er s h av e b ee n e as y.

The

r es ul t o f

all

o f

th i s

is t h a t w ith the

exception of only

four

or

five,

al l of the

ministers now serving in South Africa

have

received training

at Umzumbe

Bible Ins t i tu te

For older ministers th e

training

period

may have

been short, bu t in

recent

years

the students havegone out

with two full

year s of t ra in ing .

Bible Training School Kimberley 1954-1959

n

The original

four-room

bui ld ing in the

urban

Kimberley

township

which

housed the Bible Training School classrooms

and dormitory.

Anearly class at the Bible Training School inKimberley after Nic Qwemesha

j oined the faculty

mt

l ni j j i i i i a

TMIri 1111

infMT.lT o


4/38

Page 4

9

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Sou th Afr ican Torch

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5/38

First

uarter

Sou th

African

Torch

A

Building:

uil t

1960

Torn down November,

1980

ew Building:

Construction started

December,

1980

Projected completion Easter, 1981

Pro jec ted Coat

10,000

e old aun-dried block building served it s purpose well

the past 20 years , but the

need

for it s replacement is

itical. You can be a

part

of this work by your help in

nanc ing thi s building.

Page 5

J .1

l


6/38

Page 6

The

blocks

used

in the original build

in g

were

hand made

at

th e mission.

Gravel dug f rom

a quarry on the mis

sion land

was

combined

w i th c eme n t

and

moistened

before

being

com

pressed into a block about 9 x

15

x 5 .

These b lo ck s we re then sun-baked

fo r

Students and faculty

provided

th e

labor

for

taking down th e

old

building.

I t was dismantl ed

careful ly in order

to

salvage

as much material as possible.

Tha t

whic h w as s ui ta bl e

fo r reuse

in

the

new

building was

saved and th e

remainder

was

sold. Even t he

rubble

from th e o ld b locks was

used:

it was

spread on the roadway to

replace that

which

had

washed

away

in heavy

Sou th African Torch

about a

week.

The blocks were inexpen

sive

and

provided

a

building that lasted

for

2

years. The one-room building

served as classroom and chapel for

th e

school meeting place

for

the

Umzumbe

congregation

as well as

auditorium fo r

th e

local youth camp. The buildinghas

irst

uar te r

given

outstanding

service

in i t s

twenty

year existence. The new

building will

h av e b oth

an

auditorium

and a class

room

separated by

folding doors.

I t is

being made of

concrete block

and

although

more expensive this block

should provide

a much

longer

life

1980

Coming

Down


7/38

Firs t

Quar te r

Sou th African Torch

Page

7

Our

Goal An Equipped

Indigenous African Leadership

Nic Owemes ha. Dean

of

Umzumbe

Bible

Institute

and

minister

to

th e Umzumbe Chur ch o f Ch ri st .

. .

and what you

have heard

f rom me

before

many

witnesses

entrust

to

f a ith fu l men who

will

be

able

to teach

o the r s a lso .

II Timothy 2:2 (RSV)

The

need for

indigenous leadership

is no t only a

Bibl ic al concern,

e vide nce d by Paul 's method in his

missionary

journeys recorded in

th e

book ofActs, but is

also

attested to with

th e

changing political world around

u

We have

watched

countries tha t

have

been

open to Americans suddenly

close, or travels

and

activities of

missionaries

have been sharply

curtai led.

Nowhere

has

th i s

t rend been

more evident than on t he chang ing

face

of

Africa: Zaire,

Mozambique,

Ango la ,

Zimbabwe

and

others .

Churches

have been

forced to

merge

into

a

national

church,

missionaries

have been unable

to

work among

th e

people

because

of terrorist

activities,

and i n genera l, th e

present

and future

of Biblical Christianity has

been

left to

the knowledge and abilities of national

leaders under

th e

direction

of the

Holy

Spirit.

The

effectiveness

of

that

l eadership during these

periods

of

crisis

has

depended

on the

deg ree t o

which

an

indigenous leadership

has

been equipped. Such

equipping

must

be

t he m i ss io n ar y s

numbe r

one

t a s k .

Is it

possible

to

train leadership?

Biblically,

th e

answer is an

emphatic

Yes , and our e xp eri en ce in South

Africa has also answered Yes .

An outstanding

example of

this is in

the life of Nic Qw em esha. Nic was

born in Middleburgin 1916,

and

did not

a t tend schoo l u nt il a ft er he became

a

teenager.

Even then, he was able

to

spend

less than four years

in school.

He

was,

however, able to learn to speak

both

English

and

Afrika ans , th e

official language

of South Africa.

Nic

began attending

t he Chur ch o f

Christ,

and at

th e age o f30,

he became

a Chris

tian.

Later,

Ni c

moved to

Kimberley

where

he w as

enrolled

a s

a

s t uden t

a t

th e

training school,

studying at first

under

M ax

Randal l . Because

of

Nic 's

mastery of languages

(Xhosa,

English,

Afrikaans

and

Chuana) h e began to

serve as

interpreter fo r

the school.

Before

long,

he was a lso t each ing. In

1958, he a ls o b ec am e min is te r o f t he

Kimbe rley c hu rc h, whe re

he

served

until

moving

with the school to

p l ea s e cu t

along

dotted

line

By Duane

Stanley

Umzumb e

in

1960.

There were no churches in th e

Umzumbe area ,

and

so Nic

began to

establish a new congregation. This

was an e spec ia ll y d iff icul t

task

because

Afrikaans

seldom

accept men

from other

tribes as leaders, and

Nic

was a

foreigner

to th e

area. Nic

added

another

language to

his list,

now

speaking Zulu as well. At f irs t

th e

church consisted only o f s tu dents

enrolled at th e Bible

Training

School,

bu t in 1962 th e fir s t

local

was

baptized. Today, Nic serves

three

congregations in th e area.

Nic has

proven

himself to be a

capable

man

of

God.

He is Dean

and

teacher a t Umzumbe Bible Insti tute,

and pastor.

In th e

Umzumbe

communi ty, Nic has demonstrated

hi s

leadership

as

a

local

minister,

and

also

a s cha irman

of t he local government

school. When Alvin Nicholson,

Superintendent of th e South Af ri can

Chu r ch

of

Chr i s t Miss ion (a

government-required leadership

position) was on furlough,

th e

Afihcans

elected Nic

to

take

hi s

place

- th e

first

time an

African

has

held that position.

Whether among the churches in South

Africa

or

in

his

own community, Nic

has proven to be a

capable

and

respected leader.

This type

of

leader will

ensure

that

th e

indigenous church in South Afidca

will continue t o g row as more men

are

t r a ined and

the

ou tr e ac h o f

the

church

continues to expand.

My Gift To The Work

Mai l to :

Sou th Af r ic an

Church o f

Chr i s t

Mission

Mrs.

Lloyd

Evans , Agen t

P .O . B ox

181

St. Joseph ,

IL 61873

Enclosed is a check for your work in South Africa, for

Please

apply

it

to:

the

n w

school/church building

the general workingfund

Name :

Address :

Address Update:

You can help us

save

money by avoiding ad

dress

correction

returns,

mailing

copies that ar e

no t

read, etc. We'd

like everyone who

wants

toreceive the S.A.Torch to beon

the

list,

but not to waste our financial resources.

Thanks

for your help.

