Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1979 SAfrica

8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1979 SAfrica

1/25

JA 4 IB /:

ear hr i s t i a n F r i ends

Vernita

and I would like

to

wish you a very happy and joyous Christmas Season and a

Happy

Happy New Year.

Our

c hil dre n a re

getting

together

with James and Maria at Rochester Mn on the 9t h and

10th of December Michael and Caryl Stanley, with their

three

l i t t le

girls will

stay

overnight

with us on the 24th and we will have Christmas eve and day together.

I took

the

Mabasos

to

Johannesburg on

th e

17th so

that

they could begin

the ir

work a t

Natalspruit.

In fact

Vernita

and I had gone up

to Durban

on

th e

16th

to get

the

new

motor in the

checked by

t he r eb ui ld er s

and then to

stay

th e night at Estcourt. But as

we

left

th e garage Vernita had a very sharp pain in her chest. So we went to th e Stamms 6

she

st a y e d t here fo r

th e

weekend.

James and

hi s

wife had two beds, one

dresser

their bedding and several boxes of dishes

and personal belongings plus four half

grown

chickens. James mother

went

along as well

to see-them

settled

in

their new home

This

was greatly

appreciated~by the people of the

church.

When

we arrived a t th e church on Friday afternoon

i t

was evident that someone was

st i l l

living

in th e minister s home We go t the key to the church from one of th e women

living nearby

and

put

their

things in the church.

James would

talk

with the

man

when

they

c a m e

h o me

f r o m w or k .

Sunday when I

returned

I found th at the Mabasos ha d moved into

the house with

the other

f^ily. They have two bedrooms

and

the other family one.

They

will share the kitchen

and

living room for awhile. This will be a help in a way for then they will not

have

to buy a

stove and ta ble r ig ht

away.

James said

that on Saturday

many

people came to see them

Not

only the people in the

church, but those who

lived

nearby as well. We are certain that they will do a good

work

here. I

left

Sunday afternoon and drove part way home so

that

we might be home in good

time

on

Monday Tuesday

was

the annual

banquet

for the students at school. This kept

Vernita

Caryl and Mrs. JamJam busy

all

day cooking. What a very fine meal we had. I did

no t

think

I would

ever se e

some

o f

th e

men

students

say not

any more

to

food. But

when

some

o f

the

g ir ls

offered them th e ir dessert

they

said no.

There was

no

honor student chosen

this

year because they did not feel there was

any

one

who really stood out. But Wilfred Mduli had done very well in typing and Agnes Mashabane

in

sewing so

they

were

given

book

prizes.

The closing

service

at school will be held on Tuesday,

th e

5t h of December with Enoch

Zobolo as speaker. Christmas time is upon us. I am to play the part of Father Christmas

fo r a Sunday

School

party on th e 1 st

o f

December.

We had a l e t t e r from Enocy Zobolo that

th e ir

Sunday School would

close

on the 26th of

November with a program and sweets given

to

all.

They

had 20 children who had good at

tendances so we

bought

candy and packed that number

o f

sweets.

Two

o f

the

students from

school

came in and

helped

so

i t

was easy

this year. Vernita

and I went

out for th e se r

vice and had to walk par t way to

the

church because

we have

had so much rain the road was

not usable.

Two young

women with us and

carried

the

two

boxes of candy. Ntwala

Zobolo came to meet us

and

carried

my camera

and briefcase.

The

students

from

the Sunday

School came p a r t way

to

meet us an d escorted us

back to the

church.


2/25

They have had two Sunday School

Classes

this year and are

planning

to

have three

next

year. They gave a

very

good program of singing memory work and plays. Like there at

home

i t

was th e

younger ones

who

stole the

show.

These

people love

to

act and few of them

are

shy so the i r

plays

h ad e ve ry on e bursting

with

laughter.

I checked today

and

our t ickets home from

Durban

to

Minneapolis will cost us jus t

over

00 ha l f of th is we

have

on

hand. We wil l take the

most

di rec t f l igh t via South African

ways so will be home in

April.

The next time we write we

should

have a more defini te

date

fo r

you.

The Gardenia bush

is giving

us

lovely

blooms I

wish

I could

share

them with you.

FORWARDING

AGENT:

M r s R i c h a r d H a n s o n

6 6 4 2 G a n n o n A v e W.

Rosemount Minn. 55068

NEWS

W ITH T HE N IC HOLS ON S

Pr in ted and

mailed

by

Madison Park C h r i s t i a n

Church

215

N.

2 5 th

S t

Quincy I I 62301

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Y o u r s w i t h hristi n

Love

Al v i n V e r n i t a

N o n p r of it O r g a ni za ti o n

U S POSTAGE

Quincy

I l l in o i s 62301

^ Permit 57

Mlssion Services

B ox 7 7

K MPTON

iNp

46049

f 1


3/25

5 j ^3

VOL. 20 NO . 1 NEWS WITH

THE

NICHOLSONS

v ^

Dear Chr i s t i an Friends ,

do hope that you have had a very happy Christinas time, that the New Year will bring

you b lessings in the Lord.

Because

there

was

no room

in the

In n (Holiday

Inn),

we

had

company

fo r

Christmas.

The

Stamms,

who work

with the Indians in Durban, had

decided

to

go home

by ship as they

s t a r t

their furlough^ Freighters do not run to an exact schedule and their sailing was set back

many t imes because of the congestion on the East Coast

of

Africa which hinders the

quick

movement of

ship

cargo Thus the

Stamms

found themselves on the 23rd with only that nights

lodging and

a ll o ther hotel s full

as well.

Their ship

was

not

even in harbour. So they

cal led us and

we

were

happy to give them

a

place.

Both the Stamms and Michael Stanleys arrived a t

our

home on th e 24th, One

of

Enoch

Zobolo s sons had ask ed us to get him a pine

t ree ,

so we bought one and used i t f or

the

Christmas tree. Vernita put the

lights

on

i t

bu t our company got

to

decorate i t .

When

all

of

the

presents

were

put

on

the

tree,

there

were

many gifts

and

five

l i t t le

children

to

enjoy

i t . This made i t more enjoyable

for

us as well. Because I went to Durban to get

the

Stamms, Michael

Stanley

and

his

family took

the

candy

out

to

the

Invutshini

Church

for

t he i r

Sunday

School

Program.

We

took

the Stamms back

to Durban

on

the 28th and they boarded the i r

ship

the following

day, then

l ef t

Saturday

morning.

However, we found

that

Floyd had le f t his

winter

over

coat

here,

so

we

made a

trip

to Durban again to

give i t

to them and saw them on

their

way

to the ship ,

Verni ta

and

I l e f t

home on

the

7th

o f

December and took Vas back to

Dimbaza

a t King

Williamstown and Maart

Joseph

and James Adams back to Graaff

Reinet.

The

night of

the

7th

we spent with the Kernans

at

East London having

left

the

men at

Dimbaza. Friday after

noon

we arrived

at Graaff

Reinet,

which

was a happy

occasion

for

these

men,

especially

Jodeph,

who has a wife and two l i t t l e gi r l s .

We had

been asked to show

the

t h ree f i lms

on the L i f e

o f

Paul

to the church t he re .

showed two

films

on

Saturday night

and one on Sunday

night.

had a

very

good

service

on Sunday morning and a full house on Sunday evening. Because the electricity for the

church is

connected

to the

s t ree t

l ights , we had

p le nty of time for

a service before

there

was

power fo r the

pro jec tor .

John Labatala, minister in the

African

location, was

present with

some people from the

church on

Saturday night

and

we

had

dinner

on Sunday with them and they

brought

back

gifts

from

Mrs,

Labatala

to

her family l iving near the school at

Umzumbe.

On

our return trip we visited Geldenhuys at Cradock. He

is

the d ir ec to r o f Building

Evangelism

now

and

there

were

some

things

to talk

over.

Also

the

church

at

Cradock, which

was

bui l t

in the 1940 s,

is too close

to

the s t ree t .

They

must cut off the f i r s t

10 feet .

The

building is very long,

so

that is

not going to be a problem fo r them. But they would

like

to put an addition on the back of two rooms, This would take

the

school

children,

who

have class there during the

week,

out

of

the church building

i t se l f and give them a

meeting

place

for

Sunday school

classes

and

for other

small groups as

well.

will be

going to

pick up students

for the s tar t

of the new school

year

and

also plan

to vis i t some of the churches on

that

t r ip . 1 will not be

teaching

at Umzumbe

Bible

In

s t i t u t e

t h i s

year .

