Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1982 SAfrica

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1982 SAfrica

1/23

MAfl i

NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS - Janxiary 11 1982

Dear

Chr i s t i a n

F r i e n d s :

The radio tonight tells

us

that

you

have been having some

very

cold weather

saying the temperature in Chicago is a/-minus degrees. Here today has been

just the opposite.

The

humidity

was

high the temperature

was

high

and

there

was very little breeze. So

one

could work up a sweat without even trying.

This

year though

began

by being very cool. It was so cool at the services at

Estcourt on January 2nd

that

a sweater felt good with a suit coat.

But

we are

not likely

to

have

that

kind of weather again for a couple months.

are

beginning

to

think about our

furlough

which we hope

to begin

the first

of June. are planning to go to Durban one day this week to see about the

bookings.

Next week

we

hope

to go to

Eshowe

to visit the Elericks and also on

to

Mtubatuba

to pick up our block-making

machine.

They

borrowed

i t but

did

no

r e t u r n t So we have to go an d pick t

up.

do

hope

that

you

all

had

a

very

happy

Christmas

time.

I

would

not

say

that

ours was bad but i t was broken up. Vernita had to go

back

to the hospital and

was there a t Christmas t ime. Christmas Eve I went with the Stanleys to e oipe

oftheir daughter for turkey

and

all the trimmings and

opening

of gifts.

Our

children gave us a radio cassette recorder combination which

is

giving us

muc

enjoyment.

On Christmas

Day we

learned

something.

If

you

are not in the area

where

there

are

tourists

there

is

no place open

to

ea t on that day. E ery sing e

eating place

was

closed with the exception of the hotel and of our course ey

served

a very big

meal

with

a big price which we didn t feel we needed. So we ®

do with

what

Alvin had with him. I

would

say i t

was good

because more people could

enjoy the day with their familifs. Vernita

came

back home on the 3rd of January

and

i s

d o i n g

f i n e

now.

Just before

Christmas

Enock

Zobolo

and

I

took

a

quick

trip

to the University

of Zululand to bring some of the furniture belonging to

Alpheus Zobolo back

to

hi s home.

He

has

built

a

two roomed house

near

his father s home. When

I

saw i t

I

wondered

if we

woiold get i t all in but we did. For a few months at the

beginning

of this year Alpheus will

be

head of his

department

which

one

of the other men

has

his leave.

In a

recent letter

Alpheus stated

that

he

now

hopes to go

to

America in 1985 to st u d y

f o r

h is l^asters Degree.

Before Christmas I helped put a ceiling in the living room of the

Zoblo

home.

They

have

been

living in the house since 197^ without a ceiling in

it.

I is

a job I

am

not too familiar

with

so

i t took longer than i t

should have.

Then the

walls

were

not straight but

after

i t was painted i t

looked

very nice and

they

are

happy

for

it.

Now

they

want

to

build

on

a

kitchen

atthe

back

of

the house.

This

w i l l

also

be new fo r me. I haven t pu t that

kind of

roof on

before.

Michael Stanley and I went:to Ntabamhlope

a t

E st co ur t f or

services

with Freddie

Sithebe Minister and th e people he works with. The

f i rs t service

was on FY iday

night

th e

f i r s t

of January. Michael preached and I

showed

a film of the

l i f e

of

Paul.

Saturday

morning Michael taught a

class

and we

both

taught

in

th e a f t e r

noon. Before supper that

night

they had

their

time of giving of

gifts

to each

other.

They were

small

-gifts they

a ll

enjoyed i t Saturday night I preached and we


2/23

again had a film.

The

building was well Tilled many however being children

and

young people. Sunday morning both taught

classes

again. I taught a group

of

women

who were

sitting

on benches outside. A

number

of them were

peeling

potatoes

for the noon meal.

But

we

s t i l l

had a good class .

Michael

preached that morning

and I had communion.

n

our

way home we

stopped

to

see

the new liLtle girl that

was

born

to

Alpheus

and

Olga Ndaba;

they

were

students

a t

school

l as t

year.

Nic

Qwemesha

and I are planning

to

make a trip

to

Worcester in the f i rs t

weekend in February. There

have

been some

problems

down there an;^

we

went to

l earn

f i r s t hand what the

t rouble

i s we wil l also have some o th er m ini st er s going

wi th u s

I t is our hope that 1982 may b a

b lessed yea r

for each and every one in the

L o r d

Sincere ly

in Chr i s t

A lv i n V e r n i t a Nicho l son

Printed

an d

published by

Madison

Park

C h r i s t i a n Church

215

N.

25th

S t r ee t

Quincy I l l ino i s 62301

Mis s i on S e r v i c e s

B ox

1 7 7

KEMPTUN IND

46049

Non Prof it Organizat ion

U.S.

Postage

Permi t

{^57

Quincy

I l l inois

623OI


3/23

NEWS

WITH

THE NICHOLSONS

FEBRUARY

1 9

1982

M ^ R

15

issz

Dear Christian

Friends:

here

i t

i s

the 19th of February and I am j u s t getting

this l e t t e r

written.

My se c

retary is

gone and

that

also slows things up.

When we visited

th e c l i ni c at

th e

begin-

ning of this month the

doctor

asked Verita to stay

at

th e hospital

for

a

while.

Nic

Qwemesha

and I had

made

plans to

v i s i t

Worcester

the

f i r s t

weekend

in

t h i s

month. Then on

th e 3r d

I

received

a

telegram

to

say

that

Gertrude

Malafu,

th e wife of

Lawrence

Malafu Minister at Queenstown had

died

and that the funeral would

be

on

the

7th. We changed our plans and went

there.

We drove down on

Saturday arriving

there

in the afternoon.

The Malafus had

gotten half

a

tent like ours

and by

tying the

middle

of th e top over

the roof

they

covered

th e

whole

o f t he i r

front yard . Some peo-

pie were already there when we arrived and they kept

coming. They

had a service right

through the night.

The

Funeral

service began

the

next morning at 10

A.M. in the

Anglican Church, which

fortunately was a very

large

building. I t was estimated that there were more than

350

people

present. Such a

long

program was planned

that they

had to

leave out

some

of

the

items

so

that a ll should

be

completed by

4:tl0

in th e afternoon.

At

th e

cemetary

there

were a number

of

graves

dug,

to

indicate

that

they dig th e grave

ahead o f time and then

they are

used as

they

are needed. Because there were so many

people the

men climbed

on top of

th e

two buses and

rode

on the

luggage

racks.

I do no t know

i f

you would c a l l

i t

a humorous note or n o t but when I finished my

sermon, th e M was so sound asleep that i t took a very

hard

shake to wake him.

This l a s t week end Brother Qwemesha and I made a t r i p to Cradock to se e i f we could

do anything

with th e

problem that

continues

there. We had a good meeting on Saturday

night and Sunday;

th e

people agreed with almost

all

that

was

said but have contin

ued

on

j u s t

as

b e f o r e .

I

guess

I should have kept b e t t e r records but I believe

t h a t

t was early in 1942

that I began preaching at the Cannon City Church near Faribault,

Minn. Perhaps

the

brethren at Faribault can t e l l exactly when i t was.

I am

sure

that most of you would be happy

to

change a l i t t l e o f

our weather

for

yours.

We

have had

some

very

ho t

and humid

days with

enough

cooler

days

to

make

i t

bearable. We

have

j ust gotten

good

rains

which

we

badly needed and hope

we

can have

more

o f

them

soon.

The

country

i s not having a drought like l a s t year

but in

many

a r e a s

c ro p s a re going

to be

s m a ll

The

one thing which is bad

just now is

the

large

number of Cholera cases in Natal.

Most o f

them have

been n o r t h o f D urba n. We w i l l have t o have C h o l e r a s h o t s b e f o r e

we

come t o A m e r i c a

Th e

f i r s t week

o f March

M i n i s t e r s

week

a t

G c i l i m a .

The

m i s s i o n a r i e s w i l l b e a r r i

ving.

on the f i r s t

of

March,

so

we can meet together before the other

meeting

which

has a welcome service on Tuesday evening and

t he n b eg in s i t s actually meetings

on

Wednesday

th e 3 r d .

Have helped

Enock

Zobolo

to

ge t a

Vespa

Scooter and

am

touching

i t

up with

paint

before

we

take

i t

to

get

a

road

worther

c e r t i f i c a t e .

He

ha d

one some

years

ago and

t h i s will make i t much e a s i e r for him to get around

Alpheus

Zobolo

has gotten a

new

Toyota Cololla car.

e

will pick us up on

th e 13th o f March, as he comes

to

show his

family

the car.