The above address is :

D

an

address correction

a new address

Please

r mov

this name and address

rom

your

mailing list.


8/38

Page

8

Sou th African

Torch

Firs t

Quar te r

Sou th

Af r i can TORCH

Published quarterly

fo r

th e

following:

MISSIONARIES

an d

t he i r

F ORWARD IN G AG EN TS

Mr.

an d Mrs . A l vi n N i c h ol s on

a nd F am il y

P.O. Box 219

Port

Shepstone

4240 Rep.

of SOUTH

AFRICA

Forwarding Agent

Mrs .

R i ch a rd Han s on

16642

Gannon Ave.,

W

Rosemount,

Minnesota .55068

Mrs.

Anne

Stanley

4641

Autumn Leaves Dr .

Columbus, Indiana

47201

Forwarding Agent

Mr. and Mrs . Don al d B a r n es

Rou te 1

Lyle,

Minnesota

55953

Mr. and Mrs. Lynn S ta n le y

a n d F am i ly

P.O. Box 21 9

Port

Shepstone

4240 Rep .

o f SOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding

Agent

Mrs.

Sybil

Evans

Box 181

St . Joseph. Illinois 61873

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Stanely

and Fami ly

P.O. Box 13

Umzumb e

4225 Rep.

o fSOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding Agent

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Eckman

Rou t e 2

Kimball, Minnesota 55353

Glimpses At Year s End

The

South Af ri can

TORCH

(501-

820) is a publication o f th e

South

Afr ic an Chur ch of Christ Mission,

and

is

p ub li sh ed fo ur tim es

each

year in February,

May,

August and

November by

Mission

Services

Association

at Box 177, Kempton,

Indiana 46049 . Se cond C l as s Pos

a ge p ai d a t Kempton , Ind iana .

Fir s t

Quarter

1981

Vo l ume 32 N um b e r 1

The

year 1980

ended

much

differently fo r me than I

would

have

imagined.

December

9th I

entered

th e

Provincial Hospita l at Port Shepstone

for surgery on

th e

morning of the 10th.

I was home

by

the

afternoon

of the

13th. I had hoped to be

discharged

that

soon, though no one else

expected

it It

was for

repair

work and no tsometh ing

that

had to be done in a hurry, bu t thi s

was th e best t ime o f t he y ea r fo r me to

stay home a nd n ot do

much.

One man did come to my home to

talk

about

a problem on the 15th, but

beside

that

I have given myself to writing

le t ters

and

o the r

work

as

I

h av e h ad t he

energy.

As I

write this,

I

am

ready to go

back

t o w or k.

The r e ason

I

wanted

to

be

home

from

th e

hospital by the weekend

was

that

I

knew

t ha t

our

chi ldren

and

the i r

families

would

be together fo r their

Christmas a t th at time,

and

I

wanted

to

phone them.

We

were able

to do so

and it

was a

great

j oy even if we we re

abl e t o talk with each

one only

a short

t ime.

Lynn and Lucille Stanley were with

u s fo r

Ch r i s tma s

Eve

an d

on

Chris tmas

Day we

were

invited to their

home. Although I was

th e

only on e

able

to

go, i t

was a good

day for

we

received two parcels from our children

on

th e

24th .

For

some

t ime th e

miss ionar i es were

planning

a

get-together at Bethlehem

in th e

Orange

Free State .

But through

cancellations

and

other things

that

had come up

a t

th e last minut e, i t was

called

off I

was disappointed

as I had

been looking forw ard to a week s

vacat ion

there .

Alpheus Zobolo has been

called

to

Johannesburg to

take some

tests and

h is g rades have been good

enough

that

he has been told

he c an

go

t o Amer ica

By

Alvin

Nicholson

Alvtn

Nicholson purchased

a f lat-bed. two ton t ruck

which

has been a

great

help in the building process.

It has b een used to car ry rubble from th e old

building to r ep ai r t he road and to haul materials fo r

the

new

building,

to

study

fo r two

years.

He

has

one more

test to take, and t hen

he should know

both where he

is to go, and when he will

be

lea ving. H is

teaching

position

at

the

University of Zululand

will

be

held

for him.

We

ar e

very proud

of

him, and

hope

that he

will

be

able to

visit

a

n um ber o f

churches

while

he is

in

America .

Because I was

no t s u re wh en

I would

be

goi ng i nt o

th e

hospital,

I

ha d

to

cancel

a

trip at the end of

November.

Now plans a re underway to make t he

trip

at th e

end

of

January.

We wil l

be

visiting East London,

Graaf Reinet,

Middelburg,

Craddock

and Tarkas tad .

We will be

returning

in

time

for school,

which begins

in

early February.

Ministers

Week is

to be held th e

middle

of March

at Hopetown,

an d we

a re hop ing some o f the b re th ren

from

Zimbabwe

will be

able

to be

present

wi th us .

T en ta tiv e p la ns are se t for

Conference

to

be a t

Umzumbe

Bible

Institute in September. The new

building

will

be a valuable addition fo r

this time

of

fellowship and inspiration.

Form

3579

BOX

177

KEMPTON, INDIANA

46049 .

Republic

Soulbd^r

Rli

W

u 4

lla y ii ii n itf

nte

Hif

faik

Port Sbepslone

lUmiumbe Bible

inshiuloi


9/38

^ t r^, t i

9

VOL 22 WS WITH THE NICHOLSONS Box 319

Port Shepstone 4240

S o u t h A f r i c a

Jan .

16,

1981

D e a r

C h r i s t i a n F r i e n d s :

I am back a t a l l my work aga in , e xc ep t

for

heavy l i f t i n g

and

digging and am feeling

very good.

Two

Christmas boxes

reached us on the 24th of December, so tha t helped to make

Christmas

day

a good day

for us.

Since las t March

we

have been planning on

going

to Bethlehem in

the Free

States

for

a

meeting of the missionaries. However as it came closer t o the

time,

a number were unable

to come 30

it

Was cancelled. The

Robert

Mills family

then

came down from Johannesburg

to

spend

a

feW

days

here

on

the coast.

went

for

a picnic on the beach , something we almost never do even though both famil

ie s li v e within a half

mile

of the beach. To

get

away from the crowds

in our

area, we

went further south.

I t

was so windy one

could

not keep food on a p l a t e but

since

the

sand was

not

blowing the

wind

f e l t

good.

On our way home we went

thru the

small , privately

owned game

park

in our area.

There are

many baby animals now and they were

fun t o watch.

We were

about 300 feet from the

two rhinos and at

t h a t

distance, they look l i k e tanks.

The

Lord

will ing, I wil l be leaving home on the

21st

and journeying to East London

Graaf Reinet ,

Middelburg,

Cradock, Tarkastad and Queenstown. I should be back home again

on the 2nd

of February. In East

London and Middelburg, I will be talking

with

the

brethren about t h e i r

church

s i t e s and the

church

bui ldings, which they hope to bui ld.

Brother

Maart

Joseph

has been

accepted as

minister

in Graaf f Re inet , and we s h a l l

be

having a re ception fo r him.

Elizah Gontsana, who

completed

his

work at school a couple

of years

ago

has

been

called

to work

with

the

churches

a t

Knysna, George, and Mossel

Bay You

wil l

please

join

us

in prayer

for

t h i s

young

man as he

begins

his woijkwith

the

brethren.

