Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1980 SAfrica

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    ^53 JAKS B3Vol. 21 1 NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS January 1980

    D e a r C h r i s t i a n F r i e n d s

    Today is D day e are to leave Minneapolis at 2:10 this afternoon. e will leaveNew York at 7:00 P M tonight and arrive in Johannesburg at 7:00 P M tomorrow night. Wewill go on to Durban a l i t t le la ter getting in there about 9:30 P M

    e have greatly enjoyed the fellowship and love of Christian people here. e pray thath e church sha l l go from S tre ng th to s t rength

    A l e t t e r from James Mabaso came l a s t week asking us to be present fo r a mee ting inSoweto in Johannesburg on February 2nd

    y sister and her husband from Rapid City, and the other sister from Harrold, S. Dakowith her husband came and spent this l as t weekend with us to say good-bye. Steven and hifamily from Clear Lake la. and James and his family from Rochester, Minnesota also cameto see us as we were ge t t i ng ready to l eave

    We have one box l e f t to t ie th is morning and several to take to th e post off ice We

    have sent a tota l of 35 boxes in a l l This has come to about 400. Would any one l ike thelp us with 1 or 2 on this. A box with 15 pounds of clothing in i t costs about 1to send We have checked the number of a r t i c l e s we have had in them and th is s t i l l makesthe cost per article cheap compared to buying new ones. I t you send a box, do not sendtoo many children's clothes. Most of the minister's children are either older or veryyoung Also when valuing the articles do not value them higher than you would for agarage sale and perhaps a l i t t le cheaper would be better If the value is too high, wehave to get them through the Durban Post Office as they want to check to see i f dutys h o u l d b e p a i d

    Please pray for Wiseman Pepeta and Ashwell Bukula Also Robert Geldenhuys and thec h u r c h a t C r a d o c k

    Except for a virus infection which caused Vernita to lose her voice and to be in bedfor a couple of days, she has been feeling very good.

    y blood pressure is very good and I am feeling good When I get back to the field, Imust take off some weight. November and December were wonderful months with Thanksgivingand Christmas but they di d nothing good for my waist l ine

    We ar e thankful that th is winter has been open and no t much c ol d w ea th er Only threetimes did we have to drive on icy roads and only once for a short distance with snow ont h e r o a d

    The Saturday before Christmas while going to Steven's, a young womanpassing on thefreeway spun out and lightly hi t the back bumper of the Torino with a rear fender. Godh a s t a k e n w o n d e r f u l c a r e o f u s

    Dick and Sandra have given us great help as they provided a place for us to stay andput up with our goings and comings

    May God bless each one of you as you l ive fo r Him

    Love

    l v i n & Ve r n i t a

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    1 0 1580

    VOL. 21 2 NICHOLSON S NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 1

    D e a r C h r i s t i a n F r i e n d s

    Once again we greet you from South Africa. Because of a very bad hail storm in the areof the Johannesburg airport , we did not leave Minneapolis until the 17th of January ratherthan the 16th. South Africa had many planes badly damaged in the ha i l storm.

    Bob and Phyllis Mills met us in Johannesburg and we visited until i t was time to fly o

    to Durban. In Durban we were met by the Floyd Stamm Family and Michael Stanley along withhis parents, Lynn andLucille. They had come up to bring us to the Stanley home at UmzumI t was good to ge t into bed,but I found I was up af ter a few hours ready to go. But thatchanged in a few days.

    The people had moved out of our home at the beginning of the year, so we could s ta r t aonce getting i t back as we wanted i t . The young woman, who had worked for us, when we lecame back th e f i r s t day we were at th e house to work and since she use to working for us,i t was easy to ge t right at th e work. However, before we moved things back we decided i twould be better to go over siTL the floors wTth plastic se^aler. had things back in plaso t h a t we moved back i n on t h e 25th o f Janua ry.

    We sold our stove before leaving and have not found one yet , so we re cooking with oneelectric fr y pan, one crock pot and one plate on a gas bottle, but we are getting along O

    Our l i t t l e car had a hole in the diaphram of th e ga s pump, so was putt ing gasoline inth e oi l . So i t could n ot be used for a few days. We have been looking fo r a bus or a vawhich wil l help us in carrying people. There ar e plenty of pick-ups fo r sale , but nutto o many o f t hese v e h i c l e s .

    Nine packages have arrived from Overseas. The post office here has valued them at abo 22 each and charged us 25 per cent duty, so i t has been costing us about 10 each to getthem from the p o s t o f f i c e .

    We know t h a t we are back a t work in South A fr ica , fo r we have had a c a l l fo r the t e n t

    fo r me to preach at that time as well. They want the tent for Easter time. There was ala call from a lumber yard fo r permission to s e l l doors, windows and a roof to one of th eAfrican ministers and charge i t to the Mission. Letters have already been arriving fromth e ministers asking fo r help and for information. We thank God for the o pp or tu ni ti es t os e r v e H i m .

    We would ask you as we did b ef ore to continue in prayer fo r Robert Geldenhuys and th eChurch a t Cradock. I have been asked to go the re an d v i s i t as soon as I can.

    School has s t a r t ed a t Umzumbe and there are 13 students present . I am teaching Lifeof Christ to th e f i r s t year students and Preaching to the second year. I t i s s t i l llikely that a couple more students will come. I am teaching on Monday and Friday tobalance Wiseman Pepeta, who teaches on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    Freddie Sithebe a t Escour t w i l l hos t m i n i s t e r s week, th e 1 1t h t hro ug h th e 13th o f MaThe Missionaries wil l ei ther arrive two days before tha t meeting or s tay two days a f t e r,so they can have a meeting. We are f or tu na te , f or White Mountain Inn i s near by and hasboth h o t e l rooms and camp space .

    During the time that we were in the States, South Africa suffered from the lack ofra in . There have been good rains in th is a re a s in ce we go t back and we have been so thanf u l t h a t we have ha d few e i t h e r hot o r humid days.

    Sincerely in Chris t our Savior

    A l v i n & Ve r n i t a N i c h o l s o n

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    Th e little tots of th e play center sing somec h o r u s e s fo r t h e i r vis i tors .

    S O U T H

    a r m c A N

    TOrftH ^ imberley^ > Bible College

    I ort h pston

    If London

    T hy word i s o l a m p unto myfee t, an d a l i gh t unto m y p a th

    P s a l m s 1 1 9 : 1 0 5

    Vo l u m e 3 1 Fi r s t Quar te r, 1 9 8 0 N u m b e r

    D A Y C A R E C E N T E R A T I M V U T S H I N Iby Lucille Stanley

    In recent months Anna Songo, wifeo f t h e m i n i s t e r o f t h e I m v u t s h i n i

    church, has watched a vision o f h er sbecome a reality, b ut n ot without a lo tof effort on her part. T hey have beenable to establ ish a creche ~ day carec e n t e r f o r t h e l i t t le c h i l d r e n o f t h a ta r e a S h e h a s h a d a d v i c eencouragement and s om e h el p f ro m al oca l women 's organization.

    T h e n e e d w a s o b v i o u s S m a l lpreschool children were being left

    a l o n e a t h o m e w h i l e t h e i r m o t h e r sw e n t o f f t o w o r k a n d t h e o l d e r c h i l d r e n

    w e n t to s c h o o lA place for th e creche became

    avai lable in 1979. I t w as a buildingwhich had been put up a t th e church fo ra dining room during conference th eprev ious year. I t w a s b ei ng used as ac l a s s r o o m f o r t h e lo ca l s ch oo l u n t i l

    their ne w b u il d in g w a s completed.The Cente r got o ff to a r a th e r s h ak y

    start, as it was first opened in ear lySeptember, and Anna and Barnabashad to be away shor t ly after itsbeginning fo r our church annua lconference. The women had organizeda schedule of helpers fo r th e creche, but

    T h e o l d e r o n e s

    l e a rn t o m a k e th e

    le t ters . T h e r e Is as e n t e n c e which g o e sw i t h e a c h l e t t e re xp la in in g h ow it ism a d e

    T h e b e n c h e s c o n

    sist of a board on to po f c o n c r e t e b locks ,softened with carpetsquares: bu t th ec hi l d re n a re n o tc o n c e r n e d w it h t ha t,they a re c on ce rn edabout what is beingserved up in thosec u p s

    t h a t didn ' t work out an d one womanwas carry ing the full load. There wa smuch to learn aboutcar ing fo r so manychi ldren a t one t ime. A t firs t th ewomen just sa t with th e children, an dth e children largely sa t an d di dnothing. Progress ha s been made an dno w they have a s or t o f s ch ed ul e inwhich they sleep play indoors and outh a v e m e a l s a n d so forth.

    One of th e biggest advantages fo rth e children apar t from not being left

    a lone al l day is tha t they are no wreceiving regular nourishing food. Thew or ki ng m o th er s pay ab ou t 3.70 amonth to help pay fo r food but thecreche receives donat ions of vegetablea nd f ru i t f ro m l oc al g ro u ps . There is af u n d a l s o t h a t m a k e s m i l k a v a i l a b l e fo reach day. And i t is a noteworthy facttha t th e children have improved anddeveloped a great deal in these fewm o n t h s T h e r e w e r e 19 c h il d re n w h e nthey c lo sed for th e holidays. The littleones a r e b r o ug h t to th e c reche by o lde rbrothers a nd sisters on t he i r w ay toschool a t 7:30 and are picked up byth em w he n th ey g o h om e f ro m sch oo la b o u t 3:30. T h e c h i l d r e n a r e f r o m a fe w

    months to school going age, which cavary quite a little with Africans.

    T h e w o m e n w h o c a r e d fo r t hchildren received no pay a t f i rs t for thf ive-day week they spent a t th e crechebut we were able to s ta r t pay ing themfrom money Mr. Nicholson s en t o uf r o m t h e S t a t e s T h e w o r k e r s a rreceiving some trained instruction oho w to teach and play with th e l i t t lones so as to develop t he m m e nt al lyand physically. Since these ar

    Chris t ian women they a re l ea rn in gc h o r u s e s a n d s t o r i e s f r o m t h e Bib le .I a s k e d w h a t w a s s t i l l n e ed e d f o r t h

    center. They would like a Jungle Gymfo r ou tdoor p lay. A t p re se nt al l thehave fo r outdoor equipment ar en u m be r o f t ires s t and ing in th e ground80 t h a t th e chi ldren can climb througha n d o n t h e m

    They would like a large blackboardso t h a t t h e t e a c h e r s a n d t h e c h i l d r e ncan learn lessons. We hope to be able tprovide this i tem in the very neaf u t u r e

    Their l a s t request was a series o

    cont inued on page

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    Page 2 S o u t h f r ic a n T o r ch

    D A Y C A R E C E N T E R A T I M V U T S H I N Ic o n t in u e d f r om p a g e 1

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    ,r^\ M

    shelves, baske ts , or cubbyholes, so t ha teach child h as a place to store his ow nthings . I t is not th e desire o f th e groupto provide an y i t ems t ha t would no t fi ti n t o t h e i r o w n c u lt ur e

    We ar e proud of Anna fo r th e workshe h as p ut i n to t h is effort, and we se ei t as limitless in its scope for helpingc h i l d r e n i n t h a t a r e a

    T h e su m to ta l of al l

    the p layground toys isa series of partlybu r i e d ca r t i res , bu thopefully t ha t s it uat i on will s o o n b e

    c o r r e c t e d with a bit ofou t s ide help.