I t

i s

good

to have Alice Fishback

l i v i n g

in Umtata.

I t

i s

about

200 miles from

here and makes a good place

to

stop

fo r tea or

even

staying

overnight and then

a s

we come

an d

go.

We

ca n g et th er e on a

tank

o f g a s when s t a t i o n s

a re

closed

and then are closer

to

ou r

d es ti na ti on t o

th e next

day.

We have stopped over with

h e r t h re e

t i m e s

t h i s

m o n t h .


4/23

Vernita and I have a booking to leave urban on the 4th of une and arrive in Minnea

pol is

at 10 P.M. on the 5th. wil l f ly via Amsterdam.

May the grace

o f

God be

upon you

a l l .

Yours

i n t h e

M a s t et s S e r vi c e

A l v i n

V e r n i t a

N i c h o l s o n

Printed an d publ ished by

Madison P a r k

C h r i s t i a n Church

215 N.

2 5 t h

Quincy I l l i n o i s

62301

M i s s io n

S e r v i c e s

B o x 1 7 7

KEMPTUN

£ND.

v604 5

Non Prof it Organizat ion

U. 5. P ostage

P e r m i t

y/57

Quincy I l l i n o i s 62301


5/23

SOUTH FRI N HUR H OF CHRIST MISSION BIBLE TRAINING, INC.

FINANCIAL REPORT FOR ALVIN ND VERNITA NI HOLSON

January 1, 1981 - December 31, 1981

INCOME

Balance

on Hand

January

1, 1981

Working

fund

A f r i c a n S c h o o l C h i l d

School

Building

R e c e i v e d

on t h e

F i e l d

TOTAL

DISBURSEMENTS

Stamps

Telegrams

Telephone

P o s t

Box

Duty

Lodging

M e a l s

J a m e s M a b a s o

M i n i s t e r s help

Typewriter

repair

P r o j e c t o r

B o o k s

Supplies

Passport

p i c t u r e s

Passports

V i s a s

F i l m

Projector repair 16 mm.

Camp

S c h o o l

B u l l e t i n C o v e r s f o r C o n f e r e n c e

Candy

for Christmas

Bank Charge

Help

for

African

School Child

G a s o l i n e

VW

T i r e s

Motor Repair

VW

S e r v i c e

VW G a s o l i n e

VW rts

VW

R a d i o

VW

L i c e n s e

VW I n s u r a n c e

G a s o l i n e f o r

T r u c k

C o s t

of T r u c k

T r u c k

l i c e n s e

T r u c k I n s u r a n c e

T r u c k S e r v i c e

T r u c k M u f f l e r

TOTAL

INCOME

DISBURSEMENTS

Balance on Hand Dec. 31, 1981

Submitted by Alvin and

Vernita

Nicholson

3373.83

7 8 7 6 5 0

2 3 3 0 0

2 3 8 5 0

5 3 6 4 3

12,258.26

1 8 3 9 7

1 9 4 6

2 7 8 7 0

1 1 7 2

5 2 9 0

1 6 0 3 0

2 0 9 6 5

6 1 6 1 6

8 5 0 8 6

8 2 0 3

6 9 9 0

5 8 0 8

1 6 7 3 1

1 2 5 0

2 9 6 3

7 5 0

5 6 4 4

7 8 0 0

1 0 5 0 0

6 9 3 5 9

1 0 1 1

4 3 1 5

3 1 2 6

2 3 7 3 2

1 4 8 2 3

1 7 8 6 8

2 2 3 7 6

1 5 3 5 3

2 2 9 6 5 3

8 8 4 8

1 0 4 0 0

2 5 2 0

1 5 6 1 0

4 4 5 3 2

2 0 0 0 0 0

8 9 5 4

1 6 3 0 8

3 2 5 2

1 5 6 0

10,186.61

12,258.26

10,186.61

2,071.65


6/23

W Y 2e 982

NEWS WITH THE

NICHOLSONS

MARCH

13

1982

Dear Co W orke r s:

As I write this letter I

am

listening to Trans-World Radio, which is located in

Swaziland

to the

North

of

us. We

very

seldom

listen to the

broadcast, so

do

not

often hear this station. This stateion broadcasts religious programs to

many

countries

i n t h i s a r ea

Vernita

would likely

have been home

this

week end, but after

i t was

decided that I

would make the trip to

Worcester

with Nic Qwemesha

on

the 15th, she felt

i t

was better

to

come home when

I

got

back

again. On the

day that I

went

to visit

her we

were going

out to go downtown shen she caught her shoe on a mat and fell flat.

She was

knitting

as she walked and so had no chance to

catch herself. Vfrien

she

got

up there was only a

small scrape on her

right

knee, and a small place

on

her left shoulder and a

few

scratches

on her hand.

We

went on and did the things

that we

were planning to

do

and th

next

morning

she called to say that she was getting

along

fine

and had no

i l l effects

from t h e f ll

Last week was a very busy one. Sunday the 31st of February 1 I went out to Gcilima

for

church and

took part of the supplies that

had

been

purchased

for Minister s Week

and checked on last minute needs that we had missed.

Monday

morning

I had to help Jethro Zobolo get to his school, which

is

beyond

the

Bible training school. I helped

him

to get his

bed and some

other things that he

needed

to the

place

where he stays.

He

is trying to get a Christian

group

started in the

scho

I will

help

him

where

I

can

and I know that he can get

help

from

those

at

Umzumbe Bibl

Training

Ins i tu te

Then

I picked

up

the dishes

and some

other things from

school and came

to town to g

more

groceries

and

took

them

to

Gcilima

and

then

back

for the m^ing of the

missileri

that night. Some had rented a

holiday

house

next

door to Lynn Stanley s home as it

ha

a very large room which is

good

for meetings beside the sleeping quarters.

We

had

meetings all day on Tuesday and on

Wednesday

night,

no

I mean on Thursday night.

Wednesday morning we went

out

to Gcilima and

began

the meetings there. Bill

Weber h

classes for the ministers on Teaching.

Bob

Mills taught them from one of the booklets

that he has printed. Ron Elrick was to

have

been here to teach a class but had

been

sick for a couple of weeks and could not make

it .

I then taught using

Sam

Stone s

new

book on

the

Christian Minister. For some reason

some of

the minis ters

did not get

there at the beginning of the

meetings and

those

men on

the conference committee had s

many things to

see

to that

they

did

not

get

there

either.

The

Gcilima church

was

able

to

have

services

every

night

from

Monday

through Friday

because

there

were

visiting ministers

there and they

made

use

of

them.

Floyd

Stamm

and Ron Whisman

made

the brethren happy by playing the guitars

and

singing for them.

Alpheus Zobolo came down from

the University of Zululand

to show his

family his

new

Toyota

Corolla car. I was invited to

be

present

with family and

friends for

this

time.

We

had a short service together in the

Zobolo

home and then a meal together. After we

had eaten a

full

meal they brought

in

two

legs

of

lamb

and

cut

the meat off and put on

three plates and the men sat at the table and you cut off

meat

as you

wanted

i t

and

at

it with your f ingers .


7/23

I was

also

able

to

have the Vespa Scooter ready so i t could be

there

at that time

also.

hen I took i t

out

Enock quickly

got

his

things

together and went

for

a

ride

on

t

The

15th

Nic wemesha and 1

will

be

leaving

on the tr ip

that

will

take

us

as far as

Worcester and

perhaps

to Capetown. I f we should visi t some other

places

along

the way

we coul d be gone for a week.

will pick

up o ther min is te rs in the way, who

will

go

with us t o Worces te r

Cholora

.continues

to

spread

through

out Natal.

In

the

beginning

i t was

only

north

of

Durban, but now

we are having many

more cases in

our

area.

Vernita

and I must

got

sho t s before we leave South

Afr ica

Yours

through

Christ our Saviour

Printed and

published

by

Madison

Park

Chr i s t i a n

Church

215

N. 5 th

Quincy I l l inois

62301

Alvin Verni ta Nicholsgrt

Non-Profit

organization

U.S.

Postage

Pe rm i t 57

Quincy

I l l ino i s 62301

Miss i o n S s r v i c s s

Box 17.7

KEMPTON, IND.

vc049


8/23

Harvest

Time

—

Lindi carries

a

large pumpkin

to

th e

kitchen

as

th e

other

girls

begin

preparing the

ground for th e

next

crop.

