Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1965 SAfrica

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1965 SAfrica

1/18

Vo l . 6 - No. 1

NEWS

WITH THE

NICHOLSONS

IN SOUTH

AFRICA

January, 1965

How grand our Christmas was with a l l our family present here

a t

Li tchf ie ld

There

were

so many nice gif ts from family

and

fr iends.

Then the

cards

and

l e t t e r s

from

so many to remind us of

th e great love

of Christ our Lord. Thank

you

a l l

so

much

for

holding

us up

in

the

service

of the

Lord

this

las t

year

both

with your g i f t s and your prayers.

How thankful V ernita and I

were

tha t my mother could come and stay with

James and

John

so

that Vernita could

make a

t r ip

with

me

down into Iowa and

Missouri

We visi ted Sheldon, Storm

Lake

and Correctionvil le in Iowa. Elma,

DeKalb,

Westside Christ ian in

Kansas

City

and

Humansville in Missouri

and

ummings

in Kansas. Along with

these,

I had part in

the Planning

Committee

for

next year 's National Missionary Convention to

be

held at Joplin, Missouri. This

meeting was held

at

Ozark Bible College. Before

returning home

we spoke for a

chapel

service at

the

Bib le Col lege

and for

th e Lord's

Reapers, their

missionary

group.

Back in

Minnesota,

we

spoke a t

Litchf ield

Kimball, Dassel, Lamberton

and Tracy

to finish

out the year.

To make

our

cup of jo y run

over,

word was

received

from the church

at

Bloomington, Minnesota that they will be contributing 25 a month

to

our work

in Africa. While in Kansas

City,

Missouri, we had a phone call from a young

couple that they would be sending us monthly support of 10 also. Our prayer is

that

od shall bless

us

all

as

we join

hands in

this great

work

of

Evangelism.

The Lester

LeMay

family

is

now in Johannesburg, South Africa and

the

Al

Hamilton family is back in America. We do hope i f you have opportunity

to

hear

them you shall do so . The Gordon

Nelsons

have

much of their support raised

and

now need

their

visa. They have even scheduled

sailing

for

the last of

March, so

l e t us pray that

they

sha l l soon have the i r visas .

Just today a good check came for making blocks for one of

the

churches in

Africa.

This check was from the

adult

Bible Class (mostly retired

folks)

of

Painesville, Ohio. They had had a buffalo hunt and

gave this money

fo r blocks.

ES h^lock that we make for one of our church buildings costs aboi^^^ent^ e aQ h^c

We are getting new passport

pictures

taken as our passport

will

expire

shortly. The new passport will have to be sent in to be visaed. Inquiries

are

being

made

as to available space

for

our return during the month of July. Our

passage

to the

f ie ld th is time

wil l be about 1,500.

Please

pray

for the workers

on

the

African fields -

for the

Nelsons,

that

they

may receive

the i r

visas- for

the

Hamiltons and

ourselves

as

we

t ravel here

in th e

S t a t e s .

Yours

in Chris t in

Afr ica ,

Forwarding Agent:

Mrs . Ed Widlund

1603 Morley Road

Alber t

Lea,

Minnesota

The Ni c h o l s o n s

Box 827

Li t ch f i e l d

Minnesota


2/18

266

NEWS

WITH TH E NICHOLSONS

Vol. 6

No.

2 February 1965

With

the weather l i k e i t is

here

in L itchfield

we

almost wish t h a t

we

were back in South Africa. It was 24 below

this

morning and colder is pre

dicted for tomorrow.

But

s til l

w

are enjoying being

home

and

even

enjoying

t h i s

weather

since we do no t have to spend to o much time out in i t

Most of

the

month of

January

was spent in

the

State of Minnesota. were

only

out

o f th e

s ta te f o r

our vis i t

with relat ives in South Dakota f o r th e

New

Year s

holidays.

S t i l l this

has been a busy time

fo r many

letters

have been

written to get ou r schedule ready for

the

rest of the time that we

are

home.

Financial

reports

have had to be gotten in order

also

we have done some

writing

t hat

has been postponed for a while

January is the time for the

Mid-Winter

Conference a t Minnesota Bible

College.

The

high

light

of

this

time

was

the story

by Clifford Schaub

of

thei r ordeal in S ta n le y v ille . Praise

God

fo r the

fai t h of

His children

and

the wonderful

power

of

God

Vernita

and

I

greatly

enjoyed the lectures

by

Wayne Shaw and the sermons by friends

whom

w have known for a long time.

The

fellowship with

many

brethren was a rich experience as

well.

do miss

these

meetings on

the foreign

field.

The missionaries in Africa gathered in Capetown this month

where

they

had fellowship together talked over plans for the

coming months and

a pro

gram of inspirational messages for the Capetown churches. would like to

ge t

together

more

often but when we are separated by 500 to 1 000 miles th e

c o s t

is prohibi t ive

Bob Mills has just written to m that both the plans for Natalspruit

near Johannesburg

and

Kimberley

have been

approved.

have

no

buildings at

all

in Johannesburg so

w

greatly need

this one.

In

Kimberley

our building

is o ff

th e location

in

what today is th e b uffe r zone. Our rates here are ex

ceedingly high fo r this area. The building here is one of the

oldest

in

Africa having been built in th e early 20s of sun

dried bricks.

I t has been

strengthened

by

putting in

new windows and burned

bricks

around

these.

Some

have been helping us

by

giving money for the Johannesburg building at five

cents a block. Will you lend a hand in bu il di ng a church in South Africa?

The

Stanleys are planning to return to the States

on

July 20.

shall

be returning to Africa the week following. At this writing

one has

already

sent

to help with ou r

return

fare. What

about

you?

