8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

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NEWS

WITH T HE N IC HO LS ON S

Vol.

9 No 1 J a n u a r y

1968

We do hope t h a i you a ll had as enjoyable a C hri st ma s a s we here. The chi l dren

made a tape for us as

they

met j u s t

before

Christmas and i t reached us shor t l y

afterward.

That was almost

l i ke

ha vi ng bee n with them

for

a short

time.

e do pray that 1968 shall se e many joys in

th e

Lord s work in

th e

place

where

you work and li v e ; fo r what could bring more joy

to

t h i s wa r torn

world

than fo r

men

to l ove

God an d h a v e

th e P rin ce

o f

Peace

in t h e i r hea r t s

e know that a ll

eyes were on South

Africa this past

month

with the

work of

Dr

Christian

Barnard and his heart

transplant.

But

this

is nothing to what th e

Christians have been doing down through the years by giving people new hearts and

a new l ife

that is

eternal. I wonder sometimes

i f

we fully

appreciate

th e wonder

fu l

opportunities and work the Lord has placed in our hands If every

Christian

would help just one to receive a new heart each year what a wonderful thing

i t

wou ld

be l

e

very

much

enjoyed our

trip

to

Capetown James

was

supposed to go to

school on the

8t h

and bring

home

his books that day bu t he took them on th e 7th

when we were there for

Parent s

Day and early on the morning of the 8th we left

for Capetown

Three

of the students from school went with us to

ride

back to

their

homes.

Since two of them

live

at

Cradock that

was our first stop

hen we

arrived they had supper ready for us and then at 7:00 P M the folks gathered

at th e church for

services.

e found~a rondovel at Sulpher Springs fo r the ni ght.

The first thing James and I did th e next morning was go fo r a

swim.

Two young men

have completed a year

at

school e recommend that they are

married before they go out to

minister. One

of these young men wanted to

ge t

married

now and

bring

his

wife back to school.

Since he

earns l i t t l e a t

school

and lobolo comes a

bit

high we are helping him with part of this. So while

there

I had

to

see

and

talk

with

his

family.

Graaf Reinet was a short journey from Cradock so we a rr iv ed e ar ly in the

afternoon.

The

minister

and his wife had just had a

new

baby but we saw neither

the baby or mother Graaf Reinet has a very fine caravan park Here again

we

were

fortunate

to

ge t

a rondoval and did not need

to

tent. Sunday

was

very hot

and windy; sometimes

i t

seemed dust was everywhere for

i t is

a very dry area.

Monday

we dropped the

last student at

hi s home.

e

was glad we had stopped

at Graaf Reinet fo r he had a siste r there Then on to Capetown and th e home of

th e Z i m m e r m a n s .

Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday mornings

th e

missionaries

had planned a

re

t re a t

on to p of one of

the

mountains I t was a very pretty

place

with

planted

pines

and quiet as well The f i rst period was a study on Prayer and th e second on

the

Holy S p i r i t e were able to be present

in

a ll three churches fo r s er vic es

and met with some of th e African folks at their study period on Sunday afternoon

as

well.

The

fellowship

was a

w on de rf ul t im e of r ef re sh in g fo r

us .

On

th e

18th

we s t a r t e d our way back home

Tire

and wheel

trouble

caused us

to sleep

by

th e

road

that night rather than P or t E li za be th .

But

the next

day

we

were

pr e s e nt

for the p la nn ed m ee ti ng w it h

Levi

the m i ni st er. We attended a meet

ing they had planned for 5:00 that evening then spent th e night with Mrs Carroll

u l f o r d

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

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drove on to East London on the

20th.

The Kernans per suaded Vernita to do

her washing ihere that afternoon and w could

visit

with them for

that

day and

start

for

home early on Thursday morning. This we did and were glad

for

th e rest

as

we returned

home not overly

tired

and

able

to

start at

once

to ge t

things ready

fo r Chr is tmas

received so many

beautiful Christmas

cards and

let ters. Many

have sent us

gifts

and money.

This

we

greatly appreciate.

Our

hearts

overflow

when we

know

that

while

we

are

many

miles

apart

and

do

not see

you

very

often

and then only

for

a l i t t le while - you s t i l l keep us so much on your

hearts.

Thank you

all . What

a

bless ing

i t

is

to be

a Chris t ian

When

we got home James hurried to get

the tree

and decorations up for

Christmas

for

he felt i t wasn't right without them. He is gone this last week of

the month leaving the day after Christmas for a camp.

He

has just

come into

his

teens; this month so

this

has opened many doors to him.

He

has

passed

his work

at

s ch oo l and

moves

up

into

High School. In

this

land

this is some extra

expense

because

he needs

all

new

school

clothes

and

now

there are

really

two

outfi ts,

one

fo r summer and one

fo r

winter .

Christmas Day we had dinner

with

the

Stanleys.

In th e

afternoon

we went

to

the

beach.

The waves

were

breaking

nicely

w hi ch made

i t

a

wonderful

time

for

the

chi ldren . For

us

older fo lks i t was more sand and sun than water .

Our African

ministers

need

to

learn

better how

to do

rea l evangel is tic

work

and

how

to teach the

people the

work of

od

I have spent much

time

talking

with

them about this and praying about i t . Would you pray about

i t also?

In this new

year, I want to translate some works which would be a great help to them in

their

teaching

program. would be most pleased if you would remember this in prayer

also.

When

we

look back to the year that

is past,

we do

not

know how od could have

blessed us more for

i t

has been a very enjoyable year and

we

feel many things

accomplished. Yet

i t

seems

that

the tasks to

be accomplished

are

just

as

nume rous as be f o r e .