Gasoline went up 12

cents

a gallon to about 1,30 a

gallon

on

the

1st

of January.

With

the t roub le

in

I ran

t he re i s

even

t a l k

o f

ra t i on ing .


4/25

We

have not set

the exact day of the

beginning

of our furlough, but

plan to

return

to

the States during April, Please write to our forwarding

agent

for speaking dates.

Yours fo r Chr i s t

in

Af r i c a ,

Alv in and Vem i t a Nicho l son

P.S.

In

November we

sent out

l e t ters

asking

i f

you

s t i l l

wanted

to receive

the

Newslet

ter. There

are quite

a few

who

have

not returned the

lower

portion

of the

let ter.

Unless

we hear

from you

right

away your name will be removed from the mai ling l is t ,

NOTE

we did not sent this

le t te r

to regiil-^rly supporting churches

or

to

relatives,

FORWARDING AGENT:

Mrs . Ri cha r d

Hanson

16642 Gannon Ave , W

Rosemount,

Minn,

55068

news with th e

NICHOLSONS

Prin ted

and

mailed by.

Madi son Pa r k

hristi n Chu r ch

215

N. 25 th S t ,

Quincy, I I . 62301


Non -Pro fi t O rgan i za t ion

UrS , POSTAGE

Quincy, I l l ino i s 62301

Pe rm i t 57

H is sib n S e rv ic es

Box

177

KSMPTON XNp. 46049


5/25

VOL, 20 NO, 2 N WS WITH THE NICHOLSONS FEBRUARY,

1979

Dea r Ch r i s t i a n

F r i e ndb

Just now I would l ike

to

trade a l i t t l e b i t of our

temperature

for yours

over

there .

Since

the

end of January the hot weather has h i t us. Many days one can

be

wet with sweat

just si t t ing running the typewriter. But we s t i l l are no t complaining because we know

tha t the

summer

i s not going to l a s t

much

longer .

The

17th

of las t month,

Vernita

and I

l e f t

home and drove to Queenstown,

where

we met

Lawrence

Malafu

and a f te r te a a t h is home,

he

took

us to one o f the

ou ts ta t ions

to

show

us

the

church

building that they were

building

there.

Two

men from th e church

had taken

two

weeks

off

from their work

at

Capetown so they could

complete

th e

building

themselves. We

stayed that night with a couple whose

home

is in Port

Shepstone,

but they

are

working lay

in g water p ipes

in the Transkei for a

family

company.

The 18th, we went on to Cradock.

had

booked a place at Sulphur Springs before we

l e f t home- They had

given

us a sel f-contained Chalet w ith an attached car por t . We also

had use

of the

swimming pool I t was a business man s

holiday,

but we enjoyed

being able

to swim in the morning and

relax

on th e

green

lawns

under

the

t a l l

gum t rees.

Also,

when

we

cooked

fo r

our

se lves

i^

was

nice

to

do

when

and

how we

l i ked .

We preached

for the

Cradock church

on

Friday

night and Sunday

night.

The

church

pro

vided dinner fo r

us on

Saturday

a t

the

Geldenjuys home,

Saturday afternoon, we drove up

to Middleburg for

a meeting, they had a good turn out,

with the

men

of the

church

were alread y to s t a r t

building

a

church building there

and

then were

informed that they

were going to move the

African

Village.

Now i t

seems

af ter

20

years they

have finally gotten the i r plans worked

out

and

the

church should soon know

where

the i r church

s i te is . They 4680, in savings

for

thei r church building and

also

have

another account

of

2340

which

they could add

to

th i s . They have not had a minis ter

for

the

past

two years, but they

have been

working

toward

gett ing

th e th ings ready for

when th ey cou ld build. As

soon as

thei r church and minis ter s home is

done

they

want

them

to

cal l

a

minister ,

Sunday

morning,

we

picked

up

four

people

from

Cradock

Church

and

took

them with

us to

Middleburg for the

morning

service. The

building

was really jam packed.

We could best t e l l how many when th e service was out and we

went

outs id e to Shake hands.

I t took

three complete c i rc les

before

every

on e

had shaken hands with every one else .

The Cradock

Church

ha s not been able to go ahead with

the i r

plans to

add

on to the back

of their building as they cut

off

some at the front

to

get

i t

back

further

from

the

road,

because

the

man who drew

their plans for

them

did not

do

i t . in such

a way

that i t

could be

accepted

by the cityr I think a man from

the railways

was going to

give

them some help

f o r a numbe r

o f th e

men work f o r t hem.

Monday, we returned to Port Shepstone with Maart Joseph and James

dams

from Graaff

Reinet

and

a

young

woman

from

Umtata

who

was

also

coming

to

school .

We have booked a place for our

return

to the States for the 29th

of

March. We will

leave

Durban at 5:45 at night and be in Minneapolis

a t

12:30

noon

the next day. We wil l

have to change

planes

in Johannesburg and New York, We want to thank

those

who have sent

e xtra to help with

our

fares The

total

fares will be 1825., just over 1000,

is

on hand

h e r e

i n

Sou t h Af r i c a

We

met

th e S ta nle ys

as

they arr ived

back from

the

States

on

the

29th of

January, They

are

fee l ing

the heat

a

b i t a f t e r

the

cold of

the

Sta t e s but are glad

to

be

back

in

t he i r

home once again

Your s f o r C h ri s t in Sou t h

Af r i c a

Alvin

Vern i t a

Nicholson


6/25


7/25

Sou t h

Af ri ca n To rc h

Fi r s t Qua r t e r

Nic Qwemesh a

continued from page I

and Gerty ~ married in 1954. In the years since

mar ri ag e t he y h av e b ee n b le ss ed with four

children.

udi ed und er Max Randal l d u ri ng 1952.

in 1953, theLynn Stanley andAlvin

c ho ls on f am il ie s

arrived

in

South

In the

years that

followed

Ni c

a

close

relationship with Lynn

anl ey t hr ough th e Bible Training

which was Lynn

Stanley s

r espons ib il it y. Nic

started

by

l at er s t ar ted teaching an d

day he is

th e

vice-principal.

When

asked wh a t struck

h im

mos t

th e missionaries,

Nic replied that it

as thfe

warm

love which they showed to

e

Africans. The

relat ionship which

es tabli shed wi th th e

Africans

wa s

t t he master -se rvant relationship

i ch cha ra ct er iz ed most Wh it e/Bl ack

On

one

occ asion N ic tra ve lle d w ith

x Randall in th e airplane to Upington.

c d id not mind taking off,

bu t coming

down

wa s

a bi t

frightening.

His

vivid

recollection o f t he

flight was

the mighty Vaal

river

appeared to be

a l i tt le tr ickle

of water

from th e air.

The

first

road trip that

Nic

made with

e

missionaries was to Idutywa to th e

co nf er en c e o f 1954. B ec au se o f

of housing,

Nic

ended up sleeping in

e

t runk ofLynn S tanley s Nash

sedan.

rah and Gladys Qwemesha with Mom

an d

Dad

front

of

the

house

whe re t he y w ere b orn a nd

s ed . A c ros s

th e

road

is

Umzumbe

Bible Ins t i tu te .

Ayanda is Grandchild 2.

Ni c as a s tudent . Fo r a whi le bo th Max Randa ll and

Lynn

Stanley taught

at the Bible Training

School

in

Kimberley with Nic

as

on e of theirstude nts.

(Third

from

th e

left.

This p ic tu re was p robably t aken

toward t he e n d

of 1954 ,

I t was

surprizingly

roomy and

comfor tab le .

There a re many tales of travel that Nic

could

relate,

tales

that d eal w ith

mile

after mile

of punishing grave l roads , o f

damaged vehicles an d

home

repairs, of

blistering heat in

th e vast

Karoo and

snow-covered mountain

passes;

but

those

wil l have

to

wa i t

unt i l

a book c an be

wri t t en .

In 1954 Nic married Gerty, a Xhosa-

s pe ak in g woman from Taungs

near

Kimberley.