    Playtime is over an dit is time for everyoneto g o inside. Th eschedule at th e playcenter is no t veryrigid bu t it is goodpreparation for th es ch oo l y ears whichc o m e l a t e r

    F U R L O U G H D R AW S T O A C L O S Eby Alvin Nicholson

    By th e t ime t ha t yo u r ea d t hi s, wes h o u l d b e b a c k in S o u t h A f ri ca o nc eagain , fo r as I write th is article we arescheduled to f ly f ro m Minneapolis fo rSouth A fr ic a o n th e 16th of J a n u a r y.

    We would like to express oura p pr e ci a ti o n t o al l th e minis te rs an dchurches that have given us th eo p p or t u ni t y t o tell t h e s to r y o f t h e w o rki n S o u t h Afr ica . O u r t h a n k s a l s o t o t h emany lovely Chris t ian people whogave us a place to s tay and sha r ed the i rtables with us . I t h as been a renewingand a strengthening experience toh a v e t h i s t i m e a t h o m e a n d w e k no wt ha t it will h el p us in our work a s were turn to South A fr ic a o nc e a g ai n .

    September and October sa w us visitchurches in South D ako ta , Iowa,Minnesota, Missouri and Kansas . Itook p ar t i n a Fai th P r o mi s e R a l ly a tC e n t r a l Bible Col lege , Moberly,Missouri . We spen t several days withBrian and Deanna Guy i n R i ch m on d ,Missour i w here t he y m in is te r. T heGuys spent 3 y e ar s i n S o u th Africa andit was s o g oo d to remember th e m a n yth ings we had enjoyed on the field.

    Ve r n i t a r e t ur n e d to M i n n e s o ta e a r l y

    i n O ct o be r s o I a tt en d ed t h e N a t io n a lM i ss i on a ry C o nv e nt i on alone. The

    N.M.C. is always a highl ight fo r me . I tis so good to se e friends of many yearss ta n di n g a n d make ne w ones as well.W e a l so l e a r n h o w m i s s i o n w o r k i sgoing on other fields t h ro u g ho u t t h eworld. Then t he re i s th e challenge ofth e messages and w ork sh op s. A ft erth e Convention, I w ent on to visitfr iends in Arizona. They took me tovisit the G rand Canyon. What amarvelous place that is. We so oftenth ink o f t h e great power t ha t m an cancommand today, b ut w ha t marvelousthings God can do with t he t hi ng s o fth e ear th and do i t s o q u ie t ly. As soonas I a r ri ved back in Minnesota, I wentto se e ou r ne w granddaughter, Taryn.Vernita was a lready s taying withJ am es a nd Maria , so we s tayed a fe wdays to help out.

    N o v e m b e r to ok u s t o I o w a a n d S o u t hD akota. R apid City, Pierre andH i g h m o r e a re re a l ly l ike h o m ec h u r c h e s fo r I o f t e n a t t e n d e d s e r v i c e sa t Pier re an d Highmore a nd visi tedTibbs M ax ey s ev er al t imes while hewas s tar t ing th e work a t Rapid City. I twas a real month o f Thanksgiv ing .T h e c h u r c h P i e r r e h a d a

    Thanksgiving dinner for us a n d m a nyfr iends. We had Thanksgiv ing dinners

    Fi r s t Q u a r t e r

    F U R L O U G H

    m

    Michael, Caryl. Dina. Diane. Dawn Stanley.

    Michael an d Caryl Stanley plan treturn to the S ta tes on furlough iAugust, 1980. Michael will bavai lable fo r s p ea k in g d a te s from thmiddle of September, 1980 until May,1981 . T h e ir r e tu r n to S o u t h A f r i c a ischeduled fo r June , 1981. T h it im et ab le i s n ec es sa ry because Dinaand Diane will be in school an d theywant t o m i n im i ze th e disruption of thchi ldren s school ing .

    F o r s p ea k in g dates please contact:M r s R i c h a r d E c k m a n

    R o u t e 2K i m ba ll , M N 55353

    I f yo u make y o u r r e q ue s t ear ly i t wila l lo w t h e Stanleys to plan the i r t ravelsso as to minimize t rave l and remember,sav ing fue l i s i m p o rt a n t.

    with both of m y sisters and Verni ta sfamily as well.

    T h e f i r s t full week of December,traveled to Springfield, Illinois, to helpin planning th e National MissionaryConvention a t Springfield i n t he f al l o1980. I s tayed with th e Floyd S t a m mf a mi l y w h o returned to South Africa ont h e 1 3t h of December. Before re turninghome, I visi ted on e af te rnoon an devening with Ma x and Gladys Randal la t Lincoln, I l l inois. Th en i t was back tM i n n e s o t a f o r m o r e s p e a k i n ge n g a g e m e n t s .

    I t r ied to vis i t Se l f Help, Inc . aWaverly, Iowa. T he y m ak e a s ma lt rac tor w ith e qu ip me nt t o be used indeveloping n at io ns . T h ey w e re c lo s edwhen I arrived there, but with th e helpof fr iends, I contac ted a m an t h a tworks there and he is sending meb r o c h u r e

    We hope t ha t al l of o u r family w i ll b etoge ther a t th e h o m e of o u r s o n, Steveno n t h e 2 2 n d o f D e c e m b e r. O t he rs o f u swill also be toge ther on C h r i s t m a sDay.

    Pray fo r us as we seek th e Lord sguidance in another term of service ont h e m i s s i o n

    f i e ld .

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    F i r s t Q u a r t e r S o u t h A f ri ca n T o r ch Page

    WHAT D O THE 1980 s HOLD FO R THE C H U R C H IN

    S O U T H A F R I C A ?

    Since I do not consider myself aprophet, i t is necessary for me to makeon e comment right a t th e outset. I haveno t received any direct revelation fromGod concerning th e coming decade, butby looking a t t he t hi ng s which havehappened i n t he p as t few years and byus ing the insight which God has givenme , I ca n make a few predictions. It rus t tha t these will h el p y ou to praymore inte l ligent ly for th e work i n t hi sl a n d .

    C h u r c h G r o w t h : T h e 1970 s h a v eshown v i rtual l y no growth and sofroma human viewpoint, I would predict the

    same fo r th e 1980 s. With th e ey e offaith, however, I look forward togrowth in th e church. At present th ethings which ar e needed ar e not a thand , so h ere is where yo u can joinhands with us in prayer. Pray tha tGod s Spirit may work in th e hearts ofmen to m ak e th em receptive to Hismessage . A lso pray tha t Go d will raiseup leaders who can ca rry th e messageout, since . . . i t pleased Go d throughth e folly of what we preach to savet ho se w ho believe. (I Cor. 1:21 RSV)

    C h u r c h L e a d e r s : During th e l a s td ec ad e w e saw very fe w ne w leaderscont inue i n t h e work . T h is w asdisheartening, bu t a t t he s am e t ime i tis important to note that o f th e ne wl e a d e r s 3 h a v e b e e n h i g h l yc o m m e n d e d fo r t h e i r w o r k . O n c eagain, with th e ey e of faith I lookforward to Go d calling an increasedn u m b e r o f l a b o u r e r s in to t h i s w o r k .(Pray fo r us.)

    E d u ca t i o n : I n t h e 19 70 s w e s a wt h a t e d u c a t i o n w a s o n t h e i n c r e a s e . I twas par t icularly encouraging to se e

    T H I S N T H A T

    by Lucille Stanley

    Lynn saw th e ey e specialist on the3rd of January hoping to get correctiveglasses , which will b r in g t h e operatedeye s v i si on into focus, but th e doctors a id , Come back in three months. Heth inks t h a t t he r ig ht ey e i s j us t goodenough to continue with it fo r a littlelonger, depending on ho w fas t thev i s i o n f a i l s . T h e n h e wi l l b e i s s u e d t h eglasses and short ly af ter tha t have th eoperation on th e second eye. Lynn hashad to res ign himself to another periodof poor vision. We are learningpatience a t this time

    by Michael Stanley

    adults work to improve their education.I predict tha t this trend will continue,b u t I a m f a r m o r e c o n c e r n ed t h a t w e seea n increase i n C h r i s t i a n educa t ion .Often in th e p a s t we have beendisappointed a t ho w little th e leadersh av e t au g ht their people, but as ne wl eaders e n t e r th e w o r k w e believe t h i ss i tua t ion will change.

    H e r e I m u s t a l s o m e n t i o n U m z u m b eBible Inst i tute since th e purpose of th eschool is to provide (Christianeducation. Originally i t w a s p l an n edt h a t C h ri s ti a ns a nd l e a d e r s i nparticular would come to th e school to

    receive training. They would thenr e t u r n t o t h e ir c h u r c h e s to t e a c h others .In recentyears this ha s no t been nearlya s effect ive a s w e w ould lik e a n dtherefore I predict tha t in th e 1980 s i twill be inc re a s ing l yn ec es s a ry to go outto th e congregations to teach inprograms like Theological Educationby Extension (T.E.E.). This makesteaching much slower, and much moredi ff i cu l t fo r t h e t e a c h e r s . I t a l so m e a n smuch more travelling and because ofth e cos t of fuel, t hi s i s i nc re as in gl yd i ff i cu l t . I n S o u t h A f r i c a t h i s a l s om e a n s t h a t m o r e m i s si o na r ie s a r enecessary. I t is physically impossiblefo r s ix o r seven missionary famil ies totr y and reach al l o f t he c hu rc he s in acountry as large as the s ta te s ofMinnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois,Indiana, Michigan, Nor th Dako ta andS ou th D ak ot a combined. Again wec o v e t y o u r p r ay e r s.

    I have recently become a wa re o f t h es t rength and influence o f t he womenin th e church. They have a great dealof independence and I believe t ha t

    We spent Chris tmas ev e with Debbieand Lynton a t their farm home in OribiFla ts . I t was a very hot, sunny day. Wehad a l ight lunch, t he n s pe nt most ofth e afternoon preparing fo r a la rgermeal a t night. The communi ty offarmers up there a re a r a the r closegroup, and their Chris tmas had beenshaken with t he d ea th o f a young wifeand mother of 3 s m al l b oy s in a ca racc iden t . We. took a fe w m i n u t e s i n t heafternoon t o g o e xp re ss ou r sympathyto the family.

    A ft er o ur m ea l, w e opened gifts andspent the evening with some ofLynton s family. We stayed the nightt h e r e a n d c a m e d o w n C h r i s t m a smorning to at tend worship services a t9 a . m . T h e n w e c a m e o n h o m e . T h e r e s t

    the i r commitment to wear ing uniforms( in spi te of missionary influence) is onwa y in which they demonst r at e the

    independence and maintain solidarityThese forces can work to build up thchurch, or to cause problems anweaken it . In th e past decade I havseen both influences. L et u s pray thGo d will so gu ide and use the womenth e future t h a t th e churCh m ay grofrom s t rength to strength.