^hj m^iiAiil/uiifunLomijjfAOAia

lijk

unto mif polk. -- Jioitu ll }:IQ

^ mj m li k unto

t

f ik

aFMC / JN

Republic

of

Sou t h Afr ica

TORCH

Port Shepstone

Transkei lOrmumbeBibleJnstituie

•

Cape

Town

East

London

Num b e r

1

Fi r s t

Quar t e r 1982 Vo l ume

3 3

TEACHING WEEK AT

UMTATA

Members of th e

Umtata

Cleansing Depar tmen t

gathered

early in

the

morning for a short devotion

al

session

led by speakers at th e leadership

classes

held in

Umtata during

December

1981.

During December NicQwemesha and

Lynn attended the first teaching

week set up by

Miss

Fishback in

Umtata.

Nic

is

Superintendent this

y ea r a nd

wishes

to keep

in

contact

with all efforts to upgrade

th e

chu rche s. M is s

Fishback

hoped

that

men

from

the Transkei

churches

who

were home on the i r a nnua l

leaves

from

their

jobs

in th e

cities would

attend and in t ha t

respect

it was

disappointing. But the

teaching

sessions

were

very good

for

those who

di d

attend

l ar ge ly loc al

women

though

one ha d

come

from Hopetown

nearly

500

miles

away.

The

mornings

were

used to visit

places of

local

interest. The

f i rst was

th e University

of

the

Transkei;

second

day was

a loc al po tt ery

Photos by

John

Kernan

E as t L o nd on

factory

which specializes

in a t ype of

stoneware and

th e

third day a ru g

weaving factory.

Nic and Lynn

returned

home before they visited a

weaving factory.

At

6 p.m. each eveni ng

th e

entire

group

went

out

to

th e

black

residential

area and services

were

held

in th e h igh school. The

people

wanted to be home before dark as

Umtata

can be a

rough

place. John

Labatala

th e local

minister had

arranged for one of th e missionaries

to

speak each morning

at 7 to

th e

city

cleaning

force of

about

75 people.

Lynn spoke on Thursday and

was

pleased at

t he a t ten tion the message

received. John

helps

support

himself

by working as supervisor

of the

cleaning force.

Children listen attentively to

the speaker

at

th e

leadership

classes held in Umtata, Transkei. from

14-18

December 1981.

Umtata is

t he capi ta l of the

Transkei

bu t the

c hu rc h t he re

ha s no t

been

l ar ge nor

very strong.

John

plans to

move

there to devo te

more

t ime

to t h a t

par t

of h is

circuit. We have

had

quite

a number o f s tuden t s f rom

Umta t a

district

but

we do

n ot h av e contact

wi th them now. One girl is presently

a student and will be

doing

her

second

y e a r

While L ynn a nd Nic

were

trying to

loca te

th e

home

o f M i ss Fi shback

on

t he ir a rr iv al i n Um ta ta Lynn w as

b i tten by a dog.

The

dog seemed to

be

going

about

his own business unti l

Lynn motioned wi th hi s hand

and

th e dog then

attacked.

The

bites were

on

th e

knee Tw o

of

th e miss iona r i e s

gave f ir st a id

and

al l

is well.


9/23

CAMP GOES

T

Camp

classroom

at Spitzkop.

Johannes Somdaka. paststudent

of

Umzumbe

Bible Inst itu te , l ed

devo t i on s

Bill Web er, m iss io nary from

Johannesburg, talks with George

J a x a f o rm e r

s t u d e n t of

Umzumb e

Bib le

Ins t i tu te Bo th

worked hard to make

th e

camp a

su ess

My first visit to Upington

Jaxa,

cam e w hen I w as ab ou t Umzui

te n y ea rs old.

In

those

days the road

from su e

Kimberley

was

a

s tr ip o f

whi te g rave l that contin

ued for 300 miles along the O range

River.

Water from th e river kep t th e

vineyards on either bank green. Beyond

the vineyards

la y

endless miles of open

velt, which became more

austere

as th e

miles

progressed.

Upington, which is

near the Sou th

West

Africa (Namibia)

border,

is

th e

only

town

of

significant

size a fter l eaving Kimberley and

th e

occasion

of our trip was to visit th e

con

gregation

there. W hen

I

returned

to

hold

a youth camp in December, 1981 a

few

people s t il l r emembered

th e first

visit which took

place

almost 25 years

ear l ie r

Youth c amps ha ve

been

held

for 10

years

in

th e

PortShepstone area andwe

have found them t obe

a

va luablem eans

of

providing

Bible teaching as well as

Chr i s t i an soc ia l

ac t iv i t i e s

fo r

teenagers.

This

is

particularly

important

since

none of

our churches

has an organized youth program and

the teenagers

who

attend camp

have

often stopped attending

Sunday

School.

We started receiving students at

Umzumbe Bible

Ins t i tu te from

Upington in 1978 and I

decided

tha t

an

ideal way to provide encouragement for

t he s tu d en ts and to

reach

out to the

community a t

t he same t ime was

to hold

a youth

camp

there. In

1981 it

seemed

feasible to make plans for

such

a

camp

and so on Saturday,

November

28 I

s tar ted th e 900 mile trip from Port

Shepstone to Upington. I planned to be

away

fo r two

weeks

on e week to

make

arrangements for the camp and a

second

week to

actually

hold

th e

camp.

I

ha d asked Bill Weber, th e

most

recent

add i t ion to th e Sou th A fr ic an

missionary

team,

to help me with

the

camp itself.

My arrival in Upington brought some

surprises. I found

tha t

the Chris t ians

had prepared for

the

camp. I had

written that I was

coming

for a week

an d they understood

that

to mean

that

I

was coming for evangelistic meetings.

They

had

never seen a youth camp

before so

they

decided that th e word

camp

meant I

was

going to hold

meetings in a tent. They had therefore

Church choirs

perform at every

o cc as io n. T he se girls

ar e

from

th e co lou r ed church

In

Louisvale .

A bus was hired to

take

c amper s a nd all

the

neces

gear the 10 miles from

Upin

to Spitzkop.

arranged

a place for me to se t up th e

tent, and had invited

everyone

to attend

th e

evangelistic meetings.

I

did

no t

want to disappoint the people so I

spent

my

first

week arranging

for t he c amp

dur in g t he

day

and preaching every

evening.

That

schedule did

no t

leave

me

any

time

fo r

sight-seeing,

bu t

it

gave

me

a

better oppor tunity than

I

had

expected

to

contact

potential campers.

Finding

a campsite was my first

concern

and

it proved to

be

much more

difficult than

I

expected.

I had hoped to

find

a

farmer whowould

provide a

place

for us.

Because

of

the

type of farming,

that

was no t

possible. Most of th e

farms

produce grapes. Eventually I

discovered that a game

farm

owned by

th e

municipality

included a recreation

and picnic area which

was

open to al l

races. It

had running

water, toilets

and

designated areas

for fires.

After

several

visits to th e

municipal

offices we finally

got the permission

we

needed fo r

overnight

us e

of the facilities. The

permission cam e the ev ening before

camp was

scheduled

to begin.

The othermajor need which

we

had wa s

for

housing.

God made provision here

as

well. We learned

that

thea rmy made

t en ts a va ila bl e

to

people with

appropriate needs.

After making

ou r

requests in th e required way, we were

given th e

tents

we needed .

Willem

Dyakumeni, th e

local

minister,

made

arrangements for

th e

bus, and

George Jaxa ,

a

former student of

Umzumbe Bible Institute,

helped

by

regis tering campers . BillWeber arrived

on Monday , December 7 and walked out

of an aircondi t ioned

South

Afr ican

Airways j et i nto t he

brill iant sunlight

and blistering hea t o fUpington. I had

warned

him

tha t he was to come

Th e

army

loaned 5

t e n ts t o

th e

camp to be

u sed

a s

s l e ep i ng

qua r t e r s

prepared

to spend a

week

in

th e

d

but I am not

sure

tha t he

too

s er ious ly . He soon l ea rned that th

he had forgotten at home had

g iven prior ity

on h is shopp ing

When

we arrived at thetrai lerpar

took a quick dip in the swimming

(At

ou r

c ampsite , t here

wa

swimming pool.

In

fact , we

di d

no

have

enough grass for

one per s

s tr etch out on.)

I

spent

the

afte

preparing

him

fo r

a camp

which w

d if fe r no t only i n facilities

bu t

a

character from th e

camps

that

h

attended in the States.

Cooking

w

be

don e over

open fires and

cl

would be

held

in th e

open

air. Tea

would be done in

th e

early mornin

late evening, leaving the hottest p

th e

day for

recreation

and stu

memory work.