In 1958 he

became

th e

minister

of

th e Kimberley chu rc h. Thi s

church has never been

an

easy one to

serve,

and in

hi s

first year

he showed that

he

could handle a tough

job.

He

con t inued as min is t er

unt i l

1960 when

he

moved to Umzumbe, Natal so that he

cou ld con t i nue

wi th th e

schoo l .

It became increasingly difficult to ge t

permits for th e

students

to stay in

Kimberley

and

so a

new

location

fo r th e

school was

sought.

It wa s decided

that

th e change would be made when the

S tan leys returned from th e furlough.

They left

fo r th e States

in

1958.

Nic

cont inued

to

work

with

the

school

under

Robert Mills, a missionary

who

had

moved to Kimber ley f rom South West

Africa. He also made a trip to

Natal

in

order to

make

b lo ck s f or

th e new

school

buildings.

Agai n i n

1959 he

returned

fo r

th e

same purpose. The firs t buildings to

go

up were

an auditorium

and a house fo r

Nic .

Late in 1959 Lynn Stanley

and

family

returned

to the

field

and to t he ta sk of

preparing

fo r th e

coming s choo l yea r.

School opened in April,

1960

w ith the

auditor ium

serving

as d orm ato ry ,

class room and church . Now

Nic

was a

full-time

t eacher

which made

h is services

as an interpreter

less

readily

available.

Nic had always been a valuable asset to

th e school because of his knowledge of

th e different

languages [Xhosa (home

l anguage) , Afr ikaans , Engl ish, Chuana

and

later

Zulu].

The

school

has

always

ha d

a

great

variety

of students

speaking

many

different

languages and when they

r . i i . 'U 'W -B t i a c : -

with all of hi s

experience, interpreting

Is

almost

second nature to Nic,

an d hi s

skill

at

it

puts

him in a

class of his own. (Interpre ting for Alvin Nicholson

abou t

1954.)

have

not

been abl e to

us e

English,

Nic

has

been

the means of communicating

with t hem.

When Nic moved

to

Nata l, he

took with

h im h is

wife

and oneyoung daughter.

In

making the

move he

went

from a large

urban church

to a place where there

was

no church.

For

more than a

year

his

congregation

consisted primarily

of

students, then in

1962

a burly

Zulu

named Dudu Mbele was

baptized.

Since

then both h is

family

and congregation

have

grown. Nic

an d

Gerty now

have

four children,

on e

boy

an d

three girls,

and

he

se rves three congregations, th e

largest

of

which

is

a t

Number 5 location, across

th e

valley from

Umzumbe

Bible

Institute.

Nic

has always

commanded the

respect

o f

othe r s

and t h is

h as

demons t ra ted i t se lf

in th e

positions

which

he

has

held. While

still

in

Kimberley

he w as e le ct ed t o th e

Exe cu t iv e Commi t te e o f th e C hu rch o f

Christ

Mission. His p rest ige has been

such that in

recent

years his

membership

h a s

been

cont inuous .

As

a

membe r

o f

t h a t commi t t ee

he h as neve r

held th e

office of

superintendent,

nor

even

secretary, b ut

as an

advisor

and

inte rmediary, he

has

contributed

more

than any o ther

African

to th e

committee.

Even

in

secu lar life

Nic s ab i l it i es have

been recognized. He was elected to th e

committee

of

th e

local

government

school

in th e mid-1960 s and

s ince

abou t 1970

h a s se rved as it s cha i rman . Zulus

do

no t

usually

tolerate

foreigners in

positions

of

leadership, but

this is o ne c as e

where

th e capabi li ti es of a Xhosa

man

have

overcome prejudice.

Th e place w here N ic

has made th e

greatest contribution

has

been

through

Um zum be B ible In sti tu te .

There

i s

scarecely a min is te r s er vin g in Sou th

Africa

today

who

has

not

received some

training f rom Nic .

The

churches in South

Africa will long owe a debt to

this

servant

of God, both through his personal

ministry and indirectly through his

t r ans la t ion

work

and

h is

s tudents .

May God grant South

Africa

more

Chr i s t i a n l ea d er s o f

h is

calibre


8/25

F i r s t

Q u a r t e r

quth African Torph

Pagp

3

H e r e a n d

T h e r e

With

Alpheus Mphilo

Zobolo,

th e oldest so n

of and

Mrs.

Enock

Zobolo,

has

completed hi s

studies

at Ngoya, the

University

of Zululand. Because of th e

high markshe received and th e ability he

showed in teaching, he has been hired as

a

teacher

in th e University

fo r

1979 and

will

continue

h i s

s tu di es t he re a s

h e

works

fo r

an Honours Degree.

T h e

17th o f

November

I

went to

t h e

home o f J a m es Maba so 's mo th er a t

Escour t to

t a k e J am e s a n d h is

wife with

t h e i r

f u r n i t u r e

a n d l u g g a g e

to

Johannesburg, so they could begin their

work at Nat^spruit . Their furniture

consistedoftwol^ds and a dresser along

with dish es

and

bedding and their

clothing.

Extra for th e

trip

were

four

half

grown chickens. James's

mother

and

a

little

niece

a lso went a long with them to

se e

them

settle in

their

new home.

The

fact

t h a t h is

mother h a d

come

with

h i m

was

greatly appreciated

by th e

church.

When we arr ived a t

the

chu rch on

t h a t

Friday afternoon, it

was

evident that the

people,

who had

been

living

there, had

not yet moved out. The

key

to the

church

was gotten

from

one

ofthe

women living

nearby

and

we

moved th e things that the

Mabasos

had

broughtwith them into the

c h u r c h

When I came

back

to

t h e

c h u r c h o n

Sunday morning,

James took

me

into th e

house. There h a d been

two

bro the r s wi t h

their

families

living

there.

One family

ha d found

another

place,

but one

had

not.

They andtheMabasoshad

worked

outan

agreement. J ames and his wife

would

t a k e t h e

two s m a l l e r bedrooms.

T h e

family would use

the bigger

bedroom.

Then they

would sha re the

kitchen an d

living

room and Mabasos

could usetheir

things in these two bedrooms. James

said i t shouldwork alright

that

way,

for

it

meant

that he di d

no t

need to

buy

a table

and chairs and a stove right away.

Saturday they entertained

many

visitors. No t only th e people from th e

churchcame to

meet

them,

but the

people

from

t h e

a r e a came

t o

meet

t h e

new

The Sou th

African TORCH

(501-820)

is a publication o f

t h e

Sou th Af ri can

C h u r c h

o f

C h r i s t Mission, a n d is

p ub lish ed fo ur tim es

e a c h y e a r

i n

February,

May,

August and November

byMission ServicesAssocia t ion

a t Box

177,

Kempton,

I n d i a n a

46049 . Second

Class Postage paid a t

Kempton,

I n d i a n a

First Quar ter , 1 9 7 9

V o l u m e

3 0

N u m b e r

1

m i n i s t e r also.

F r o m

Rober t M i ll s' n ewsl e tt e rwe

h a v e

learned

that some ofthe

people,

who

had

no t been attending church atNatalspruit

have returned and also that t he y h ave

had

some

baptisms.

Not

only

has

Brother Mabaso been helping Brother

Mills t o a ss emb le

some

o f t he booklets

that

he p ri nt s and

sends out, bu t

has

already

done some translation

work

for

h i m

Of

th e used

films

that

we bought

this

last year

from

Cathedral

Rims,

the

most

popular have been

the

three onthe Life

o fPaul. Whenwe went to Barberton l a s t

July

we were

asked

to

bring these

films.

Before

school

closed in December,

Brother

MaartJoseph

from

Kroonvale

at

Graaf-Reinet, asked if we could not take

them home and take the films with

us

and

s how them to th e church

there.

Vemita and I

left early

on the

7t h of

December a n d took the t hr ee men t o Vas '

home at Dimbaza near King

William's

Town.

Then

w e drove

back

to

Eas t

London

to

spend the night

withRemans.

Friday

we

madeourway

to

Graaf-Reinet.

I t was decided

t o s how

the

f irst

film

on

Saturday

night,

ao that Maart could

contact as many people

as

possible

to

tell

t hem a bo ut t he films.

They said

that

Graaf-Reinet has been

very ho t

and

dry, bu t

the three days

that

we were

there,

it

rained every

da y and

was

cold. Still we

had

a good number of

people

present

for

Saturday

evening.