    T h e P o l i t i c al S c e n e : Wi t h o u trevelation from God, I would not eveat tempt much in th e form ofprediction, bu t it is fairly certain thw e w il l s ee increased political activiti n S o u t h Afr ica a n d i t is a s t ronpossibi l i ty t h a t the freedom

    movement a nd s a fe t y w h ic h we noenjoy may be curtailed before th e eno f t h e decade . L et u s w o r k w hil e whave the opportunity. I f there ao the r s who are called t o jo in this workle t them no t delay. And may Go d grant h a t our freedom t o w or k m ay continufo r many years.

    Finally i t i s ev ident tha t th e comindecade wil l see t h e A f r i c a n s t a kincreased responsibili ty fo r their owaffairs. The missionary will have leauthority and do less administrativework and will do more preachingteaching an d advising. May God grangrace to missionaries, church leadersand members to accept t he c ha ng esw h ic h c om e and further, may He hee ac h o f us to seek His guidance fo r oevery word and deed.

    Rejoice always, pray constantly.. .(I Thess . 5 :16 ,17 RSV)

    o f t h e day was as quie t as a householdwi th th ree l i t t legirls and their presentcan be. The on ly b lo t on ou r day wat h a t ha l f o f o ur f am il y were 10,00miles away.

    We have a new g r ands on npreviously reported. Nathan Scot twa

    born to Duane a nd Kathy StanleyMinneapolis o n t he 13th of November.T h e N i c h o l s o n s h a d a n e w

    granddaughter on the 2 0 th o f OctoberTaryn Linnae is J a m e s and MariN i c h ol s on s f i rs t c h i l d .

    School c losed o n t h e 3 0 t hNovember and will reopenon th e 5 thFebruary. We had th e usual closingthe year activities, including a farewelfo r Mrs. N od we ng u, w h o will notcoming back next year. Sh e willgreatly missed, as she carried a bshare of th e responsibilities of thoffice and l ibrary, a s well as lookin

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    Page 4

    South Airic^JTORCH

    /#/

    FORT

    ind ]nrs. Alyiia n d F a m i )

    % 0 . Box2PSh?pstone, Natal'

    frica ; ^

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

    16642 Gannon Ave., W.Rosemount, Minnesota 55068

    Mrs. A n n e S t a n l e yColumbus, Indiana

    Forwarding AgentMr. an d Mrs. D o n a l d B a r n e s

    R o u t e 1Lyle, Minnesota 55953

    Mr. an d Mrs. Ly n n Stan leya n d Fami lyP.O . B ox 21 9

    Port Shepstone, NatalS o u t h A f r i c a

    Forwarding AgentMrs. Sybil Evans

    B o x 18 1St . Joseph, Illinois 61873

    M r. a n d M r s . M i c h a e l S t a n l e ya n d F a m i l yP.O . B ox 21 9

    Port Shepstone, NatalS o u t h A f r i c a

    Forwarding AgentM r. a n d M r s . R i ( m a r d E c k m a n

    R o u t e 2Kimball , Minnesota 55353

    T H I S N T H AT

    continued from page 3

    a f t e r o n e o f th e d o r m s . S h e h a s a s m a l lso n a n d i t w a s d if hc u lt t o look af te rhi m a t school and continue he r duties,and sh e did no t like leaving hi mbehind. We t hi nk s he w as wise to givehim he r first attention. Only onestudent received a two-year certificateth is year. Three s tudents received 1styear cert if icates. Several others h adb ee n h er e half year or on e and a halfyears. El ij ah Gont sana , second years tudent , wen t to Pondoland to workw i t h h is h o m e minis te r. Minis te r

    Sogoni reports that he is working well.

    S o u t h Afr i can To r c h

    W R ^ vMPby Jack McKenzie

    Give t hanks unto th e L o rd f o r he isgood; His love i s e t e rna l .

    Almighty God is really with us inthese days as he showed us in ou r workcamp a t Umzumbi Bible Institute.Eight of us, m os tl y s tu de nt s, justfinished with exams, looked forward tohelping a t th e school. We were; Dean,Sheldon, Jack, Felicity, Sandy, Rose,Charlene, and Wendy, wh o was onHoliday from Scotland.

    We arrived l a te o n F ri da y afternoonjus t i n t ime to catch t h e r a i n and a b i to froadwork. I t was a real blessing tomeet the Stanleys and al l those fromU m z u m b e a t t h e In st i tu te . D ea r ol'Mrs. J am J am (bless her), the Africancook, was an inspiration to us . Wecould just see th e love of Christ shiningthrough her. Everyday she filled eighthungry bu t delighted bodies. Fridayevening found us over a t Mike andCaryl 's home fo r coffee. By then wehad gotten to know each other. Chris ts t reng thened His bond of love betweenu

    Th e rain took it s toll th e next daywhen we began the work. Studen t sa r eno t generally known for their ability towork, but somehow we started. Wewere treated to an African wedding onSaturday afternoon, bu t as i t lackedsome of t he t ra di ti on al zest, th es t u d e n t s l a t e r s ho we d u s h ow i t w a sdone in a mock wedding.

    Sunday wa s a blessing with am o r ni n g c o mm u ni on service a nd a nevening s er vi ce . We had lunch a t th epastor 's house af ter which w e f ou ndour way to th e b ea ch , s om e by car,others by foot.

    On Monday and Tuesday we werefound pa in t ing , d igging , gardeningand do ing o ther o dd b it s. Tim e o u t inl at e a ft er no o n lu red u s b a c k to th e

    b e a c h .

    T h e S o u t h Afr ican TO R C H (501-820)i s a publ ica t ion o f t h e S o u th A f ri ca nC h u r c h o f C h r i s t Miss ion , a n d ispublished four tim es each y e a r inF e b r u a r y, May, A u g u s t a n d N o v e m b e rb y Miss ion Serv ices Assoc ia t ion a t Bo x177 , K e m p t o n , I n d i a n a 46049 . S e c o n dClass Pos t age paid a t Kempton ,I n d i a n a .

    Fi r s t Q u a r t e r 1 9 8 0

    Vo l u m e 3 1 N u m b e r 1

    First Q u a r t e r

    While a t th e school, some of th e girlswere eagerly aw aiting their examresults o f t he ir final year a t teacherstraining college. When their resultscame through, we were greeted b y t he

    cry: We n ot s tu de nt s any moreOthers ar e still await ing their results,thus the camp served as a t ime tounwind and forget about exams. Eventhough we were there to work, i t was at i m e o f r e l a x a t i o n .

    We were very happy to go to a Biblestudy in a l oc a l h om e . We were alsot re a te d to a b r a a i o n o n e o f t h eevenings. I t wa s wonderful beingtogether, p ra yin g, s in gi ng , an dgrowing together. The Lord blessed usand answered our p raye rs .

    Wednesday a r ri ved much to o soonan d no on e wanted to go. We hadb e co m e s o close t h a t w e d i d n ' t w a n t toleave. I t wa s a sa d moment ofpar t ingand ye t the jo y of the Lord was wi th us .There will always remain tha t bondthat had grown between us . Wha tC h r i s t h a s b u i l t w i l l n e v e r b edestroyed

    o>

    o

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    VOL. 21 NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS APRIL, 1980

    e a r F r i e n d s

    While meeting together the missionaries were talking about the questions we are oftenasked. That is what is a typical day? This question we find hard to answerj yesterdaywas one of them. I went to town shopping and then to a planning meeting for what wasformerly the South Natal Missionary Convention. More shopping on the way back home. Afa late dinner, I put an accelerator cable in the l i t t l e car At 3:30 I went to theCaravan Park to have tea with John and Heather Kernan and to talk about th e Transkei with-w?Alice Fishback, who had recently arrived in South Africa. When I got home, Enock Zobolowas here He had come to town in th e morning to get his passport so he could travelthroi^gh the Transkei. After a quick supper, I took him back home for there were no morebuse^ at that time of night. Tomorrow night, I will go back and get him so we can go toCradock together. By the time I arrived back home i t was after 9 and not only was theday f inished but I as well

    This last weekend has been a very enjoyable one. We have been working for ways in whwe area missionaries can meet together more often This i s not too diff icul t fo r the me

    but very~hard ror~the~wrve5 who have chi ldrerr~iTr school. This being th Easter br ak froschool, the Floyd Stamms from Durban, Sandy Sinclair from Eshowe along with Frank Alexanand his family from Zambiawho were visiting with the Sinclairs came down. Since AliceFishback just recently arrived from America, the Kernans came up from East London andbrought her with them

    n Our home was full at night. had seven children sleeping on the front porch, theSinclairs in the living room to care for them i f they woke in the night Mr. and Mrs.Alexander and their baby daughter slept in the spare room. We were very happy that theAlexanders came as their l i t t le daughter is almost the same age as our youngest grand-daughter and we could see how big she is what she is doing and how i t feels to hold al t t l o n e o f t h a t s i z e

    Each evening we gathered at Stanleys for supper together, a time of discussion and adevotional time. Saturday morning was a time for all the boys and their father s to go

    fishing. Sunday morning, we all went to Umzumbeto the Bible Training School for churchDinner was cooked for us by Mrs. Jamjam, the school cook, helped by some of the students.A ll in a l l t was a very blessed t ime

    Easter weekend is used by many of our churches for three days of services. The churcministered to by Barnabas Songo went to Umzumbeto be present with the people that workwith Nic Qwemesha. I went out on Friday evening and showed them a movie film on the lasdays of Jesus. Sunday morning I was back to preach fo? them and we also had dinner withthem. Following this we took a full bus load of people back to their homes.

    Saturday afternoon, I attended the wedding and reception for the son of ve^ry goodfriends ou t here The son had asked i f I would use his camera and take pictures fo r himHe was a very small baby when we arrived in South Africa.

    The last Sunday in March we were present for the quarterly meeting of Enoch Zobolo anspoke for the meeting. He was to have asked for the tent, but forgot to do so, so the-meeting was held on the hil l top. I t was also close to the road, so when the bus cf-mealong we just quit preaching and the people sang until i t had gone by.

    Early in March,minister's week was held at Escourt with Freddie Sithbe as the hostminister. He had worked hard to get his church building done before the meeting. Thewalls were done, the windows in the roof on, but they had not filled in between the wallplates and roof; they did not have the locks on the doors and were not able to do muchwith the floors . Twenty ministers were present and the meeting was very well chainedby Nic Qwemesha. The study periods of each day dealt with the work of the minister.The Annual Meeting of the churches will be held at Zwelitsha African area at KingWilliamstown i n September

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    To save on the cos t o f t r a v e l , t he m i ss io n ar ie s also ha d a meeting t h e r e , and s tayeda day longer than the African bre th ren . The M i ss io n ar ie s s ta y ed a t a l i t t l e country hotca l led W hi te M ou nt ai n Resor t . In add i t ion to th e people presen t here t h i s l a s t weekenmen on ly, Mr. and Mrs. Bob M i l l s , Mr. and Mrs. S tu Cook, Mr. and Mrs. David Brown o fJohannesburg were present as well as Ron Elerick.