After everyone was feel ing

good because

there had been no

f a t a l

car accidents

here

over the

Christmas

season, s i x Africans were k i l l e d when a t ruck ran i n t o a pick-up

taking

people

home from work

l a s t

week. From

reports

it

appears

that the

driver of

the

t ruck

had been drinking. I do not know if any

of the

people from

the

church

were

in

v o l v e d .

M i n i s t e r s Week

has been

s e t

fo r

the 17th through the 19th o f March a t

Hopetown.

Hopetown i s

about

600 miles from

here,

being j u s t south

o f Kimberley.

Work on the new building a t school

has

progressed

very well. I t w i l l not be ready

for use when school opens on February 3rd,

but only

the painting and in ternal work should

b e

l ft

The

church

a t Kimberley

reported

6

baptisms

a t the end

of

the year.

I f you

want

to read a book on

South

A frica g et

James

Michener s book, The Covenant .

have received 7 boxes o f

clothing

from the church in Marysvil le,

Washington,

and

we know t h a t these

are

going to make many o f our p eo ple happy.


10/38

Lucil le

Stanley

bought

a

turkey in

Durban for Christmas; the

price

was

good and

she

thought

it

would be a

change

from chicken. When she got ready to

cook

it

she

found it was a

Far ibo tur key

from Minnesota.

Pray

for us

as

we enter

t h i s

new

year

t h a t C h r i s t s w i l l s h a l l

be

done

i n

our

l i v e s

a n d w o r k

Yours t hrough Ca lvary

FORWARDING AGENT:

Mrs.

R i c h a r d

Hanson

16642

Gan non A ve .

W.

Rosemount

Minn.

55068

NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Printed and

mailed

by. . .

Madison P a r k C h r i s t i a n Church

215 N. 2 5 t h

Quincy 111.

62301

A l v i n V e r n i t a N i c h o l s o n

Non-Profit

Organization

U.S. Postage

Quincy I l l i n o i s 62301

P e r m i t 57

Ml SS1 0n S r Vi C^3

Bo: :

1 7 7

w


11/38

5-5 3

VOL

22 NEWS WITH

THE

NICHOLSONS

Box 319

Port

Shepstone

42^0

Sou t h

Af r i c a

Feb.

17

1981

Dear

Chr i s t i an

Fr i ends ;

Greetings

in Christ

our

Saviour{

Anyone l ike

to

buy a bus? Floyd

Stamm

and

lef t

Port

Shepstone

on th e

21st

of Jan

uary to go and visit in

the

cape At Butterworth in Transkie when we stopped fo r

gasoline

we had a noise

in

the

motor that should not be there stayed overnight

in

the hotel

and the next day they got the motor out and found that the rivets holding the timing

gear to the camshaft were coming loose. Something that

some

mechanics say that they

have not

known before. The

mechanic thought they had a camshaft in another motor and they

would have

the car

ready by

the first of

the week got

the car

one

week

and one day

later.

le f t

Butterworth fo r Cradock and had only gone 10

miles

when the oil

light

came

on .

They had

fo rgotte n t o t ighten

the

drain plug and

we

had

los t

the

oi l

After

I

got

a

ride

to

town

they

sent

a

man

out

with a

new

plug and oil

but the

plug was too

big so he towed me back to town

By

that time th e garage was

closed

and i t took some

time to find the mechanic. When we

got

things right and star ted the motor i t sounded

okay.

did

no know

i f

the Lord

had

been

speaking to

us

or

not

but decided

was

better

to

go

home rather than

further away So we went to Umtata to spend the night with Alice

Fishback

Now

after

getting

back

home again

I have

th e

motor

out because

they had

not t ight

ened the flywheel

as t hey should have and

worked loose

John and Heabher Kernan came

to

Butterworth and got Floyd and I and

took

us to

their

home in Eas t

London.

That af te rnoon

we

met

with some o f

the

men

from th e

church

from

Mduhsane

to

talk about their building needs and other work

that they

want to do Satur

day John

took

us

to

Graaff Reine t

where we were

planning

to

be

for the

week-end.

On the

whole we had good

services

but there are a few

people

there who do no want Maart

Joseph

as their minister. did not get i t all sett led but we hope

things

will work

o u t

Our time was

not a l l lost even

though we

did not see

many

people

we

wanted

to see.

spent

a

lo t of time talking

about what we

could

do

to improve our

v/ork

here

and

in

Bible study

while

we were

with the

Kernans

Alice

Fishback was happy for

our

vis i t

as

she was needing someone to talk

talk

to and some encouragement.

Broth Nic Qwemesha

also

damaged

the

motor on his car when an o il seal broke and le t

the

o i l

out . His car

has

been

in

the

garage

for almost

a

month.

They

have promised to have

fixed th is week I am so rry fo r

thie t rouble

for he has taken good care of his

car and

i t w

s t i l l

working

well.

I

know that

his

repair

is

going

to

be one he

cannot

really

afford.

School has

started and there are

20

students present

e

still expect at least

two

more have one older

man

in his sixt ies and one

in his

for t ies

both

men have workedj

long in

th e

church.

have one

couple w io

have

just

married. The new

s tudent s are very

anxious to learn and we

are

getting r ight into our work.


12/38

Alice Fishback spent almost a week with us. She came on a Sunday evening and

l e f t

l a s t

Saturday

morning.

She and Wiseman Pepeta put the whole of the book of Matthew on

casset te tapes in

the Xhosa

language.

Wednesday morning

Floyd

Stamm came down,

so

we

four

missionaries met with

the

three African min id te rs and talking about things

to do

tha t

we

migh

have a

more

effect ive

teaching program

in the churches.

We a l l f e l t

was a goodmeeting

and

we

are

planning

to do more

along

this line,

Now

we are get t ing

ready

for Minis ter ' s Week, which

will

be held

at

Hopetown on the

17th

through

the

19th of March. The African

men

can also have a place to sleep

a t

the

Caravan

Park a t Bethlehem,

so

we

can drive about

hal f way on the

16th and

arr ive

a t

Hopetown

early

afternoon on

the

17th

with

out

being

played

out.

Freddie

Sithebe i s

planning

th e dedication of the church

at Escourt

for Easter Time.

He

has

asked me to

speak, but I have

also

been asked

to

speak for a

meeting at

Durban that

w e e k e n d .

The

wind blew

part

of

the roof off the

church

at

Gcilma

the latter part

of January. I

have

not

been there to see i t and they have not

said

exactly how

much

damage had been done

and I do not know i f they have started to repair

i t .

After having

had

a bad

drought

that

covered

most of

South

Africa, we have

been getting

good rains

sinch

the middle

of

January. There have

been

some floods as

well.

The worst was

as Lainsburg where 80 people are s t i l l missing.

The

water

that destroyed

some of the homes

was 12 feet deep, A number of

the

people kil led were from

the

Old Peoples Home and some

others,

were

those,

who went to help

and

get them out.

I f you want to read some of the h isto ry o f South

Africa

then read James Michener's

book,

The

Covenant .

Another

joy for us

was

to

hear

tha t

when

Gladstone

Ndamase was

gett ing

ready

to

come

to

school, the church at Natalspruit at Johannesburg gave him an

offering

of

over 400. to help him

at

school and to help

his

family while he is away. We do have

problems, but

God

has sent

many

blessings.