Brother

Labatala and some

ofthe people

from th e African L oc atio n w ere a lso

present.

Sunday

morning

we had a good group

of people present,

but Sunday

night the

building

was

packed. Because their

electricity

comes on when

th e

street

lights come on and i t did no t ge t dark

until

8:30

at

night we

had

plenty

of

time

for

a

preaching

service before showing

t h e

film.

Vemita

and I only had to care fo r our

own breakfas t a n d were entertained in

t h e

homes o f

t h e C h r i s ti a n s fo r t h e

o t h e r

meals.

We

were wonderfully

cared for

an d

had very

fine

fellowship.

We

also had

opportunity to

visit with

John Labata la and

hi s

wife

Mavis.

Very

shortly

the Labatalas will be

moving

to

th e

Transkei

t o m i n is te r to th e churches

from U m t a t a to

Butte rwor th .

I n

f ac t o n

ourtr ip

down

we

stopped at Butterworth

a n d

visited

fo r a

l i tt l e whi le with J o h n s

mother.

She

h a d ordered a communion

tray

at

Conference, an d I

made

it a nd

took i t

t o h e r a t t h i s t ime. S he w as

anxious

t h a t J o h n s h o u l d move a s

soon

as possible for she said they need

a

minister

on

th e field very

much. Th e

churches i n th e Graaf -Reine t c i rcuit a r e

already seeking ano ther man to come

a n d

work w i t h

t h e m

T he P ar am o u nt C hi e f o f P on do la n d

died of

a

heart

attack early in

December.

There is a three month's period of

moumin

foTrhifl Pft9 8i|l :

Np,one,^p^^

area that

he ruled

will be allowea to

ge t

married during that time. Also

the

Zionists,

a

religious group, which beat

th e

drums for

al l

their services, will

not

be

allowed t o

do

t h i s

either .

We

h av e n ot

s e t

a def ini te

d a t e fo r o u r

return

to

th e S ta te s

fo r

ou r

furlough,

except

that

it

will be

during the

month of

April.

Any who

desire that we should

speak fo r th em , s ho uld contact ou r

daughter

who is

ou r

forwarding agent,

for

sh e

will be working on our schedule

f o r

us.

S t u d e n t s C h r is ti a n A s s o ci a ti o n

Work

Camp

By Robert Duncan

The

beginning

of

our summervacation

in late

November

marksthe beginningof

th e

work-camp

formany SouthAfirican

s t u d e n t s

C h r i s t i a n s t u d e n t s from

various

Universities and Colleges came

together on

a

number

of

Mission

Stations,

among

them

Umzumbe Bible

Institute, fo r a period ofvoluntarywork. I

was a

member

o f t he small

group

who

worked

here a t Umzumbe.

Therewere or ig inal ly going to be ten

of

us

here,

but due to an

unfortunate

misunderstanding

.

of the

transport

arrangements

only

five

of

us

eventually

arr iv^. The first

evening

af te r our

arr ival was spen t in get ting

to

know the

Insti tute

students.

We a ls o wa tc h ed a

f i l m

a b o u t t h e c r u c i f i x i o n a n d

resurrect ion which touched me deeply

and

provoked

a lot of meaning^l

thought.

Here

we

also leamt our f ir st

lesson

in African culture;

th e men

an d

women

sit

separately

on

opposite sides

of

the hall. The meeting

was

closed

in a

continued

on page 4


9/25

S o uth A fr ic an T O RC H

Published

quarterly

fo r

the following:

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

a n d t he i r

FORWARDING

A G E N T S

M r a n d

M r s

A l v i n

N i c h o l s o n

and Family

P O B o x 2 9

Por t Shepstone, Natal

S o u t h

A f r i c a

Forward ing Agent

Mrs .

Ri ch a rd H a n s o n

16642 Gannon

Ave., W.

Rosemount,

Minnesota

55068

Mrs. Anne

Stanley

Columbus,

Indiana

Forwarding

Agent

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Barnes

Ro u te

1

Lyle, Minnesota 55953

Mr.

and Mrs. Lynn Stanley

and

Fami ly

P .O . B ox 21 9

Port

Shepstone,

Natal

So u th Afr ica

Forwarding Agent

Mrs.

Sybil Evans

B ox 18 1

St .

Joseph, Illinois

61873

Mr. and Mrs.

Michael

Stanley

an d Fa mi l y

P O Bo x 2 9

Port Shepstone,

Natal

S o u t h A f r i c a

Forwarding

Agent

Mr.

a n d

Mrs . Ri ch a rd E c k m a n

Ro u te 2

Kimball , Minnesota

55353

ll smiles for Dad s camera Diane (4). Dawn (1

and

DIna (5 1/2} in t hei r

matching dresses

udly show

off their

umbrellas (Christmas and

gifts.) Dawn doesn t

have an

umbrella so

e held

one

of Diane s other birthday gifts.

S C A W O R K

C A M P

continued from page 3

deeply

moving

prayer

in

Afrikaans

by

one

o f

th e

Ins t i tu te s tuden t s

For th e first few

days

we

had

heavy

rain

which made

th e

roads impassible

and r at he r

limited our work. However ,

we were ab le to do

a

number of small

things such as putt ing

in window-panes.

The h eavy ra ins also

provided us

with

work for the clear days,

bu t

they came at

th e

en d

ofour stay

and

so

I think I should

leave that to

th e

en d

of

my article.

The rain

fell

heaviest

on Sunday,

which was

fortunate,

because, falling on

Sunday, it did not hold up any work.

Sunday

was also a

day

of very

great

blessing and

deep fellowship. We

met

together

at

11 a.m. for

t he morn ing

service and Breaking of

Bread.

T he

service was held in three

languages; English,

Afrikaans

and Zulu,

but our unity of purpose in worshipping

our

God made us truly one body of

believers

and enabl ed u s to

serve

Him

together. The message was delivered by

Michael Stanley in English and rapidly

translated i nt o Zulu by Wilfred Mdlul i,

one of the students. Michael challenged

us t o f in d what

God wanted

u s to

do

fo r

Him

with our lives, and

I think it was

th e

first

time in ages that I have

listened

so

eagerly to the

preaching

of

th e

Word

from

beginning to

end.

Perhaps the mos t meaningful event in

our

stay

here

was the Breaking of

Bread

together

a t

that service.

Here w e

were

black, white and coloured, gathered

together as one family in th e presence

of

th e

Father

to

remember

th e d ea th o f

his

Son.

It

was especially meaningful fo r us

as South Af ri cans to be reminded

that

in

Christ there is

neither

J ew nor Gentile,

male nor female, black nor white.

Christ s

salvation and His love have th e

power to transcend al l barriers put up by

m n

Monday

and Tuesday

were drier

days

and

they were

spent

in repairing the road

and improving the drainage.

Weworked

alone in

the

mornings

and

were joined in

th e afternoons

by

th e Institute Students.

I t was a bit

like

Babel in reverse in

that

we

came together speaking

different

languages

an d came away communica

ting

freely.

We also

spent

th e evenings together;

s in gin g a nd t alk in g

informally

of our

Lord.

At

the end of

the

evening we would

sing

a hymn

and

close in

prayer,

after

which we would retire to a very

welcome

and sound sleep.

Wednesday morning

after

breakfast

marked th e end of our s tay. We ha d a

s ho rt p ho togr aphi c s es sio n where

e v e r y o n e

w ho

h a d

a

c a m e r a

photographed everyone

else. Then

th e

farewells

and

prayers for safe journey

were

said

before

we departed.

I don t t hi nk we

di d

half th e work we

would have liked to do, an d in terms of

visible results

the work-camp t hi s year

may appear to have been a bi t poor, butin

terms of

spiritual

renewal an d growth it

has

been

a

really tremendous time.

We

were able to come together fo r a while

and

refresh

our

very souls in t he L iv ing

Waters of

His

Word

and Himse l f in each

of

us .

Praise be to God

One of the things which has helped to makeNican

outstanding African is the fact that his improved

status over the

years

has not

made

him feel

that

manual labour is beneath his dignity. The sugar

cane which he Is hoeing helps to supplement his

income from th e

mission.