I

had planned

handwork as

well,

bu t

without

facilities that was impossible.

When the

bus

left town on Tu

morning

it was loaded

with

ex

campers .

By

t he t ime we

arrived

c ampsi te w it h

th e food,

most

o

campers had sought out the little s

that

was

available

an d were

re

While th e cooks set about preparin

noon

meal,

Bill and

I

directed

campers in setting up th e tents. C

had

begun

After

eating

and c leaning the

d

activ ity around th e camp

decreas

th e

sun beat down

on th e

s

campsite until th e ground was s

t ha t a n

in fan t

c hi ld o f o n e o f t h e

cried when

she was

left

stan

barefoot

in the

sun. Many o

campers

were barefooted, but thei

were heavily calloused and they

used

to

th e

hea t

As the su n dropped lower in th e

act ivi ty increased aga in and we de

that

it was time to begin

cla

Johannes Somdaka, a

former

stud

Umzumbe,

brought

devotions an d

I

taught

a class in Afrikaan

language

which

al l of the cam

understood, even

though

Xhosa

wa

home

language

fo r some of them.

Weber taught h is c la ss

using

an


10/23

by

Michael

Stanley

C h il dr en p la ye d soccer during

recreation

periods.

Note

th e total

lack

of grass.

Cooks

wh o

prepared

t he m ea ls

for th e

campers

worked

under

primitive

conditions.

A

garbage

c an s er ve d a s a t ab l e Food was

prepared

over ope n fires.

Line Up Michael

gets

everyone

ready for th e n ex t m ea l. Every

on e

had to bring

his/her ow n

plate,

c up . a nd s po o n.

The cooks ha d to ge t up ear ly to

p re pa re c orn

meal

m u s h

fo r

b r e a k f a s t . It was

served

w ith

bread

d

w t

giving for

memory

work

and th e

campers

were

g i v e n a c h a n c e to

tell

w h a t

aspect

of cam p had

been

m os t v alu ab le to

t h e m .

Most o f th em m en tio ned

aspects of t h e d if fe r en t

classes. T h a t

night

t he c am pe rs settled

down

very

quickly.

I washed up

an d

then climbed

into m y sleeping bag.

I woke t he n e xt m o rn in g t o

find th at

th e

campers

had

a lre ad y t ak en d ow n on e

tent.

Breakfast

was

oats

porridge

an d

bread an d th en

packing

up

began

in

earnest.

We

were

ready for the bus

w h en i t a rr iv ed and a fte r i t w as

lo aded

we

closed th e

camp in

prayer.

A lo t

of

weary

campers

burst

into

song as th e

bus s t a r t ed

down

the road

In

Upington

I wa s i nte rvi e we d by th e

Gemsbok-Koerier, a local Af r ik a a n s

paper, an d

then

I returned to th e trailer

park an d enjoyed a l ong s howe r an d th e

luxury of c le an c lo th es free o f s an d.

T h e r e

w ere still

a l m o s t 90 0 m i l e s

between

m e

a n d home, b u t that

w a s

n o t

an insurmountab le o b s t a c l e and

36

hours later I

pulled

up to m y parents

house w he re C ar yl

an d

th e

girls were

waiting.

Our

f ir st c am p is history

now, bu t

we

have

an

invita t ion t o re turn

in

1982.

W e

thank

Go d for

making it

possible

an d

for blessing

it

in

th e

way

th at

He did.

Now w e s ee k H i s d i re c ti o n f or th e

fu ture

of

t h e U p i ng t on

camp.

P.S. A special

thank

yo u to

Faun

Hanson wh o

contributed

directly

t o t he

camp

and th us

did a

lo t

to make

th e

c a m p

possible.

WITH THE

NICHOLSONS

In November,

Vernita

and I

made

a

trip

t o th e N ort he rn

Cape.

T h e 14th a n d

15th

we

were

i n P o st m as b ur g,

where

B e n j a m i n

Moroe

i s m i n i s te r. It w a s t he

time

of the spring meeting fo r th e

churches of th at area o f th e

Cape,

so

m a n y

people were present.

T h e

Po s tm a s b u r g c h u rc h

h a d

th e trenches

du g

fo r their n e w b u i ld i n g.

We returned to

Kimberley where

I

taught th re e c la ss e s in th e churches and

continued

o n

p a g e

4

s t ude nt

as a n

interpreter.

After

c am e t he e ve ni ng

meal

which we

e as

it began to ge t dark. S in ce m y

light

ha d stopped

working, we

candles an d flashlights

and

since

w as

tired,

w e s et tl ed in fo r

s h ou ld h a ve been an

early

night s

Bill

and

I

held

nighttime

devotions

e a c h o f

t he t hr ee

ten ts

and

l e a r n e d

a dozen

campers

could sleep in

an

t en t a nd

u se l es s

t h at h a l f o f t h e

available.

t h e c a m pe r s

were quiet. Bill

an d I

in

th e

moonlight

enjoying th e

cool

w h i c h

w a f t e d o ut o f t he s t i l l n e s s

d m ad e such

a

pleasant

postlude to a

ho t day.

We

discussed t he d ay s

m a d e

plans fo r th e

following

ay and

then

retired to

ou r

sleeping

he

morning

wa s

pleasant and

cool

an d

e were

w akened by the activities of

an d

campers who were

a ppa r

used

to

waking

a t 5:30. We

ou r

m o r n in g c la s s es a nd

then

at e a

b r e a kf a s t. By t h e t im e d i sh e s were

th e

veld

in

th e

d is ta nc e w as

s hi m m e ri ng from t h e h e a t and

we

th e

c am pe rs b al ls to play

with.

y s p la ye d

soccer and girls,

netball,

others

explored

th e

t wo h il ls

of

boulders

which

gave

Spitzkop

ts

n a m e , a n d w h i c h

l oo ke d s o

o u t

o f

in

t he a lm os t level veld which

fo r twenty miles or more

in

direction. I t

w as

a t this time th at

and

I to o k o n e

o f

th e c o o k s to t o w n

ge t

supplies.

n th e evening we

t a u g h t

th e usual

a n d then

h a d

o u r m e al , b u t t hi s

th e campers di d

no t

go str aight

to

We h ad

i nv i t ed

th e tw o

f r o m Uping ton

a nd Paballelo) to

join

us fo r a

s e r v i c e .

The

b u s a rr iv e d

amid

excitement

on th e

pa rt

of

th e

as well as

t h e p a ss e ng e rs .

we were

able

to direct

th e

o pl e t o

th e

place

where th e service

as

to

beheld. More th an

100

people sa t

n th e gfround a n d l istened to the

a ll en gi ng m es sa ge b y Bill.

I t was

10:30

when ou r

visitors finally

boarded

the

bus

to

re turn home

While th e

campers

settled d ow n. B il l

an d I dr ank

water

from a canvas ba g a

substitute for r e fr ig e ra t io n i n a dr y

climate) a n d t h en s h oo k a n ot h er d a y s

accumulation o f s a n d

from

o u r s le ep ing

bags.

We

n e v er le a r n ed

to

like

i t b u t

we

learned to accept sand in e v e r yth in g as

a fact

o f life.

It w as in

o u r b o wl s

and

cups a t

mealtime;

in

ou r

p a ja m as a n d

sleeping ba gs a t n ig h t a n d i t w as in o ur

s h o e s a n d t e ac h in g m a te r ia ls

in

the

m o r n i n g . I w a s

a m a z e d a t h o w l i tt l e we

found

in ou r food.

To protect ou r

cameras, we hung them

high

on

th e

m a i n te n t pole.

T h u rs d ay w a s Bill s last day. So

after

th e morning classes, I took him to th e

airp ort to ca tch h is

plane.

When I

returned to c a m p I

helped

t h e c a m pe r s

with

memory

work

a n d then

m a de

m y

excursion to

th e

top of Spitzkop.

I was

overwhelmed

a t

t he e no rmo u s

s i z e

of

th e b o u l d e r s wh i c h formed th e

hill, a n d

enjoyed

th e s e em i ng l y e n dl e ss view.

M y

e n j oy m e n t w a s

cu t s h o r t

when

a fe w

large drops of r ain s ta rt ed falling.

F o rt un at el y t he se

provided

adequate

wa rni ng o f t h e c ha nge in

weather and

I

w as back in c am p

before

t he b ri ef

bu t

vio lent s torm h i t .