Sincerely

in

Chris t

A l v i n &

V e r n i t a

N i c h o l s o n

.F-QRWARDBIGn^AGENT :

WS

WITH THE

NI HOLSONS

Non-Profi t Organization

Printed

and mailed by . . . . U.S. Postage

Madison

Park Christ ian

Church Quincy, I l l inois

62301

215 N.

25th Permi t

57

Quincy , 1 11 . 62301

M i s s i o n S e r v i c e s

B o x m

KEMPTOiN, IND.

46049


13/38


14/38

Vernita and I went to urban to get new passports so

we

can get our South African

Reentry Visa

and

also new visas for Transkei.

had

our passport picture taken in

Port Shepstone but they

were

small

like

the

South

Africans need so

had

to

have

others made

in Durban so

hurr ied

us

on

Thursday.

With

Chr i s t i an Love

Alvin

Vern i t a

Nicholson

FORWARDING

AGENT:

M rs Ric h a rd

Hanson

6642 G annon A ve. W.

Rosemount Minn.

55068

N WS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Prin ted and mailed

b y

Madi son Park C h r i s t i a n Church

215

N. 2 5 th

Quincy I l l inois 62301

Non Prof it Organ iza t ion

U.S.

Postage

Quincy

I l l inois

62301

Pe rm i t

y/57

M i s si o n

S e r v i c e s

B ox

17.7

KSMPTON

IND. 46049


15/38

VOL.

22

NEWS WITH THE

NICHOLSONS

Por t Shepstone 4240

Sou t h Af r i c a

^ 26 th March 1981

D ea r C o W o rk ers :

Biggest news of th e month was our

trip

to

Hopetown

for

Minister s

Week. We l e f t home and

drove

to

Bethlehem where

we

a l l had places to

stay at

Athlone

Park. The Mills

had

come

down from

Joha nne sburg to

meet us t h e r e .

Over

th e

week-end one of

Lynn Stanley s

big toes had begun

to

hurt him.

I t

was decided

that he had better go to the out-patients at th e hospital and have

i t

check. e cam back

without a toenail which th e doctor

said was

ingrown.

The

to e

began to improve at once.

The morning of the 17th we man went on to Hopetown while Verni ta and

Lucille

Stanley

went back

to

Alberton with Phyllis Mills so

that

th e women could enjoy themselves to

g e t h e r .

I had

six of o ur A fri ca n ministers traveling

v^ith me and Nic

Qwemesha

was

traveling with

Lynn

to help with the driving. It was good

to

arrive at

Hopetown early

in the afternoon so

we could get ready for the evening service. e three men together with Floyd Stamm

and

Alice Fishback

stayed

at

a motel. All and Jean

Zimmerman

stayed

at

the

hotel.

They

had a

nice place to ea t at the motel but had only

one menu

for every meal and

this

ran

heavy

to french

fries.

The second night we had a cookout and a l l ate

together.

We had

ou r

own

stoves so we

could

make

te a or coffee

when we

l ik e d .

The

church was full every night for the

services

held at that time.

The

ministers had

their

meetings the

first

thing every morning.

Then we would

have a period of prayer to

gether followed by

Bible

Study from Phillipians. I lead the study but not as teacher but

just to help guide things along as we read the scr ipture verse by verse and then all dis

cussed

i t

together. In the afternoon the conference committee

met

for its

work

and other

programs

were

held fo r th e ot her men.

Twenty five

ministers

were

present for the

meeting

from all parts of South Africa. Two of

ou r

older

min i s t e r s

were

s i ck and u n a b l e

to

come.

The

Annual Conference has been

set

for the

16th

of

September

at

Umzumbe

Bible

Institute.

The messages

fo r

that time

will all

have to

do

with love.

n our return from Hopetown we left early in the morning on Friday and drove all the way

home.

It was

a long

way

for

one

day I

was

glad

that

the

bus gave

us

no

trouble

and even

got very good gas mileage so

we hope now

we shall have good service from

i t

for a while.

A retired missionary here has just redrawn one of our church plans for us and I have had

20

copies made for there are several places asking for them now. After many years of

seeking a site at

Postmasburg we have been

given one and they want to

start

on their

b u ild in g

as

soon

as

they can.

The

church

at

Gcil imas has

raised over

500.

to help pu t

a

new roof

on

their

church

building. They have been given permission to draw

some

help from the Building and

Ev a n g e lis tic

Fund.

The church at Escourt is planning to dedicate their church building during Easter. The

churches here

at

Port Shepstone are hoping to rent a bus to take

them

up

for the meeting.

^5


16/38

The,Rostvit twins are to

be in South

Africa during

th e month 9^

y

and we

are planning

for

one

meeting

with them

a t

Invutshini.

Yours

th ru

God s

Great

Love,

Alv in

Ve r n i t a

Nich o l so n

FORWARDING AGENT;

Mrs.

_Richard Hanson

6642

Gannon

AVe.

W

Rosemount, Minn. 55068

NEWS WITH THE

NICHOLSONS

Pr in ted

and mailed b y

Madison Park

C h r i s t i a n

Church

2 5

N.

2 5 t h

Quincy,

I l l ino i s

62301

r T\

Non -P rof it O rgan iz a ti on

U.S. Postage

Quincy, I l l in o i s 62301

P e r m i t 57

M i s s i o n

S e r v i c e s

B o x

17-7

KSilPTON Np.

46049


17/38

VOL. 2 2

NEWS

WITH

THE

NICHOLSONS

Dear C h r i s t i a n

F r i e n d s


18/38

ow

aro

starting

to m k plans for the

coming

of the Rostvit twins next

month

when

the churches will be gathering at Invutsh in i for

that

service.

Pray

that

we m y

be able to find a

tent that

we

c n

afford to

buy

nd

that

is

in

good

condition for

we

shall need

even

a bigger tent for conference in September

urs is

rea l ly showing i t s age.

Your co-workers in

Chr i s t

FORWARDING

AGENT;

Mrs

Rich a rd

Hanson

16642

Gannon AVe. W.

Rosemount Minn. 55068

NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS.. . . .

Pr in ted

and

mailed

b y

Madison

Park

Ch r i s t i a n Church

215

N.

25 t h

Quincy I l l ino i s 62301

Alv in

Vern i t a

Nicho l s on

Non-Prof it Organ iza t ion

U.S.

Postage

Quincy I l l i no i s 62301

Pe rm i t

57

M i s si o n S e r v i c s s

Box m

?:EM?T0N

IND.

46049


19/38

J'JM 81981.

VOL

22

NEWS

WITH

THE NICHOLSONS Port

Shepstone 4240

Sou t h

A f r i c a

May 21 1981

Dea r

Ch r i s t i a n

F r i e nd s

thank you sincerely for the wonderful way

that

you have

cared

for us. Life has been

really rushing for us

la te ly

The Natal Missions Convention just had i t s 100th Anniver

sary. The theme was One

hundred

years is the t ask f in ished? Sandy Sinclair and I are

two of the men on the committee. Vernita has been busy baking cakes and cookies and

cakes

for the

morning and afternoon

t eas

have just enjoyed a vis i t from

the

Rostvit Twins. They sang

for the

Churches

of

this

area

at

the

Invutshini Church on Sunday the 17th and

at

Umzumbe

Bible

Insti tute

on

Tuesday

the 19th.