    Friday morning, most o f us took time to go to Giant ' s Cas t l e Nature Reserve to see th ushman Paintings. ' had about a three mile walk, round t r ip , to th e cave, but i t wascer ta in ly well worth the exerc i se . On the way back I found I had been m er ri ly s ho ot in gpic tures with an empty camera. I ha d taken a few colored p i c t u r e s , but only s l i de s o fth e place where we were s tay ing .

    Verni ta an d I made a t r i p to Cradock to ta lk to the people the re about t h e i r problem,but did not come to a rea l dec i s ion , so we are going back again t h i s week with EnockZobolo to t a l k more with them. There a re two main problems a l ack o f r e a l love onthe p a r t o f some, coupled with a des i re fo r p os i t i on . as k you to please contii^ue topray for them. I would ask t ha t you also pray for th e church a t Kimberley, where thereare a l so some problems and fo r us as we plan the camps. I hope t h a t I ca n be p r e s e n t fth ree weeks o f camp in th ree d i f f e r e n t p l a c e s .

    ha da

    veryi n t e r e s t i ng

    l e t t e rfrom

    Bro.Andrew

    Calver t . e ha d not been able toa t Escour t because he was i l l He s a i d th e church ha d given him a three week fur lough.He was taking his mother back to Hopetown to v i s i t . Hi s fa ther was m in is te r t he re whenwe i r s t c a m e t o S o u t h A f r i c a .

    There are o th er p la ce s where we see the work growing and God bless ing the work t n a tbeing done. Brother Mabaso i s doing a very good job in Johannesburg, but the re are somany places t h a t want him to v i s i t an d t h a t need v i s i t i n g an d t each ing ; we need ano the rminis te r t h e r e . He j u s t wrote i n a l e t t e r t h i s week t h a t he was ab le to bu y a ca r soi s ab le to bu y a car so i s able t o v i s i t the var ious p laces e a s i e r .

    Brother Mahlinza, who now ministers at Hopetown, wrote th is week also tha t they bapti13 new members in C h ris t a t Douglas with 16 a t Hopetown.

    Yo u r s i n t h e L o v e o f C h r i s t

    FORWARDING AGENT:

    M r s . R i c h a r d H a n s o n1 6 6 4 2 Oa nnon AVe . W^ ^

    Rosemount, Minn. 55068

    NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS

    P r i n t e d and m a i l e d b y . . .M a d i s o n P ar k C hr . C h u r c h

    21 5 N . 2 5 t h S t .

    Quincy, I I . 62301

    ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

    A l v i n Ve r n i t a N i c h o l s o n

    s .

    N o n -P r of it O r g an i za t io n

    U . S . POSTAGEQuincy, I l l i n o i s 62301

    P e r m i t 5 7

    I i s s i o n 2 2 r v i c 2 S

    E o : : 1 7 7

    v;S2iPTjN. IMi). ':-'2049

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    Umzumbe Bible Insti tule . We h av e t he largestschool we h av e h ad for seve ra l year s . Six of th estudents are In their second yea r which i san al l timehigh. We also have th e largest number of youngm en that w e h av e ha d for some years , though theya re a v e r y y o u n g g r o u p .

    T hy word i s a lamp unto myfe et, and a l i g h t unto my p a t h .

    P s a l m s 1 1 9 : 1 0 5

    S O U T H ra m o N

    t o M c h jtmberley C

    Bible College

    ^ / P o r i h pston

    Vo l u m e 3 1 S e c o n d Q u a r t e r , 1 9 8 0 N u m b e r 2

    A F R I C A N M I N I S T E R S W E E K by Alvin Nicholson

    Nic Qwemesha. acting superintendent of th eChurch of Chris t Mission, chair ing th e meeting atMinisters Week. L. Malofu, s ec re ta ry , a nd WM a d l a n a look o n.

    Minis te r s Week h a s c om e to be o n eo f t h o s e l ooked f o r w a r d t o t i m e s fo rmany of th e Afr ican minis te rs . It is at i m e t o m e et t h e i r fe l low w o r k e r s t o t a l kover t he ir p la ns a n d t he ir problems, totr y to look at th e Lord s work as awhole, an d a t ime of study together onsome theme tha t will h e lp t h e m in t heL o r d s Vi n ey a rd .

    Freddie Si thebe , minis te r a t Escour tin Nata l , had been hoping t h a t hispeople m ig ht h os t t his meeting so hehas been w o r ki n g t o w a rd th i s en d fo rs o m e t im e . The local chief pointed ou t

    a plot of land which th e church mightapply fo r as a church site. BrotherS it hebe go t a b it a nx io us an d beganwork on h is building before he hadreceived h i s p er m it to occupy from th eGovernment . T his m ea nt, w hen thewalls were up to window height , therewere n o d oors o r w in do ws fo r h i m topu t into th e b ui ld in g b ec au se th estipulation for rece iv ing windows anddoors from th e building fund is t ha tbefore they ca n be given th e churchm ust have official papers from th egovernment that this site is really

    t h e i r s to u se a s a c h u r c h s i te .

    After the necessary papers werereceived, there w as the p a r t o f g e t t in gmore money in hand fo r th e blocks tha twere needed a n d t o f in d a b u i ld e r w h ocould work when they needed him a t aprice they could afford. So it has been areal rush to get th e b ui ld in g r ea dyMichael Stanley took on e m an withhi m an d spent four days g e tt i ng t h eroof t ru s se s m a d e and in place and thei ron roof ing on t he m . T h ey would havef in ish ed a l l w ork i f r a i n s h ad n o thampered their labours.

    H ow ev er , o n th e 10th an d 11th o fMarch, ministers from throughout th eRepublic of South Africa began togather. The work was still notcompleted as th e doors had n o l oc ks onthem. O ne gable end s till neededb locks a n d s o m e c e m e n t to c lose i t a n don both sides there w as noth ingbetween th e wall plate a nd t he roof soth e cool wind a t n i g h t could go downt he b ac k o f o n e s neck . B u t t h e b r et h re ngathered wi th thanksgiving to se e t ha ta n o t h e r c h u r c h w a s n e a r i n gcompletion and another group ofpeople would have an adequatebuilding fo r the i r m e e ti n g s h e ld in t h a ta r e a

    Tw en ty A fr ic an m in is te rs g a th er ed

    a n d were housed in nearby homes ,having t he ir m ea ls in th e minister sh o m e . T h e food w a s cooked a n d se rvedby th e sisters of th e c hu rc h. Tu es da ynight is always a t im e of welcomingth e visi tors a n d giv ing t h em s o me colddr ink a n d cookies . Wednesdaymorning begins th e classes and th et ime of meeting fo r t he m in is te rs .T h e r e is t im e a ls o fo r th e C o n f e r e n c eCommittee to g a th e r a n d m a k e plansfo r th e m e et in g o f th e c h u rc h e s w h i chwill b e h el d in September, a l on g w it hdiscuss ion of o th er p ro bl em s w hi ch

    Alvtn Nicholson preaching at on e of th e meetings.S h a d r a c h M a z i b u k o . m i n i s t e r from Z u l u l a n d is th einterpreter.

    a lways s ee m t o c ro p up . The meet ingth is y e a r w as cha i r ed b y N icQwemesha , the first tim e th a t anA f r ic a n b r o th e r h a s d o n e so . H e h a ds ai d h e w ou ld d o t h i s w o r k u n t il A l v i n

    Nicholson arrived back f rom fur lough.H e d id a very g oo d w or k. When askedto continue wi th the work, he asked tob e r el ie ve d b e ca u se h e f e l t h e c o ul d d o

    better jus t a t the presen t time if hecould speak freely as a regularmembero f t h e C o m m i t t e e .

    T h e miss ionar ies s tayed a t a count ryhotel which w a s a bo ut 3 miles a w a y.R a i ns h i g he r up in t h e mo u n ta ins hads e n t d o w n w a t e r w h i c h r a i s e d t h e l eve lo f t h e l oca l s t r e a m so i t cou ld n o t becrossed by car. But fortunately,Michael Stanley had gone in before th ewater c a m e up . So with his car on thec h u r c h s ide o f t h e s tr e am a n d a t r eebridge to ge t over th e water, therew as no problem in gett ing to th emeet ings .

    T h e A n n ua l Meeting o f the churcheswil l be h e l d a t Z w el it sh a A f ri ca nTownship a t King Will iam s Townfrom th e 10th through th e 14th o fSeptember.

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    Page 2 S o u t h Afr i can To r c h S e c o n d Q u a r t e r

    About half the wood was brought to the si te on the heads ofwomen: the restcame bycar It Isfascinating to watch the smooth movementwhichcarrying aoa d on the head requires.

    Michael spent almost as much t ime coaxing the generator to work as he spentsawing Th e older men who passed by were amazed at the way th e electric sa ww o r k e d

    T h e S o u th A f ri ca n TORCH (501-820)is a p u b l i c a t i o n o f th e S o u t h A f r i c a nC h u r c h o f C h r i s t Mission, an d ispublished four t im es each y e a r inFebruary, May, Augus t a nd Novemberby M i s s i o n S e r v ic e s A s s o c ia t io n a t B o x177 , K e m p t o n , I n d i a n a 4 6 0 4 9 . S e c o n dClass Postage paid a t Kempton,I n d i a n a

    S e c o n d Quar t e r, 1 9 8

    Vo l u m e 3 1 N u m b e r 2

    Ministers week this year wasmarked by som e very good teaching.Rober t Mil l s brought a long lesson ont h e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f e lde r s a n dminis te rs , which gave t he m e n m u c h tothink about, and it is particularlyneeded i n th e c h u r c h e s here a s t he r e i so f te n f r ic t io n an d j ea lous be tween thet wo g r ou p s.

    Lynn S ta nl ey b ro u gh t a lesson onO rd in at io n, w hi ch is also a subjectw h i c h h a s been t a l k e d a b o u t b u t n o tthoroughly studied. A fe w o f th eministers have been ordained, bu t itha s no t been p ra ct i ce d b y th e wholework . T h e m en h a d t i m e to d i s c u s s a n dt h ink on these t h ings a m o n g s tthemse lves , b u t the re w a s n o t t ime fo rdiscussion and p lann ing in th eassembly.

    B i t s a n d P i e c e

    Briefly, th e report on Lynn s eyes isthat there ha s been no improvement int he s it ua ti on . I n th e w o r d s o f th especialist a t th e beginning of March, 1would l ik e f or th e ey e to sett le down al i t t le more. Come back in th reem o n t h s . Because o f t h e d e t e ri o r a ti o nin th e unopera ted on ey e Lynn h a s h a dto resort to us ing a magnifying glassfo r a lmost al l reading. I t is a strain an dvery t i r ing fo r him. We h av e th isconfidence that in du e course hi s s ightwill be restored to him, and in th emeantime we ar e trusting th e Lord fo rt h e g ra ce to handle th e si tuation.

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    S e c o n d Q u a rt er S o u t h f r i c a n T o r c h Page

    O R N T B M H L O P H E

    Was Begun Seven Years Ago.

    There were always plenty of children about so finally Michael decided to githem hammers and p ut t he m to w or k. They proved surp r is ing ly sktlKul in twork. Gift Gcqobo th e ma n in t he cente r is a past student of Umzumbe BibInstitute an d went to Estcourt with Michael to help with the bui lding.