God bless and

keep

you a l l .

grea t b less ings .

EWS WITH THE N IC HOL SO NS

Mailed

by . . .

F i r s t

Chr i s t i a n

Church

Camp Poin t I l l i no i s

62320

Re tu rn R e qu es te d

May your growth in the grace of od

bring you

Yours f o r Ch r i s t

in A fr ic a

The

Nicho l son s

V

- 1

Mis s i o n

So r v i c e s

Eox 96 3

JcI t : Illinois 60131

Non-Pro fi t Organiza tio

U.S . POSTAGE

lA ^ PAID

Camp

Point I l l ino i s

P e rm i t No.

7

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

3/19

N E W S

W I T H

T H E

N I C H O L S O N S

Vol.

9. No. 2

March,

1968

The biggest event in January was ou r t r i p

to

Ngwenyenl in

Pondoland

fo r th e church dedication. As

1 had

thought,

th e

people

more than f il led th e

building.

Then

in

th e

middle

of

Saturday

afternoon,

many more arrived. But these were no t interested

in

th e spiri tual

food,

bu t physical

food.

They knew

there

was meat present. This was a

large group

of th e blanket

natives.

They put t h e i r weapons a il in

one

pile, fo r along

witli

sticks

and

knobkerries sticks with

large heads on them tliey carried many

spears.

They

gathered

in

about

four

groups

and

continued

to

sing

and

dance

until

we had

finished

in

th e

church. The new bui lding here is a real step forward for the

people

there .

S c h o o l h a s st rted a n d we now h a v e t e n

s t u d e n t s .

T h e

l st

a r r i v e d

a

little

l te We

knew

it

could

be so.

Both

men who have completed

one

y e a r s

work are back fo r t h e i r second year. e

are

most

anxious

to see

these men complete this work fo r we feel th at

they will

do a

really

good work ou t in

th e

minis try . They

have a

real

d e s i r e

for

th e work

and have

a

b e t t e r

understanding than many. e learned

t h a t one who had

been

planning to be in school was hindered through th e death of

his

f a t h e r . I have no t

h e a r d b u t am s u r e t h a t he h a s had

t o

f i n d work.

James

is a l s o

back

in

school .

T h e i r school

year

s t a r t e d

on the

30th of

January,

safari

s u i t s for the warmer periods

of

the year, bu t in winter will go back to

th e

white shirls , t i e s

grey

trousers

and maroon

blazers.

They

look

very

nice

in t h e i r

s a f a r i

s u i t s

bu t they

are no t cheap and we

with

children who are s t i l l

growing,

g r e a t l y

wonder

i f they

will wear

liem ou t

or outgrow

tiiem.

James ha s

Eng li sh . Af ri ka an s and German for language c l a s s e s .

The

Natal

Mercury, printed

in

Durban,is

going

to

run comic st r i p s

using

the

new

maths,

to

tr y

and

help

parents.

The f i r s t week o f Feb ruar y, we wen t to

East

London. A meeting of th e Confer

ence Committee was held there . e had two f l a t s on Stanleys

Rambler

going

down and

one coming back. With

only

one spare, he had to go to town to ge t two fixed. Fo r

t u n a t e l y . when th e second on e came we were r i g h t near th e

t a r r e d

road and not so

far

from one of the towns. I t was

no t

ye t a f t e r 1:00 P.M. so he

could

s t i l l get the

help he needed.

Coming back from East

London,

a sheep had

been

k i l l e d

beside

th e

road.

The

buzzards

were j u s t coming as we came. e

wanted

a picture bu t

they

would

not land

while we were there. I t was

no t

long

a f t e r

seeing the

birds ,

that th e

other

Africans appeared

and took th e

sheep

away. I

have never

before been so close to

them

a s

a t t h i s

t i m e .

They

a r e wearing

February

was well f i l l e d with work and I have been

busy

arranging my t ravel ing

for

th e

next

two

months.

We

a r e

teaching

second

year

c l a s s e s which means

i t i s

no t

as easy

f o r

me

to

be gone

since Mr.

Stanley and I

are

teacliing some of the

time at

th e same periods. For t ea ch in g t he

class

in Personal

Evangelism, I am using a

very

ol d book, so

have

to copy some of

i t

for the

c l a s s .

I am also making

extra

copies

fo r some of th e minis te rs .

e

have been

doing some t r a n s l a t i n g work on a t r a c t and find

i t very

i n t e r e s t i n g

work,

and much

more d i f f i c u l t than on e might t t i ink.

They

do n ot a lw ay s use th e same wor d to t ra n sl at e t ha t f o r which

we have only

on e

word

in

English . Vernita

i s - t a k i n g

Zulu

c l a s s e s

with me -t hi s y ea r, but we

have-been

very

slow gett ing s t a r t e d . I hope t h a t we s h a l l r e a l l y

have

our f u l l two liours

each week.

e are

really going

to

take J.C.

Zulu which is about th e same as th e

10th

grade. Al l of the sermons preached

in

t h i s

area have been in Zulu bu t I have

no t

f e l t I

dared

t r y

i t

ye t on

those

who are

Zhosa

speaking.

Vernita is

teaching

the students singing one day a week. Mrs. Stanley has a

sewing class

on

another day. She is

having

a b i t

of

a problem.

The

g i r l s

j u s t

cannot

p eddle t he

t reddle machine.

They

sometimes ge t i t

going, but i f they then

t r y to

move

the

cloth,

they

w i l l

f a i l to

keep

th e machine

going. I t

seems

very

simple to

us but

they

have never done

such

a

th ing.