Everyone was greatly impressed by the i r singing and also by

their

galking dolls.

Most

of the people

had

n ever see n ventriloquism

before.

The 5th of May, Brother

Elias

Sogoni was a t our home

before

6 in the morning so he and

I had

breakfas t together. He

wanted a copy

of

a

Permission to

Occupy which was

given fo r

a church s i te

When

we looked through those on hand he found some others he did not have

copies of and also one that he did

not

find in t he Magis tr at es Files a t Flagstaff .

tobk

these to town to have photostat copies made of them and then Vernita and I

hurried

to

Pietermaritzburg so she could see th e doctor

there.

Vernita has again had trouble

with

Lithium

making her

nauseous

so i s o ff that

medicine

again.

Wednesday,

the 6th of

May

I

drove to

Cradock. I

stopped a t

Umtata and had a cup

of tea

with Alice Fishback. I went on to

see

Robert Geldenhuys the minister

at Cradock

finding

that

Herbert Leve, Minister at Mi-delburg was present. They had a meeting planned with

some o f t h e l e a d e r s

o f

th e

chu rch

f o r t h a t a f t e r noon

Friday morning. Brother

Leve and I went on the

Graaff Reinet.

were planning

fo r

Geldenhuys

to

go as well

but

he stayed behind because of a death in a

family

where he

had baptized most

of the members

in April. Thursday

night we

met

with the

most

of the

Elders from the two

churches in

Graaf f Reine t. I was

glad

to get a Rondovel a t

the park

and

not

have

to

sleep

8 in

the

bus

because

one

has

more room,

Saturday

afternoon we

traveled

out to a farm to vi s i t the church

there.

I very much

l iked

the old man who

has

been leadingthe work

there.

He was very

s t ra ight

forward in a l l

his questions and

answers.

He had one desire

and that

was to serve the Lord

Jesus

Christ .

Because they had been without a

minister

for some time

they brought

out their

collection

to

be

counted

and banked. Tyey had more than 2500

cents

so

i t

was a heavy bag

full .

The most

encouraging thing

we found at

Graaff Reinet

was

tha t

a number of the

people

had

visi ted

Middelburg

Cape, for a special service and the eld ers of th e Middelburg

church had ta lked with

the

leaders from Graaff Reinet and had real ly impressed upon them

the

need

to serve and glorify Christ and had

promised

to come and vis i t and help them

to get

the i r problems

worked

out

and

to

se t th eir

house s t ra igh t

and

work with

the

minister

there.

Sunday we held morning services

in

the location and talked with the

people there

and in the afternoon we met

with

the Coloured

Church

in Kroonvale. There were

s t i l l

a few

people

who

declared

that

they

did

not

want

a

minister

but

most

of

the

people

said tha t

they

did need a minister and would work with Maart Joseph who had

been

to

school and whose home is

there.

did not try to press any points for w

felt

sure that

the

Middelburg brethren could speak better to this

point

th an could we, and we

parted

without any unhappiness. re ally feel that

th is

work

now

i s

going

to s t a r t moving

a h e a d


20/38

Hurbert Leve came back to s ch oo l w ith me so he can a tte nd t h e

spec ia l

month of c lasses

being held fo r

mini s-ters.

Lynn S ta nle y s ay s looks l ike we sha l l have

s ix

men

p r e s e n t

this year. and

ob

Mills

will

teach for one

week

before

th e

Stanleys leave for

merica

on June 2nd. Floyd Stamm,

Ni c

Qwmesha, Wiseman Pepeta

an d

I s h a l l a l l

be teaching

c l a s s e s

a s we l l

Our work w i l l

i ncrease

as

from

th e

2n d

o f

June

unt i l

th e clo se

of

s c hool,

about

t h r e e

weeks l at er by

th e

Stanleys

leaving).

Our camp here

s hou ld b eg in

the 29th of June and in

Pondoland Transkei)

on th e

6th o f July.

With C h r i s t i a n Love,

Alv in

Ve rn i t a

Nicho l son

FORWARDING AGENT:

Mrs

Rich a rd

H a n s o n

16642

G a n n o n A v e .

W.

R o s e m o u n t , Minn.

55068

NEWS

WITH

THE N I C H O L S O N S . . . .

Prin ted and

m a i l e d

b y

Madi son

Pa rk Ch r i s t i a n

Church

2 1 5 N. 25 t h

Qu in cy ,

I l l i n o i s

62301

M i s s io n S e r v i c a s

Box 17 7

KSMPTON, I MP . 4 6 0 4 9

Non-profit

Organization

U.S. P o s t a g e

Quincy, I l l i no i s 62301

P e rm i t

57


21/38


22/38

The churches a t Graaff Reinet

have

accepted Maart Joseph as

t he i r minister .

Through

prayer

God has worked this out

in

a way that we would not have seen.

In

a

meeting,

where the church a t Middelburg had asked other

churches

to vis i t them, the middelburg

elders

had

a long talk with th e le ad er s from Graaff Reinet and

helped

them

to

see that

the Lord would not and could not bless them in what,they had be^n

doing

and offered

even to

come and vis i t them and help them. hen I visi ted Graaff Reinet in ay I

found

a

people

who now

were

mostly

united

to

serv e the

Lord.

The

end

of

ay the

elders

from Middelburg met

with

them

and

they accepted

Maart

as the i r minister. Brother Kernan

was

recent ly with

them

and wil l

go

back again

the

fors t

of next month.

The

church

Knysna

had

a

large group

of people

p res en t to receive Elijah Gontsana

as

the i r minister in

spi te

of

the fac t tha t

tha t

area

had a flood

and

many homes

were

destroyed and many roads closed.

Thank you for your help

and

your

prayer.

e

have

t ru ly

been blessed

in

the

work of

th e Lord

FORWARDING AGENT:

I Irs. Richa rd Hanson

1 642 Gannon A ve. W.

Rosemount,

Minn. 55068

NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS...

Printed

and

mailed

by

Madison Park

Chr i s t i a n

Church

215

N.

25 th

Quincy, I l l i no i s

62301

Yours

f o r

Ch r i s t i n Af r i c a

Alv in

Ve rn i t a Nicho l son

Non Prof i t Organization

U.S.

Postage

Quincy,

I l l inois 62301

Pe rm i t 57

Ki s s i on

Sa rv i c s s

Box

1 7 7

? :em?ton , i n d :-6049


23/38

^ 3

UG 1 7 1981

VOL

22

news with THE

NICHOLSONS

Port Shepstone 4240

South

Africa

July

2

1981

Dear Fr i ends :

The

4th of July

is going

to

be a different

kind of

a day

fo r us

We

are

to take the

Enock

Zobolo Family

to the Universtiy

of Zululand fo r the graduation

ceremony in

which

their son Alpheus will

ge t his

honours degree.

The

hall opens

at

9 a.m. in

the

morning,

so to get there and get a seat

we

will be leaving our home about 1 a.m. to go get them

and

get started

on our way.