Your

messengers

in

South

Africa

The

Nicho l son s

F o rw a rd i ng A ge nt :

Mrs E d . Widlund

1603 Morley Road

lber t

Le a M i nne s ot a


3/18

NEWS

WITH

T HE N IC HO LS ON S

^ 2h 96

V o l . 6 - N o. 3

Ma r c h 1965

The storm has

r eally

caught up with us

with

a vengeance. So f ar this winter

I have been able to s ta y ahead of most of th e

storms.

But th e on e t h a t came in this

f irs t

day of March has stopped most e ve ry th in g h er e at

Litchf ield

I am

to

leave

by

train tonight for Cincinnati

Bible Seminary i f we can get through

th e

snow

to

the d e p o t .

How

grand

is

to

be

a

Chris t ian

an d

to

have

Ch r is ti an f ri en d s

On e

o f

t h e

families

here at

Litchfield

gave us a half a beef

for

th e deep

freeze.

This farm

grown b e e f is de l ic ious .

Vernita

and I

spent

one whole week

with the

church at Worthington Minnesota.

The

congregation

was

divided

into

five parts

and we had

th e

evening meal each even

in g

with a group after which we

talked

about th e work in Africa. Vernita

go t

some

lessons

in

painting flannelgraph backgrounds and

also

was

given

a wonderful shower

of things by t h e i r Women s Groups

The f irs t week in

February

I was at

Platte Valley

Bible College where I had

part in the program with Lav erne Morse and Ila Belle Henning I t is ou r prayer that

ou t

of this group

sh all come

some who will work in the

other parts

of

the

world for

thei r

Lord.

I

also

spoke

once

in

Colorado

and

f i v e

times in

Central

and

Eastern

Neb ra s ka .

After a hard tr ip

to

get ou t

of

th e snows of Nebraska

Vernita

James and I

visited three churches in Northern Minnesota over one week end. The Mission Program

at

Minnesota Bible College

on Linguistics and the relatio n of cultures to

the

mis

si onar y s work was g reatly

enjoyed

also.

Brother

George Fuphi

minister

at Cradock

sent

us a le tte r and

picture of

some of h is

w or k.

I t wa s w o n d e r f u l to hear from him .

Another thing which makes

our

hearts

greatly rejo ice is

the

fact

t h a t

Brother

and

S iste r

Gordon Nelson with

their

family

will

be

leaving fo r

South

Africa

the

l7th

of arch

and

will

go to

work

in Capetown.

We

thank

od for this

open door.

We s t i l l

h av e n o t r e c e i v e d

th e

e x a c t

date

o f o u r return

are certain i t will

be

right

at

the

last

week

of July

to

So u th Afr ica , b u t

This

is

not a mission need but

i f

someone has a

pair

o f b in oc ul ar s they are

not using and would like to give away the Nicholsons would

like

to have them. They

are very

helpful

in travel and from our

home

we

like

to

see

th e names of the

ships

as they pass by and watch th e monkeys in th e

trees

and game

when we

are able to

v i s i t a game r e s e r ve .

Some

have been

moving

and not

notifying

us of

their

change of

postal address.

Every time they do

this the ir

letter

is

sent back and

we

are charged

< ;

for

i t .

We

are sure you do not want us to have

to

bear this extra expense so

please

remember

to give us your change of address. It is also important

that you

include your zip

code

numbe r .

ay

God

r i c h l y

bl ess you

a l l

Forwarding

Agent:

Mrs ,

Ed W i d l u n d

1603 Morley Road

Albe r t L e a M i nne sot a

In Chris t s

g r e a t

love.

The N i c ho l s o n s


4/18

I

. \

THU/V\B-NA IL SKETCH FOR HORIZONS

Please c id

mafL^o

Harrold MpFarljipd Box 14656 Long Beach California 90814

Name

ddres

Where

were

you b or n / ^

SCHOOL ING

High

School

Seminary or Graduate work

Degrees

and

Dates

When

and

Where

Baptized?

MILY

FACTS Married_J ^Single

Chi ld ren

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Where?

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irth

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Forwarding Agent

s Name

ddress

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When?

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Over


5/18

List of

terms

of missionary service

Starting date

Furlough

date

Second

term

6

Thi rd term

ourth

term

i f th term

Furlough

date

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date

^

urlough date_

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Additional Information This information is of great value in preparing your news for publica tion in Horizons

Keep

second

copy for your own

reference


6/18

NEWS WITH THE

NICHOLSONS

Vol. 6 ~ No. 4 May 1965

There are

many

good

things that

we can

write to

you about

this

month.

We

have

received our reservations to leave New

York

on the 2eth of July and arrive in Johan

nesburg, South Africa on the 3lst. This should bring us home to Port Shepstone on

the

2nd

of August.

All

the

members

of our family are once

more

in

good

health

and

back at

their

tasks again. Your prayers have helped In their recovery.

Vernita

would like to

thank everyone

who

sent cards and letters. She received so many lovely ones and they

have

been a

real help.

From

the 4th through the 8th of April I

visited Hampton, Mason

City,

Fertile

and

Goldfield, Iowa. The 9th through the 13th was spent with the church at Clarion,

Iowa

with a Mission and Preaching Program each night. Muddy roads hindered many people

from

attending

as often as they would have liked but

i t

s t i l l

was

a time

of

rich

spiritual

experience. Easter

weekend was

spent

at home

with the family.

The

evening

of the 20th I spoke at First Church of Christ Cherokee, Iowa. The next afternoon to

the Women s Meeting

at

Logan, Iowa and

that

night for the church

at

Lewis, Iowa. The

23rd

and

24th I

was

present

for the

Missionary

Fair

at the

Madison

Park

Christian

Church at Quincy, Illinois. This church had spent much time and preparation for this

time, and it was enjoyed

by

all. These

times

are always a great blessing to me be

cause I get to visit with old friends who are working in other parts of the world

and

make

friends with missionaries from other areas. The last week of April I

preached in a

Spiritual

Clinic for the church here at

Litchfield. Even though we

live here, I am gone so often on Sunday that I seldom

have

fellowship with the folks,

so this was

greatly enjoyed.

Mrs. Nicholson and I once ministered here so

this

is

like home in many respects. The Litchfield Church gave us a wonderful offering to

help us with the

recent bills

fo r hospital doctors and medicine.

have packed

two barrels of clothing for the field this

week

besides getting

some of our

own

things in order, so that they will be right at

hand

at packing time.

will

be

in Litchfield until the

11th

of

June.

After that

we

shall

be

traveling

u n t i l

t ime

to le ve

The Travel

Agent

says he will ask

for

the money for our return fares about the

15th of June. This cost is 1,247.50. Your help with the

money

for fare will be

gre t ly apprec ia ted.

We can

buy

a new filmstrip whicn is half the size of the present

mm and

will

work well for showing in our African Churches.

These

strips are 4 for 5.00 as a-

gainst one mm which costs about 6.00. need 50.00 to buy the filmstrlps that

are

now

available. The Africans love to see these pictures and it is a wonderful way

to teach,

not

only the children but the adults as well. Here is an opportunity for

your

class

to send the gospel to Africa In a

special

way.

Mark

your

offerina

fi lmstrips .

Cliff

Flurer of Clarion,

Iowa

has given us binoculars. Our

many

thanks for

this

g i f t

Some flannelgraph material has been received

from

the Lincoln Park Church at

Rockford,

Illinois.

Several

other

churches have sent Christmas cards that can be

made into pictures to hang on the wall. Most of these will be used as prizes in the

Sunday

Schools.

can use any type of Sunday School material. Brother Lynn

Stanley

has asked

us

to

bring back 20

dozen

communion cups.

This also

would

be

something

for

someone

or a cl ss to

sponsor.


7/18

PL S NOTEI I f

you

are moving

would

you

PL S

w rite to the Madison

Park

Christian

Church 215 North

25th

Quincy

Il l inois

62301. The

post o ff ic e w ill

t e l l

us each

time

you move but i f you do

not inform us then they will

make a

charge

which is almost as

much

as

mailing

you th e News for six months.

I f

you do not want

the

News

Letter

please

le t

us

know

and we

will

take

your

name

from the mailing l i s t .

Please pray with us and

for

us as we make

plans

to return to the f ield for the

t h i r d

t i m e .

Yours in

C h r i s t s

great love

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

Forwarding Agent

Mrs Ed

Widlund

1603 Morley Road

Alber t Lea Minnesota 56007

WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Mailed

b y . . .

C h r i s t i a n Church

Camp

Point I l l i n o i s

R et ur n R eq ue ste d

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

B o x 9 6 8

J o l i e t r i l l n o i s 60434

JUN EH

Non Prof it Organizat io

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

Camp Point

I l l i n o i s

P e r m i t No.

7


8/18

NEWS WITH

THE

NICHOlSONS

Vol , 6

No,

5

June,

1965

The mad

rush

of

packing

is

jus t

about

over.

We nave

f i l ied

seven

barrels

with things

for use

on

the

field.

e

have the largest collect-ion of men s sui ts

to take

back

with

us

that

we

have

ever had.

Up until

the things were about

packed, we were

wondering just

how much we would have to pay

because

of

the

higher

duty that

came on

last year

as

we

were gett ing

ready to return to th e

States,

However

the

last

week

a

letter came

from

the Stanleys

that

the

govern

ment

had

decided that

this duty

was too high

and

wil l

now

charge 20 percent

of

the

estimated value of

the

clothing

and we

shall again distribute i t free of

charge to

the ministers,

I

wish

that you might have

seen

some

of

the

people

as I

gave bags

of c lo th ing to

them?

they

were

really

nappji.

Four barrels of clothing

were packed by

t he Un iver si ty

Church of

Christ , Minneapolis.

Minnesota.

Mr owker of Universal Travel

Service

of Chicago

will

be

writing

for

the

money for the fares

this

month.

n

offering ^or either fares or to help in

transporting the

barrels

will g re atl y be appreciated.

Work

is going ahead on

the f i rs t church

building

that

we

shall

have

in th e

Johannesburg area, as the Natalspruit congregation work on theirs.

Brother

Mills

has

written

that

Kimberley

is

also

starting

work on

the

new

building in the

Location.

The

old

building was the

first one to be

built

by_the .congregations in

South

Africa.

With

changes

in

boundaries, i t is now outside the l imits,

however.

Through

the help of

a f ine Chri st ian

woman

we have a new projector

to take

back

to

the field. This

will

be a real help in teaching concerning

Christ

and of

drawing the

interest

of others

who might

not otherwise

come

Last month went by very quickly as we spoke

in Minnesota, North

Dakota

Montana

and Idaho. I

am

glad that these long trips which I took alone are over

with. Our family

now will

be going

to visit members

of

the

immediate family on

the West Coast before returning to South Dakota and getting ready for our return

overseas.

The

time of departure is OjOO

P M. on

the

28th of July,

Since

school

is

out Steven has gone to South Dakota to work for the summer

Sandra is going to travel with us until we leave and tnen will have a Daily Vaca

tion

Bible School at Cohasset Minnesota.

e

are so happy that we can be together

fo r t h i s ext ra t ime .

Darrel Stanley will be going to New York City to meet nis parents so we shall

not go to

New

York early as planned before, but

will see the

Stanleys and turn the

Rambler American

over to

them

here just before

we

are to leave

for

New

York

If

you would s t i l l like to have a part in buying some new film

strips

for

the

work

in Africa, will

you

please

send

your money to

Mrs Widlund and mark

i t Film

Strip .

Five

dollars will

buy

four film

strips.

Pray

for

the people of South

Africa

in this time of great drought. Pray

for

us as we teach the Minister s Training School, Pray for

these

who shall plan to

come

that

we may have a good

class.