The men s tudents can do

b e t t e r

than the women. We think i t

i s

because

they

r i d e b i c y c l e s more.

The Stanley family is very happy,

r ight a f t e r tlie

middle

of February,

t r a i n i n g .

T h e i r son. B a r r e l with h is w if e . Ann,

a r r i v e d

i n South A f r i c a

Barre l i s to be a t

Groot e S chuu r Hospital

to

begin h is medical

The

Wally

Farnhams called from Johannesburg to as k i f we could

meet

them in

Durban,

February

28 .

to

give them a hand

with

clearing

t h e i r things

t hrough cus toms . e were

glad to

meet them and

take them to

an agent who

would

help

or

do th e clearing. Since t h i s cannot be

done

in a day.

they

came home with us

and were here u n t i l Saturday. e h ad hoped

they

would

be he re ove r

the weekend, bu t they

were

glad

when

t hey h ea rd t h e i r goods wer e

ready

and

they

could

ge t

back to th e

family. They

will be l iving and work

in g a t Benoni,

j u s t

outs ide

of

Johannesburg.

Wally

has

also promised to give

some help

with

th e

Minis

t e r s home at

Natalspruit.

Wal ly has had building

experience

so t his w il l be a great help.

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

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The other day I took the nurse back to her home when the clinic

was

closed. e were talking of

gardening for she has worked very hard in hers as well. She said even now

when

they have been given

gardens close to the streams which

are fenced against the animals,

many

of the people are not making use

of them I often wished I had a l i t t le tractor or garden plow to help some of

them

work their soil

better. I

am

going to plant some

hybrid

cabbage and see how i t works. 1 want

to

know if

i t

would be

better fo r some of the men who do

make

garden to use that. I have talked to three of

the

ministers and

we

shall get some

hybrid

corn seed next year and they will each buy some and

try i t

If

the Lord

wills we

are planning to return to the States about the first of July. 1969 remaining

itil

January. 1970. e have arranged i t thus so

that

James m y start school again with his class here.

Our travel fund and arrangements will be handled

by

our daughter. Sandra and her husband

Money

for the

Alvin Nicholson Travel

Fund

should be sent to

Mr

and

Mrs

Richard L.

Hanson 8401

- 14th

Avenue

S. .

Bloomington Minnesota 55420.

Peace be

with

you

are often the

words used by

the

Christians as

they are

parting

and this is

ou r

p ray er for you th is

time.

e covet

your prayers

fo r

the

work here .

In

Him

The

N ich o l s o n s

Alv in .

Verni ta James

MINISTERS AND MISSIONARIES

AT NGWENYENI

WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Mai le d by

Chr i s t i an

Church

Camp Point

II l ir>ols

Ret ur n R eq ue ste d

>

FORWARDING AGENT:

Mrs . Ed

Wid lund

1603

Morley

Road

Alber t

Lea

Minnesota

56007

Non-Frofit

Organizatio

U.S. POSTAGE

lA i PAID

Camp Point I l l i no i s

P e r m i t No. 7

M i s s i o n Services

Box

963

Joliet

llinois

60434

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

5/19

NEWS WITH TH E NICHOLSONS

Vol. 9 No. 3

April

1968

do hope a ll of you had a joyful Easter

time

for we

know

that many of you

were planning

special

services. Truly the World needs to know anew the LAMB OF

GOD THAT TAKETH

AWAY

THE SINS OF THE WORLD.

On Good

Friday

we

shall

be going to Ntabamlope again.

shall

return home

on

Saturday

and be

at

one of

the

churches here on Sunday. One

other place

wanted

us to be with them

also

on Sunday bu t i t

is just

impossible.

The

f i r s t

term of school has ended and while we have had two days of

th e

new

term i t

will only officially open after Easter. One student from the ten of the

last

term

will

not be present but there should be five

or

six new ones.

can

only

say

should

be for

when

we

count

noses as we begin we usually

find that

some

d i d n o t make

t

Brother

Shadrack Mazibuko

at

Durban has given up

his

work

to give full

time

to

the

church. Not that he

did not desire

to do so before

but i t

is

only

now that

the

Elders have

felt that they

could take care of his

support.

His

wife

will be

one

of

the

students

in

this

next term-

This

I

am

sure

is

good

fo r

after

having

been in school she

shall

be

able to

go home and

help

her husband in a greater way

in

the work of the Lord

Abraham

Mbamali has

writ ten he

w i l l also be back. Abraham

was in

school

two

terms and then fe l t he should

get

further education at the

secondary

school. He

went

back and completed three more years. He has worked and finished his lobolo

and should

now

be

truly set

for school. His minister is very old and I

am

sure

they are planning for

Abraham to come

back

and take

the

work

there

Benjamin Moroe is one of the

students

at school. Benjamin

is the mini st er

at

Postmasburg

Kurman and d i s t r i c t :

Because

he is so small we call him

Zacchaeus.

He

is

always very good natured. Nick Qwemesha mentioned the other day

how

Benja

min had grown.

When

he came

to

school

a few

years

ago he

knew

l i t t l e

of

the Bible

an d t seemed

t h a t he did not have

th e

n atu re to lead

th e work. But h is sermons

show careful

preparation

and you can see by

the

way that he goes about

the

work

now t h a t

he has

l e a r n e d how

t o

be

a l e a d e r

I

took

a t r i p of

almost

2 000

miles t h i s l a s t month

We went

f i r s t to

Mquanduli for a meeting

with^Brother Sibinda

and the

folks

there.