    Th e first sheets of IBR a type of corrugated iron a re m o ve d intoposition. Unfortunately a r a ins to rm preven ted Michael from gett ing allof th e roofing on bu t a f t er he leftthe Africans did a good job of putting upw h at w a s left .

    By th e t ime t h e g a bl e ends were up. th e rafters were made a n d p ut i n to p l ace .this time Michael was wear ing hi s l ong-s l eeved pa jama top to protect his armf rom th e s u n

    by Lynn Lucille Stanley

    Suicide is no t very common amongstth e A f r ic a n s b u t e a r ly in ou r schooly e a r on e o f th e s tuden ts t r i ed to c o m m i tsuicide by collecting al l th e medicationt ha t had been given to tw o of t he g ir lswho had r ec en tl y b ee n to th e doctor.T h e s e sh e took in th e middle of th en i g h t W h e n t h e m a t t e r w a sdiscovered th e next morning th edoctor was contacted to find ou t jus tw h at h a d been given. It was primarilylo w d o sa g e v a li um and insuffic ien t toharm her. Probably th e cause w asj e al o us o v er on e o f t he boys which hem ay or m a y n ot have been aware of. We

    could n ot le t h er go h om e a lo ne o n th etrain because o f t he d a ng er s involvedwith a g ir l o n her own on th e train fo r 3d ay s. A n escor t would h a v e h a d a weekof t ra ve l b y t ra in so s h e s ta y ed on a tschool and seems to have picked up hers c h o o l l i fe a s be fo re .

    B e t w e e n s e ss i on s C o lu m b u s N c an a zo l oo ks a t

    s o m e of th e m a t er i al s w h i c h J o h n K e r n an c a r ri e d

    a c ro s s t h e f l o o d e d s t r e a m in h is a r m s

    W

    i

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    Page 4

    S o u t h A f r i c a n T O R C HPublished Quarterly.,

    for the following:

    M I S S I O N A R I E Sa n d t he i r

    F O RW A R D IN G A G E N T S

    M r . a n d M r s . A l v in N i c h o ls o na n d Fami lyP.O . B ox 2 1 9

    Port Shepstone, Natal j .S o u th A f ri ca

    Forwarding AgentMrs . R i c h a r d H a n s o n

    16642 Gannon Ave., WRosemount . M i n n e s o t a 55068

    M r s . A n n e S t a n l e yColumbus, I n d i a n a

    F o r w ar d i ng A g e ntM r. a n d M r s . D o n a l d B a r n e s

    R o u t e Lyie, Minneso ta 55953

    M r. a n d Mrs. Ly n n S t a n l e ya n d F a m i l yP. O . B o x 2 19

    Port Shepstone, NatalS o u t h A f r i c a

    Forward ing A g e n t Mrs. Sybil E v a n s

    B o x 18 1St . Joseph, Illinois 61873

    Mr. a n d Mrs. Michae l S t a n l e ya n d F a m i l yP. O . B ox 2 19

    Port Shepstone, NatalS o u t h A f r i c a

    F o rw a r di n g A g e ntM r. a n d M r s . R ic ha rd E c km a n

    R o u t e 2Kimbal l , M i n n e s o t a 55353

    T h e is th e d i n n e r b e l l w h i c h c a l l e d u s to m e a l s a t

    W h i te M o u n ta i n R e s or t, it w as n o t h a rd to tell t h a t

    th e waitress ha d gained he r skill at playing th e drumin th e Z i on i st C h u r c h.

    S o u t h A f ri c an T o r c h S e c o n d Q u a r t e r

    M I S S I O N A RY M E E T I N Gby Lucille Stanley

    When plans were being made for th e

    A f r i ca n s M i n is t er s week, it occurredto some of us t ha t i t afforded a verygood opportunity fo r th e women to goa lo ng w it h th e missionary men an d ameeting o f th e missionaries c ou ld b earranged a t th e same t ime without a lo to f a d di ti on a l expense. T his w as al lplanned on fairly short notice andt ho se w ho had children in school, ofcourse , cou ld no t al l come, bu t w e w er egratefully surprised at how many werea bl e t o do so . Not fa r from th e meetingplace of th e minis ters was a resort areaw h e re w e c o u l d camp and caravan, an dth e m is si on ar ie s b eg an converging

    t h er e o n th e 11th jus t after a good rain.

    Bo b and Phyllis Mills recently bought a fold downcamper to us e as a mobile bookstore. Th e big tent

    o n th e front m ad e a n ideal meet ing p lace for th emissionaries at W hi te M ou nt ai n Resort duringM i n i s t e r s We e k .

    Fioyd Stamm a nd S an dy Sinc l a ir s l ep t in smallt e nt s a n d c o o ke d their b reak fa s t ou t s ide . Everyonewa s on their own for breakfast, bu t joined togetherfor lunch an d supper.

    D u r i ng o u r fe w days there we had more

    rain, but fortunately it also cleared andd ri ed s o me each day.

    We were a ll e x tr em e ly grateful fo rth e very l a rge ten t on the Mill s folddown camper where we were able to al lgather in on e spot. And it was thereeach evening t ha t w e a ll m et fo r a braa i(cook out), and stayed fo r fel lowship, adevotional s tudy and an opportunityfo r prayer together. We confess t ha toften in the years pas t this a sp ec t o fo ur f el low shi p together had beenneglected, b u t i t was a t r u e b l es s in g fo ru

    During th e d ay s w he n th e men were

    a t meetings, th e w om en v is it ed andw a l k e d a r o u n d t h e a r e a a nd a b s o r b e ds o m e o f th e r e s tf u ln e s s o f it . T h e r e a r eto o few opportunit ies fo r this type o fgetting together, and we determinet h a t we shal l tr y to make i t possiblemore often. Plan s were begun fo ranother meeting in Janua ry of n ex tyear, during the school holidays of allth e provinces, and i t is ou r hope t ha tm a n y more will be able to come to t h a tmeeting.

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    ivit ^ ^VOL. 21 NEWS WITH THE NI HOLSONS JULY 1980

    e a r F r i e n d s

    I m sorry that thinking about getting le t ters written does not do i t e are well anda l i t t l e b i t cool here in South Africa an d very, very dry. I t i s so dry t h a t the spr ingwe have near the garden i s hardly giving even a t r i ck l e and t ha t i s something we havenever known before. I h av e w an te d to plan t more vegetables but I must wait now.

    L as t S at ur da y afternoon we took th e t en t out and s e t i t up for Zobolo and his people.As soon as i t was dark we showed tw o f i lms and then went to have something to e a tSaturday had been a very nice sunny day and the evening was nice and clear. Then a l l a tonce the wind came up very strongly and down went the t en t . e se t i t up again and t i edthe main pole with more ropes, but we could no t handle th e sides when we put them up. ewere very sorry for t h i s because they had to divide the people and meet in two houses forthe n igh t and could no t have v i s i t o r s as t h e r e was no room.

    The people have greatly^ enjoyed th e f ilm cal i d^The Peace Child . I t uses actors froma no th er c ou nt ry t ha t ar e th e same physical ly as th e people here and then dubbed a l l Englishinto Zulu. The film cost us 325. y th e middle of September we hope to have used i t a tl s t 5 t i m e s

    amp was held a t Umzumbe from the 16th to th e 20th of June. There were over 80 youngpeople present . Great encouragement for th e work was t ha t much of t he lea di ng was doneby Ezra Mbali and Je thro Zobolo with Thandi Madlala helping with i n t e rp re t i ng . Two ofthese young people are in thei r f i r s t year of teaching and th e other i s a t a teacher ' st r a i n i n g schoo l .

    The 7t h of Ju ly, Lynn Stanley and I are going to Pondoland fo r a camp to be held t h i syear at Xopozo. I know tha t a t leas t two of th e students from Umzumbe Bible Inst i tude wilbe helping with the teaching there.

    Several missionary families here in Natal met at th e Japanese Gardens in Durbin fo r apicnic and fellowship. e real ly had monkey problems though they only managed to s t ea lone apple and one bun. The next get- together i s planned fo r the 9th o f August a t Eshowe.I guess i t wi l l also be a time of ce lebra t ing b ir th da ys fo r f ive adul t s have bi r thdaysthat month. At the l a s t meeting we talked about and worked on plans for t rying to getmore miss ionar ies fo r South Afr ica . At the presen t t ime we f e e l we could use a t l e a s tf o u r m o r e f a m i l i e s

    e almost hate to look in the paper any more to see what the money exchange i s for i tseems that the dollar loses ground every day. One hundred cents in South African moneycosts eight cents more than i t did in January. e have had increases in th e cost ofda i ry produc t s an d bread t h i s month as w e l l .

    e have been building a clothes close t in our bedroom so as to give us more enclosedspace. Because of my slowness and the fac t t ha t often the work f i t s in between othert asks , t he p ro gr es s ha s been not very f a s t , but i t i s get t ing toward the place where i ti s ready fo r the doors .

    The government ha s decided where they wil l build the new African vi l lage a t Middelburgin the Cape so now we ar e hoping to hear shor t ly where we wi l l be given a church s i t eand a place fo r a home as wel l . e ce r t a i n l y hope we sha l l have one anyway. e wereready to b u i ld in 1968 and were to ld to wai t fo r t h i s new area . The minister has wri t tent ha t only seven s i t e s are planned for the area. The church people are adding to themoney tha t they have so they ca n begin work at once. Papers are also in for Sada and wewould very much l i ke to have the much needed building there .

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    SEP 8 98VOL. 21 NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS AUGUST 1980

    D e a r F r i e n d s

    At l a s t we have received ra in and so have many other places in South Africa. But ourprayer i s tha t i t shal l no t be long before more comes because we know that th e land beingso dr y needs much more. Everyone in th is area i s busy plant ing t he i r crops now.

    We had a very good camp in Pondoland. There were 184 young people registered and 40adul t s . Our only problem was t ha t they were shor t of water and one day had to take a

    pickup and go to the river for wa ter.

    Four o f the young men who had remained a t school ins tead of going home went downand taught classes and sang a number of times. One of the g i r l s , who i s a t school inUmzumbe but her home i s in Pondoland, was also there and helped with th e teaching. Lynnand I were given th e o ld er c l a ^ e ^ t o t e a c h . We~aiso made iiiuuli use~ofH:he^-moving-pieturesa n d o f s l i e s

    Getting to camp i s not so easy fo r them as for us . Wiseman Pepeta had a very di ff i cu l ttime gett ing a bus to take his people, par t ly because they had to be picked up in manydifferent places. When he di d get a bus, i t did not begin to pick up campers unt i l 9:00P.M. a f t e r i t had completed i t s runs for t ha t day. They arrived a t camp at 4:00 A M onTuesday. When Thursday afternoon came we l e f t because of the water shortage. Theycompleted th e services a t camp that night. Some students went home that night and theres t th e next day except for one bus load who then l e f t on Saturday morning. Such asth i s , I am sure, would re ally tr y your patience bu t th e African folks take i t as i tc o m e s .