Fi rs t came

w i n d

and t he n r ai n On e

t en t went

d o w n

and w e

w o r k e d

frantically to

release th e others as wind

an d

s a nd

whipped

around

us . By th e

t ime t he t en ts were

a ll d o wn ,

t he s an d

w as rapidly c ha ngi ng to m ud

and

everyone w as d ir ty from h e a d to toe.

C a m p e r s

had

taken

s he lt er u nd er

c a n v a s ,

in

toilets a n d a n y wh e re else

that they

c ou ld f in d

it.

J u s t as

quickly a s

th e storm came, it

ended.

I w as amazed to

se e

th e

campers

ou t playing

soccer

scarcely

a minute

a f te r t h e

sun

c ame o u t . Within an hou r

or so , we

had

th e tents b ac k u p an d life

ha d la rg e ly r e tu rn e d to normal. A

fe w

b l anke t s w e r e wet

and t h er e w a s

a lo t

of

cleaning to do b ut

th e

tents

had

survived

with

v ir tu al ly n o d a ma g e.

We only h a d o n e c l as s that e v e n i n g , b u t

after

th e meal we gathered fo r th e prize-


11/23

S o u t h

A f r i c a n

T O R C H

Published quarterly

for the following:

M I S S I O N A R I E S

a n d

t h e i r

F O R W A R D I N G

A G E N T S

Mr. Mrs. Alvin Nicholson a n d

family

P.O. Box

21 9

Port Shepstone

4240 Rep. of SOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding Agent

Mrs .

R i c h a r d

H a n s o n

16642 Gannon

Ave.,

W.

Rosemount,

Minnesota

55068

Mr.

Mrs. Lynn Stanley an d family

P.O. Bo x 21 9

Port

Shepstone

4240 Rep. of

SOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding Agent

Mrs. Syb il

Evans

B o x 181

S t

Joseph, Illinois 61873

Mr .

&Mr8. Michael Stanley and family

P.O.

Bo x

13

U m z u m b e

4225

Rep.

of SOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding Agent

Mr .

a n d

Mrs. Richard E c k m a n

R o u t e

2

Kimball,

Minnesota

55353

T he S ou th

African

TORCH

(501-

820) ie a publication

o f

t h e

South

African Church o f Chris t

Mission,

and

is pub li shed four t imes each year in

February ,

May,

August

and

November

by Mission Serv ices Assoc ia t ion

a t

Bo x 177, Kempton, I n d i a n a 46049.

Second Class

P o s t a g e

paid a t

Kempton,

Indiana.

F i r s t Q u a r t e r 1982

V o l u m e

3 3

N u m b e r 1

C A M P P L A N N I N G

M E E T I N G

WITH THE NICHOLSONS

continued from

page 3

Vernita

spoke

fo r the

Women's

Meeting.

Friday, the

20th,

we

drove to

Kuruman.

Th is day

we took time

to

visit

th e

church

bui lt b y Rober t Mof fa t i n

1838.

I t

is a

s to ne bui ld in g bui lt i n the shape of

a

T with a grass

roofand

it

is st il l

in

use

today. The

church

is

a

National

Monument now. David L iv ings tone

also proposed

to

Mary Moffat there.

K u r u m a n receives

it s

w a t e r

from a

l im e s to n e c a v e i n t h e c e n t e r o f

t o w n .

I t

is

called

the eye

of

the needle .This is a

very

dr y area

so

they

wonder from

where

such

a large

supply

o f wat er

Saturday

we

visited th e church

at

K u r u m a n

where

J a c k s o n

J o h a n e h a d

min is t er ed un ti l h is d e at h.

We

would

like this

group to take

one

of the

young

m e n

f rom s ch oo l to m i n i s t e r to

t hem.

We

returned

to Kimberley on Saturday

night and

preached

for th e

two

churches ministered to by

James

Ntoni

a n d A b r a m

L o u w .

Beginning

on Tuesday

we

moved to the

area

s er ved by

Wilson Mahlinza. We

started

at Griquatown. Here we visited

th e Mary Moffat

Museum,

where th e

Mo ff at s f ir st lived. T h e c h u r c h a t

Griquatown meets in a very small

iron

building, bu t hope

to ge t a building

in

th e

new

location.

Wednesday

we moved

to

Douglas. We

have

a church

site here

a n d th e

c h u r c h h a s erected

a n

i ron

building, bu t

hopes to

start

on a

block

building

this

coming year. Thursday

we went

to

Hopetown,

where Mahlinza

lives. The church provided a very nice

d i n n e r

f o r u s a t

t h e

m i n i s t e r s h o m e .

Vernita

spoke

fo r th e

women

in the

a f t e r n o o n a n d I for

th e c hu rc h

t h a t

night.

Friday we went

on

t o War ren ton where

Charlie Setumisho

is

retiring from

th e

ministry.

Saturday

we

visited

a

new

town in Bophutshwana an d preached

for the church that meets there. Sunday

we

preached at

Warrenton. From

here

we r e t u r n e d home .

UM ZUM BE BIBLE

INSTITUTE

by

Lynn

Stanley

1981 Umzumbe Bible Ins ti tute student body with

Bob

Mills

who

wa s present for a seminar,

an d

Lynn Stanley. Principal.

Umzumbe Bible

Institute

begins

it s

new

school

y ea r t he

last week in

January,

and

th e

bi g

question

a t this

stage is

w h a t t o e x p e c t i n

n u m b e r s .

Applications ar e down from some

years, but we know of some who

are

coming who h a v e

n o t s e n t

in

ap pl ic at ion s. One form er

student

is

returning

fo r

his

third yea r and

will

be

b ri ng ing h is

bride

fo r he r first

year.

This

is

good, but we would feel better

if

we

had a t least

three

third year

students.

In making

plans

fo r th e

coming

year,

each t eacher agreed

to

t e a c h a n e x t r a c l a s s i f

n e e d e d .

When th e faculty

met

to

plan

fo r

th e

new year, some

of

th e suggested

improvements fo r th e immediate future

were: new men's toilet and washroom,

some

money

has

come in fo r a solar

w a te r h e at er fo r th e

kitchen a n d we

would

like

to begin work on that,

f luorescent

f ixtures

for

some o f th e

classrooms,

an d

teachers

to se t

up

a

reference library fo r their

classes

with

t h e b o o k s o n r e s e r v e .

PRAYER R E Q U E S T

Wiseman Pepeta, teacher at the school

and

hi s wife

need your prayers . Hiswife

is in th e hospital an d being

treated fo r

TB.

She ha s

been

in th e hospital

for a

month and they expect tha t sh e will

be

there

for 3 more.

They

have 7 children

th e youngest is

just

a baby.

The

6th

of December the young peoplefrom thethree

churches

her e met

to t al k about c amp nex t June. The m in is te rs

were

very happy with their

work.

They asked

fo r

a highercamp

fee

than th e ministers had suggested and

gave

good reasons fo r it .

They asked if the Chapel Speaker an d the Evening Speaker

could be from

outside

th is are a. O ne cost they

di d

not

know

about an d which they

will

have to allow fo r is that thecamp is

going

to

cost

them 50 cents a day fo r each

camper

so

they

must

have about

3.25

extra fo r each camper fo r th e

week.

I

am sure

tha t

t hi s s ha ll

not keep

th e

camp from having many young

people

present.

FURLOUGH

A N N O U N C E M E N T

God

willing,

Vernita

an d

I shall be returning to America fo r

three

months

about

th e

1s t

of June. Our family

has asked

if we

could come

home

at this time so that they might celebrate our

40th Wedding

Anniversary

with us .

F o r m

3 5 7 9 .

BOX

1 7 7 .

KEMPTON . IND IANA

4 6 0 4 9 .


12/23

f

Elijah

an d Enid

Gontsana

ar e on e of th e tw o ma r r ie d

couples at Umzumbe Bible institute this year. Elijah

began s ervi ng as a mi nist er after two years of

training. He an d Enid were married in February and

then

Elijah came to

Umzumbe

for his thi rd

year

of

training an d

brought Enid

for

he r

first

year.

^hf

umiiiia,lanpui\Lomif^ajuia,

li^kLiutlo

Mf paik. TialM, ll f iOS

If ^

m j

m mgJ li k

utlo m polk

a FM c aN

Republic

of

Sou th

Af r i c a

T O R C H

Port Shepstone

Transkei l

Umzumbe

BibleJnsliiuie)

•

C a p e Town

E a st L o n do n

Numb e r 2

S e c o n d

Quarter

1 9 8 2

Vo l um e 3 3

E D U C A T I O N B E Y O N D T H E C A M P U S

At least o n ce e ac h y ea r w e t ak e the students to th e

beach for an

o ut in g. T hi s

is a new experience for

many

of

them

a nd t he y

ar e fascinated

at

th e

continuous

rolling of th e waves.