What impressed

me was

the

way

that

Brother

Sibinda

has

brought the

boys

and

young men

in to

have

an d take a par t in

the

church. Because of the death

of h is

b r o t h e r s wife we

l e f t

on Friday and went

to Idutywa;

they were not expecting us

until

th e next day.

However a good

group

gathered for the service that evening. We were able to see

the new

church s i t e that has

been given

to us .

They had some

of the posts in

place and wire was bought

to

fence i t with. A

small

building about 12 by 16

feet

will

be

buil t

for

use

f i r s t

then they

will

work

toward

their

church building..

When the church

is

built

the house then can be used by the minis ter. are hoping

to take the tent down

and

hold

a

meeting while

we make

blocks for

the

building.

Saturday

we drove on to

East

London where we had a meeting with the Elders

of

the

church

about a

problem

there. The

problem

was

sett led

and we had a wonder

fu l servic e together

on

Sunday

afternoon.

Monday I

stopped

by Kie Road and Stutterheim as we went on to Cradock

Here

again we

spent

much time in a

meeting

which i s unusual for

Cradock.

I

think

i t

is the f i r s t evening I have

been

there when I have not preached to the

people

since

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

6/19

way back

in

1957.

Their

problem was not a great one. but

i t

did need some l i s t e n

ing

ears and

some

help in the discussion;

Our

t r i p

to Graaff

Reinet was a 110 mile

drive

in r a i n

which

was wonderful,

for

this

part of

th e coun try

has

had

almost

no rain in a year and was suffering

g r e a t l y . They had four inches of r a i n in two

days

and such r a i n as l i t t l e of the

w ater ran

o f f .

Fish River, through which we passed,

had

had

f ive

inches in four

hours

the

week before

and

t h i s did

great

harm, for i t almost

a l l

ran o f f .

On

our

return

t r i p

we

helped

Brother

Fuphi

take some things

to

Stutterheim

and I visi ted

friends

I

have not

real ly

seen

for

several

years.

I thought we would

have

no churches to

build

in this new year.

But

we have

also been

notif ied that

a new s i t e has been

given at

Nlontela

in

the Lucikisiki

d i s t r i c t

of

Flagstaff ,

Pray for ou r African students, and pray that an even greater number ye t shal l

be moved

to

come and

serve their

Lord in a greater way.

Pray with us

for

the African churches

that

they may see

t h e i r

part in steward

ship.

One

of

our young

men l e f t his

work and

returned

home

to

go

to

work be

cause

the

church j u s t never gave him enough to r e a l l y

even l i v e on .

Pray for th e bui ld ing program - th e

building of

churches and the

building

of

homes f o r o ur A fr i c an m i n i s t e r s .

Remember

that

we are planning to return home in July of 1969.

Fares will

be

2,000 one w y

or 3,600 return This money is

to be sent to the

Richard

Hansons

at

8401 - 14th Ave.,

S.,

Blooraington, Minnesota. 55420; and th e

checks

are

for

A lv in N ic ho ls on T r a v e l

Fund.

y God r ichly bless and keep you is ou r prayer,.

Yours in C h r i s t s

s e r v i c e

A l v i n

V e r n i t a

and Jam es

Nicholson

FORWARDING

AGENT

M r s . Ed W i d l u n d

1603 Morley Road

A l b e r t Lea . M in ne so ta 56007

EWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Mailed by,

. .

F i r s t

C h r i s t i a n

C h u r c h

Camp Point . I l l i n o i s

R e tu rn R e qu es te d

M i s s i o n Services

Box

9 6 8

Joliet

llinois 60434

Non-Profit Organizati

U . S .

POSTAGE

1.4 1;

PAID

Camp

Point . I l l i n o i s

P e r m i t No.

7

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

7/19

The

Christian Mission

Vol.

12 No. 4 April

1968

Page 3

S O U T H AF RICA

C H U R C H O F

C H R IS T MISSION

The church

of tomorrow

has

alwaj ^s been

one of our co nce rn s in South Africa.

Partly

because of th e c ust om o f th e

people

from days

of old to

leave

the

children

out of many things

which pertain

to

adulthood there

has been

a

la ck of young

people

in

the

church work.

The

young children could watch care fo r the stock

and run

er rands

but

there

was

no

p la ce f or

t he m in

meetings

of

adults

and this was

car

ried over i nto the church. Young

girls

are

often present t o h elp with

singing in

a

simple

choir

but

many times especially

in

ru ra l a rea s

the boys

stay

outside looking

in.

There

has

been a slow growth in the number of Sunday

schools. However

few

people

with

any

train

in g

or

any desire

to

give

t ime

to

lesson

pre

paration

has kept this from growing.

Christian

Service Camps

have

helped

to

meet

this need of

those

in

high

school

and

just past who could soon take

an

active

par t

in

th e

work

of the

church.

Boys as well

as

girls have shown an interest

in

this teaching.

The Christ ian serv ice camp

movement

in America

has

gone from strength to strength

but

here

we

are

still

working to

enlarge

it.

Wherever camps

have

been held

t hey have

been

enthusiastically

received by both mini

sters

and young

people

wh o have

attended. I t

still takes much pushing

on

th e part

of

th e

miss ionar ies

to

see

that

preparations are

m ade for the

place date an d

supplies.

As

w e h av e held camps

in

more and more

areas

we

have been g la d t o see a greater

n um be r o f th e older young

people

taking

part .