We

are very happy

for th e

success of

this

young man

The

month of June

was

a really

busy

one The Stanleys left for America

on

the 1st of

June and so we had the responsibility of the school along with our own work. Along with

this we

had five ministers present for

special studies

for a month. Because they wanted

to ge t

in as

many

hours of

class

work as they could I

taught

them every time that both

they and I were free so

that

added even more hours

The

men

who came

for the class

were Hubert Leve of Middelburg, Cape,

Alfred

Mathenjwa

from Gingindlovu, North

of

Durban, Freddie Sithebe of Estcourt and Columbus Ncanazo of

Pondoland,

Transeit

Ashwell Bukula was

present for

th e

f i rst week and James Mabaso

of

Johannesburg missed

the f irs t

week

but

was

here for

the

rest of the time

Lynn

Stanley Bob Mills,c.and Wiseman

Pepeta

taught the f i rs t

week

and then Floyd Stamm

Nic

Qwemesaha

and I with Wiseman Pepeta finished out

the

rest

of the

time. Every one

felt

that a lo t

of

good had been

done

As

soon as school was out i t

was

time for cairp.

I t

had been our hope that the Oribi

Gorge Camp would be ready for us to use but the f i rs t

of

June

we

found out that i t would

not be ready On

the

7th of June

all

the ministers were together for the

Pentecost

meeting

at Enyanisweni.

They

decided that i t would be better to have just a weekend camp for this

ye a r

I l e f t home early on Friday morning to

pick

up the young people for Zobolo,

then

went by

to get those

for

Songo. They said

they

would

not

be ready

until in

the afternoon This

meant that we could no t s tar t classes in the afternoon as p lanned and I had to make a

secon

trip Camp was

held at the Bible

Institute

When Camp was begun that

night

we had 50 campers present All of

this

was a

disappointm

to me

But God knows how to work things

for

His good. Some of the

older

young

people

were

not

happy

with t hi s s it ua ti on

so they had several

meetings that

weekend and I know

at

leas

one of the

churches

also. The outcome is that the older

young

people have planned

to have

a meeting in December to

plan

for

the camp to

be

held next year Two

of

these

young people

a re tea chers

and a third

will

s tar t his teaching

next year

They will be

joined

by others

of their

age

to

make up

the camp committee to

keep

things roll ing

Even

in the time

we

had together we had good classes and great fellowship One

of

the students at school

said

she

could

not

teach

when they asked her to help but

after

camp she said she

had

a

really

great time

teaching and did

not want camp

to

qui t so soon The young man, who i s studying

to

be a

teacher has

asked for books that he can study

to

help him

to

understand the

Bible

better

and

to

serve

better in

the

church

That

request

we have

already

fulfi l led

with

two

books to

work on now and we

shal l

get others for him la te r

Jackson Johane

a minister amongst

the

Chuanas

died in

Kiraberley, so Nic

Qwemesha

went

over for

his

funeral which was held a t Kuruman.

There

was a very

large

group of people

present Brother Jackson

Johane had

worked many

years for

Debeers Diamond

Company

and

t

after

he

ret ired that

he came to school and

then

went on to

preach for many years He

was a l ttl man

but

fu l l o f love for; the work o f

the Lord

Brother Qwemesha

had

to

be

away during camp t ime


24/38

ow on the 6th

of July,

I m planning to take a load of food and

go

to Pondoland

Transkei,

for the opening of their camp there. I will stay only for two days.

owever

so that I may be back

home when the

Michael Stanley family arrive back.

God bless

and keep

you

one

and

a l l

Your Co-workers

fo r

Chr i s t

Alvin Vern i t a Nicholson

FORWARDING AGENT;

Mrs. Richa rd Hanson

16642

G an non A ve.

W.

Rosemount, Minn.

55068

N WS

WITH THE

NICHOLSONS...

Pr in t ed

and

mailed

by

Madison Park Chr i s t i a n Church

215 N. 25 th

Quincy,

I l l ino i s 62301

Non-Pro fi t Organizat ion

U.S.

Postage

Quincy,

Il l inois

62301

Pe rm i t 57

Miss ion

Se rv i c e s

Box

1 77

KSMPTUN IND, 46049


25/38

VOL

22

NEWS WITH THE NI HOLSONS P o r t Shepstone 4240

Sou th Afr i c a

J ul y

24

1981

Dear

Ch r is tia n F r i e n d s

No, we have

not

gotten

los t

bu t we

have

c e r t a i n l y become

behind in

some

o f our work.

The

beginning o f June

when

the Stanleys went

to America we not

only

took

over the

running o f th e

sc ho o l b ut we

ha d f i v e

m i n i s t e r s

in

school

fo r

some

e x t r a work.

They

were

anxious

to

get in

as much

class

time

as

they could so

whenever they

did not have a teacher

and I no

clas s

I

taught

them.

My class

was in th e book

of.Ephesians

but we took time to

look

at some film s t ri p s

for

the

teaching

they could give and

spent

some

time

talking about

problems

tha t

face

us

and what could bes t

be done to

seek

th e

Lord s

leading

in

th e s e

th in g s .

When

school

was over i t was almost straight into camp for the area. Because they

di d

no t

hav

the

camp

at

Oribi Gorge completed so

we

could use

i t they decided

to just have a

weekend

camp

a t

school

Because

o f

the

diff iculty

o f t ra n s po r ta t io n

we made

us e

o f

the

truck for t h i s.

That meant t h a t I had

to

pick them up on Friday morning and

afternoon an d

t

take

them

home

on Sunday.

The

number in attendance was 50 which was

smaller

than

we

really

wanted. But the Lord

uses

a l l things for His

glory.

A number of th e older young

people

saw

that

a

part

of ou r

trouble

is in

planning

and making preparation

for th e

camps. So they

have joined

together

and

made

plans for a meeting

in

December,

thus they

have a good

s tar t

in planning for next

year s

camp. Also one o f

th e

young men

who is

studying

to

be a

t eacher has asked for some

books

t h a t he might

prepare

to serve the Lord in a b e t t e r way.

The 4th

of July

Vernita and I lef t home at 1:30 to take members

of

the Zobolo family

to Ngoya, t he U ni ve rs it y

of Zululand

so

they could

se e

their oldest son

Alpheus,

receive

his Honours Degree in Science. There were over 400

who received

degrees and

we estimated

that over 3000 were present that day. Outside of teachers and policemen,

Vernita

and I

were

tw o

o f

th e ve ry few w h i t e

p e o p l e

present .

Their

graduation

ceremony

is much

different

thah ours

in

that

when

someone goes

to get

his degree those of his family and friends

really

cheer fo r him. Since Alpheus was already

a

teacher

there he has his own

living

quarters.

We

went there

to

have

something to

e a t

before the

ceremony

an d again before

we

star ted out

our

journey back

home.

The church

at

Gcilima has a

roof

on i t once again. I

took the material out for

them

an d

Ephriam Nuphazo came up and p u t on.

The 6th of July I had to hurry to get

th e

star ter back on the

fo r i t had been giving

some

trouble.

Then loaded up

over

200. worth

of

food stuffs and

lef t fo r

th e Pondoland

amp at

Ntabangalinkhom. Atoria Cele, one

of

the students from

this area at school

went

with

me. Alice Fishback came up from Umtata to have a part in the camp as well. There were

few campei S'preent

when

we

arrived

but i t was no t long before they started coming and

came

like a

real

flood. y noon th e next day, they estimated that there were 300 present. There

were 105 on

Wednesday

morning

in the

church

building

and

there

were 5

other

classes

either

meeting outside or

in

one of the nearby homes When I

talked

with Brother Pepeta, this

week at school he

said

everyone had a good time and also had cleaned up th e food.