10/25

sor .

n

\

20 3 NICHOLSON S

NEWSLETTER

May, 1979

Chr i s t i an

Fr iends

must be wondering what

has

happened

to us, since

we ha ve

not written

any

newsletter

some

time. We were not

able

to le ave Por t Shepstone as planned at the

end

of

March t

t did

leave on the 12th

of April

and arrived here

the

middle

of

the aftemnon on

the

o

of

the change

of

arrival

only

Dick and

Sandra, with their

family, were able

to

us.

But James and Maria came

that night

and

stayed unti l

Sunday

then

Steven and his

came on Sunday night and stayed

until

Monday night. We talked with John and his

by telephone.

our arrival here

the

people at Valley Christian gave us some money

just

for our own

sonal use. We

were

so thankful

for

th i s for i t helped us to

add

to our wardrobe at

began

ou r work

here with

a

vis i t to the

Meadow

Park

Church

o f Christ a t Rochester,

gave us a chance to

stay

with James and Maria

in their

new home. Before we returend

Rosemount,

we

spoke

a t

Minnesota

Bibl e Co ll ege.

last Sunday

in April

we spoke for

the

church a t L it chfi eld, Minnesota where we minis

at one time.

In

the evening

they

entertained the

churches

around them

for

a Fifth

Rally,

we

spoke

that night

and

saw many more friends.

we

headed

fo r South

Dakota

to

v i s i t

members of

our famil ies Verni ta

saw

her

mother

two of her sisters

and

her two brothers. I was able to see

one

sister,

f i rs t Sunday

in

May we went to Sutherland, Iowa All

of

our family were present, ex

for

our daughter-in-law,

Cheri.

I spoke

for

the church

at the

Sunday morning

service

then in

the

afternnnn they had Open House

in

honor of our 25 years

on.the

mission

People were present for the s urro un di ng c hu rch es. The program was planned by our

The

church

at

Storm Lake Iowa

presented

us

with

silk

flower corsages

and

the

at

Sutherland

gave us a plaque in honor of

the

25

years

and a

gif t

of money. We

there

unti l

Tuesday and visited in the homes of many of the people.

th e 8th

of

May, we went to Worthington, Minnesota to have

part

with

the Gourdians,

a

group

in the church.

They

had a sacrificial supper and then

we

spoke to

them.

weather

in this part of

the

country has been on

the

cold

side fo r this

time

of year,

t he r ecep tion

that t he b re th ren have given

us has been so warm.

ter the Sunday evening service at Sutherland, as we were going

out to

get in

our

car,

stepped off the side walk and sprained her ankle so she is getting about

on

will go to

Clear

Lake Iowa on the 12th and see Steven and Rosalie s home whi ch we

have

seen

before,

and be th ere for

the

morning service, so Vernita can

be with

one of

her

for

Mother s

Day. Then we

will

go to Webster City for that night,

Minister s Week at L^ington was a very good one.

Andrew

D W Calvert brought a les-

n on teaching, w hi ch was

greatly

appreciated by

a ll

present. I had hoped, when I came

from that

meeting

that most of my work would be done, but s t i l l I had much paper work

do b e f o r e we left

J

\


11/25

have had a letter saying our house in South Africa had not yet been rented but people

coming to look at i t ,

so

we hope i t has been by now

churches have

joined

us in helping

to preach

the word of God in

South

Africa One is

e new church established

at

Marysville Washington and Central Church of C hrist

at

Sioux

S Dakota

are

flying out to Washington

State

on

the

2nd

of

June and

will

speak for

th e

church

at

the next day

and

for

the church

at

Edmonds

Washington

on

the

10th

The

9th

of

is a

family reunion . I f

a ll my brothers and sis ters are able

to

be there

for

that

i t

will be the f irs t time we have all been toge ther in one place fo r 20 years.

you

for your

prayers and

care fo x us

NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

Printed

and mailed by

Madison

Pa rk

Chr i s t i an

Church

215 N 2S t h t

Quincy I I ,

62301


In Ch r i s t s Grea t Love

The

Nicho lsons

16642 GannGn Ave.^W --

Rosemount

Minn

55068

N o n P r of it O r ga n iz a ti on

U.S- POSTAGE

Quincy

I l l i no i s

62301

Pe rm i t 57

M is s ion

S e r v i c e s

Box

1 7 7

KSblPTON ND.

46049

I 8

878

n

n

n

n

n

n

r

r

r

r

n

n


12/25

feet an d

a

l ight unto

my path

P s a l m s

1 1 9 : 1 5

Background

of

U m z u m b e

Bible

Institute

T h e U m zu m be Bible I n s t i t u t e is the

ou tg ro wth o f

a t least tw o

earlier

at t empt s

to

train

a

b la ck A fri ca n

leadership

fo r

th e

church.

Not hi ng is

really

know n o f the

thoughts of

th e

e a rl ie st m i ss io n ar ie s i n S o u t h Afr ica

as

fo r

t he ir p la ns . I t i s k no wn

t h a t

th e

l e ad e rs i n

Rh o d esia

very

early

train ed

m en fo r

minister s

a n d

i t is

assu med

t h a t C E

P a yn e h a d th e s a m e

idea

as

h e worked w ith m en l ike S i m o n

S ib en y a.

I t w as

n o t

until 1927

after

a

fair amount of correspondence h ad

passed between C B Ti t us

a nd

F. L

H a d f i e l d

of Rhodesia t ha t

a s c h o o l

w as

i

by

Lynn Stanley

pl anned here. This school w a s started

in Kimberley w he re T it us w as living.

N o t m u ch in fo rm a ti on w as a va ila bl e

of

t h a t effort

as

records

were

entirely

i nadequat e an d

even

the n um b er of

m en w ho a tte nd ed i s n ot k no wn T h e

fo un da tio ns o f t he

ol d

building

were

st i l l

t o be

s ee n w h e n

I

ar r ived

o u t

here

I t

would

seem

t h a t

probably w h a t w a s

offered

was in

a

large part

a

period

of

inservice t r ai ni ng

a s

th e y ou ng m en

helped Bro. Titus in his church

v isitatio n

a n d evangelism.

O n e

o f

those very

early m en w a s

T D

M athibe who

ser ved

u n til

n e a r

h is

C l as s a n d

faculty

1979

Students

from Transkel.

Graaf

Reinet

an d

Upington.

Five

speak

Afrikaans

an d

four

ar e

X hos a

d e at h i n

early

1972 H e t e ll s

of

o n e v e ry

i n te r es t in g i nc i de n t w h e n

h e h ad

th e

privilege o f b a p ti z in g

a

y ou ng w hi te

girl

w ho

h a d

atten d ed a

black

ser vice

w he n h e w a s p re ac hi ng . H e r heart w as

moved b y th e m essag e a n d sh e

received th e

Lord

a s h e r S a v io u r

W e

were n ot able to follow up on

th e life o f

th e girl.

T h e f ir s t classes w e r e h e ld in th e

Kimberley Chur ch

an d

behi nd

i t

w as

a

three-roomed dormitory.

Bro.

Ti t us

seems to

have kept the school in

operation from 1927 till 1930 and

S i m on S i b e n y a

to

have kept i t

alive fo r

t he n e xt

fe w years

a s well bu t

by 1935

i t w as

no

longer in

operation.

T h e

min i s t e r s fo u n d b y the new

missionaries ar r i vi ng in 1950

had

almo st

no t ra in i ng a n d m a n y h a d little

concept

o f

th e

Christian life

T h e s e

m en

s ee m ed t o

h av e a bo ut

3

se r m o n s

t hey could

preach;

one on

th e

name

on e on bapt i sm a nd a no th er on

th e

Lord s Supper. These

were

thought to

be essential

an d

to

complete th e

d o ctrin al resp o n sib ility of th e church.

Faculty:

M

Stanley

W

Pepeta

N

Q w e m e s h a

L

Stanley.

Principal

an d Priscilla

Nodwengu.


13/25

Page 2

S o u t h Af r i c a n T o r c h

Second Quarter

Min is te r s W e e k

by Alvin Nicholson

The new church building at Upington was dedicated

during Ministers Week. The minister s home isright

beside

the

church

building. AbK ut 10 of the

churches a re fortun ate eno ugh

to have

parsonages.)

Minister 's

Week

is

one

of the high

lights of the year.