They

ha d known

only

Sunday

school

before

and

had

not

had part

in an y other youth meet

ings. There

are

yoyng

people who will soon

be

taking

their

place

in

t he B ib le

Training

School and

who

with some sp ec ia l help from

the ministers

can help

to organ ize Sunday

s c h o o l s

in t h e i r

ow n

a r e a s

In 1968 we shall be holding a camp on

r en ted camp groimds

for the fi rst t ime.

B ef or e t hi s t im e

we

have always used on e

of the church

buildings.

Here at Port

Shep

stone they have a desire to have the camp

held

some place away from the lo ca l church

s o th at all

groups

could

be

away

from

home.

While

the

cost wil l have

to be greater

we

are hopeful that i t will

bring a

greater

en

rollment insp i te

of

this.

In

the other areas

w e sha l l cont inue a s w e

h a v e

b e e n in th e

past;

with churches being

host

to children

f rom o t he r a r e a s

Alv in

an d

V e m i t a

Nic h o l so n

B o x 2 9

Por t

Sheptsone Natal South Africa

Forwarding

Agent:

M r s E d

Wid lu n d

1603 Morely

Rd.

A lb er t L ea

Minnesota 56007

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56 6

i

The

old

church

building

a t Tarkas tad . The minister s

home is th re e sma ll r ooms

joined

on

to th e

side. This

building is made of sun

dried

brick. They are talking

of making a

new location and i f th ey

do we

shall need to

build

a

new

church

building.

9

Par t

of

our

Sunda;

only t ime

we met

re

w

s i e

The

new

church

building

at Invutshini.

Built

for

1200

because

we

did

not

have

to

pay any

wages.

a t

Invutsh in i

The

f i r s t

and

lew bui ld ing and

the

Sunday

be-

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

11/19

56 - 7

w

V I

Heathens who

had

attended a meeting

at

Mt.

Ayllff. They often

come

i n qui te large

numbers t o th e mee ti ng s.

I

sometimes

think they

are

looking forward to the food

more

th an the preach

ing.

wA

i

v. r T *

Africans dressed

for

t he Nongoma Dances

or

the

dances of

t h e i r

fo r e f a t he r s

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

12/19

lavuthsini Church of

Christ

nea r Port

Shepstone

Church of Christ w Brighton Port Elizabeth

Home

of th e

1963

Conference Completed

in 1962

1:1

First

Sunday in th e n ew Sunday school

at Sondiya

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

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m s

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NEWS

WITH THE

NICHOLSONS

Vol.

9

No. 5

News

has

come tod ay o f

th e assination

of

Robert

Kennedy. I t was a shock to

a l l

who

heard

i t I

re

member when I was home l as t t ime, someone

asked

i f we s t i l l had savages in this

land.

Violence is no

d i f f e r e n t when com es f rom

th e

l ea rned o r un l ea rned

This las t

weekend,

I made a

t r ip

to th e

Kiraberley area. Sunday

was

th e

f ina l

day for T. D Mathibe to minister at Douglas He began his ministry in 1925 while c \

0. C.

Payne

was

ye t

alive, continued through

th e

time of C. B. Titus, and down to

t he p re sent day. He has

been

at this last place

for

18

years.

I

preached

for the

church

on

Sunday

morning, and

in th e

afternoon two hours

were given over to

the

giving of speeches and gifts. I

While

in imberley I

talked

with

the

minister about the n w

hom

which will j /j

built

for him They

hope to start work just as

soon

as their plans

are

OKed by

the

4 | 1

city

council. The minister s

wife

has no right

to

be in the city until

this

house I

is completed. A tr ip was

also

made to Hopetown to talk about th e problem that

has

i

come up

between t he m in is te r

and

th e

church. I t is a

real task

to

get

young men

and

women

into the

work

because of the old custom that youth shall always bow to ^

age; so the older says Why should I be ruled

by

one so

young

as

you?

It takes . j .

great wisdom on the

part

of

the

young and they

often

ar e not to blame

for the

-

problem. MATHIBE

Kimberley was v ery c old while I was

there .

The ground was white with

f ros t

every morning. One

morning when I

l i t

the gas burner, I thought i t must be nearly ou t of fuel, bu t i t was so cold

that

the

pressure was no t up and

the

cold took

a ll th e

heat r ight away. On my way back I stayed

near th e

to p of

the mountains

and

there

was ice in

th e

radia tor

of

a

car

that had antifreeze in i t By

using

some extra

clothing, I di d not suffer . In fact , I

ra ther enjoyed

i t

fo r

a short time.

We

have th e

oppo rt un it y t o buy a new

sma ll g ar den t rac tor

for 150,00. This we

can us e

a t school

to

help

us keep a greater

area

under garden and

i t

is needed with th e l arge r c l as ses . I t will also be

used

to help a number of ou r

ministers

who have no means of plowing thei r

own

gardens.

I t

would not be

so dif f icul t even to take to Pondoland, fo r a number of

th e

men l ive quite close

together.

Host of them

have been doing

better

than their neighbors in gardening and growing corn

since

they have

come

to

real ize

that

you must use fer t i l izer and you must

keep

i t

clean.

Will you help us to buy this machine?

One w ee ken d was spent at Qaukeni at Lusikisiki .

We

have

been

batt l ing

with some problems

there

and

we fe l t that much

progress

was made

this

time. To

help

pay for some

i ron roo fing

which he has

gotten,

th e

minister sent a big bi l ly goat back with us to

sel l

here. There i t is worth about 14 .00 .

Here

i t

brought

21.00.

Our camp plans are pretty well set t led now.

We

hope

fo r

a very good

turn

ou t at Pondoland.