The

l i s t of

food I bought would sound

different

from what you would

get there.

I t

in

cluded 200

lbs.

of cracked

corn

200 lbs .

of corn

meal 50 lb s . o f brown sugar 150 lbs.

of white sugar 5 lbs.

tea

5

lbs.

of coffee one tin of chick stock concentrate one box

of oats 2-1/2 dozen eggs 50 lbs. of bread

f lo u r t hr ee l ar ge

bags of cabbages 3 sacks

of

potatoes

about

100

l bs.

1

sack of onions

and one box

of tomatoes.

Then

they brought

some

things for themselves from home I also took two cartons of powdered milk (about 50

lbs. .

Alice Fishback came from camp and

spent

a couple days with us before going on to

Dur ba n .


26/38

Michael and Caryl Stanley with

their

ghree

girls

arrived

back here on the 13th of

July. Michael

will

be leading the school until his folks arrive back in Sept. I am not

going to teach for

this

term any

way

There is

much

work

that

I need to get done and I

want to vis i t some of the churches.

e have

a lo t of work to get done as we make

prepa-

ration for

Conference which

begins on th e 15th of

September.

One of the things for which

we

give

great

thanks to

God

is

that

Vernita has

felt

very

much better of la te

e

are so very very thankful

for

this .

Just one big job that we would like to get done at school before Conference Time is to

get the

ceiling

in the new

building.

e are

st i l l

paying for

some

of the material used an

so will not buy the other until

i t

is

paid

for

but I am

sure

we

shall

be able to get

i t

done

God has been very

good

to us and

sent

us many

blessings.

I think I was a much blest as

the

ministers

who

were

at

school.

The

opportunity

to

be

with

them

every

day

fo r

a

while

as there were herewas a great oppor tunit y for study

too.

e

have just heard

that

there was a car accident in Johannesburg. I be lieve the Elder

for

Natalsruit

tipped

his

pickup over. wo were killed Gladstone Ndamase who has been

in

school

was hurt. James Mabaso s mother had both legs broken and the

rest

were cut

and bruised. James had been

one

of th e ministers who was present

here

at

school

for th e

special time

of

study.

FORWARDING

AGENT;

Mrs.

Richa rd

Hanson

16642

Gannon AVe. W.

Rosemount Minn. 55068

NEWS

WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Printed

and

mailed by

Madison

Park Chr i s t i an

Church

215 N. 25 th

Quincy I l l inois 62301

Yours fo r C hris t in South Afr ica

Alvin

Vern i t a

Nicho lson

Non-prof i t Organization

U.S. Postage

Quincy I l l ino is 62301

Pe rmi t 57

Ki s s i o n 33 rv i c33

Bo:^

177

KSIAPTOU, IMD. ^-6049


27/38

3p2 8^98^

VOL.

22 NEWS VJITH THE NICHOLSONS . Port Shepstone 42^1

South

fr ica

19th

August 19SL

Dear Christian Friends:

Have you counted

your blessings

lately? I dropped just over ^0 of

powder^

from the

Clinic

as I was going to

the bank;

Ahigh school boy picked it up and ret^ned

i t

to

me.

We

have

been paying

for the truck that

we

bought

last

year,

and

the as

canceled

part of the

payment.

Going to

East London,

I

gave some

African a ride,

at different times and of different lengths One of these was the wife of Chiel

in

Pondoland. When she got

in

she was

very

upset

because

she was sure she

would

miss

her

sister-in-law at the Umtata Airport, because a Taxi Driver

had

failed to .

her,

when

he had promised. At

ISntata

I told her I would

take

her directly to

so she would

get

therequicker. As

we left town

she said, PToday,

I

have learned

vdiat

it

is to be a Christian.'? She

was

on time to keep

all

her appointments.

In many more

w ys

than this God has shown His blessings , ^ At

VftUiam

Meuavdwai is one of the few men

4io

has completed three

years

^

umumbe. He

ministered

to two churches,

then

he

resigned

to go

Police Force.

We

were sorry to

lose

him because he had

grown

and

he

showed

a

good

spirit

in the

work

of the

Lord.

He

worked

in P . , u.

ended up

as

one of the Special Brance

in

the Ciskei Government.

I

1979^^8

f .

could

work as

an

Evangelist, helping in the places

vhere

the

Chur^es

^

minister,

because

he had moans to

travel

and visit these ^ces. One

^

to help

once

or

twice a

month

was

Port Elizabeth to help

them to

i^y

off ^8

on

their

Minister's home.

Now he is

asking to minister to

one

of the

his home at

King

William s Town. Beyond this he has been sent by his

training, in communication

and how

to conduct meetings and programs. A E--4.,ant

he is tolching these to the police.

In

his teachij^ program he is

in8

slides that wl have. The classes which he

is teaching

would

be

very

good

for our rinister

and

ho

has vacation

time coming

so

he can do so.

Brother

Hguzulwa

has

always worked

in

the churches, where he has been stationed ^.t. t, rw, nkitveeriflv Tnhn

The

5th

of August I went down to East London to stay with ^

and

I

visited

Mdantsane

to

chock

on

our

church

site.

We

have

had

it

for

Village

should have

started a

building

long ago.

Most

of our

people

had moved from ^can vmag

and they were

counjiing on

the

building there

being sold

and they

touM s that

Mne^

But the area

has

not been deproclaimed and so we

have

not been able to seU Vte dW

learn that we

now have

permission to build a minister's home toew ^

likely build a

building with

no internal walls and use it mtil

the

other

built

Friday

I

went

with the

Kernans

to take a

food

parcel to an

still

lives in Duncan Village. Saturday

we went

to

see

a 14 year old boy fro

had

to

have

a leg

amputated.

x n

Sunday Morning we first met with

the church

at Mantsane

to

and we

Lgan

church at

12 noon.

When we

finished there

we quickly

t

and

went to

Zwelitsha, where

I just spoke to

them

for a short txro.

Then

the

third

time

that

day

at

Dimbaza

finishing

the messap

by

the

light of

P ^

lantern. Dimbaza is going to

build

a minister's home, but they have most of their mon y

in hand. We just

have

to get

the

plans

for the

buying

passed.

-hu,.ehaa in

One of the young men from Dimbaza told me that

the

young people from the chwches to

that area have

been

getting together to

make

sure that

they

will have a

camp

n

area

nex t

year


28/38

I am not teaching now and do not have plans to teach for the rest of the yeait? so that

I may

spend more

time

visiting

the churcheso

Floyd

tamm is teaching the classes whicl>^I

was

teaching. j

Just now

we

are busy

at

school

getting

things ready for the annutal meeting of the. ^

chiirches

which

shall begin on the l6th of next month wo big jobs are getting

tho

ceilin

in

th e

buildin vje

have

rebuil t

and

some building painted. We

have

also

been

look^gfpr

a

man to thatch the kitchen and the

girl s

dormitory

that

ajoins it .

The

man is supj^sp^^

to start work tomorrow. These buildings need re- thatch ings but we also want

the-spacpj.

where the grass is stored for men to sleep in next month

Yours fo r C hris t

in South Afr ica

FORWARDING AGENT?

Mrs .

Richard Hanson

16642 Gannon Ave.

W

Rosemount,

Minn. 55068

NEWS

WITH THE

NICHOLSONS...