    Saturday, the 9th, we drove up to Eshowe so that we missionaries here in Natal couldget together. We a l l met a t th e Sandy Sinclar home f or f el low sh ip and a braai . Then wespent the afternoon talking about our work here in South Africa and laying plans to t ryand ge t o ther missionaries to come an d help us in the work here .

    The 3rd of August we were p res en t fo r th e worship services at th e Invutshini church.They always give us a very warm welcome and i t i s so nice to worship with them. I hadtaken a number of p ic tu res o f t he i r young people at camp. After services I was beseigedby those wanting pictures. I took 31 pictures before I ran out of film; there were s t i l lmore wanting pictures. They immediately wanted to know which Sunday I was coming backagain. I wil l be back there on Saturday evening, the 6th of September to show the film P e a c e C h i l d .

    This coming Friday, I am going to Escourt where I will show Bible films on Fridayand Saturday nights and on Saturday morning and af ter noon and also Sunday morning teachin g wi th s l i d e s .

    The weekend of the 23 and 24 of August I am planning on vis i t ing Johannesburg. Iwil l speak for the church at Natalsprui t and bring back material brother Mills ha spr in ted fo r us. This was th e t r i p I should have made in Ju ly.

    Lynn Stanley has a contact lens to use on th e eye tha t has been operated on and findsi t a very big help. I t gives him d i s t an t vision so tha t he has even been able to drivehis car. Using an older pa i r of glasses he f inds he can even re ad w ith i t in and seeboth c lose and f u r t he r away. We thank God for t h i s he lp .

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    Brother Qwenesha and I made a t r i p to Pondoland one weekend to meet with one o f thechurches to try and help them with a problem they were having. Tomorrow there wil l bepeople a t school to t a lk w it h B ro th er s Qwemesha, Zobolo and my s e l f I must also checkon a t r i p to Durban for preaching a t th e en d o f the month.

    School i s going ahead very well . have one new student from t h i s areat o h e r m i n i s t e r and t o l e him t h a t s c h o o l was n i c e r t h a n n i c e

    S h e w r o t e

    At our meeting in Eshowe, we had a young woman from ew York State She i s here on aRotary Scholarship and being from the church of Christ had the addresses of some oft h e m i s s i o n a r i e s w i t h h e r an d c o n t a c t e d them on h e r a r r i v a l h e r e

    s t i l l have our problems a t Cradock and Kimberley Though i t seems sometimes tha twe are beginning to se e some l i gh t . P le as e c on ti nu e to pray for us. Vernita s healthi s s t i l l very changeable pa r t of the time she i s able to go at fu l l speed and othert imes slows to almost a stand s t i l l pray God t o s tr en gt he n ou r f a i t h and j u s tto put ou r fu l l t r u s t in Him. od ha s shown us many wonderful bless ings and care forus i n a wonderfu l way.

    One of the young men, who was in school would l i ke to ge t married and also to workin one of the areas where we need a minis te r. I fee l i t t o t a l l y unfa i r to send him todo a work where he never knows what money he wil l receive and sometimes i t could be nothin g at th e end of th e month. I f there ar e any who would l ike to give us 5 or 10 a monthfor one year t would help us to help him and also to l i f t up th e Lord s work.

    Sincere ly in C h r i s t

    A l v i n Ve r n i t a N i c h o l s o n

    FORWARDING AGENT:

    M r s R i c h a r d H a n s o n1 6 6 4 2 Gannon Ave . W.Rosemount Minn. 55068

    NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONSPr in ted an d mailed b yM a d i s o n P a r k C h r C h u r c h

    2 1 5 N. 2 5 t h S t

    Quincy I I 62301

    N o n -P ro f it O r ga n iz a ti o nU S POSTAGE

    Quincy I l l i n o i s 62301P e r m i t / /57

    i : : c l 6 n oTo : : 1 7 7

    m 4 - : 0 4 9

    i C O S

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    OCT 2 2 98VOL. 21 NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS AUGUST 23 1980Dear C h r i s t i a n Fr iends

    I had expected t ha t I would be in Johannesburg now r a t he r than writ ing a l e t t e r to you.I s t a r t ed for Johannesburg yesterday about I I A.M. a f t e r f in i sh ing most of my teaching j u s tleaving a tes t fo r the class to complete. But when I stopped at Mool River fo r gasoline I

    ^found the back of the motor covered with o i l so I f e l t i t sa f e r to come home than to t ry

    and go on . Also I f I went to th e garage I could have been there into the beginning of nextweek for there i s no work done on Saturday. This morning when I went to Port Shepstone I mthe man who ha s done most o f the work on my cars for years . He now works on his own and ha sto come to your place to do the work. He could come on Monday but I will be away so willcome on Tuesday.

    I was sorry not to v i s i t with James Mabaso a t Natalsprui t . He cal led on Thursday to saytha t they had jus t had a l i t t l e baby g i r l who had been named Princess. He had a ls o w ri tt enme a short time before to sa y tha t the work i s moving ahead. They have se t his salary a t

    RIOO a month and have been able to meet i t for the past few months. They were skeptical ofh i s c l a s s e s a t f i r s t b e c a u s e t h e tw o men b e f o r e him had n o t h ad c l a s s e s . He s a i d t h e tw oclasses held during the week do no t have to o many that attend. But th e Sunday morning classIS a t t ended by a good number o f the members o f the church an d t h e i r des i re to l ea rn i s i ncreasing.

    On Friday afternoon th e I5th of August, I went to Ntabamhiopeaateescourt taking with mwo students from school. I showed movie pictures on Friday and Saturday night . Preachedboth nights as well as Sunday morning. Had classes with th e adults present on Saturday morniand afternoon as well as Sunday morning. One of the young men took t he c hild re n and had alass for them on Saturday afternoon. George Jaxa helped with the interpreting. He is a seco

    year student from Upington. He could do almost instantaneous interpreting. He was followingalmost as soon as I s t a r t ed to speak th is takes r ea l ab i l i ty and he i s a good s tudent andworker a t school. We wi l l have to slow him dov/n a b i t for i t i s be t t e r i f they hear bothSpeakers s e p a r a t e l y.

    Lynn Stanleyi s

    get t ing along very well with his contact l ens and can now see things a t alis tahce. He has been able to drive his ca r ag ain. He i s using an old pair of glasses fo r clup reading but wil l soon have a new pai r of ha l f glasses. Luci l le took him to school one morning l a s t week and while waiting fo r cars sh e was meeting to pass so sh e could turn of f themain road into th e area where they l i ve a man evidently not paying careful at ten t ion ra n inhe back of her car. No one was hurt bu t i t i s going to be close i f they have the car to dribo Conference i n September.

    The 9th of August the N at al M i ss io n ar ie s met a t the Sandy Sinc l a i r home in Eshowe Foraget-together. A cookout was enjoyed a t noon as we shared of our food, then a period of fellowhip and discussion on the work here in South Africa. I t was a lso s o r t of a bir thday t ime five missionaries had birthdays this month beside two of the E le ri ck children. All or tiie m

    plan to be present fo r Conference in King-Williamstown next month. So a meeting of a l l famil

    members wi l l meet here a t Port Shepstone in November.

    Your Co-Workers in Christ

    A l v i n Ve r n i t a N i c h o l s o n

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    S o m e of th e children of Ni c Q w e m es h a , B a r n ab a sSonga. and Enoch Zobolo th e three ministersnearest to Por t Shepslone, attended or helped withleading and teaching at camp this year

    S O U T Ha F m c o N

    TOiftHKimberley

    T hy word i s a lamp unto myi e e t a n d a l i g h t unto my path .

    P s a l m s 1 1 9 : 1 0 5

    < Bible CollegeO O J

    o > v o^ Port Shepstone

    Cope Town London

    Vo l u m e 3 1 T h i r d Q u a r t e r 1 9 8 0 N u m b e r

    Y O U T H C A M P S

    T hese three young people from th e threechurches helped at c am p. T he y a re Jethro Zobolofrom Gclllma, Thandl Madlalafrom U m zu m b e, a n dEzra Mball from Imvutshlni. All havea t t ended campfo r severa l years.

    We have given th e work of planningfo r the C hris tian Service campscompletely to th e Afri can Churches.We do u rg e t he m to select a t ime an dplace an d offer to help in an y way wecan, but th e b eg in nin g of ca mp isalways a las t minute thing. However, Imust speak in t he ir b eh al f, it is notquite as easy as it is in America to se tup a date, y e ar a f te r y ea r, an d hold tot h a t t ime. One does not always knowt h e e x a c t d a t e s t h a t t h e c h i l d r e n wi l l b efree from school. Also, in o rd er toi n c r e a s e t h e n u m be r o f s t u d e n t s i n

    grades 10 and 12 who will pass th e en do f y e a r exams, many s c ho o ls o n ly g i vet h e m o ne w ee k o f v a c a ti o n i n s t e a d o ft h r e e

    I t w a s n ot u n t i l t h e 1 s t o f J u n e t h i syear, t h a t we had se t t he d at e fo r th ecamp here in N at al, t ho ug h we hadd e c i d e d t h a t i t w o u l d b e h e l d a tU m z u m b e B i b l e I n s t i t u t e B r o t h e r

    Qwe mesha h ad g on e to K im be rle y tovisit th e church there a n d t ry to sett le aproblem tha t they had. He a l so took an um b er o f s tu d e nt s t h a t f a r o n t h e i rjourney home. He did no t ge t backu n t i l l a t e a f te r n oo n o n t h e 1 6 t h o f J u n e

    So I h ad to g o to town and do th e

    shopping for groceries etc LynnStanley and I took them ou t to schooland opened up th e rooms that would beused fo r s l eep ing .

    Enock Zobolo had some troublefinding transport for hi s young peopleA store keeper later helped them withhis truck, bringing 23 young people tocamp early on Monday morning Onh is retu rn h e di d h is b uy in g fo r h isstore. S om e o th er y ou ng people madetheir own w ay to come but s ti ll s om ew er e l ef t a t h om e w ho would like toh a v e c o m e

    Barnabas Songo is working, so I

    went to h is p lace in th e afternoon andpicked up one load an d he brought aneven bigger load that evening FreddieSi thebe came from Escour t r i d ing wi thth e Quemeshas as they returned home.He had two campers with him. Onehi s nephew has now said that hew o u l d like to c o m e to school .

    Monday night when I counted, therewere 52 campers, bu t there were over 80in classes th e n ex t m or ni ng . M uc h ofth e l ea di ng o f th e work wa s done bytwo oftheyoungmen: Ezra Mbali, whois th e n ep he w o f m in is te r BarnabasSongo an d who is in hi s first year of

    An o u t d o o r k itc he n. E ac h o f th e churches sen ts o m e l a d l e s to c oo k a nd w a s h d i s h e s fo r t h e 80c a m p e r s

    On e of t he c la ss es at camp. Most of thescampers have attended fo r 4 years or more,

    teaching, an d Jethro Zobolo who is thsecond so n o f m i n is t er E n oc k Zoboloand who is also s tudying to beteacher. Thandi Madlala, a first yeateacher, he lped wi th interpreting.

    Floyd Stamm came down fromDurban and was present for threedays. He helped wi th Chape l messagesan d a d de d m u ch interest to camp wi thhis guitar.