The s tudents

a t

Umzumbe B i b l e

In st i t u t e follow a

r o u tin e

tha t d o e s n t

change much

during

th e year.

This

k i nd o f r eg i me nt a ti on

is n o t

unusual

and

m o s t

o f t h e m have be c ome

accustomed to a

similar

routine at high

school, an d

nearly al l Africans

go

away from

home

to

a t te n d h i gh

school.

Breakfast is served at 6:45 a.m.,

leaving them

a few

minutes

of

study

t i m e bef or e s c h o o l s tar t s w i t h

devotions at 7:30 a.m. After attending

three

classes,

there

is a t ea b re ak a t

10:00. U s u al l y t h ey g e t a slice o f b r e a d

with their tea, but they

like

it better

when

someone

has

a

birthday

an d cake

is provided.

Classes

end at 1 p.m.

w hi ch i s n or ma l d in ne r h ou r in South

Africa. Afternoons are spent

working

around

th e school

and

in t he g ar de n

with a c h a ng e o f pace when

they

work

on th e road. Supper is at 6:30 p.m. an d

then

there is a

study

t im e f ro m s ev en

by Michael Stanley

until nine p.m.

Since

there ar e no

c l as se s o n

M on da y t he s tu d en ts

w a s h

and iron clothes. F r id a y a ft er no o n

most

o f the s t ud e n ts h a v e

typing.

During

th e

year we tr y to

provide

activit ies t h a t

e na bl e t he

s tudents

to

receive more t h a n

ju s t Bible

studies.

Most

years we make a

visit

to a game

park, as m any have n ev er s ee n

th e

l a r ge r a n i m a l s like a

lion,

a rhinoceros

an d

many

o f t he

antelope.

We

have

a ls o v is it ed

th e

snake

park

and

th e

T oy ot a A ss em b ly p l a n t in Durban.

Th is year we took t h e s t ud e nt s to th e

Passion

P la y, w hi ch is

h el d e ve ry

5

years in

th e

D u r b a n C i t y H a ll . Th is is

an amateur p ro d uc t io n w h ic h d e pi c ts

th e

entire m i ni s tr y o f J e s us , b u t

which

places p r im a ry e m p h as i s on th e

la s t

w e e k o f Jesus life. I t co n clu d es

w ith

th e

resurrec t ion .

T he d ay was an interesting

on e fo r al l

o f t h e stu den ts. N ot

only di d

they

se e

th e p la y , wh ic h was exceptionally well

done, bu t they

visited a very large

supermarket

d r o v e

a long

t h e

b e a c h f r o n t and

saw

th e b e a u t i f u l

holiday

hotels a n d t he a mu se me nt

p ar k, w hi ch w as crowded

with

people

from

th e

inland cities. We had a picnic

supper before going to

th e

play.

Yo u probably will

no t

appreciate

ho w

noteworthy

these

t ri ps a re

u n le s s y ou

realize that some have

n e ve r s h o pp e d

in a n y th in g larger

than

a trading store

a n d

th e

h i gh e st b ui l di ng s h a v e been 6

or 7 s t o r i e s . T o

s e e

mi l e

af te r

mi l e

of

houses, factories an d office buildings

is

a

ne w

experience.

Before th e trip to

Durban, Mrs.

Ja m J am m ade

sandwiches for th e pi cni c s up pe r. T he students

enjoyed

their

supper

in a park

n ea r t he harbor.

An o th e r ne w

experience fo r

mo s t of

th em was a visit

to

the

beach

six

m i l e s

f ro m s ch oo l. T hey c an se e the ocean

f ro m s ch oo l, but

most

of them h a d

never

been do wn

to

it .

They were

f as ci na te d b y the s e em i ng l y e n dl es s

sand, th e constant pounding

o f

th e

su rf, a s well a s

th e

s hells a n d s e a

creatures that

had

w as he d u p on th e

shore .

W e

endeavo r

t o

en su r e

t h a t

ou r

s tudents r e c e i v e a

broadened

o u t l o o k

o n life g e n e ra l l y ,

a s

well

a s

a

better

understanding

of

th e Bible.

O ur

purpose

is to

cater

to the

needs

of th e

entire

per s on as well a s spiritual

needs.

We w an t th is y ea r s s tu de nt s

to be

better equipped to a d a p t to th e

c h a n g in g situation in South Africa

a n d to

b e

ab le

t o

sha re

t h e i r

fa i th

and

k n ow l ed g e w i t h o t he r s w h en t h ey

h a v e

completed their studies this

year.


13/23

MINISTERS WEEK

Robert Mills taught a class to t he minis te rs at

Ministers Week.

James Mabaso. a

minister,

who

a lso helps Mr. Mills with printing, served as his

interpreter.

This

year Ministers Week

was hosted

by th e Gcilima church here

in

our area

t h e 3 r d a n d

4 th

o f

M a r c h

I t h i n k because the

welcome

service

was set for Wednesday nightinstead

of

Tuesday, some of

th e

ministers did no t

arrive until Wednesday afternoon.

Th e

classes and meetings,

however,

began

that

morning.

Classes fo r th e ministers were

taught

by

Robert

Mills

using one

of th e

lesson

M r

M r s

o n

T h o m p s o n

John Marr

Thompson

and

Anne

Louise

Stanley were married

December 22, 1981 a t East 91st

Street Christian Chu rc h, In di

anapolis, Indiana. They live at

2365 Glenview Drive, Columbus,

I n d i a n a 47201 .

by Alvin Nicholson

booklets t h a t he

h a d

recen t ly

published. BillWeber

taught

a class on

Teaching .

Ron Elerick

had

been

asked

to

teach

a class,

but was

sick and

could

no t

come

so I taught a class

using

S a m S t o n e s new book

on

t h e

Chris t ian Min iste r . R on Whisman

and

Floyd

Stamm played their

guitars

and

sang

for

the

group a number of

times, which they greatly

appreciated.

For th e

Gcil ima

church i twa s

a

week

of

special services.

The f irst min is ter

arrived on

Monday and the

last

one left

Bill

Weber

an d Michael Stanley

hope

for some

pictures which will be suitable for publication

Bill Weber, wh o

serves as

a missionary in

Johannesburg

area, also taught a class. E

Gontsana,

minister

an d a

student

at Umzumbe B

Institute, interpreted for

him.

on Monday a week later, so they

h

someone to bring them a

mess

every

night.

One

of

th e

ministers said later

that

had l earned much as he wat ch ed

church go about its work

and

saw h

well they cared for

their

visitors.

was. impressed by the fact

that

church

had

provided food for th

selves, so that they could spend m

t im e w it h their visitors .

It t a k e s a lot o f c o n c e n t r a t i o n

w h e n

o

learning to t ouch-type . These a re som

th e

s tudents m th e first

year


14/23

MISSIONARY

FELLOWSHIP

by

Lucille Stanley

The

men

got the

fire

going

for a

good South

African

braaivleis

(barbeque) each

evening

an d we

all

at e

t og ethe r. The

men

also go t in a

good

chat while

they

took

ca re

of th e task.

I

_ 1 0

/ k l =

Tea

came

at

frequent

intervals

during th e

day.

Lucille

Stanley

checks

to

se e

if

th e

kettle

is boiling

an d

th e

cups

stand

ready on

th e

tray.

Because

a

number

of

the

missionary

men would be coming to Por t

Shepstone for the African Ministers

meeting

a t the Gcilima ch urch ,

ar rangements were made fo r

a

mis s i on a ry mee t i ng and

th e

i nv ita ti on w a s

ex tended to al l

th e

missionary families who

could

attend.

The women were l ar ge ly con fi ned to

home becau se of ch il d ren in

school,

so

th e only

other wife present

was

Phyllis

Mills .

The re is a vaca t ion

house

nex t to ou r

home,

which

we had

used at

conference

t ime fo r many

of

the visi t ing

missionaries. It

is

really a

double

arrangement

with

two bedrooms and

a

ba th

a t e ac h e nd an d a sha red ki tchen

and living

room.

Bob

and

Phyllis

Mills

s tayed w it h us and

th e

rest of

th e

visitors used

the house nex t door.

Michael and

Caryl , a ls o moved

there

for

th e few

days,

so that they would not

have the

difficult

trip back to their

home

each

night.