We

shall

have a large number

of

minister s p resent as well i f they

a ll

come and none have said they won t.

In

both

camps we are going to

have

th e groups divided so that

th e

younger ones shall

not

be with

th e

older

ones. Perhaps some day, we

can

come to

th e p la ce

where we

can have

them divided according to the

number

of

years

they

have been at camp.

Steven

has

now completed

his

work at Bible Col lege. All of

th e children were together

toward

th e

end

of

last

month and

after

listening

to

a

tape

we had

made for

them they

made

one and

sent

i t right

back to us .

How

wonderful

i t

was to ge t i t i

Steven

a lso sent us a tape

of his

Senior Sermon on which

we had had a number

of

good reports. I t was

our

f i rs t

opportunity

to hear him

preach

and we

thought i t

was

good

a lso

The Mills were down from Johannesburg fo r a few days, when we had a

holiday

from Thursday through

Sunday. I was gone for the w eekend so did not

se e

them all

th e

time they were here.

Please

do

no t

forge t

our Fur lo ugh Funds .

This

money

is

to

be

sent

to th e

Richard

Hansons

at

8401

-

14th Avenue

S., Bloomington, Minnesota,

55420. Checks should be made payable to

th e Alvin Nicholson

T r a v e l Fund

We

covet your

prayers.

We

pray the Lord

wil l

bless

and guide you a l l

Yours in Chr i s t

The Nicho l s ons

Alvin

Vern i t a an d James

FORWARDING AGENT:

Mrs

Ed

Widlund

Lake

Washington

Dasse l Minnesota

.55355

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N E W S W I T H

T H E

N I C H O L S O N S

Vol. 9

No 6

J u l y ,

1968

The

las t of June

and th e

f i r s t of July

has been

ou r

busy

time.

School c lo si ng e xe rc is e s were

held

on

th e

19th of

June.

This term of school had

th e

largest number of

students

in attendance

yet.

The

24th

of June, I was off fo r Pondoland and Camp

at Puff

Adder, t h i s trading store

is

named

a f t e r

one of th e snakes in South Africa)..

When we

were

all

present and counted

there

were 88 campers six

ministers

present

fo r th e whole camp time and two others for part of the

time.

One of the students from

school also

helped

with the teaching.

Camp

wa s

h e ld in

t h e

l o c a l

s c h o o l

which

served a ll purposes, sleeping quarters,

classr ooms, an d

dining

h a l l .

There

were

of th e young

people

who

confessed

r i s t

b e f o r e th e week

wa s o u t .

Next

y e a r s camp in t h i s ar ea is s e t f o r

Xopozo.

Some o f th e m i n i s t e r s who a r e

from areas farther away are talking of

having

camp in t h e i r a r e a s a s w e l l so t h a t

t he c hi ld re n ca n be p resen t by walking to

th e camp With

l i t t l e

r ai n

t h i s year,

t h e r e

w e r e

c h i l d r e n

who

d i d

n o t

a t t e n d

because o f th e lack o f money f o r t r a v e l

i ng. Some ot her s who came wa lke d a s ma n y

as 16 mi l es. Several sai d they were com

in g to s ch oo l n ex t term.

Camp i s j u s t c l o s i n g

h e r e

i n N a t a l where we h a v e ha d 39

work and could no t get time o ff j u st now This was o ur f i

an d i t was a bi g

help. We

al so held our meetings

a t

a Camp

an d

iron

b u ild in g s

housed

th e g i r l s

where they s l e p t on ma

concr ete block

b u i l d i n g . Cooking

was

done

on a

l ar ge h ot el

a s t a b l e s s o t h a t

l l

c o u l d b e

s e a t e d . O u r c o s t f o r

r e n

They had t h e i r own

l i g h t

p lan t fo r

l i g h t s

in

dining

h a l l

p la ce f o r camp

next year as well.

Ve rni t a an d I drove out

a t th e evening

services. They g r e a t l y enjoyed th e

chapel

as he

is

here

v i si t i n g

h is p ar en ts

during

th e

Jul y holidays

CAMPERS AT PU FP ADDER

in

atten d an ce. We

ha d hoped f o r more but some

r s t year to d iv id e th e group in to two

c l a s s e s

Grounds

owned

by I nd ia n c h ur ch e s.

Th re e

wood

t t r e s s e s on wood

p a l l e t s .

Th e boys

sl ep t

in a

s t o v e

a nd

t h e r e

were

d i s h e s f o r ll a s

w e l l

t was j u s t under 17 c en ts pe r camper per day.

an d chapel. We a re going to

book th e same

each night an d showed s l i d e s an d film s t r i p s

messages

brought to them by

Dar r el S t a n l e y ,

We

never

quite know what sh al l be

asked

of us . As we l e f t th e camp in Pondoland, we were asked i f

we

c oul d

t a ke a

young

woman

to the h o s p i t a l

who was

exper iencing

some

d i f f i c u l t y

in

th e b i r t h of he r

irst

c h i l d .

We

s h a l l

be

in

Durban

on two

Sundays

this

month and

s pe nd o ne

week

in

t he T ra ns ke i,

We

had

first,

planned for two weeks there

bu t

th e

opening day

of

school has been s e t ahead one week

to

give us more

t i m e a t

C o nf er en ce t im e .

Brethren, the Lord willing

i^/6x\e

year fr^ now we are hoping to be back in the States ot much

money has ye t come in

for

ou r

r etuW ^ r eknT .