    Each e ve ni ng , w e showed films.w as i nt er est ed w he n t he y a sk ed thao ne o f the se fi lms be Homestead ,USA . The th ing which ha d impressedthem was tha t here was a large familygroup al l serving Christ. We alsopurchased a film called Peace Childw h ic h w a s filmed in Kenya, using locapeople in al l parts except two wh o werth e missionar i es . Mo s t of t he speakingh a s b e e n t r a n s l a t e d i n t o Zulu . T h e f i lmcos t 325. I t is being used a t thqua r te r ly mee ting o f Zobolo on the 28tho f u ne a n d w e h ve m a d earrangements to show i t in Escour t iAugust.

    J u s t today I received a letter fromPondoland again confirming tha t thdate fo r thei r camp is the 7th of July

    cont inued on page

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    P a g e 2 S o ut h A f ri c an T o r c h

    P E N T E C O S T S U N D AYby Lynn Stan ley

    M ic ha el , Ly nn an d Barnabas chat t ing outsides o m e of th e r o n d a v e l s w h e r e t h e P e n te c o st s e r v i c e sw e re h e ld t h is y e ar.

    Bro. B a r n a b a s S o n g o of t h eInvutshin i church was responsible fo rt h i s y e a r s pentecost service. I t w a s n o theld a t t h ei r chu rch building, but a t afam ily hom e w here a n outs ta t ionmeet s . T h e A fr i c an h o me s of tenc o n s i s t o f a n u m be r o f r o n d a v e l sgrouped together, each hut serving as ar o om w o ul d in o u r h o m e s . T h e t e n t w a sp u t up fo r t h e m e e t i n g b u tunfortunately a strong wind brought i tdown shor t ly after it w as erected. Somedamage was done, an d it was no t pu tup again , so on e of the l a rger rondave lswas used fo r th e m e e ti n g w h i ch lastst hr ou gh t he n i gh t on Saturday.

    N ic Q wem esha and the U m z u m b e

    The women of the congregation serving up thefood at noon on Sunday. Samp c racked corn) andb e an s a re t he m a in d is h

    church corj ibine w ith th e I n v u t s h i n ic o n g r e g a t i o n fo r t h e i r P e n t e c o s tmeeting, so on Sunday morning wewere there also. Mr . Nicholson broughtthe m essage of the morning. Ther on da ve l w as q ui te cosy an d adequateexcept fo r l ighting. The t iniest o fwindows and an open door provided al lth e l ight t he re w as . Typ ic al ly after anall-night service for them, many ofthebrethren had great trouble stayingawake fo r a n o th e r p r ea c hi n g service.

    T h i r d Q u a r t e r

    C A M Pby Lynn S t a n l e y

    Lynn Stan ley. F loyd Stamm an d Ezra Mbali walkover to Nic Qwemesha s house for lunch duringc a m p

    T h e a re a youth c am p w a s held a t th eschool th i s year, so al l o f t he t ea ch er scont inued help ing out there. I t got of fto a poorly organ ized s ta r t , but Nic w a sable to pull i t t og et he r s ho rt ly . Th i swas our 20th youth camp. Our firstefforts were summer camps, bu t wefound that many of th e young peoplewere able to ge t employment a t tha t -t ime an d i t was hu r ti ng ou r attendanceand we went to winter camps. O ne o fth e great blessings of this cam p w asw atch in g th e campers of previousy ea rs t ak e responsibilities in teachingand leadership.

    MISSIONARIES G E T T O G E T H E R FO R FELLOWSHIPby Michael S t a n l e y

    Charlot te Sincla i r an d J o a n Stam m cha t while th ec hi ld re n m a ke a concerted e ffor t to empty thecookie jar

    A major pro blem w hich SouthAfr ican miss ionar ies faced in th e pastw as th e lack of persona l contac t withe a c h o the r. T h e m i s s i o n a r i e s se ldomsa w each other, except at businessmeet ings a n d t h e n t h e re w a s l i t tl e t imef or f el lo ws hi p. T h e miss ionar ies inNatal have decided to do something tocorrect th e situatio n an d so regularmeetings have been planned . TheLynn Stanleys, Michael Stanleys,Alvin N ic ho ls on s, F lo yd Stamms,S a n d y Sinclairs , a n d Ron Elerick h a v eh el d t hr ee s uc h gather ings th is year atEscourt , Por t Sheps tone , a n d D u r b a n .

    We have been particularly happywhen those outside o f N at al , like theRobert M i l ls f a m i ly, th e John K e r n a nfami ly, a n d Alice F i s h b a c k h a v e beena bl e t o join us. We pray t h a t God willbless ou r efforts to develop a moreu n it ed w o rk i n s o u t h e r n A f r i c a

    Lynn an d Lucille hosted the gathering whichtookplace on th e weekend after Easter Lynn an d FloydS t am m g e t th e fire ready whi l e Pau l Stamm lookson Supper was followed by devotions an d prayeran d then came a time of general discussion.

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    T h i r d Q u a r t e r S o ut h A f r i ca n T o r c h P a g e 3

    W IN TER BREA K B R I N G S A C H A N G E O F PA C E

    T h i s is o u r w i n t e r s e as o n a n d w e a r eh a v i n g vaca t ion from school from them i dd l e o f June to th e middle of July. I tis a lways a welcome change from th et eaching responsibil i t ies and gives usan opportunity to se e some of th e othert a sk s which do not ge t cared fo r dur ingschool periods. Closing exercises wereheld on th e 11th, and by 8 a.m. t h e n e x tmorning a ll t ho se g oi ng h om e were onthe i r way. Nic Qwemesha took oneload in land , as he w as going to visit th echurch at Kimberley. From Kimberleyt h e s t u d e n t s t o o k t r a i n s t o t h e i r h o m e s .

    A l v in N i c ho l so n t o o k a n o t h e r l o a d o f

    t ho se g oi ng to the i r homes in th e

    by Lynn Stan ley

    Tra n sk e i. T h is included a teacher, th es c h o o l cook a n d f i ve s t u d e n t s . F o u ryoung men from the farthest aw aystayed a t school and a re h el pi ng w it hsome o f th e work around th e groundsan d will a tt en d t he tw o y ou th c am pswhere we have a part. They aresupposed to keep th e garden watered,bu t un for tuna te ly we ar e running ou to f wate r. F o r th e f i r s t t ime s i n c e w eh a v e been h e r e t h e s m a l l d a m - u s e dfo r b a pt is m s a n d g a rd e n w a te r -- is no tfilling from th e spring. The s i tua t ion isge t t ing very desperate. The boys havealso du g a n ew s ep ti c t ank .

    W e wi l l b e s h o r t a t e a c h e r n e x t t e r m

    A N E W B U I L D I N G ? by Lynn Stan ley

    Michael inspect ing on e of th e walls in t h e s c ho o lbuilding w h e re t h e plaster h a s c o me away from th eb l o c k s .

    We h av e m a de arrangements with af o r m e r s t u d e n t w h o i s a b u i l d e r to c o m ean d r ep la st er p or ti on s o f the m a inbuilding a t school. This i s n e c es s a ry i fwe a re to preserve it fo r a t i me u n ti l wea re i n pos i tion to rebui ld. T hi s w a s th eoriginal b u il di ng p u t up a t the schoola nd i t w a s c o n st r uc t e d f rom b lo ck s w em a d e o u r s e l v e s o f s o i l a n d c e m e n t .No w t he p la st er i s b re ak in g away inhuge chunks. The building is used as

    classroom, chapel and fo r al l th e localchurch services. Even by sa lvagingwhat we ca n from th e ol d building andus ing the p resent foundat ions, we needa t least 10 000 and building costs arer i si ng monthly. I f yo u ca n help us ,mark your gifts school bui ld ing .

    Dawn Stan ley says , Look, Mommy, I c an g et myhands In t h i s c r ack l Rep lacemen t of this building isb e co m i ng m o s t u rg e nt .

    T h e S o ut h A f r i c a n T O R C H (501 -820)is a publ ica t ion o f th e S o u t h Afr icanC h u r c h o f C h r i s t Miss ion , a n d isp ub li sh ed f ou r t im es e a c h y e a r inF e b r u a r y M a y, A u g us t a n d N o v e m b e rb y M i s si o n Serv ices A s s o c i a t i o n a t B o x1 7 7 , K e m p t o n , I n d i a n a 4 6 0 4 9 . S e c o n dClass Postage paid a t Kempton ,I n d i a n a .

    T h i r d Q u a r t e r 1 9 8 0

    Vo l u m e 3 1 N u m b e r 3

    when Michael leaves on furlough, andI a m h av in g some difficulty in settingup th e classes. There will be doublingup , an d fo r al l o f th e t e a c h er s t h e re willbe heavier loads. We ar e offering amonth of special classes fo r m en w hoare a l r ea d y m i n i st e r in g an d unable tocome for a full term. They will at tendsome of th e 2 nd y ea r classes bu t willalso have some geared for theirparticular needs. We a re p ray ing tha tb y d oi ng this we ca n m e et s o me of th eneeds of those who are alreadypreaching. M aybe one of our mostdi ff icul t problems is to make th e m ensee t h a t they need it .

    Y O U T H C A M P S

    continued from page 1

    They also sent a list of groceries theywould like me to bring.

    We ha d been planning for a camp inMiddleburg, Cape, bu t they cancelled itfor they have been told that t he p la n sfo r th e n ew loca tio n a r e a l m o s tcompleted and they mus t be ready tos t a r t a t o n c e to bu i ld t h e n e w c h u r c hbuilding and minister s home.

    Plans ar e progressing well fo r th ea n n u a l co n f e ren ce to b e h e ld a tZ w el i t sh a T ow n s hi p a t K i n gWilliamstown in September. Pleasepray t ha t this will be a blessed t ime fo ra l l .

    F O R C E D T O R E S T

    b y C ary l L. Stan ley

    In th e m idst of sewing and doingsome of th e f irst prepara t ions fo rfurlough, I decided to see my doctor

    and have a complete check-up. I hadb e e n a b it t i r e d a n d n a u se o u s b u t d i d n tt h i n k i t w a s s e r i o u s . I b l a m e d i t o nbeing busy a n d concerned aboutfurlough. I di d w a n t to get a check-upbefore w e l ef t on furlough though, an dfeeling a bi t ill probably helped me ge tt ha t appointment made. For tunate ly Iw en t w he n I d i d b ec au se t h e d oc to rfound that I ha d th e early signs ofyellow j aundice .