M i ss io n ar ie s a rr iv e d

Mond ay

afternoon, and we

had

a cookout

together that night. There were 14 of us

this

f i rs t evening.

We met

most

o f t h e

day

Tuesday and again cooked

together

an d shared

the

evening.

Our

time

t ogethe r was

spent in

a

Bible

s tudy of the book of Philippians, and a

comprehensive

look

at

the

mission

work in gene ra l.

We

expected to have

Friday evening togethe r to look

at

things in a

more

specific

way,

bu t

that

meeting was not held. Wednesday and

Thursday the men

al l

went to the

ministers meeting

at Gcilima.

Thurs

day

night we

at e

together, but the men

were

so

l at e get ti ng back that we only

had

Bible study. It

had

been thought

that th e

ministers

would

meet

again

on

F rid ay , b ut the y

closed

their

session

that night.

The

Johannesburg visitors

t hen

decided

to re tu rn to the i r homes

Friday, and

we

did

no t hold ou r final

meeting . Bob

and Phyllis

were pleased

to have

that extra

day to prepare for

their

departure for

th e

U.S. on

Tuesday. Hopefully, the

missionaries

will

al l be getting

together

a t

Graaff

Re in e t w h e n

conference

me e ts t he r e

in

September.

EASTER

WEEKEND

A t Umzumb e Bible Institute,

Easter

weekend

is

ou r t erm

break

and

many

of

th e

students

went away .

Some of

th e

s tudents returned

to

the ir homes in

Johannesburg.

Nor th er n Nat al a nd

th e

Transkei. Michael took the

tw o

married

couples to a rural area about 20 miles out of

Estcourt.

Alpheus and

O lg ah a re

members

of a

Zionist

congregation which

invited Michael

to come

and

teach

them when they ga thered

for Easter services.

It

was an

opportunity

to

re ac h out

with

New Testament teaching.

By God s grace , at some t ime in the^

future, the

whole

congregation could accept

th e

New Testament position.

The r emai ni ng s tu dent s wen t to th e combined weekend

services of

the

Invutshini, Umzumbe. and Gcilima

circuits. They were held at Munster ,

ab{)ut

d.o

miles from

Umzumbe

A RAISE IN INCOME

by

Lynn Stanley

We have

worked

in South Africa from 1953 until now, and

fo r most of those yea rs the exchange

rate

has stayed fairly

steady at about Rl = 1.40. It seldom var ied

more than

three cents

on

the Rand .

For a t ime i t dropped to Rl = 1.25

and

later 1.15. Then it began to

work

upward aga in .

When

we we n t o ve rs ea s in 1981 th e R w as w or th a bo ut

1.33 and

when we

came

back

i t s tood

abou t 1.06.

Abou t

two

months

ago,

we began receiving a better rate o f

exchange

and

this

week

for

th e

f i rs t t ime a Rand has been

worth more than the

dollar.

The

pri ce o f

gold has

risen

some again with

th e

trouble in th e Falkland Islands, and

th is normally would mean

that dollar

goes down

against

th e

Rand.

We have appreciated

th e

better

r ate a s

costs

have risen

sharply here. I t now costs

nearly

50.00

to fill

t he miss ion p ic k up gas t ank .


15/23

S o u th A f ri ca n T O R C H

Published

quarterly for the following:

MISSIO N A RIES

a n d t he i r

FORWARDING

AGENTS

Mr .

Mrs.

AlvinNicholson

and

family

P.O.

B ox 2 19

Port Shepstone

4240 Rep. of

SOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding

Agent

Mrs. R i ch a rd H a n so n

16642

Gannon

Ave., W.

Roseinount,

Minnesota 55066

Mr. Mrs. Lynn

Stan ley and

family

P.O. Box 2 19

Port Shepstone

4240

Rep. of

SOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding Agent

Mrs.

Sybil

Evans

Box 181

SL

Joseph, Illinois 61873

Mr .

Mrs.

Michael Stanley and

family

P O Bo x

13

U m z u m b e

4225 Rep.

of

SOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding

Agent

Mr . an d

Mrs.

R i ch a rd E c k m a n

Route

2

Kimball, Minnesota 55353

The

So ut h A fr ic an TORCH

501-

820 is

a publication o f

t he S ou th

Afr ic an Church o f

Christ

Mission, and

i s publ i shed

four

t imes

each

year

in

Februa ry , May,

Augustand November

by Mission

Services Assoc ia t ion , PO

Box

2427, Knoxvi] le ,TN 3 79 01 . S ec

ond-c la ss pos tage paid

a t

Knoxville,

T N 37901 . POSTMASTER: Send

ad

d re ss c ha ng es to

Mission Services

Associat ion, PO

Box

2427,

Knoxville,

T N

3 7 9 1

Second Quarter . 1982

V o l u m e

3 3

N u m b e r

2

4

AN A F R I C A N

F U N E R A L

by

Alvin Nicholson

Mrs.

G ertru de M alafu , wife of

L a w r e n c e

M a l a fu

m in is t e r a t

Queenstown,

died of

diabetes

early

in

February and h er f un er al was th e 7t h

of

February.

Ni c Qwemesha and I drove down to th e

funeral on

Satu rd ay , t he

6th.

We

stopped

in Umtata

fo r te a

with

Alice

Fishback

and

arrived a t Queenstown

about 4:30 in th e afternoon. They

had

gotten half

a

tent like th e

on e

we have

and

b y p uttin g th e

center

o f t he

tent

over th e

roof of

th e

house, they were

a ble to enc lose

a lmos t

a ll

of

th e f ro n t

yard. They

had

gathered chair s

and

benches

from many p laces, so it was

filled with seat ing. Quite a few people

had arrived before us

and they

cont inued

to come u ntil la te

in the

night. Before supper they had two

shor t

services.

In

th e

first, most of

th e

speakers

were

men

and

in

th e second

one,

they

were mostly women.

They

had preaching

and singing al l through

th e night --much

as

they do when the

churches h av e their

quar ter ly

meetings. Some of the men do no t

believe this is

quite t he things

for a

funeral, but on th e other

hand,

there

is

no

place

for

al l

these

people to

sleep

and

so they have

something

to do

t h rough the

night.

The funeral started the next

morning

a t

about 10:00

a.m., when th e

funeral

car

arrived.

Many

of the men

and

women

lined

up

and

marched

ahead of

th e

ca r

to

the

ch u rch

Services

were held

in th e Episcopal

c hu rc h, whic h

was about

5 blocks

away. It

was good that

it

was

a

very

l arge chu rch becau se i t was estimated

that between 350 and 400 people

were

present .

They placed th e coffin at th e

front

of

th e church

before

th e table

used

by th e

speakers. Three women

stood

o n e ac h

side

ofthe

coffin

and

every

few minutes

others

would

take their

places

until it

was t ime

fo r

the message. They

had

such a

long

program

of

speakers

and

songs by choirs

that ,

even though they

cu t ou t many of

them,

it was still

4

p.m.

when

we

returned from the

cemetery.

All

the

f lowers t h a t were

on

the coffin

were

artificial

flowers.

A group

ofmen

collected al l th e

envelopes

before th e

sermon began

and

r ead out

t he names

on the

cards and amou nt of money

given

at th e close o f t he service.

There

were

two

buses

to helpthe people

who

did

not

have

transport

to th e

cemetery

and

back. I did not see going

out

because

we

were

th e first car,

but

coming back

th e

bu s

was

loaded inside

and

the

men climbed on top and filled

the roof

ca r r i e r a s well.

At th e cemetery burial

is not made

by

plots,

but

th e graves follow

one

another

in

a row, so

there

were a numbe r o f

graves r eady nex t to th e

one

we used.

At th e

cemetery

they

sang

a

song, had

a prayer

and

one of the men spoke.

The

people

passed by

and

dropped

dirt

into

the grave

and

th en t he men closed

it .

Back at

th e Malafu home

th e people

were anxious

to

get something to eat so

they could

start their journey home. We

c ame b ac k

to Umtata an d spent the

night with Alice Fishback before

returning

home on Monday.

We had

got ten two students

from

Middelburg,

Cape,

who were coming

to school.

Form

3579

requested, PO B ox 2427 , Knoxv i ll e , TN

37901.

Mrs. Lawrence Malafu wife of a minis ter was buried on February 7th.

Christians from several

of

the churches

attended

the funeral

at

Queenstown.