This week we

received

one

of

th e

f i r s t l e t t e rs, asking fo r

a date whi l e we

are

home T hi s

on e

is fo r a week which we g r e a t l y a p p r e c i a t e

an d hope

t h a t we s h a l l he a r

from many o f you s h o r t l y .

FORWARDING AGENT:

M r s .

Ed

W i d l u n d

L a ke W a sh i ng to n

D a s s e l M i n n e s o t a 5 5 3 2 5

It

s s

that

w a llift.,^^ontinuallymo ne vr^ have

not

heard

if

there

has

been

a response to

our need fo r the garden traT?5f7nttTO -TViTh Tlie~ gTowth of the school there

is

need for

more

support there

We a r e sometimes torn apart in try in g to dec ide what is b est fo r us to

do . There

i s such a g r e a t

need

to

v i s i t

th e churches

and s pend

more

time with

them Also

t her e i s

th e

need fo r

being p resen t

in

school t o teach th e young f olks who a re

here

in t r a i n i n g . We

have

t r i e d to overcome

i t

somewhat, by

doing more traveling j u s t on

weekends,

bu t naturally t h i s also ups th e

c o s t .

Fo r

where

we would go to an

ar ea

an d

spend

10

to

20

days,

we now o ften

t a ke

t r i p s

out

f o r

two

to fo u r

da ys ,

an d

t h i s

means many

more

t r i p s.

Bu t how thankful we are fo r

th e

growth

that we see in

th e

Lo rd s work.

Ver nita an d I have been t r y i n g to w r i t e monthly l e t t e r s to a l l t he A fr ic an m i n i s t e r s even as we

wr i t e

to y o u ,-

Vernita making hers e s p e c i a l l y

to th e

women So many have

written of t h e i r

appr eci at i on

fo r

t h i s.

Vernita t r i e s to

gi ve

them something tha t w ill help with t h e i r lessons, and I write to as k

questions

on

d i f f er en t

problems

or

needs and

seek to g et th e

mi ni st er s and t h e i r people

to th in k

about

t h e s e

things an d pray

about

them.

P r a y e r f u l l y

y o u r s ,

T h e

N i c h o l s o n s

FURLOUGH

FUNDS:

M r s . R i c h a r d

H a n s o n

1 8 0 1 1 4 t h A v e . S .

Bloomington,

Minn. 55420

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

17/19

NEWS WITH

THE NICHOLSONS

Vol. 9 No. 8 September 1968

I have been

trying

to

dr i l l

holes

in

a

bread board but th e

old

dr i l l gets ho t

rather quickly any more so I cannot work

very

long. e have been able to buy com

munion glasses here

for

9.30 a 1 000. e

can

thus se l l them for 14 cents a

dozen.

This makes them 10

cents

a dozen in the money here. I have already sold 30 dozen of

them.

ow

I am making some

trays.

This one will hold 35 cups and . ha-s handles and

feet.

I t will sell for about 1,50 complete. I hope they do not want too many fo r

th e

electric

dril l gets too hot and hand

drilling is

harder.

Both Zobolo and Songo

came

and went out to school today so we could talk about

plans

for

Conference and then about what could be done to encourage the churches to

support

their ministers

better

Zobolo had

h is scooter

so

when we

were

free

he

could go right

home.

But Barnabas

said

the gear

shift

was not. working

right

on his

car

so I took him home so I could

work

on it . It was

true

the gear

shift

was giv

ing trouble, but the clutch is also shot; I do not

know

when 1 can give

him

a hand

with t h t

The

conduit

is

in the school buildings

and

the kitchen

and two

adjoining

rooms.

ow I hope

by

early next week the wiring

will

all be in and perhaps even the cable

run from the

light plant Owemesha would like

his

house

also completed before

Con

ference

and

I

do

not know

if

I can

make

that or not, I guess the best I

can

say is

we shall give i t a try. They are starting to put a ceiling in the main school

building.

John

Labatala

William Mguzulwa and I went

to

Tabamhlope on the 23, 24, 25th,

e

had

hoped to have a camp for the three days, but plans went

wrong

some place;

however we

did

have

a very

profitable

time in that area. I

had

a great opportunity

to talk with these two young

men

as well.

Sithebe

has been doing very well with his

Sunday Schools. Five girls stood up on Sunday morning and each

recited

20 verses of

Scripture.

There were others

who

had

memorized

Scripture

as well.

Last month (August) was

birthday

month. Vernita had birthday parties fo r both

Mrs. Stanley and I. For hers she took a

trip

to

Durban

to

do some

shopping. e

hoped to go to one of the game parks for

the

long weekend

the

first of

the

month,

but they failed to

get

the

trailer hitch made

for the pickup. So we went to Durban

for

all

day Saturday. Spent the morning shopping, to the beach fo r lunch, and the

boys

swam.

Larry

Stanley

went a long wi th James. Then we

visited

the entertainment

area

where the boys enjoyed riding the Go Karts and Bump um

cars then

to the

aquarium to see

them

feed the

fish.

The big sea

turtles

would come and eat

right

out of the man's hand. One shark had three smaller fish riding on i t e often

promise ourselves an outing but seldom get i t done. After tea we went home.

e have

now

heard from John and Cheri and from others

that the

wedding went off

very

well.

They are

sett led in their

apartment in Minneapolis and John is back

in

s c h o o l

Port Elizabeth had 17 inches of

rain.

That

is

only

three

less than their year

ly average. Eight people were killed many injured and many many families

made

homeless

e have

begun

Thursday night services at the railway compound. The first night

was

the

largest

fo r

i t seemed

many just

came

to see

what was going on.

