8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica

1/6

1 6 1957

afrto*

I

>2Dtember

Greetings

in

Jesus na ^* e a e a l l fine

here i n

outh A fric a,

t h a t i s the Nicholsons are . The

Asiatic

f l u i s going: the rounds

of

the people. So many

of

the

African

people are ill with it and some

places

it has

reached

epidemic proportions. Now it i s

beginning

around

Fbrt

Shepstone.

So

f a r

there

have

be^-n few

i f

any

deaths

i n

Africa*

On Sunday the 16th of August, the children and ^ accompanied Alvin

t o

a small town on the reserve , near Durban, where we

held

s er vi ce s f or

a small

grouc of people

who are a

Part of the Durban

Circui t . They have

no r ^ n i s t e r r i g h t

now.

fe met in the ho-^ of an elderly woman.

I t

Was quite a good sized

hut ,

but the

Walls

were

so low and

the

roof came down

c l o s e r t o the

ground,

Alvin said

they

combined

7ulu and

Xhosa

methods.

The

r e a l

7ulu house is

all grass reaching right

to

the ground.

t

the Xhosa s use v/alls

made

of mud

blochs* Nhere

the walls

and

the

roof

met,

they

stored

shoes

and

odds

and ends as

it

formed a shel f , Kaffir Corn hung from

the roof to

dry and

the r e g u l a r c o r n m e a l l i e s

here v/ps p i l e d i n on e c o r n e r . The

yad

some of

the

big clay pots i n which

they s to red seed

and am^hewu.

They spread

grass mats on the f loor

fo r

the

people to

s i t

on

and

had

a

table

and

chair s for

us. ^hey served us tea

f irst . Ty^en

we had the

services, fe enjoyed them very much and found such a strengthening scir i tual ly

in

the meeting with them. Brother

^ ^obert

Mabovula Was

there

to

interpret.

After the services,

they

eave us rice

and curry, chichen ^nd potatoes

t o e a t .

Te sang

songs

t o g e t h e r

and

v;e

sang

some Zulu

sonvs fo r them

t h a t

they did

not seem to know. One woman sang so v/ell,

but

she had such a

cold and when we had f i n i s h e d she c o u l d n t t a l k

f o r

a w h i l e .

A matt Cams

from

another home and hearing th e p rea ch in g wanted us

to come to hie home and preach too. e wont, a ll the

people

going with

Us, so

we

had an even larger group

there,

he

house

was

almost full.

Here Alvin

preached

on the

church

of

Christ and ga e the s cr ip tu re s for

what one must do to be saved, ^ v e r a l spoke afterwards, but noen had

andy

further

questions.(They are a group

who had

been meeting on

their own

with no connections

with

any other group.)

The f i r s t group of people

all

accompanied us

to

the car,

sinking

every

step of the Way.

They

sing

slowly and

step in

rythm

to the

song.

fe had left

home

at 6j50 a*m. and

v. hen

we arrived bgck i t was 6p.m.

The Car had

just fcnen

overhauled and we hgve had

to travel

slowly. Over

200

miles

at

^0 miles

cer

hour i s rather tedious. Bjt we are so

thankful

t h a t the c a r i s i n f ine shape now.

The

pepple

where we went Sunday wanted us

to

come again on the

next

Smday, but

we

thought i t better

to

see

the

children of

the

Sunday

school,

because

we

had already missed two Sundays.

And we

are

planning to

be aWay

o n a n o t h e r .

In

(^hristign

Love,

V e r n i t a

Greetings to one and a l l fom Africa. After having

been

aWay from

home a Part of every mjnth so

far

this year, I hgve stayed at home during

the

month

of

August.

hree

Sundays

of the

onth we have tra veled to

Durban

to

try and

help the

work there

e

are hoping that before long

wn

Can find^ a Place

for

a minister o

live

there and he can go

to lead

the v. ork.

he

^Iders have been doing an excellent work, but

i t

does need

some

one

who can

give a l l h i s t ime t o

it

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica

2/6

HI so have been trying to get

caught

up on the

many

things which go

undone when one

has

to be on the go a great deal

of the time*

Put now m

I a

planning

to

leave

home on the 10th of this

month

to

go

to J^anduli [ i

The f i r s t two days we

shall

be

having

preaching services with the other

I ^n is te r s near

there

and the i r people also Present , ^t th i s same

time

I

Want

to

instruct them in

the making of Concrete blocks so

that

they H

Can

begin to

make

them for their church building.

From

there

I am

going

on to Tsomo where we

shall

s t a r t work in

PI

building the

church

house

for

them. The foundation will be

madd

of j

rocks*

Then the Walls shall be buil t with a traveling mould.

You

f i l l

t h i s machine with cement and move t

ahead

leaving jus t l ike a block in

that

place . Then you refill i t and move i t again and

thus

you do all

H

around the

bui lding.

You can

lay one fu l l course

aday. Th^s

makes

t

possible fo r us to use a

good

number

of

smaller

rocks

in the

Walls.

Usq

you do not have to Wait for the blocks

to

cure but

this

cures r ight in.s H

he

The

other

day

the

Postman

del ievered to

our

house a s l ip

of

paper

which

showed

t h a t

there

was

a Par ce l a t th e Post Off ice fo r us

from

America.

That

of

course always

brincrs

excitement.

Especially

th i s

time

for

Veri ta s

Yother had

writ ten she was

sending her a birthday present.

en

we got

them we found

t ha t

we

had r ec ei ved f ou r

pic ture ro l l s

from

Bfeji

Rasar

and

the

church

a t

Brandon,

lowa. Tiat

a

f ine

g i f t

t

was and

what

a

help

t wil l be in the work. Efecause we were

to

go to Durban on Sunday we

had our class a t

Songo s

on

Saturday snd

showed them one of the

ro l l s

and taught from one of the pictures. They t ruely

loved i t

Yesterday

in

Durban Vernita taught a lesson on the

flannel

graph. p

To these people

i t is

really something to

see the

Pictures all acted ]

out as t i s being to ld She also told them the story in ulS,

but

foound

t much

more

d i f f i c u l t than

when

t eaching the ch i ld r en

: ^

I t i s only

a l i t t l e more than a month now unt i l

the

Randall

shal l

^

be on

the i r

way back

to

Africa* recent

l e t t e r from

the

^Uls

say s th ey

rptnrn gt- i-hp of Fphrnary 19S8.

One

of the

^undieys

when v e \-tere going to Durban we

saw

some

monkeys,

in

the

t r ee s

near the

road. stopned and

the

young ones came near

the

Car to

r e t some thing

to ea t

But as t always

happens

I

did not

have

i y sl ide camera with me because I had jus t completed a

ro l l

of

f i lm

and not bought another. Th^t

i s

the closest that we have had them come

t o th e C a r

At 85>000 t apoeared t wos time that

the

Plymouth should have s me

v/ork done

on

t

New

r ings j bearings and timing cha in

were

nut in Put

a t the garage they said the

motor was

in

excel lent

shape. 5o now we

hone t

shal l

see us

th ru

t ll

1959

with ou t much more

expense.

Vhile you

in

America today are having a holiday for Labor Day. This

i s a

holiday here fo r

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica

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A

NE^ S ITH

^ IF Sf^UTH

liFniC*

1 November

1^57

This last

month we have been to visit in the olden City of

South

i^rica*

Not t h a t we

eaw any

of the gold t h a t Was there, but

we saw plenty

of

the

e a r t h

t h a t

they

are

bringing up while they are looking

for

it

This

Was one t r i p wherr

it

Was possible

for H e.

Nicholson

to

go

along.

So we

l e f t the

older

c h i l d r e n

with

f o l k s here a t Port Shenetone

and

she and Ja^es

weht

with mo.

Pnock

^obolo also went

with

us. Both

t o i n t e r p r e t and a l s o to v i s i t

h i s

brother who i s working i n Johannesburg

and

v/hom

he

h a s n o t

s e e n

f o r some t i m e .

The f i r s t n i g h t we stopped j u s t outside of Johannesburg so t h a t we

could be up e a r l y and meet Brother Stanley when he arr ived by t r a i n .

Was a - b i t

surprised

when he

saW

us because it Was

not

yet seven o clock

i n the

morning.

Our first v i s i t

Was

a t t h e Natal s p r u i t

L o c a t i o n

n e a r Germiston .

The S-fena.5^ took

us

to see the church

s i t e

which the ^ i n i s t e r has chosen

and which

shall

be

ours

after

the

papers

are

completed.

This

area

i s

just

beginning to be developed so

r i g h t

now

it

does not

look

l i k e much. The

people are l iving

in small

t i n

shacks, ^ut

it wil l

not

be

long

u n t i l

houses arc

begun i n t h a t

arca

The

Location

i s

four miles long and

I

do n o t know how w i d e . iMso

a n o t h e r

l o c a t i o n w i l l

c o n t i n u e

on from one end

so t h i s

w i l l

be a very

big

area t o have a work i n . fc-f ter we h-^d

seen

the s i t e he took

us

back and showed u s th e A dm inistration

building,

v;hich

i s a

very

nice

one.

I t

i s the only place t h a t I have v i s i t e d where

they

have

a l i b r a r y

r i g h t

there

f o r the

people of

the

l o c a t i o n . Af^er

t h i s

ho

s e r v e d u s

t e a i

^uring the af ternoon we v i s i t e d with the M n i s t e r John Sibinde.

This

man

f i r s t

came

to

us

thru

the

Correspondence

Lessons of

Ekother

H i s

^ has been several times in school and Brother Stanley has been very

haPPy with

h i s

work.

There Was

another

man who

had

come t o

see us and

we

spent

the

g r e a t e r

P a r t

of

the

a f t e r n o o n

i n speaking

w i t h him.

I f one does

no t have Government Recognit ion as a church, it i s o f t e n

d i f f i c u l t

t o

find a

place

to meet and

carry

on your

work.

So often

we find

neonle

who

Want t o

come

and

work w i t h

u s because

t h e y know tbwt we

have t h i s .

This man

belongs

to a group which

have

used the name,

Church

of Chris t

Apostolic Evangelist . He thought because he used

the

name church

of

Christ

he

must

be welcomed

immediately. I t soon

became

very clear

t h a t he

did

not

even

well

unders tand th e s c r i p t u r e s l t alone unders tand the church vfhich

Chr i st e s t a b l i she d .

Sunday we went

to

^rako where we visited with Nlmrod ^^ni. ^causo

they have no building vfhich i s big enough to hold

many

people,

the

services

were held

in

the open. There

v;ore

few

clouds

i n the- sky.

hen we

were

si t t ing

down we used umbrellas, for. shade- Put I find I can not r-reach

w i t h au u m b r e l l a

i n one hand

and

t h e

b i b l e

i n the

o t h e r ,

so

while

I

was

preaching

the to p

of

my

head

g o t a b i t r o a s e d .

In

the a f t e r n o o n we

spent q u i t e some t ime with them,

speaking about the

church bui lding

which

might be b u i l t i n the new l o c a t i o n where they

have

a s i t e . Also about

how they

would

go

about r a i s i n g

money for t h e i r bui lding. The building

i s very much needed f o r t h i s c o n g r e g a t i o n .

?t>nday

^e

went

to

Fketoria

to

see one

of

the

N^der

Secretaries

of

Native Affairs as to where might be the best place for our i^nister s

Training

School. I t

is

b u il t a t Kimberley

i n th e b u f f e r

zone and

we

know

that some

day i t nust be moved,

following

this we stoprted to see

the

Voortrekker M)nument, which

has been

b u i l t in

honour of

the

early

D u t c h S e t t l e r s

Monday night we were in Potchef etroom with

H n i s t e r

Saane.

Ne

Ig

having

some t rouble

with h i s

f o o t . The

Doctors dan n o t seem t o

help

it

and

they

say

t h a t

it

i s

caused

from an African disease . Brother Stanley

and I both preached here and then we had

to hurry

to get

him

to

the train

so he could go

back

t o Kimberley.

The

n e x t

day we

r e t u r n e d

back

a s f a r a s E s t c o u r t where v/e had s e r v i c e s

out i n the Reserve t h a t

n i g h t ,

c

enjoyed

the opportunity

t o go

back in

toward th e

mountains

here. Wg

returning

to acourt

tomorrov/

for

Evening

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica

4/6

and Sunday services to be held in the Railway Cotunomid The Brethren from

all the area will be gathered together here. H

hen

we finishg^d our

journey home

on e^nesday we took time for a short

bit

6f shopping in urban, ^or

all

our time spent in the bigger

cities

we

did

not

find much-time for t h i s .

e

must send our presents for

Christmas

hpme t o o u r

f a m i l i e s now.

I am s t i l l gathe ri ng the th in gs for the buildings a t

Mjanduli

and

Tsomo. Hoping that at the close

of

t h i s

month I

shall

be able to s^end

some

time there

continuing on w ith the work. e a flk

you t o

pray f o r us

in this task of bu ilding th e churches, that by the power of

od

and the

guidance of His

Holy

S p ir it h is

work shall be done.

ftn6ther_of ;^e Mnisters fell

to

sin ihis

months,

^bey.^a^ked Brothor^

^ahXey ^

come

and see them since he Was

the

closepjt and so he took with

hima

number of

the

^fr ican brethren. After the meeting

the

man was asked

t o r e tu rn a l l

the

t h i n g s whioh

he

had been given as

a

minister and t o

leave the minister s home. The

church

had already stopped him from

preaching

when

they

had

learned

of

the

s i n .

^he Randall

family

shall

iand

in Capetown on

the

6th of November.

A vin Nicholson

P o r t ^hen s t o n e

Needless

t o say I enjoyed

being

able t o go along

with

Mvin t h i s month.

I t

Was

mostly

gett ing up early ,

t ravel ing and v i s i t i n g

churches, but

Was a joy

and

a change. I enjoyed more because I was

able

t o

t a l k with

the

women more

i n

t h e i r

language and

understand

a t l e a s t

a

P a r t

of what

Was being s a i d .

The

most i n t e r e s t i n g service Wa.^ the one on our Way

home a t TDscourt,

where we

plan to

be t h i s ween end* he minister took

us out

among the

g

boautifLul , , tho

h i l l o oo groon

and

r o l l i n g .

The big mountain for which the dist r ic t is named Ntabmhlophe) could be

seen in

the

distance. o arr ived here about 5o clock and

^ad a few

minutes

t o look arouhd

us and

breath i n the

cool mountain

aire before became

d a r k .

The

man

who

works with this group was a bit-

late

in coming, so we had

time Waiting.

Hiich i s

not unusual

a t

these services.

He

had t o

come

eleven miles by horseback a f t e r

h i s

work

Was f inished on

the

dairy

farm.

that

we

started

services

before

he came. Those

people

really

sang.

The majority

of

the group was women. I t was midnight by the time we

returned t o

Escourt to

f i n d

a room

f o r

the

n i g h t .

Ve a re lookipg forward

t o

the s e r v i c e s and t ime

t h e r e on

th e 2nd.

Al l the children wil l

go

with us and w e l l sleep i n

a

t e n t .

They v/ill

l o v e t h a t .

ffey

^od bless

all

of you is our prayer.

I n C h r i s t

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

r

n

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica

5/6

ITEWS WIT2I THE NXOHO.LSOirS

V - ..

liJ

SOUTH AFRICA

h

Ueoember 1957

This has

been

the

month

for

gathering

U P

the

las t

of the

tail ends for this year. ^ went to visit with

five

of the ohurohes

where I have not had time to iyisit before. Some i had purposely

le f t

because I had

planned

to do i t when

we

were preparing for

Conference, but since the date for Conference has been set back from

January t i l l April, I

have

gone to see them for their yearly visit

now

The f irst

Sunday

in

ovember

we a ll

went to Esoourt

where we

had

jart

in the services there

on

Saturday and Sunday, ihxs

was

the

first opportunity

for

the family to go together

for

a meeting so far

from home. The people were very happy

for ^rs.

iUoholson to be pe

present and have a part in the service. There were five baptisms here^

The second Sunday we went to Uurban to help the brethren theffc.

e

thought one of the young men v^ould be going to help them with their

work

for a while, but a letter which had sent to

him

took a

week

and

one half to

reach

himf even though he

lives

only fifty ^Tles away.

So even while he wss looking for i t the informotion oame late to him.

1 am hoping to take

him

to Uurban th is

month.

The

.fourteenth

began

our Journey to

visit

the churches.

The plym

Plymouth was rather leaded

down

also with six bags of

eight

steel

windows,

besides

he

books and other material which

always try to carry to supply the needs of the paoplei^ ? I t

for them. Tn faot

at

once place when went to see the Magistrate to

get my permit signed, the polioeman stopped to ask

what

i had in the

sacks.

He wss

checking to

make

sure 1

wap -not

oarrying the-weed

which

they s e l l

fo r smoking.

The

churches visited wor:

^ ount

^yliff

Umtata. Qweenstown,

Tarka-

ptad and Stutterheim. I also.went to Foanduli to leave tiie

windows

or the church building there and to see hovj

they

their work.

They have

hovjever,

been able to

do noDhing because

the

European

who

promised us sand in ^ep:.ember had not yet brought t .

I

had

planned also to

do

some

work

on

the church at

Tsomo,

but because

it wL thrtime of plowing the .brethren

had

not gathered many things t.

t oga the r t h e r e

While a t Q,\veeneton f i l l ed

the

paper? in

for a church s3te. They have asked us for a plan of the buil .ing

vDhioh we

would propose to

build there

and then

will

let us

shall

have a site. 5 or church aervioos we met in one

room

at the

Minister home. It is a larger

room than

most of them nave, but still

much

smaller

than we really needea for

the

people who oamo.

tim

Thoreforo

on

the

24th

of ovembor 1 was in Kinborloy. In the

morning

i

was v,ith Brother

Stanley in

the morning

service with the

ohuroh at Grocn Boint. and

had

a part in their seryioo there. ^ the

afternoon wo drove to Warronton whoro Brother Stanlp had ^

and

brou^t a short message. This

was

my first ti^e to visit this

ohuroh

On

Tuesday the 26th because

brother

Randall and ^iolderman were

umablc to got to Himberloy on that day,,, we took the man who

wore

pchool

studying

and

wont

to Delpoorts ^ope to work

on

the

church

ing.

There

also the

man

had not

pr^p.orcd

the

Ovmont

promised. Hut

we

had enough

on

hand

to

keep us busy

for

the day.

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica

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4* 1

* oH t

On' Tliarsdny

when the

other

men RboOnaln

fT

nl^t

talking.

'J hcy^wcro^r^^^

ana went on to ^npo ^ ^ ^

yiiion

tho exhaust

Wo

haa not goho

very

far on our wo aia

havc^

Of

^^^o-tS^.^Ja - -^oyca

it

tery

muoh

ana wantoa

mo

icevc i t for 0 while. ^

-Kionta.

Sixteen barrels of us.a clothing oamo

not

rooeivoa

We

want

to

got somo nan. But

with tho

'

their last shipment of t>io stuay.

But

those shall bo Vory

the ^bv^thc Cisiors .

much

apBrcoia^t;_^y^__^^

^ ' y

tovs

f-^rTET-otfliaren of

tba-'

S- .t^rhoolf'whorv^c'wcnt fo''scf?hemlast Sunaay^thoy ^

wc'^haa

forgotten

them.

olothihg''

from

tho

Wissiona^

Council:

,

all. Vo

toys^cnme

from

the

kne

giflm

s\Sna

Iowa *

Wo

^hnnk

both of

tleso

churches for th.se

uthcrlona, own. _ .tive Affairs hero in

While I was

gone

the g^with -him to

soo

tic site

Bert Sbepstono

calloa to ^ f ohurch site. I sha^ go in -

at

Songo^s

which wc l;^

^Wc

hone

very

much that it

snail

bo

in the next to build there.

onrp for ??C

wouia

li^tc to o p

4/J-./1 fhrt tho Flppiionririon would try | ,

While in imbcrloy io pick o plnoo thai, if?

to

meet

together

fo^^

^lecc

apocarea

to

bo

^>n

at

III ;3o'?oiS

?;f

S'ITSSm

SSrSi

. -

hope that

you

ao not fina it 33 0^^3^20^1011^^^ the

Hews shall not

bo

too hara to

^o

_. rcturnoa

States

usofl.

the auplioator V ,,,,.'3,

one which

Brother Stanley

hrv-

returned

it

also.

I

lave

taaon

on.^on^wn^^^^^

*v -v> nr-4nj- I t in

diffor-ut

than any IP-^rh-os bv

the

tirfis

hnn boon

u. lns

, pomo t roublo -,v* X aVn Ll'

'tha? h- o a^L tSis letter ana also print .a the hntivc pap.r c.

lafc gotten

on

to Fost

of

its ways.

w,,,i,erous

Wc

wish

you

all

a

very

orry

Christmas ana

a

luppy

an

Hew

Year SHE

>iViil.ii IC BS0H3

At

U r t

Shopstonc, J^atal

South Afr ica

n

f r