16/23

^hf

woid ii a lamp luUa

m Ifd uuL

n

(ojk unto mf polk. -- JtalmA II }:I0S

m m m m jkij

woid

a a, t

g Mm l^kiu^miipatk

a FR i c aN

Usual ly we think of b la ck nannies

taking care

of

white chi ldren . O n th e mission

field

we s ome times

se e whi te n ann ie s t ak ing

care

of black children.

Dawn Stanley held Nontokozo Ndaba . daughter

of

students, Atpheus an d Olga Ndaba.

while

Olga

was

sewing.

Republic

of

Sou th

Africa

TORCH

Porl Shepstone

Transkei lUmumbe Bibiejnst iluie)

• Cape Town

East London*

N um b e r 3

Th i rd Qua r te r , 1982 Vo l ume 33

A

WIDE DOOR FOR EFFECTIVE SERV ICE

by

Michael

M.

Stanley

When

Paul

wrote to

the Corinthians,

he

told

them o f a

w ide

door

for

effective

work

which

had

opened

to

him in

Ephesus.

I Corinthians 16:9)

Because

he had this

opportunity, Paul

stayed

i n Ephesus fo r more than tw o

yea r s . .

Modem

missionaries, like

Paul,

look

fo r

such opportunities for service and

when t hey

find

t hem t hey a tt emp t to

make use o f t h em. Sometimes, fo r one

reason or another,

they

are

not

able to

do

80. Perhaps there is

not

sufficient

time, or personnel, or

there may

be a

l ack of money. Somet imes a

missionary may se e a door open

which

he

cannot us e

because i t requires

gifts

which

he does not have.

In

such

cases,

th e missionary can only

encourage

those with

th e

gifts

to use th e

oppor tuni ty which

he has found.

Over the pas t few years, I believe that a

door of oppor tunity

has

been

opening.

I t

is

in t he a rea of youth work, an a re a

in which we

f ind t h a t

th e

chu rches

a re

l os ing ground. Many

of the

church

young people

a re t ur ni ng

away from

Christ

during

their

teen years.

Because

of this

I

consider th e opportunity

al l

th e

more

important,

however,

because

of

my

commitments to Umzumbe

Bible

Ins t i tute I am not

ab le

to

make

use of

this

opportunity.

Mos t A fric an young people have to

le av e h om e in order to attend

high

school.

Usually

boarding facilities are

provided at th e

high

school

but often

these do not provide the b est stu dy

facilities

and in some c as e s d ie t is no t

given the attention

it

needs. Spiritual

needs a re usua l ly

ignored.

Since

there

are

not enough boarding

facilities

to

house

al l of t he s tudent s, many have t o

stay

with re la t ives or

rent

a room

near

th e school. In these

c as es liv ing

conditions can be totally

unsatis

factory.

Another

problem

for African students

is

th e

quality

of the

education which

they

receive. There

are not enough

qualified teachers especially in

m ath em atic s a nd

sc ience )

and

therefore

many

schools

must hire

people who

are

not

qualified.

In

one

school

in our area, a

girl who completed

high

school

last year, has been

hired

to

te ac h m a th em a tic s th i s year .

Although

sh e is a capable

student,

sh e

has

no

training

in teaching

and

s he i s

teaching some students who

were

former c lassmates . In other

schools

there is no

teacher

fo r mathemat ics

and th e s tu de nts a re s imply g iven

a

few textbooks which t hey must shar e.

Unless

th e s tudents a re capable and

highly motivated, t he ir chances of

passing at th e end ofthe year are

very

low.

Thi s y ea r George

Jaxa

is

staying at

Umzumbe Bible Institute

while

he

completes

high

school. George

a t te nded Umzumbe Bible

Inst i tu te

tw o

years

ago.) Circumstances are fa r from

t he bes t

f or h im .

He must

walk mile

in

o rd er to ca tch

a bus a t abou t 5:15

a.m. He a rr iv es home aft er

6:00

p.m.

which

means that fo r nearly halfof th e

year he

travels both

directions in the

dark. He usually goes without

breakfast and

h is o nl y

hot

mea l e ach

day is in the evening. It would be better

if

he lived much closer to hi s school,

but

adequate housing

just

does

no t seem to

be ava il ab le .

George is a capable

student so he is doing well,

but

we

would like

to

provide

more adequately

for George and

others

like him.

Here th en is

the oppor tun ity which is

open to a

Christian

worker: to provide

dormi to ry f ac il it ie s fo r African

students near

a

good

high school. The

s tudents co uld live

in

a

Chr i s t i an

atmosphere while

the

Christ ian

worker

could

arrange

youth

activities

and provide Christ ian teaching.

Christ ian parents should

welcome the

availability of

such

facilities

and

th e

Chr i s t i an w ork er s ho uld

have

the

opportunity to

work with

a muchlarger

group

than

th e students

actually

boarding

with

him. This would be

especially

true

if th e worker were

willing to provide some t ut or ing in

English language, mathematics and

science.

Tutoring

in

other

-subjects

could also

be

helpful.)

This

wid e do or

f or e ff ec ti ve work

o ff er s two b en ef it s.

I t is a means

o f

supporting the

established churches

as

well as an opportunity for evangelistic

outreach.

I t is

a door wide enough fo r

more

than

one worker . I f God

ha s

granted you

th e

vision

to see this need

and if

He

has opened

your heart

to

respond,

I

would

be

glad

to

discuss

th e

opportunity more

fully

through

correspondence. Write

to:

Michael

Stanley

P.O.

Box

13

Umzumb e

4225

Republic of South

Africa

Please note: Because o fSou t h

Afr ica s

housing laws

you would almost

certainly

have to live in a rural area or

a t

l eas t outs ide o f a White

res iden t ia l

area).


17/23

The campers, loaded down with blankets and clothes as well as a few

snacks to

keep

their

energy

up) , wai t for their ride to

camp.

Michael Stanley functioned as director of

recreation

and organized

games including this on e with water-filled balloons. Some of th e

campers joined

in

enthusiastically, others preferred

to be

spectators.

Th e

rocks

above the playing field

served

as a grandstand for people

watching the games. The auditorium and kitchen

are

In the background.

Michael Stanley

ha s

a

license

to drive th e 2 ton Isuzu truck

which Alvin Nicholson owns,

so

he

ferried

campers

from

their

meet ing point in

Margate

to

t he c amp s it e next

to

th e

Oribi

Gorge.

Th e

1982

youth camp season began with a camp

Middelburg in

th e

Cape.

We

were no t able

to attend

that ca

but

received

very good repor ts

of

it . The

only

real compla

we hear d was of th e

bitterly

cold weather they experienced

tha t

t ime. Mrs.

ernans a id wa t e r froze in

thei r

t ra i ler

hou

at night, and Miss Fishback

said

th e frost inside

the

cam

on her pickup resembled

th e

freezing compartment o

refrigerator. There were

upward of 400

campers . Only on

before

had a camp been

held

i n th is a re a a nd that was 19

This

one

was

so successful

that

plans are

already underw

fo r

one to be held next year.

Lynn s experience

with co

camps in Pondo land made h im just a little

pleased

that

had no t been

the re .

The next camp was held atOribi in th is area and was held i

professional camp ground. Th e cos t per

person

was h ig

than anywhere else, but i t provided t he bes t facilities. T

camp has been

going since

1961 and includes the Invutshi

Gcil ima

and

Umzumbe churches .

There

were a

f

bungalows

with bathrooms.

A modem

kitchen

with a lar

gas stove

capable

of handl ing the cooking easi ly and

beaut if ul a ssembly hall

with a f ir ep la ce were ot

conveniences. This , wi th electricity and runn ing water, w

available for 50 cents

pe r

camper

per

night - a v

reasonable price, but

it

made i t difficult

fo r

families wit

n um be r o f chi ldren Beside th is fe e th ere w as

food

a

transport costs. There were 71 campers and 6 faculty. O

pleasing

aspect

of

this

camp is that two of

the

s ix facu

began thei r camp

life

as campers

in

about

1967,

and

t hey ha

been members

of th e

faculty

for 3

years. Both

are pub

s choo l t e a ch e r s

Camp was marred by one acc iden t, but i t was a

warni

which

will

be heeded in th e future. Two g ir ls

went

into t

swimming pool when i t

was

unsupervised and got in

trouble. Michael

was o n th e grounds and after a mad da

jumped in

fully

clothed only to find

it

was almost

too much

him

as the girls

kept push ing h im

under.

A

Boy Scout

a

former UBI student then jumped into

the pool and

togeth

they were

able

to push t he

girls

to

th e

edge

of

th e

pool wh

others

pulled

them

Documents

Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1982 SAfrica