Forwarding

Agent:

Mrs ,

Ed Widlund

1603 Morley Road

Alber t

Lea, Minnesota

56 7

Sincerely in Christ ,

T he

N i c h o l s o n s


9/18

NEWS

WITH

THE

NICHOLSONS

Vole 6 No. 6

July,

1965

The days

for our return

to South Africa

are

growing very

short now.

We have

had our smallpox

shots and

wil l

soon pick

up our t ickets from

Minneapolis

to New

York. s t i l l must pack ou r things

at

least once to se e how we are doing as

far

as

the

44 pounds allowance is concerned, and perhaps

get

a few

things

ready

to

send

overseas by parce l

post We

know t ha t the drums

we sent

to

New

York

are

on

t he i r

way and we hope wil l arr ive not too long af te r we get there .

A

let ter

has

just

come from

th e Lester

LeMays

and

they

will be

meeting

us

at

Jan Smuts Airport

at

Johannesburg and Sunday morning the

1st

of August we

will

be

speaking at Jubulani

for

Hercules

Madikane and

that evening Beit St.

and

Noordgesig

brethren

in

the

evening.

The Kimberley Church

is

get t ing

the

roof on

the i r

new building and at

Natal-

spruit they are working on the walls. The

Dai ly Vacat ion

Bible

School

of the

Worthington, Minnesota Church gave money enough to buy 985

blocks.

This is

almost

enough

blocks

to do

the

front wall of a church

building.

They

set

a goal of 800

blocks

and went way above

i t truly thank

these

boys and

girls

for their

wonder

f u l

e f f o r t

have covered quite a bit of

country

since we l as t wrote a news l e t t e r

t raveled to Washington State to

vis i t

my

mother,

three brothers and one

s is ter

there. On the way. we stayed two nights

with

members of

our families,

one

being

one

of Vernita s brothers. Two nights we stayed with ministers in Montana as we spoke

for

the i r

churches.

The

f i r s t

was at

Lewistown and

the second at Ronan. The second

was in answer to an invitation received

when

we got to Lewistown and was

right

on

our way. The folks gave us a

wonderful turn

out on a

Monday

night which we greatly

apprec ia ted

While on

th e

West

Coast we took

time

to

go see

th e

space

needle,

which

we

found

was not as

high

as

our Her tzeg

Tower

in

Johannesburg, n exceedingly

low

tide

gave

us

the opportu nity to

go

digging

clams

on

the

sound,

I had

never

eaten

clam

before,

but

found them to be very

delicious.

Our

return t r ip took

us

to

Unity, Oregon

to

see Vernita s s is ter . One

night

was

spent with relat ives in Idaho

and

then

to

Sal t Lake City

to vi s i t the

Southern

Christian

Church This

is

a

new

church showing a good growth and

great

enthusiasm.

joined the

tourists

through Wyoming and th e

Black

Hills of South Dakota. The

buffalo were r ight

beside

the road a t Wind Cave Park, which th r i l led

the

children.

So

often we

go

right

by

many

of the wonderful

things

of this land because

we are

in

a hurry to

make

an appointment. Here in South akoka we have spoken

for First

Christian at Rapid City, Pierre, Mitchell and Huron. These are always great times

for us, because both

Vernita

and I

being

South

Dakotans,

have such a

host of

friends

in this

area. I have been

able to

spend

some

time with

my

two

sisters here

and

Vernita to

see

the rest of her family.

Please

keep us in

your prayers

as

we

return to

the

field

and

just

as soon as we

ge t

back

to our

home in

Africa

and

write to

you

we

shall

be

doing

so.

Forwarding Agent-

Mrs. Ed . Widlund

1603 Morley Road

Alber t Lea,

Minnesota

56007

Yours

fo r

Chr is t in Afr ica

The

Nicho l son s


10/18

NEWS

WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Vol. 6 No. 7

August,

1965

Greetings

from sunny South Africa We had some las t minute

changes

as we l e f t

America

Trek

had canceled

the fl ight

we were

to

have

taken,

so we changed over

to

Pan American from

New

York

to London

and

Central

African Airways

to Johannesburg,

but flew the

B.O.A.C.

V

10 one of

th e

latest

je ts We

lef t

New

York at

about

8?00 P.M. on Wednesday the 28th and was In

Johannesburg just after

2:00 P.M.

on Friday

the 30th, We

had

about

14

hours

lay over in London The

fl ights

were

very smooth and

the

service

excellent,

but this change did cost us jus t over 200

more

in

f a r e s

The

Lester LeMay

family met us at the

airport

and took us

to

their

home in

Johannesburg. Saturday we spent

some

time visiting and

reacquainting

ourselves with

some of

the

areas. Sunday morning we went to Jabulani, where we had services

with

Hercules Madikane and some of the folks. They had prepared some

special

songs to

sing

for us .

Sunday

night

we spoke

for the folks at

Beit

Street.

These were

the

two

congregations

that we spoke for jus t before

leaving

for America

in

1964.

Monday

morning I went with

Lester

LeMay

to

see

some

men

in

the

Non European

Department fo r Johannesburg. There was a problem which they wanted help with and

since

i t dealt with one of the men who had at one time been one of our

ministers,

I

was

able to

help

with

the

information

needed. We

left

Johannesburg and drove about

half

way

and

got

a

motel

room

for the night. t

was

about

noon when we

arrived

in

Port

Shepstone on Tuesday.

We

got

our

house key and

some

food and then went to our

home I t was

quite

a job getting our

things

opened

that

we had packed here. We had

made

no

l ist

in packing so had to hunt for the dishes and things

that

we needed

first. Before we get the things back into each room we are trying to give

it

a

good

cleaning,

so that there is no need

fo r moving things

again and the job will be

out of

the way for

l a ter

Each

time we

go

to town we find

that

much time is spent in visiting with many

friends

that we

meet.

They

have

given us a very

warm

welcome

We

have

gotten

new

school uniforms for

James and he

is

back

with his old class again. e

is really go

ing to

have to

work

on

h is Afrikaans.

The effect of the drought which they had can be seen

on

the sugar cane and

bananas. The sugar cane is very yellow. But at home we found many of the flowers

blooming beautifully. The bougainvilla is

one

mass

of color.

The

yesterday today

and tomorrow gives off such a sweet aroma when i t

is

in bloom. The

Kaffirboom tree

has no leaves on

it

when the flowers come but sti l l makes a very

pretty

picture.

We left Steven and John in South Dakota. Steven

is

working for the Bureau of

Reclaimation and John is helping with the harvesting on my

sister's

farm

Both

will

be

back

in

Minnesota

at the

end

of

this

month

Steven

to college

and

John

will

go

to High

School

in Albert

Lea

Minnesota. Sandra saw

us

off at the airport. She has

a Vacation

Bible

School to lead at Cohasse t Minnesota and then she

will

be back

at

Minneapolis fo r school.

We saw the Stanleys

for

just a short time on the 27th. Lynn came to Minne

apolis

with us that he might

take the

car

home with

him. We

drove theirs

back from

Johannesburg and are trying to make up our minds fo r what we should trade i t

Must

ge t

out

a le t ter

at

once

to the minis te rs with

more information about the

Training School and see if we can get an idea of how many we

can

expect to

have

for

th e

rst t e rm


11/18

Bob Mills

wrote

that the

Kimberley

Church

is about comple ted.

George

Fuphi has

moved in to the minis t e r s home

a t

Cradock

which the church has bui l t there . I t i s

also

reported that the church

building at Tarkstad

is nearly

completed.

At

Natalspruit near Johannesburg

Simon

Mtshyisa

said

that they were held

up

because

of

blocks but they

have

some on hand now and

more

to come.

The

bui lder

wi l l

soon

be

back

and ihey should soon f in ish the work.

Short ly

they are

to

s ta r t on a new

b uild in g a t Upington.

Next t ime

tha t we wri te we can give you

more information

as to how we have

found

things

and what

our

needs

shall

be.

I know

th at s ho rtl y

we

shall

be

getting

more film

str ips

and help with these

shal l

be

great ly

appreciated.

Mrs. Widlund has some l i t t l e t r ac ts on How to Pray for Your Missionary .

These are free

for

the asking. This is one place where we know that every one can

help us. were glad to find that we had retained

most of

our Zulu.

God bless

and

keep you as you

labor for

Him.

Forwarding

Agent;

Mrs. E d. W idlund

1603 Morley Road

Albert Lea Minnesota 56007

Yours

in Chri s tT

Vern i t a and Alv in Nicho l son

WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Mailed by . . . .

F i r s t Chr i s t i an Church

Camp Point I l l ino is

Non-Profit Organizati

U.S. POST G

Return

Requested

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

Box

963

Jo l i o t , . 11 l i no i s 60434

PAID

Camp Poin t , I l l i no i s

Pe rm i t No.

7

AU3 31 1965


12/18

NEWS WITH

THE

NICHOLSONS

Vol. 6,

No, 8

September,

1965

I t hardly seems possible

tha t

we have

been

back in South Africa for one month

already, but we are gett ing set t led back in again and real ly

feel

at home.

This

last

weekend we had a very welcome rain.

Three

inches in

three

days tbat

fe l l

so that none ran

off.

But

today s

paper

said

that many

catt le

and goats died

in

Northern

Natal

from

the

cold

and

the hardest

h i t

area

was

where one

of

our

minis

ters lives. The temperature in the house

got

down

almost

to 60 degrees and we wish

ed

fo r

a s tove

fo r

awhi le .

The drums of clothing and personal

effects

that we

sent

from

th e

States

were

finally

cleared through customs and on Friday I went to Durban in the rain and

brought

home

six

of

them. Some contained personal things we needed. The shipping

strike had kept them from getting

here

as early as we supposed.

This

afternoon

we

are

going

to the

Primary School where they are having

their

sports

day. The school children are divided into four teams and compete against

each other. James has been shosen to run

in the

880 and

relay

team

for his

side.

After much

lo ok ing and s tu dy in g

we

have purchased a new Peugeot pic k- up . These

are

manufactured

in

France. They

give

good gas milage and

the

motor is good also.

The bad thing

on

the coast is the rust .

School

is to

begin in about a week.

e

are

not sure

how many

we

shall

have,

because the

greater

number

who

have answered

said

they

will

be coming next year.

Had to

take time

out.

The

other

day Vernita heard a

noise that

she thought

was

on the roof, but did not see anything.

Now

she he ard something again. I went

into

the

attic,

but could not see too

well

with

the

drop

light,

but would guess

that

i t

was a snake.

I t was

on

the far side

of a two by

four

and would only

show i ts

head once

in

a while. Suppose one of these days we shall

find

out what i t is .

e

want

to get the

new set

of film

strips and

s t i l l

need about

40.00 for

the se . Hercules

Madikane

had

borrowed

Brother Hamilton s

tent

in Johannesburg

and

by us in g

the

film

strips

each

night,

had been abl e to draw good crowds.

Those who would like to help us

with

candy for Christmas should send in

their

money

as

soon

as possible. There

wil l be

four

different places where we wil l

be

doing

this,

so any help will be

greatly

appreciated.

One

of the young

men who was

in Christian Service

amp last

June is in jail.

Coming home on Saturday night from church

service,

he surprised someone in the

chicken

yard.

He took his sticks from the house and hit him as he ran away and

killed him

^ While here

on

the South Coast there is sugar cane almost

anyway you

look,

it

is

often very

difficult

to buy sugar

(often

only 5 pounds or so

at

a time can be

bought because of last year s drought and the

desire

to keep

their

export market.

e

find

that the cost of meat has gone up quite a bit since

we

were home

Have

been getting some practice on my Zulu in an

interesting way

Mark

the

small son

of the

Qwemesha s,

is

like all small

boys,-

he loves

to

ride in the car.

hen

I am out to see to things at school or to check

on

the garden he goes with

me

He is

completely

full

of questions. Quite often I get some new words or see how a

thing is to

be

put

in

Zulu.


13/18

One

r e t i r ed

min i s t e r

and one

m in i s te r s

wif e

died l a s t

month.

The min i s t e r has

been loog

at this one place and has

been

failing

for

some time,

but

the

minister 's

w ife died very suddenly.

The

Gci lima church

building looks really

nice and

shows up

so plainly being

right on top of a hi l l . Fuphi

asked

me to come

to

Tarkastad to help get the roof

on

the bui lding there , but

then

his lumber for the t rus ts

did

not ar r ive .

God bless you a ll and thank you so much for holding up pur hands in the Lord's

work here. Many

of

the folks have written

to

us ' since our

return

saying Th nk

God you have come

back to

help us once again . This t ruly lays a

burden

on

us

for

th e Lor d's work here. Pray

for

usi

pray for

the students who come to

school

and

who should come

to school; pray

for the

evangelistic

program;

pray that

God's will

shal l be done

in

a ll

things.

Did you get your phamphlet on How

to

Pray for the

Miss iona r i e s ?

Forwarding Agent;

Mrs .

Ed

Widlund

1603 Morley

Road

Albert Lea,

Minnesota

WS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Mailed by. . . .

Chris t ian

Church

Camp

Point ,

I l l ino i s

Return

Requested

56007

Yours

through Calvary,

ATvln

~V^nTi ta

Nicho l son

Mi s s i o n

S e r v i c e s

Box 96 8

J o l i e t , I l l i n o i s

60434

5fp

^3

Non-Prof it Organiza tio

U.S.

POSTAGE

^4^ PAID

Camp Point , I l l ino i s

Pe rm i t

No.

7


14/18

NEWS

WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Vol.

6 . No. 9

Octobe r 1965

Biggest news at

ou r house

is

that

James

jus t returned from

the

hospital minus his

appendix.

He was

out

of school

ea r l i e r in the month,

but we were not

sure i f it

was

flu

or

something else .

When

he was not feel ing good last week, we took him to

the

doctor. The

following morning he became sick at school, went f i rs t to the doctor and then to the

hospital

where i t was

all

done

before

suppe r t ime. He has made good progress

all th e

way

The Minister s Training School

did

not

open

as planned. At

the l as t

minute, several wrote

that they

could not

make i t and so we

fel t i t

was better

to

wait

until

next year when more

men have

promised

to come For our part now i t looks l ikeagood

thing,

forwehave been

able

to

give

much

more

time to

Zulu

study

and

to other things

which needed ou r

attention.

have l i t t l e

trouble

reading

Zulu, but th e concords s t i l l

give us

trouble

in

writing

and

speaking i t

Last Sunday

at

Gcilima,

Vernita taught the Sunday

School.

One

of

the

ministers

from

Pondoland

was present with one of his Elders. I do

not

think they had ever heard Vernita

teach

before or ever saw he r use the f lannelgraph.

I t

was

Interest ing

to

watch

them shake

the i r heads and say, yes,

yes .

They real ly enjoyed i t and sh e did well that these Xhosa

men

got

th e le ss on and fe l t

i t

was

good.

For

Sunday

preaching

we

went

fur ther into the Reserve for

the

quarterly

meeting

of that circui t I

preached

the

morning

sermon and Isaac

Nomazele

of Pondoland

spoke

for the

Lord s

Sup

per.

We

had to

hurry

somewhat

for

we

wanted

to get in

and

se e

J ames

be fo r e th e s er vi ce s he r e a t th e house When some o f th e

people asked for a r ide back towa rd

the i r homes,

i t was good to

be able to say we could take as many as could get in. fo r with

the car

before, th is

was not poss ible .

e i ther

had 12 or 13

in

the back, one was a blind gi r l who went about s ix miles with

us

I f anyone has

lessons

which you feel are simple and

would

be good to pu t into

another

language to

help

them know the B ible

and th e

Church b e t t e r we

would

l i ke

to know

abou t

them.

We have had some wonder fu l letters from th e S t a t e s

t h i s

month and some have said that they were

collect ing

to help us

get the

film

s t r ips

so I sha l l send the

order to

Mission

Ser

v i c e s

t on c e

ALVIN NICHOLSON WEARING

HAT THAT W S M E FOR

HIM BY ENOCH Z OBO LO

This

month we went ou t to Hibberdene to

the T.B.

Hospital .

We had

two good

groups

present.

They

have

done a lo t of build

ing

in the last year, and have a room now which is jus t used

fo r

church and

o ther ga therings .

Vernita

said

the

children

sang so

wonderfully, and she

did not

even have to choose songs for them The

lady who

is the school

teacher,

has always been a great

help.

The Barnabas Songo s who

minister

at Invutshini have just had a l i t t le baby girl . This

is their third

child.

Some

of

the

churches gave us baby

clothes

and

we

shall

ge t

some

ready

a t

once

fo r

them.

have had many

rains

since we came back and almost all of i t has gone

into

th e ground.

September has been unusual in that we have had very

l i t t le

wind

are hoping that some

visitors

from

the

S ta te s w il l at least stop and spend

the

night

with us in

October.

This

is

the Michaelmas Holidays so

there is

no school unti l

almost

th e middle o f O cto be r

One of the high

school

boys

who

has been

meeting

with us here

in our

home

for services

on Sunday made

th e

good confession. thank God for these seeds that are bearing

fruit .


15/18

Mrs Widlund has written

that

many have

sent fo r the

booklet, How to

Pray for the

Missionaries . We

do hope that i t will be a help to you

We

would like fo r you to pray

fo r

our

plans for the

school

next

year. There

are some who trouble

th e

work by

going about say

ing they

are

a part

of

th e Mission, but only

st i r

up tr ouble o r beg for money In this

place we need

th e

Lord s

leading

to overcome

this problem

and strengthen

th e brethren.

Pray fo r us in

th e

study of

th e

language, that we may

use

i t

to

prepare works f or o th er s.

We have just had word that Mrs

Stanley

has undergone su rgery in America Please

pray

for

them a l s o

Thank you so

much

fo r

your

help

and

prayers.

May

God

richly

bless

your

labors fo r

Him

Sincerely

in

Chris t ,

Alv in

and

Vern i t a Nicho l s on

FORWARDING AGENT:

Mrs . Ed Widlund

1603 Morley

Road

Alber t Lea, Minnesota

EWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Mailed by

F i r s t Chr i s t i a n Church

Camp

Point ,

I l l ino i s

Return Requested

56007

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

Box

96B

Joliet llinois

60434

Non Profit Organizatio

U S POST G

PAID

Camp

Point

I l l i no i s

P e rm i t No. 7


16/18

Vol. 6,

No. 10

James has r es ponded very

well

part in

sports

at school.

NEWS WITH

THE

NICHOLSONS

November. 196

sin ce h is

opera t ion

and

is

now

doing everything except

taking

t London wher

Cradock

whe r

e r

t h e r e .

ly

fond

of the

On Sunday

f a rm . We had

t was f r f rom

warm clo th ing

The

l l th

of this month was a holiday which made a long weekend so we

drove to

Eas

Vernita

and

James stayed with Mrs. Kernan and the

children

while I went with John

to

he

had

two weddings. One of

these

was t he d augh te r of

George Fuphi

who is the minist

is

a

great

day

and

they

real ly

prepare

for

the occasion.

I

c ann ot say

tha t

I am real

purple rouge which they

paint

on

the i r faces,

but

to them

i t

must

be a

thing

of beauty

morning we drove out in the

country

where services were

held

in

been

having

some ra in and there was snow on

the

mountains

not

warm. I learned long

ago

that

when you go to certain

parts of

r ight up unt i l

near

Christmas

time.

a mach i n e

s h ed

o f a

40 miles away, so i

the country you take

The next week end was a

very

cold one here as well , when snow

blocked

th e

road

via

Standerton

to Johannesburg

and

even kept th e

t rains from running. Even

inland jus t over

60 miles from us the

road was closed one

day.

This was th e road we had

taken

to East London.

These

past two years hav

known more .snow here than

a l l

the

other

years

we have

been

in Africa .

Last week end I drove over into Pondoland fo r s er vic es at Puff

Adder.

This

was my

f i r s t

t r ip

into

th is area. I saw four of the

six

min is te rs f or

Pondoland.

Bro ther E li as Sogoni had been

sick

for a

while.

When he

is a t

his

best

he

is

so

small i t

looks

l ike

a

good wind

would blow

him

away.

We have given out used clothing

to a ll the

ministers in

this

area.

Ev.eryone of them expressed

their deep appreciation.

To us i t

is second hand, bu t to

them

i t is something they

would

not hav

otherwise

and

they count i t a real g i f t . When we

opened

some of

the drums to s ta r t

unpacking, w

found

some place along the l ine some of the

things had

been taken. Every

precaution

is taken

to

keep away from th is , bu t i t s t i l l happens.

Our

hearts

were

made happy when James made the Good

Confession

and

he and Jasper Dix, a high

school

senior here at Port Shepstone, were baptized in the sea pool at

Umtentweni,

We are so thank

ful

for these who have

given

the i r

hearts

to the

Lord.

Pray for

Jasper s

s i s te r . Penny, who hope

some

day to

come to

America

to study

in Bibl e Co ll ege. She

is a very

in teres ted and consecrated

Ch r i s t i a n .

Robert

Sibenya,

the

son

of

one

of the

early

ministers

a t

Kimberley,

passed

away.

Asof

Mvane

one

of our old ministers,

has been sick for

quite

sometime now. He has a lways been an

inspiration

t o th e Lo r d s s e r v an t s .

Our prospects

for school next year look very

bright ,

so wi l l

you please

keep

praying

for

the

opening

of the

school on

the f i r s t

of February?

The Cradock Church ha s been

co l l ec t ing

br icks

and

i rons

fo r a roof fo r several years . Last

yea

they

had enough to get s t a r t ed and with a

l i t t l e

help

they

have t he i r parsonage bui l t

and

they are

very

proud of i t .

Th e

minis te r

has so much

mor

room than

he ha d before , and they

do not

have to pa y

t h e r e n t t h a t th e o t h e r

house

c o s t

t h em.

THE S HOOL WITH THE INING

R KIT HEN Mr, and Mrs. e Bar from Los Angeles spent one

night

with

us.

They have been

vis i t ing

missionar ies

throughout

Africa

and in some of the other

countries.

We

greatly enjoyed

their fellowship and

they

were

happy

for

a

l i t t l e change from hotel fare.

They

have been helping with the Hil l s

work

in

Korea and were

interested

in the soil cement machine for making

blocks.

Since we have used these

machines quite

a bi t , we were able

to

show some blocks made by the

machine

and share some of our

exper iences .

The

other

day I

received

a

statement from

a

wholesale house in

Durban

with whom

we do

business.

On

i t

was written, Your

balance is

nil , a ll you

owe

us

is

a visi t . Now

this is

good as far as

our credi tors are

concerned

on

ear th, bu t at

th e same time i t

caused

me to stop and

think,

What is

my balance

in the

Lamb s Book of

Life,

and do I owe Him a vis i t? I

am sure there

are many

who s


17/18

balance is

n i l

because

they

have

never

paid

Him a

v i s i t never prayed never read

His word

neve

real ly done anything

for

Him ow

sad

this i s

because

a l l we are and a l l we

hope

to be we owe to

Him.

God

bless

you

a l l .

Thanks many many

times for

sharing

with

us

in this great

work of

the Lord

Without

your help

our h an ds w oul d

not be

free

to do

His

bidding.

Yours

in

C h r i s t s g r e a t love

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

FORWARDING AGENT

M r s . Ed Widlund

1603 Morley

Road

A l b e r t L e a M i n n e s o t a 56007

WITH T HE N IC HO LSON S

Mailed

b y . . . .

rst C h r i s t i a n C h u r c h

Camp

P o i n t

I l l i n o i s

Non prof i t Organizati

U S

POST GE

M P ID

Camp

P o i n t

I l l i n o i s

P e r m i t

No.

7

R e tu rn R eq ue st e d

M i s s i o n

S e r v i c e s

B ox

9 6 8

J o li a t. I ll i n o is

60434


18/18

Vol. 6 . No. I I

NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Dec embe r, 1 965

As we

remember

Jesus b i r t h we wish you a l l a

t r u l y

lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God

work through you in a great way that

His

will be done in your l i f e as you bear f r u i t for Him.

This

has been a busy month with two

t r i p s being

made away

from

home. On

th e

12th, 13th, and 14th, I

visited at Chieveley with S.D.

Gumbi

and hi s

people.

I t- rained all three days so the attendance was cu t

quite

a bit . We did have a very good

fellowship

though. We saw that th e

minister

is doing very well in

teaching t he chi ld ren of h is a re a. Also there was present a young couple who hope

to

come

to

schoo l nex t

year.

Mrs.

Nicholson

had a

l e t t e r

today

saying

that

Brother

Gumbi

i s

in

the

hospital .

This

is one

of

the ways that th e Africans work. She would not

write

directly

to

me but to my

wife,

knowing she would

t e l l

me. The

Gumbi s

have a large family,

eight children

ar e living and four

have

died. They have

planted

a large garden around

their home

so ar e better off

than

many.

On

th e

23rd, I

drove

to Mquanduli f or s er vi ce s both afternoon and

evening.

At Tarkastad we worked

on th e

b uildin g, p utt in g

up trusses

ready

fo r th e

iro n roof.

Cement jus t now

is very hard to

get. I t

has been so fo r some time and comes because of t he bui ld ing boom in this land, George Fuphi, who

is

min

i s t e r here,

called th e

wood

that

was

used

Canary Pine ;

i t is

about th e h ar de st wood I have

seen.

Even

5 inch nails would bend and sound

like

they

had hit iron.

Friday we had services in the

evening.

Sunday morning we were west of town about 20 miles for ser

v i c e s

an d drove back e a s t

o f

town

f or s er vi ce s i n

t h e

a f t e r n o o n .

At t h e

l a s t farm

I

ha d t e a

an d v i s i t e d

with

t he farmer s

wife for

a

l i t t l e .

The evening services were in town again. The

folks

really need

this new

building

in

the new location.

They

are

having to go back

to the old location

over a

mile

away

and

many find i t difficult

to do. The people

are

very happy

fo r

the

pickup. In

the

morning

we

had

nine

besides

us

three

ministers

to

go

to

services

and

in the afternoon

there

were

ten

extra.

George Fuphi

is

one of

our outstanding

ministers. lie has always worked very hard and hi s circuit

shows i t . This time he

told me that

he has been

writing

stories fo r

the African

paper

called

Imvu and

with

the money

from

these

he has been paying

fo r

the

school

supplies

which

his children

need. I heard

him t e l l the people that as soon as s cho ol

is

ou t his wife will v i s i t the women s work of the areas. A

young coloured

girl

will

be coming to school

with Brother

Fuphi next

year. We

are

glad

because she

speaks Afr ikaans and can teach

the

Sunday School in

the area.

They have a

man

who will be in school

the

f i rs t

term and

stay for the

whole

year.

On

the

way home, we

stopped

in Queenstojvn

to see

Lawrence

Halafu,

- - -

who will be in

school

this coming year. His wife

has

attended before

I ^

and directs the

Sunday School at Queenstown t Emagusheni we saw I ^9 ^.

Elias Sogoni, who has been ill . He is better now but sti l l finds it I

difficult to

get

around.

Brother

Sogoni and his wife gave

us

a sheep I |L

for Christmas.

We

will share it with the three ministers of our area. I

l y

One more

stop to

se e

Min is te r I saac

Nomazele.

He

asked

that

we come

to

visit them and we hope to go in January

when

Mrs. Nicholson can go with

We

have

purchased 112 pounds of sweets for

th e

children s Christmas

sacks.

We

must have

some

ready fo r

the

TB

hospital

a week from Sunday.

I H

v81

Saturday night

we go to

Gcilima

to show pictures

and

Vernita will ^ H

be playing th e accordion. Sunday, th e

5th,

will be a

farewell

fo r

the

MB

Stanley

boys

Michael and

Duane

who leave shortly to join their

parents

I I B

in the States. They start Bible

College

next

year.

Two

other young men

I

shall

be

finishing

school

also,

so

we shall

lose them from our meetings

James found the end of

the year exams

a l i t t l e rough having been

gone for

half

the year, but

st i l l

did fairly well and will go on with

class.

SOUTH AFRICAN

MOTEL

ROOM

Do

remember that the first of February,

we shall

open the Bible Training School. Please pray that

many

shall be in attendance and that with the Guidance of the

Spirit

we may prepare them to bring the

Gospel to their own people. There will also be extra expenses with the opening of the school, so your

support will be greatly appreciated.

Thank

you

so

much

for your help during

this

year. We

try

to pray for

you

every day,

even if we

can

not do i t by name.

Yours i n t he M a st er s

s e r v i c e

FORWARDING AGENT: Mrs. Ed Widlund

1603

Morley

Road

A l b e r t

Lea,

Minnesota

56007

T h e N i c h o l s o n s

Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1965 SAfrica

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