    H i s f i rs t r e a c ti o n w a s t h a t w e w o u l d

    have to postpone our furlough, bu t hes a i d to w a i t a w eek b efo re we d i d

    cont inued on p a g e 4

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    P a g e 4

    S o u t h Af r i can T O R C HP u bl i sh e d q u a rt e rl y

    fo r the following;

    M I S S I O N A R I E Sa n d t h e i r

    F O R W A R D IN G 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 na n d F a m i l yP O B o x 2 1 9

    Port Shepstone, NatalS o u th A f ri ca

    F o r w a r d i n g A g e n tM r s . R i c h a r d H a n s o n

    16642 G a n n o n Ave. , WRosemount, Minnesota 55068

    M r s . A n n e S t a n l e yColumbus , I n d i a n a

    F o rw a r di n g A g e ntMr. a n d Mrs . D o n a l d B a r n e s

    R o u t e 1Lyle, Minnesota 55953

    Mr. a n d Mrs. Lynn S t a n l e ya n d Fami lyP O B o x 2 19

    Port Shepstone, NatalS o u t h A f r i c a

    F o r w ar d in g A g en tM rs . S yb il E v a n s

    B o x 18 1St . Joseph, Illinois 61873

    M r. a n d M r s . M i c h a e l S t a n l e ya n d F a m i l yP O B o x 2 19

    Port Shepstone, NatalS o u th A f ri ca

    F o r w ar d in g A g e ntM r. a n d M r s . R i c h a r d E c k m a n

    R o u t e 2Kimbal l , M i n n e s o t a 55353

    Tem pl et on Tsw a ne is a first y ea r s tu d en t atU m z u m b e Bible Ins t i lu te . H e Is from P o n d o l a n d inth e Transkei . With th e Transkei i ndependen t now,s e v e r a l o f o ur s tu de n ts h a v e t o c r o s s an

    i n t e r n a t i o n a l b o r d e r in o r d er t o a tt en d s ch o o l

    S o u th A f r i c a n T o r c h

    F O R C E D T O R E S T

    cont inued from page 3

    anything. He gave injections to th ewhole family as a precaut ionarymeasure an d told me to go home and

    s tay in be d fo r 2 weeks. The first 2 daysI slept almost al l da y and al l night.Then I read, wrote let ters, l istened totapes and th e radio, and did someh a n d w o r k

    The ha rdes t pa r t was th e t remend ou s l oa d it pu t on Michael. I w as n otallowed to cook or wash dishes or helpwith th e children. His days were fullfrom early morning until late a t night.H e did a ll th e coo king , c lo th eswashing, caring fo r th e children andwai t ing on me . Gladys, ou r house girl,comes 4 days each week so she washeddishes, cleaned house, and ironed. Onh er d ay s of f Michael had to do dishesalso, so he was very busy. He alsotaught a t camp during that time.

    By th e en d of th e first week I wa sfeeling much better. I w e nt b a ck to th edoctor, as arranged, and he just s t ar edin a m a z e m e n t a t ho w well I w as . H esaid, I hope yo u didn ' t cancel yourtickets I s ai d, N o, we jus t prayedand waited to se e wha tyou would say.Many of o u r f r ie n d s h e re w e re in prayerfo r me and Go d graciously provided amiraculous recovery. Th e doctorsuggested I stay in bed for anotherweek and t ak e i t very easy, bu t he wasvery p leased with my progress.

    We a re n ow f in is hi ng up all thosenecessary projects to prepare thishouse for a year 's vacancy andourselves fo r a year ' s t ravel . Thingsseem to be g o i ng s m o o th l y and we ar et rus t ing Go d to provide fo r a ll ourn e e d s

    We d on 't u nd e rs ta nd w hy i l lnesscame no w when things were alreadyhectic, bu t we know t ha t H e knowswha t we need. Go d has Hi s p la n a n dthough we don 't unde r st and , we ca nr e s t in th e a s s u r a n c e t h a t w h a t H e doesi s b e s t

    M I N I S T E R S S O N

    R E C E I V E S D E G R E E

    by Verni ta Nicholson

    Alpheus Mphilo Zobolo received hisBachelor of Science degree a t th eU n iv e rs it y o f Z u lu la nd i n 1979. H e isth is year working fo r h is H on our sDegree w h ic h h e will receive a t th e en dof th e year. After h i s g r adua t ion , hew a s h i red b a c k a s a t u t o r i n al abora tory a t the Univers i ty. H e is 26years ol d and th e oldest son of Knock

    T h i r d Q u a r t e r

    and Sa lv inah Zobolo, minister aG c i l i m a C h ur ch o f C h r i s t

    Thei r second son, Je thro , is alsostudying to be a teacher. He h a s t a u gh tin on e of th e mission schools dur ing hisholiday this year. J et hr o w as on e oth e young m en who took charge o

    much of th e work a t the y ou th c am ph e l d a t U m z u m b e B i b l e I ns ti tu te i n

    June of this year. Th e other youngm an who helped was the nephew ominister Barnabas Songo an d is alsot e a c h e r

    Alpheus Zobolo graduated from th e University oZululand In 1979. He is n ow t ut or in g at thu ni ve rs it y w hi le he w ork s to ward his HonourDegree.

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    VOL 21 NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONS OCTOBER 18

    D e a r C h r i s t i a n F r i e n d s :

    We do hope t ha t you do not fee l l ike we have deser ted you s ince 've have not wri t ten fosome t ime. We want to thank yo u a l l fo r your f i n a n c i a l suppor t ; ha s been very good an dm a k e s o u r w o r k s o much e a s i e r

    The meeting of the churches a t King Will iam s Town was a g r e a t evant . The at tendance wthe l a r g e s t we have ever known. The s p i r i t o f the the Brethren was exce l len t . There had beesome problems with the schoo l ch i ld ren befo re we a r r i v e d . The week t h a t we were t h e r e t h ewere no problems an d our people were wel l taken ca re o f . Some people f e l t the food was no tas good as some years bu t can you imagine cooking fo r 400 people in th ree legged pots?I TMissionaries ate with them on Sunday.

    The l o ca l church was fo r tuna te in g et t ing the use o f the Presbyter ian Church which hasl a rge auditorium as wel l as a l a rge room below which could be used fo r ea t ing an d fo r o t hmeetings.

    Verni ta and I went down on th e 8th and came back the next Monday, so we did not have tohurry. Verni ta enjoyed the Women's Meetings each afternoon.

    The Missionaries made themselves a t home in the loca l caravan park and thus got a goodnight s sleep every night. We cooked and ate our evening meals together except fo r Wednesdn i g h t

    The Conference Committee ha d too much work to do. I ha d t r i ed to get an ear ly s t a r t a twork by asking for the meeting to begin on Tuesday at 2 P M However some of the men cameTuesday morning while I had other business and then did not come back in the af ternoon.did give some di rec t ives to the Cradock Church and they are using t he i r building but theS p i r i t o f God i s not r e a l l y amongst them.

    Vernita has been in P ie te rm a ri tz bu rg f or two and one ha l f weeks get t ing some new medicinI t i s the one to be taken a t night so she will ge t a good night s sleep that has given thg re a t e r problem. She has been fee l ing good so we hope sh e can come home t h i s nextweek.

    We have got ten a 1976 Izuzu E lf 2-1/2 to n truck for mission use. We have a problem keepth e road up a t school along with th is we saw a way to help th e local churches. The week eo f the 4th i t helped Zobolo; and his people with the t en t and generator and t ranspor t forsome people and th e next week end was used by Barnabas Songo and his people fo r th e samthing. Yesterday Nic Quemesha used i t to bring blocks to his home, for the building ofanother room on his house. The brethren have happily agreed to a charge per kilometer forus e o f the t ruck. This coming week we wi l l be haul ing blocks to be used in rebui lding theMain School Building. By hauling ou r own blocks we have been able to get some at half pr icWe can use some help in paying fo r t h i s t ruck.

    We are having the motor on th e rebui l t . We think the problem arose when we traveledto Pondoland when the roads were so dusty and th e dust go t into th e motor. We are now goto put on a Donaldson a i r cleaner. By a spec ia l whirl ing act ion the dust f a l l s to the bottoand does no t even get into th e f i l t e r Even a second hand one i s costing us 150.

    The drought ha s been broken and we have been having good ra ins . I t i s nice to see everything growing well once again. We have seen th e price of c a t t l e shee?p and chickens increass h a r p l y. With th e i n c r e a s e i n th e c o s t o f b e e f an d mutton because o f th e sma l l numbers

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    slaughtered people had turned to chickens. Here a lso the demand soon out distanced thesupply. The people are asking why because a large producer near h er e i s se l l i ng to theMiddle Eas t count r ies a t a p r i c e l e s s than here a t home.

    have gotten our Christmas presents for the Sta t e s and w must get them packed andon t h e i r way. Even Air Mail which used to t ake 7 to 10 days to reach us i s now t ak ing from10 to 14 day s.

    S t i l l i n a l l th ings we give God the thanks fo r His wonderful care .

    Yours f o r Chr i s t i n South Afr ica

    A l v i n Ve r n i t a N i c h o l s o n

    FORWARDING AGENT:

    Mrs . R i c h a r d Hanson1 6 6 4 2 G ann on Ave. W.Rosemount Minn. 55068

    NEWS WITH THE NICHOLSONSPr in ted and mailed b yM a d i s o n P a r k C h r C h u r c h

    215 N. 2 5 t h S tQuincy 111. 62301

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

    B o x 1 7 7

    KEMPTON. IND. 460 49

    Non Profit Organizat ionU S POSTAGE

    Quincy I l l i n o i s 62301P e r m i t 5 7

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    / Ci r - 5 5 3J M 2 ^

    VOL 21 N WS WITH T NICHOLSONS Port Shepstone 4240S o u t h A f r i c a

    I 6 t h D ece mb er, 1 98 0

    We do hope tha t you have had a ve ry j oy ous Ch rist mas season and tha t you may have avery f r u i t f u l year in the Lord.

    One week ago today, I was waiting for the hour when I would check in a t th e h os p i t a lin Port Shepstone for a h e rn ia o pe ra ti on the next morning. Now I am home again andwaiting to see the doctor tomorrow morning to have th e s t i t ches taken out . I was rea l lyan new experience for me since I had no t been in hospital fo r myself since having myt ons i l s out as a high school boy.

    We were four in a ward a l l with d i f f e r e n t surger ies but with the same doctors . Wewere a l l much different but s t i l l a help to one another. One who was most depressed a tf i r s t brinhtened us a l l a t th e end with voices in th e close ts , cabinets and even outs i d e t h e w i n d o w.

    Verni ta came home on th e 6th so she was ready to take over things here a t home. AliceFishback came up from Umtata in the Transkei to keep her company. They had a good timeshopping an d exp lo r ing some o f th e sea coas t toge ther.

    I said th is was going to be a vacation time fo r me and I was going to l e t th e most ofthe work pass my by fo r a l i t t l e while . But yesterday morning, El ias Sogoni from Pondo-land was here to see me in the morning and then back with Brother Qwemesha in the a f t e r -n o o n .

    Because o f the uncer ta in ty o f when my surgery would be I ha d to cancel a planned t r i pa t the l a s t of the month but I hope t h a t I ca n g e t i t in a t th e en d o f January.

    To ad d t o the t h ings we had to th ink abou t . M i n i s t e r s Li fe an d Casual ty Union o fM i nn ea p ol is w r ot e us t h a t from the 15th o f January we would no l onge r be insured underour presen t po l i cy t h a t we have had s ince I was in Bible College. They have a givenamount fo r each day one i s the hosp i t a l and t ha t i s a l l ; i t i s cheaper; or we ca n go toa much b e t t e r group Heal th Plan , which i s guaran teed by Blue Cross b u t also i s much more

    e x p e n s i v e .

    At th e end of l as t month we recei