Printed and mailed by

Madi son Park Ch r i s t i a n

Church

215 N.

25th

Quincy,

I l l inois

623OI

Alvin Vern i t a Nicholson

Miss ion

Gsrv i c e s

Box

1 7 7

KEMPTOM IND.

v6049

Non-P rof it O rgan i za t ion

U.

S.

Postage

Quincy

I l l inois

623OI

Permit

57


29/38

VOLo

22 news with THE

NICHOLSONS

AlGUSTj 1981

Dear Christian Friends:

Greetings in Christ, o\ir Saviouro

We

have had two v eelcends of rain; the first gave

us about one inch and I am not sure how much

we

got this

last

weekend

Even

if

i t had

done some

damage to our roads,

we

are not unhappy,

because i t

has filled all the tanks

at

school with water

and

everyone has been worried about

v;hat

we would dowhen all the

people come on the l6th of September,

Brother

Qwemesha

has only told

me

that

he

has

heard

from

Middelburg,

Cape,

and

they

are planning to have eight. We do know that Pondoland

is

planning on having a bus load

of people.

The

lower part of the Transkei

would

like to start a

bus

from Butterworth,

with perhaps some

of the

people from

the

East

London,

King

Williamstown

area joining

them to fill the bus, Dimbaza was talking about coming v;ith a mini bus, so we are very

sure that

i t

is going to be a full house.

Those

who will be preaching are Andrew Calvert, Simon Mtsayisa, John Tsatseng, Ashwell

Bukula, and Alvin Nicholson, Those teaching classes will

be

Bill Weber, A1 Zimmerman,

Floyd Stamm, and

Bob Mills

Saturday af ternoon the 19th, the re

will

be a Dedication

service

for

the rebuilt

building

and he

class

room that has been added to i t

This past week we have been busy getting the

ceiling in

the building.

With

the

stu

dents helping only in the afternoon

when they

are free

from

class we do

not alwaj^s

get

a

full

day 8

work

in.

But things ar e

coming

along very nicely,

Richard Qiya, one of the oldest Ellders in Pondoland, Transkei, died v;eek before last

H became a Christian in the latter part of the 1920s and has continued through these

years as a real man of God, Brother Qwemesha worked v/ith him in Durban while hie worked

on the railway there and Brother Pepeta has been h is minister for several years.

Both

of

these

men

speak very highly of

him

and of the

fact

that he has always been out and out

for the Lord, He was an Elder

for

the church at Ntbandalinkomo mountain that eats

cattle where this year s Youth Camp was held in July, He and 1 visited together a

number of times while 1

was present for

camp. We thank God for these

men whose

lives

have been

filled

with the

Spirit

of God,

The first part

of August, 1 visited in the East London area staying with John

and

Heather Kernan, John took

me

to a 1 the meetings. We found at i4dantsane that we can

build a m in ist er s home on the same site that

we have

for the church

and may

build

that

f irst

without

partitions

to be used as a church building

until

the cnurch

i tself

can

be

built.

Perhaps through a

meeting planned

to get

some

information

we may have

found

someone to rent the church in Duncan Village at East London or perhaps even buy

i t

so

we could use the money at

Mdansane,

Most of the people at

Mdantsane

formerly

lived

in

Duncan

Village

We have an application that has been accepted for the church site

at

King

Williamstown but since there- is no place

in

Zwelitsha, we will be given a place in the

new township which is a few milec away, known as Phakamisa,

On

Sunday, 1 preached at

Mdantsane and Dimbaza with

just

a quick stop and a

few vrorkds for

the people

at

Zwelitsha

The young

people of the area are

working

together to make sure

that

they

have

a youth

c

in

their

area

next year.

To

give

more time to visiting in the

churches

1 am not teaching a t Umzumbe

Bible

Institueiifor the rest of this year, FlpydUStammIhas takenthe_classes

that

1 was teaching

Lynn

and

Lucille

Stanley

are

planning

to

arrive

back

in

this

country

after their

short

furlough on the

loth

of September

We

s t i l l have not

heard

Gladstone N damas e, who w oul d be^in school t Unzumbe i f t

had not been for his

accident is at home

or

not.

His hip vjas badly broken.

The

Gcilima church once again has a roof on

i t

and the building looks very g.;od. They

are planning to paint and

fix i t

up l ike new

again.


30/38

Williaoi-Mguzulwa attended

Umzvunbe

Bible Institute completing three years, several

years ago. He ministered

at Sada

near

Queenstovm

and

at

Beaufort West He resigned

frorathe ministry and joined

the

South

African^Police Forces He was serving in Port

Elizabeth when he joined the Force of the Ciskeian Government, Here he has become a

part

of the Security Force, A couple of years ago, he asked if he could serve as an

Evangelist, helping the vhurches

in that area who

had no minister. Since had

his own

transport

it

would

be

easier for

him

to get

about

as

well

as

he had

his

own

support

financially so would not be dependent upon the offerings. In the Force he has now been

sent for special training

and

is teaching

courses

on communication

and

preparing pro

grams

aha ^i^tings for men in

the

police force.

He

is now asking

if he

can minister to

one

of the

churches

near King Williamstown

where he

lives. W illiam s wife, Lizzie

also

attended

one

year

at

Umzurabe

Their first child died

while

still small. They have

two

sons

one 11

and one 6 and are

expecting another

shortly.

William

also

had m

buy a

slide projector for him which could oe

used

both from the car and from

house

current.

He has been

using

slide sets that we have on

hand

and has found them

useful

in teaching

o in the

chiirch and

in the police forces-In fact,

he

has

asked if he

could

purchase

some of

these

to

have

for

himself.

FOWARDING AGENT:

Mrs Richard

Hanson

l66lf2 Gannon Ave,

W

Rosemount

Minn

55O68

NEWS WITH THE

NICHOLSONS...

Printed and

mailed

b y

Madison

Park

C h r i s t i a n

Church

215 N. 25th

Quincy

I l l i n o i s 623OI

V 4

1981

fours

i n

C h r i s t s

love

A l v i n V e r n i t a Nicholson

Non-prof it Organiza t ion

U.S. Postage

Quincy

I l l i n o i s

623OI

P e r m i t 5?

Mi

3

^Xoa

v

7 i c e 8

B o a 1 7 7

lNO.

6 0 4 9


31/38

dec 3

VOL news with

THE NICHOLSONS

SEPTEMBER 28

98

Dear Ch r is ti an F ri en d s:

We are really

getting ou r

le t ter written late

this month and i t

may

do for

next

month as

well.

The

annual meeting of th e

churches

brought

us

later

into

the

month

September

was a

very

rushed month as we worked to get

the

ceilings in

the

building

that

has been

rebuilt

and then painted as

well. We

wanted

to haul

some

extra dirt for

the road

to get i t

in

better

shape.

We

also

had to build extra

facil i t ies for those

at school

were

not large

enough

fo r

such a

big

group

of people.

There must have been

about

250 people who bought meal

t ickets

so with helpers

and others we had well

over

300

people

present. There was

standing

room only for

the f i r s t meeting on Wednesday when we missionaries were

al l

present. There were

more

people arrived

the next day and

local

people on

Friday

ar ter work.

The theme th is

year

was on God's Love and there were four preachers and four

who taught classes.

Sermons were preached each evening

except

Saturday and one was

preached

on Sunday

mor

Documents

Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1981 SAfrica