Because

th e

Uping to n Chu rc h

had just

finished

their new bui ld ing, it

was decided

it

would be good if we

could

go there

for

our meet ing and th e church

h av e th e

dedication

of

their building at thesame

t ime . Thi s was

th e

f ir st t im e t h a t

a

meeting like this has b een held at

Upington, so th e f i rs t t ime that most of

us h ad been

there.

Upington is not quite completely

across the country

from

Port

Shepstone from

East to West. But

it

is

only 90 miles

from

th e southeastern

co rne r

o f Sou th

West A frica o r

Namibia,

as I

suppose

you often hear

today.

From

Port

Shepstone, th e

d is ta nc e w a s over

1600 miles round

trip.

Even by

train

it took most

of the

ministers two days or more to

get

there,

because they

al l

had

to go to one point

and t he n c a tc h ano ther t ra in .

While two

of

our miss ionar ies were

kept a t home

by

reason ofhealth and a t

least five ministers , who

had

planned

to go were hindered, we still

had

21 of

th e ministers present.

Wednesday nigh t is a lways

welcome

night

and we gathered in a

larger c hurch for an evening of

speeches

and choir singing, along with

cold

dr i nk and

cake to

eat.

We

were

welcomed to the i r

t own

and assured

that al l th e dogs

had

been tied up and

that

we should have a joyous time

amongst

them.

Every minister in

Pabalelo

Village

was invi ted

to speak

and many

of them

were

present. So the

many speakers

and m any

songs

we

had a

two and one

half

hour program.

The

European Supe rint enden t

also

gave an enjoyable ta lk,

sp ic ing much

of i t with his

experience

of an

Afrikaans young

man

coming

to Natal

to

go

to

school so he

could

learn

Eng li sh . H e a l so sa id ,

h e was

not at all

afraid fo r his

little

3 year old

son

to ru n

7

Aivin Nicholson an d Andrew

Calvert, on e

ol th e

younger ministers, who delivered an excellent

l esson a t M i n is t er s Week.

about in th e

lo ca ti on , whi le h e

was

working

there.

We found th e people of

this

area

to be very friendly.

All of

th e

t each ing thi s

year was

given into the hands of the African

ministers. The t heme of t he meeting

was

Building Better Churches.

The

first

man

to

take

a teaching part

was

B ro ther Andrew

D. W. Calvert,

minister

at

Beaufort

West.

His

topic

w as B ette r C hurches

Thru

Bet te r

Bible Study. He had a paper , which

was well prepared and

took

him almost

tw o hours

to

deliver.

I t w as

so well

received

tha t they have asked tha t it be

printed i n Afr ik aans

and

Xhosa, s o

that al l the ministersmay have it to

us e

and s tu dy . H e e ve n a dd ed a

note

to his

te ac hin g, w hen in

th e

questions

and

answer

time, he

was

asked, What do

yo u

do

if no

on e

will come to the classes

that you have p lanned? H is answer

was, Teach yourself, my bro ther,

an d

be better

prepared,

when you find those

tha t you can teach.

The

older

men were

given

a

challenge for

i t was

t he younger men

who came with th e best-prepared

lessons

an d

lessons prepared in such a

way

tha t notes

could

be taken and

used

a t

home .

The program was

prepared

fo r th e

annual mee ti ng o f the churches tha t

sha l l

be

held a t Barbe r ton the middle of

September.

Brother

Mtshayisa

had

not made

it to th e

meeting, but

a

letter

was

received

to

say

that they were

making good progress in preparing for

the meeting.

Saturday a f te rnoon was the

time fo r

dedication

ofthechurchbuilding. First

we walked a round t he building three

times and

then opened

th e door

fo r th e

serv ices with in .

Brother

Shishuba,

one

of the elders,

told o f t he

erecting

of the building, fo r

there was no minister present to help

them

a t

t h a t

t im e. H e

sa id

t h a t

each

Ministers'

Week

brings ministers from ail over South

Africa.

The

men enjoyed an informal

chat

when

they had

some

free time. Wiilem D ya ku me ni .

minister at Upington; Isaac Nomazele. minis ter in

the Transkei;

Maart Joseph, student

at U.B. i. f ro m

G ra af f Re ine t; James

Mabaso, min is te r at

Nataispruit and assistant to Robert Millsin printing;

Freddie Sithebe, minister at Estcourt ; and Wiseman

Pepeta,

teacher at U.B.I an d

minister

in th e

Tran ske i .

time most of th ei r money was gone,

then

they

always

found

more. He

spoke of how one of the

companies

for

which

one of th e brothers

worked, had

given

al l

the

paint

for th e

building,

then urged th e brethren

to

always

speak

th e truth an d do tha t

which

is

right.

He

said, If you ask for

something

fo r

t he chu r ch , i t is

fo r

the

church, an d

no t

for you or

your

home.

From about 5 p.m. until

after

midnight they gave their

money.

Brother

Mills

Michael

Stanley

and

myself gave R15. When this money

was handed in and

the

amount

announced, the people

began

to sing

and

dance

and bring

their

onecent, two

cent

an d five

cent

pieces an d slap them

on th e table. They continued

with

this

until

over R22

was

collected.

Upington

had

a

different

way of

giving

than

m ost o f th e m in is te rs know

in

the i r

areas.

The

total

of

money given

tha t

n ig ht was R296 and moved ove r th e

R300

mark t he nex t morning. R300 is

about

357.

Upington itself

is a very pretty town,

being built

on

th e

Orange

River.

For

the last 80

miles

to

Upington, we

drove

along

t he Orange

River . Between

th e

road and

th e river eve ry th ing was

beautiful

and

green,

but

on the

other

side

o f th e road there was a lm ost

nothing

growing. It is

th e irrigation

from th e river that enables many

people to l ive and farm here.

One

ofthe

crops

that is g rown the re is grapes.

These

ar e used for the making of

su l t an s .

Because of

the

great distance, we

drove to Kimberley th e

first

day and to

Upington

the

next.

We started

our

journey home on

Sunday

afternoon

an d got back home on Monday

evening.


14/25

Second Quar te r

Sou t h Afr i c an

To r c h

Home Again

But

r ea ll y whe re

is

home?

In th e

States

where

we

grew

up,

married

and

still have family and friends? In South

Africa, where

we

raised our

own

family,

whe re we

have

a

house

of

ou r

own, where we

have

25

years of

work

and

love in

th e

Bible Training

School?

Even

I

am

confused sometimes,

and

I

confess

there

is a

part ofme that longs

to be both places.

A

young missionary

daughter said to

m e one

time, My

be d

is

out t he re , s o

t h a t is home .

And we do have

much

more

t h an a bed

he re

-- a who l e

housefu l of fu rn i tu re

and

accumula

tion

and

a

big slice ofour l ife 's work.So

we a re h ome

again.

And

even

as

we

said

a

tearful goodbye to family in

Minneapolis, we looked forward

to

being

with others o f our f amil y who

live

in S o uth Africa .

It was quite an exper ience to leave

Minneapolis in

snow and

cold

and

20

hours

later

to walk o ff

t he p la ne

into

comfortable

temperatures and

green

grass

and

flowers.

We

spent the

we e k e n d

w i t h

mi s s i o n a r i e s in

Joha nnesburg a nd

then after

a

comparatively

short flight arrived in

Durban,

where we were m et by loved

ones. Diane , our

granddaughter,

had

b een w orried t h a t she would have

forgotten what we looked like, but

to

her p leasur e and

ours

sh e had no

trouble recognizing

us.

It

was

nice

to

sleep in our own bed

again

--

even

t hough the ma tt re s s was

sagg ing

much more

t h an we

remembered,

and we

remarked

tha t we

would

have

t o r ep la ce it

as

soon

as

possible.

But as

we

adjusted

once more to

be ing back,

the re w as muc h

that

was

good and bad. The house, which had

looked good

to us

in t he d ar k and

ou r

arrival back, soon showed that it had

not fared too well under renters, and

we

ar e

still

faced with the

necessity

of

replacing and r ep air in g t he effects.

The

South

Afr ican

TORCH

(501-820)

is

a

publ ica t ion o f t he S ou th A fr ic an

Church

o f Christ Mission, and is

p ub lis he d f ou r

t imes each year

in

Februa ry , May, Augus t and

Novembe r

by

Miss ion

Serv ices Assoc iat ion

a t Box

177,

Kempton , Ind i ana 46049. Second

Class

Postage paid

a t

Kempton,

I n d i a n a .

Second Quar te r

N um b e r 1

Home plot 204 Pumula a housing

area

near

Umzumbe. In spite of heat, insec ts and renters'

damages

i t is sti ll home.

Our

bodies

weren't

really

geared

to

th e

heat

and humidi ty of th i s area, and th e

wor st o f t he s ea son was upon

us ,

so it

was

often a task

just

to

keep goi ng .

Lynn was

still

under observat ion and

medical care after h is hospital stay

and

complained

of feeling doped from

th e

medication.

So t he ad jus tment s

were

slow,

but we feel

we have

made

it

I

thought

a lo t

about

th e

'cultural

shock'

during this furlough. We have

u nd er st oo d t hi s to

refer to a

new

miss ionary going

to a new

land and

new people, but

I

felt just as surely that

there is

a

shock fo r th e old

missionary

coming bac k to th e States. Changes

and lifestyle and

even

the ' language' is

quite different. When friends

and

family

talked of

TV programs

wewere

lost.

The s to res

were

a

new wo rl d f or

us , as were

so

many p laces to

eat

out.

The 'plenty' and the 'waste'

were

hard

to believe. Some

of th e

changes in

concepts

were hard to believe. But

Amer i cans

are

sti l l th e f r iendl ies t

peopl e we know.

So once again we picked up the

schoo l schedule and responsibility

--

more

slowly

this

time, fo r

others

were

still

h andl in g t he t ask and

t he re was

no

great urgency.

Once

again we

have

con side red a ll

the

possibilities

and

challenges

before

us .

There i s so much

we would

like

to see accomplished.

We

The beg inn ings

of a

new

water

s ys tem. G round

breaking ceremony was

held late

in March.

This

will

b e t he

s i te o f a wa t e r reservo ir .

Page

3

by

Lucille

Stanley

are pleased that th e

new

water system

is

under

construction, bu t a s we looked

a t t he or iginal classroom building

th e

realization came that

a

replacement

was bad ly

needed

in th e very near

fu ture .

Some o f

th e

same disappointments

come

to

us .

Ashwell

Bukula, minister

in Pondoland,

had send word that

he

was bringing his son up to

school.

Ashwell

arrived w ithout him, and

explained

that hi s son had gotten

a girl

in to t roub le a n d now he d i dn t

wan t

him to come up here to school and

blacken his name. The problems

haven't

changed

that much.

South

Af r ic a l ik e much o f t h e r e s t o f t h e world

i s b ei ng torn apart by problems, and

there is

a

great deal

of

insecurity.

We

do

have

th is

assurance : Chr i s t is the

answer and al l things are i n H is hands.

Rejoice and be

glad

fo r

this

is

t he d ay

(and

th e work) that th e Lord has given

Baby

Announ c emen t

Larry and Marguerite Stanley

became

th e

v er y p ro ud parents of

a

baby

boy

born

th e

22nd of February.

He

has

been named DavidCaleb Lynn.

He

is

t he 6 th

grandchild fo r Lynn and

Lucille. Lar ry and Marguerite

live

in

Apple Valley, Minn. , where

Larry

is an

electrical engineer.

NICHOLSONS '

FURLOUGH

Alvin and Verni ta

Nicholson 's

furlough

is from April

through

January.

They may be contacted

t h r ough th ei r d au gh te r and

f orwa rd ing agent : Mrs.

Richard

Hanson, 16642 Gannon Ave. W.

Rosemount , MN 55068. They

will

arr ive in

th e

U.S. on Good Friday.

Whe r e

Have

All

My Rands

Gone?

by Lynn Stanley

A

few days ag o

I

checked

back

t hr ough my car driving record book,

and

I

was

surpr ised

by

th is

Continued on page 4


15/25

4

Sou th Af ri ca n TORCH

Published quarterly

for the following;

MISS IONARIES

an d

t he i r

FORWARDING AGENTS

M r

a n d Mrs Alv i n Nic ho l s o n

and Family

P.O. B ox 219

Port

Shepstone,

Natal

Sou th Afr ica

Forwarding

Agent

Mrs .

Richard

Han son

16642 Gannon

Ave., W.

Rosemount , Minnesota

55068

Mrs.

Anne Stanley

Columbus,

Indiana

Forwarding

Agent

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Barnes

Route 1

Lyle,

Minnesota

55953

Mr .

and Mrs. Lynn Stanley

and Family

P .O . B ox 219

Port

Shepstone.

Natal

Sou th Afr ica

Forwarding Agent

Mrs.

Sybil Evans

Box

18 1

St . Joseph,

Illinois

61873

Mr.

and

Mrs.

Michael

Stanley

and

Family

P O

B ox 2 19

Port

Shepstone,

Natal

Sou th Afr ica

Forwarding Agen t

Mr and Mrs Richa rd E ckman

Rou te 2

Continued from page

3

I

had

spent R50.00 fo r

rol (gasolene).

I

had

driven

906

or

just

under

600 miles .

In

s ame

book

I

found t ha t in

1968

the

amount

of

money had

bought

143

which had gone

3061

miles.

s

is on e

o f

o u r d e a re s t i tem s T h e re

s

an

increase

whi le

w ere w ere

on

another s ince our return,

and

a re w arn ed

t h a t

t h e r e will

be

before many months.

We

have

on when

we may buy, and

are not

permitted to store it.

South

l ike m uch o f

th e res t of

th e

suffers

a

shortage

of fuel.

It

is

wors e b y

th e

fact

that

many

of

oil

producing

countries

will

not sell

S o u th A f ric an T o r ch

to South Africa. Driving is an essential

part o f o ur

mission work,

so

we must

consider

it

carefully. But it is not

just

fuel cos ts wh ich have r i sen Tha t a lone

sent

many other things spiralling. We

call it

to

your at tent ion as

you

consider

your giving.

Petrol-eater; Lynn Stanley s Dodge Rustier pick up.

A Matter For

Prayer

by

Michael

M.

Stanley

Ever since Jesus

chose

th e twelve,

th e

matter o f l ea der sh ip

for

th e

disciples

has been

an impor ta nt

one.

As long a s Je su s was here

on

earth the

disciples had

a

leader

who

was divine

an d therefore

t he b es t

leader possible.

But God s

plan was not that

Jesus

would

rem ian physically w ith

his

disciples forever. After

Jesus returned

to

hi s

Father th e

disciples

were

conce r ned wi th

choos i ng

a

replacement fo r Judas Iscariot.

Since t ha t t ime

God has intervened

directly

in choosing leaders a s h e

did

in

calling Paul and he has le d hi s

disciples in making choices as in the

case of Timothy and Titus.

It

is

clear that God s

plan

is

that th e

church

shou ld

have

leaders

and unless

they have

been ca ll ed

by God, th e

church will not

prosper.

I t h a s always

been God s

plan

tha t th e leadersshould

be trained

as well. Jesus ministry

lasted fo r about

3

years

and

he devoted

almost al l of that time to th e training of

th e Twelve. How

long

Pau l spen t

in

training Timothy an d o th er y ou ng

men

is

not clear, bu t Pau l s concern fo r

their

training is

shown

in th e letters

which

he wrote .

E ven w hen

he

w as

away from

them

he

was

concerned that

these young men

increase

their

knowledge and grow

in

Christian

matur it y. H is l et te rs a lso helped them

to

develop

a

better concept o f th eir

responsibilities

as

servants of Christ.

Here in Sou th

Afr ica

the need fo r

leaders

is

just as g reat a s i t

was

i n th e

early church and

th e need

for training

th e leaders

is j us t a s import an t

to us

as

i t

was

to

Jesus in

his ministry.

Lynn

Stanley has been involved

in

this kind

Second Quar te r

of training for th e

last

25 years,

first

in

Kimberley,

and since 1959 at th e

school

inland from

Umzumbe.

We praise God

when we consider that

nearly

al l of

th e

current

l ea de rs i n

South

Africa

have

received

some

training at th e school.

But two

things

s t il l concern

us .

One is

th e fact that

many of

th e leaders have

less

thah

on e

year

of formal

Bible

training.

(Some

such as Freddie

S it hebe , Ashwe ll Bukula and

Elias

Sogoni have

6

months or less.) The

second thing is that we

have

so

few

young men who are e ntering

th e

ministry. We

notonly

need

men

to take

the places of th e older men as they

retire, or as God

calls

them home, but

we

also

need those who can be pioneers

for God

and t ak e t he

message to new

re s

Jesus warned his disciples, and

through

th e

Gospels

warned

us

that

th e need fo r

leaders would

exist. In

Matthew 9:37 38 he told hi s disciples

T he

harvest

truly is plenteous, bu t

th e

labourers

ar e

few; Pray ye

therefore

the Lord of t he h ar ve st tha t

he

will

send forth l abou re rs i n to h i s ha rves t

Here in South Africa we see a

great

harvest

and

truly th e labourers ar e

few. This being true, we

as k

you to join

hands with us in obeying the directive

of Jesus in

verse

38. Will you

pray with

us tha t God will send

l abourers

to His

field in S o uth Africa?


16/25

OCT 2 9

1979

Vol.

20 H NEWS WITH

THE

NICHOLSON'S

Se pte mbe r

1979

Dear

h r i s t i a n

F r i e nd s

We have been traveling up and down the land visiting th e churches and neglecting ou r

part of writing letters to you.

God

has been blessing us and caring for us in a wonderful

way

I have

just

returned

from

Central

Christian

College

in

Moberly, Missouri where

Jerry

Kennedy and I had part in their Faith Commitment Program. Brother and Sister Kennedy,

with their three year old daughter, will go

to Brazil

next year. I t was wonderful to be

among young people

who ar e

studying to

serve

God Also to know

that

they are willing to

sacrifice; not only must many

of

them work to meet their school and daily needs, bu t they

ar e

willing

to commit

to

God

money

above

t h ei r o th er o ff er in gs throughout the school year.

We

have recently had letter s from South

Africa

saying

th e Lynn

Stanley s eye

sight

has

deteriorated much

faster than

anticipated. He

cannot se e out of

one

ey e at a ll

and

very

l i t t le out of the

otherL. This does

no t make i t

very easy

to

work and

also

makes

for de-

pression.

They ar e

talking of an opperation

at

th e end of this month. There may be a

chance that he

will return to

America

for the Qp^|:ation. Please

keep him

in your prayers.

Most of

the

month

of August,

we traveled

and spoke

in

Iowa, except

fo r

the

last

Sunday

in the

month we

visited

at

Worthington, Mn All of these churches worked with us

before

we

went to

the mission

field so

we

had

fellowship with

long

time friends

as well as

new

ones. I

spent

one

week

with

th e

North

Grand

Church

in

Ames Iowa,

giving

the missionary

l e s s on

each night

Labor Day weekend we stayed here in Rosemount so we could have a family get-together.

John and

his

family

came up

from Milwaukee, Wi and Steven and family from Clear Lake, la.

James and Maria went to he r

folks

in

Indiana

J us t below Chicago. Vernita and I greatly

enjoyed this time together. Our

oldest

grandson has

just

had

hi s

appendix out and

is

ge t

t in g along f i n e .

September's speaking dates are

scattered out

Sioux

Falls

S.D.; Moberly,

Mo ;

Clarion

and Logan Iowa; Faribault

Mn ;

and

RicNtwnd Mo

We will be spending most of

that

week

visiting

with Brian uy

and his

family since they minister at Richmond We will go to

Elmo

Mo and visit as well. Cummins Kansas will

come

before the long jump to ElPaso,

Texas. I always look forward to the Missionary Convention to hear what

my

brothers

ar e

doing an d to ta lk shop

with

many o f

them.

After th e Convention we ar e going to Arizona to spend a few days with a

man

who has

written us a ll

th e

years that we have been on

th e

mission

field.

His f ai th fu ln es s i n

writing

and

caring

has helped us

much Then

back fo r the

last stop at

Clearmon,

Mo before

we come home once

a g a i n .

It

took some writing bu t Vernita was able to ge t a complete physical at Mayo Clinic in

Rochester.

Al l

t e st s

came

ou t

good,

but

they have recommended

that

she

return

to

medicine

t ak en

b e f o r e

which she i s doing.

Here is a portion

of

a let ter we received from South

Africa:

''t

I am glad to receive your

letter

and hear that

you

arrived safely at America^; an^ tha^

you have visited many churches of the Lord there. Here

also

th e churches of

Christ

are

growing up. So

here

we

ar e

looking forward to Conference at Barberton, September 12th -


17/25

16th,

the Lord willing.

e

wish to meet you and Sister Nicholson

next

year, the Lord will

ing, hoping to get some clothing

when

coming back. y

wife

sends greetings

to

Sister Nich

olson. Yours in C hris t, J T. Johane.

God B l e s s

You

Alv in Vern i t a

Nicholson

FORWARDING AGENT;

Mrs

Rich a rd

Hanson

16642 Gannon Ave W

Rosemount, Minn.

55068

NEWS

WITH

THE NICHOLSONS

Printed

and

mailed

by

Madi son

Park

Ch r i s t i a n Church

215 N. 25 t h

S t

Quincy, I I 62301


Non-Profi t Organizat ion

U S

POSTAGE

Quincy,

I l l inois 62301

Permi t 57

Miss ion

S3: / ic2s

Box 177

SMPTUW i ND.

46049

p


18/25

Frolicking

In th e

surf.

As a holiday treat,

Michael

look th e stu den ts to th e beach

fo r a

refreshing

af te rnoon

S om e had

n ev er b ee n to the

ocean

before

Thy word is a lamp unto my

feet,

an d

a

l ight unto

my

path.

s lms

1 1 9 : 1 0 5

SOUTH^

aFMCON

/

TORCH

V olu m e 3 0

/ Kimberley C

v\^ ^

Bible

College

Port

Shepstone

ope

Town ondon

Third Quarter, 1979

Numbe r

3

Beginningsof a water reservoir. Bricks and sand were piled close bybut waterhad

to be carried from th e spring about 300

meters

away.

Ephraim the builder

surveys

his work afterthe

water

reservoir reached full

height.

The structure still had to be plastered before he could return to his

home

in the

Transkei

WATER SUPPLY

By L.

Stanley

Over

the year s we have

been plagued

in

the

wintertime

by

a lack of

water

fo r

th e

Bible Training School.

This has

been

because

we receive

very

little

rain

during that time, and we have

been

unable

to

store

enough

durin g th e

wetter

season to carry us

through.

The

students

have been

cooperative

in their

own

way.

They use generously unti l

th e supply is very

low an d

t hen they

conserve

and

finally

carry from th e

nearest

s pr in g, which by

this

time is

running slowly, too.

Wehavereasonto

g ive much thanks for that stream

tho,

as i t is close and on o ur own

property.

When

we

ha ve

to

r e so r t

to

s t r e am

water, I take ou t a supply for th e

kitchen each day when I go out. This is

th e

way it

has always

been

and th e

way they

expect

it

to

continue. Nor

does

it

o ccur t o

them

tha t

they

could

clean out

the

spring and build

it

up

fo r

a be t te r s our ce t h er e

For

ten

years we have envisioned an

improvement

in this a rrangement .

I

ha d hoped we

could

tap the spring an d

once

we even dug down intending to

pu t

in

a

rectangular

box some si x feet

across, but

the nearby

Africans

objected

and

even dug

ou t th e wall we

had

erected, as it affected th e

water

supply for others, so we went no further

with t h a t

idea

As more

buildings

were

erected a t

th e

school,

we began to

collect a more

lasting supply fo r t he d ry er seaso n,

and

sometimes

have

been able to

carry

right through.

So we

began

to talk of a

larger tank where th e excess rain

could

be

stored and

also

where we

could

pump water from

th e spring.

During

our furlough

we

endeavored

to

collect

some funds

fo r

th e building of

th e

tank and

improvements in

ou r

water system,

so

our f ir st s tep

was

th e

tank.

The men s tu de nt s s ai d they

would h ave t he 20 foot i n d iame te r s it e

sunken

and leveled

in

tw o

days

t ime,

but it was not

tha t

easy an d

it

took

them about

te n

days

t

Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1979 SAfrica

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