Some

have

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

18/19

expressed the i r

apprecia tio n for

our coming and

we have

enjoyed

i t e use film

s t r ips and

then speak for a l i t t l e on the

lesson

which

they bring.

One of

our mem

bers transferred from another area.

Since

he is Compound

Guard,

he is always

pres

ent to help us.

Vernita speaking now:

The

sewing

class goes slow.

The

gir ls want to

f in i sh

pinafores

(the sort of

cover-all

aprons that

we wear

in the States)

by

Conference time. Last Friday,

we

were able to ei ther cut or at least pin a ll pieces on to be cut next time. There

is

only

one

who

is

s t i l l

working

on

her s imple apron.

She came

late

so

i t

is

doubtful

i f she will get a pinafore made though she is faster than some of

the

others have

been. The sewing machines are some of the trouble, as one is very ancienfand

another doesn t sew the

best.

The gir ls hate

to use

the tred le , so there we are.

e now have two men in c lass Both want to make shi r t s The

one has

been

in

class

long enough

that

he has made a

shi r t

already and wants to do

another.

The

other

just started bu t he has done some sewing before.

Music class goes as

usual,

I have discovered why our songs do not always seem

to take thei r

language

and why

thy

prefer some tun4: to

others.

The meter in

their language is different than ours he accent often falls in the wrong place

when

our

tunes are

used.

Theirs i s tochaic and

ours

i s Iambic. One tune I have

tried

seems

to f i t pretty well, except fo r

a

couple

places,

that is ,

Safe Am

I.

With a prayer

for

the Lord s blessing and guidance for you al l

FORWARDING AGENT:

Mrs.

Ed Widlund

Lake Washington

Dasse l Minnesota

WS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Mailed b y

C h r i s t i a n Church

Camp Point , I l l in o i s

R et ur n R eq ue ste d

55325

Yours in C h r i s t

The N i c h o l s o n s

FURLOUGH

FUNDS:

Mrs R i c h a r d Hanson

3401

14th

Avenue So u th

Bloomington,

Minn.

55420

OCT 22

^

Non-profit

Organizatio

U S POSTAGE

1.4^

PAID

Camp Point ,

I l l in o i s

P e r m i t

No. 7

M l

3 D

1 on 1 5 rvi s

D ox

9 o 3

Joliut llinois 60434

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1968 SAfrica

19/19

V o l . 9 No . 11

D e a r

Chr i s t i a n

Fr i ends :

NEWS WITH

TH E

NICHOLSONS

-.

December 1968

We

want

to

thank you

fo r

your

help

and

prayers throughout this year. I t

seems

like i t has gone so quickly that

we

hardly know where i t has gone. We know

that

much has been accomplished, but

s t i l l

there is much that we had hoped to

get

done

and

d id no t

The Training School has only about two weeks to go and the students ar e get

ting

anxious to go home Most of them have been

away

from home fo r most of the

year. For a number of

them i t

is the

first

time to be gone

from home

for so long,

Lynn

Stanley

will

be going as far as Cradock. There he will have the wedding for

William Mguzulwa and Lizzie Cwili, Then after the first of the year they will be

moving

t o W hi tt le se a

from where they shal l work in Queenstown and a new location

being built nearby. We feel certain that they will

do

a good work.

After the

first

trouble on the way to Kimberley, the

rest

of the trip

was

without

incident. The minister s

home there was

nearly

ready fo r the roof when

we

left.

I

have had no

further

word

from them since that time. hope shortly

more

homes f o r

th e

m i n i st e r s s h a l l

be

f in is h e d as

w e l l .

Simon Gumbi died in January 1967 His wife died suddenly the last of October.

There ar e

s t i l l

a large number of very small children. Freddie Sithebe took them

to hi s home

until

he could

work

out

where

they will be

living.

We

shall

know more

after

this

weekend 30th of November and 1s t of December

for

I am to be

at

Es-

cour t an d C o l e n s o

fo r

s e rv ices

The second Sunday in December I shall be with Stephen

Kwetshubi

in Pondoland.

The

two Sundays before Christmas,

we

shall be giving treats to the Sunday Schools

in

t h i s

a r e a

We have had many rainy days here in Natal. But

i t has been good

because

it

has

kept us from

having

very hot

days

as yet.

The

rains have

come

so

softly

that

there

has been

no

damage

at

all.

are

very

glad for this as

it

has

given

us

many

vegetables for the students at school. The Merry Tiller has

been

a great

help

in

caring for a larger

area

and also the ground is in much better condition.

James

has finished his exams for the year and they are mostly

marking

time

For

many

of the boys the

ocean

is a great attraction after school Our

neighbor

caught a 24 lb . Cape salmon and gave us a piece of i t

Pray

for the school.

hope

there will be a large number in the new year.

Indications are that it will be so.

hope they will take several years of train

ing

as

some

or

most ail

of these

have

done It will

be

a great

help

to the

church

Pray for

us

that the

Lord

may use us in the best way that e sees

fit;

that we

shall

seek

His

will

and

that

our

messages

will

be

a great

help

to

the

people

With

the

New

fear,

we

will

be even more anxious

that

al l things

are ready for

our

furlough

time have

not

booked as yet,

but

we must do so very shortly.

We

are so thankful to

know

that the medicine that

Hazel

received at Rochester

has

helped

her. But we

still urge al l

to

continue

daily in

prayer

for her.

ay

th e Lord bless and

guide

you a ll

in

th e

New

Year.

May

th e

Lord

b e l

Yours

in Chr i s t

Alvin Vernita and James Nic holson

ORWARDING AGENT: