Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1988 SAfrica

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Mrs.

Jamjam, Mrs. Ncayiyane an d

Mrs.

Stanley

chat durinfi the

annual banquet at

Uinzumbe Bible Institute. Mrs. Ncayiyane

has been

hired

to

replace

Mrs. Jamjam who

retired at th e end

of

1987. Dur ing November

sh e go t acquainted

with

the schoo l and

he r

new work a s

cook.

Vo l ume 3 9

^kif wovL

iia kmf

unto mif jeet and,

o

li^kt

unlo mij patk

— Tiolni

ll^:IOS

m m m m Jhjj

wow,

u

a-1

^ mm m liqk

unlo

mij

paiA

a FM c aN

Republic of

Sou t h

Afr ica

TOPCH

Port

Shepstone

Transkei (Umiumbe BibleInstitute)

Cape

Town

Eas t

London*

Fi r s t

Quar t e r 1988

Numb e r 1

I N T ERNS

TO

UMZUMBE

by

Duane

D.

Stanley

Penny Eckman

Judi th

Taylor

\ •

squeezed

into a

crowded seminar

on

.

j short-term

missions. In the middle of

• m u hthought-provoking discussion con- '

>|m

— cerning both the advantages and

diffi-

y

t M

culties,

one statement

lodged

itself in

my

'

thinking

tobe pondered often. The

vast ^9.

tiv-S

. i

majority

of

t ho se who

make a long-term

. commitment to

foreign

missions

today

«

^^9^ |>

• are

those who

previously

served

in

short- .f^j

^ ' i^Tm

internships. And

if there were no

\ . '

other benefit

to internships,

this

would

be

As

it

is ,

there

are

many othe r

benefits,

a

as

ou r

experience

with Anita Mann a nd

' now we th e

ar r iva l a t Umzumbe th is

June

of two

• . .

¥>.

young

women

from Minnesota Bible

Penny Eckman College Judith Taylor

Penny Eckman

has

been hearing about South African missions

work

he r whole

life,

though Umzumbe and the family dairy-farm

ar e

ten

thousand miles apart . She is from Kimball, Minnesota(home of the Stanley clan) and one of five children of Richard an d Janet

Eckman. Janet

has

served as forwarding agent for Michael and Caryl for over fifteen years. Penny

has

an outgoing and

vivacious

personality matched with

a

commitment

to

the

Lord.

She

is a

junior

at

MBC,

where

her

studies

have

a

missions emphasis. Singing,

counseling,

an d teaching

abilities have been used extensively while

sh e

served

on

outreach

teams for

MBC

th e

last two summers. And

her enthusiasm for

service

an d l ife in

general

ca n be seen in a

wide

variety of activities from volleyball an d basketball to student

council

and

choir,

and

as a

finalist this month

in

the

Miss MBC

Pageant.

As

her challenge

to cross-cultural

missions

has

grown,

so

has th e faith by which she

takes

this

giant

step to Umzumbe.

Judith Taylor ha s

made

an international

trip

before. A year ago she

left

her

parents, Jeffery

an d

Ruth

Taylor, in Mataura,

New

Zealand, where

as

a

ten

year

old

she

me t American

Bible College

students on

an

outreach

team

to

he r

country.

A

dream

was born

to

come to

the

U.S. to

study.

Before

that

dream

became

a

reality

she

obtained

a

diploma

in

Home Management and

Family Care

and

worked in New Zealand. Currently sh e is a

freshman

at Minnesota Bible College

where she

also

serves

as secretary for the missions

committee

of the

Student

Council and is

active

in extra-curricular

activities

such as volleyball

and

choir.

MBC s Missions Emphasis

week last fall

was deeply

challenging to Judith an d

sh e

made a

commitment

to serve

with

Penny in

South Africa.

These young ladies

will be

working

along-side

Michael and

Caryl

Stanley

at

Umzumbe

Bible

Institute, presenting programs

for

area

Sunday Schools

an d

churches,

and

serving

in th e

winter (June-July)

youth

camp program

in

South Africa.

They

come with

th e

highest recommendations of

Minnesota

Bible College, President,

Donald

Lloyd,

who challenges Christians to provide

prayer

an d

financial support fo r them. Let us pray, as Christ directed, that th e Lord of the Harvest migh t send laborers

in to the

field. Bu t also

le t

us

not

forget

Paul s

question

to

the

Romans,

how

can

the

message

be

shared unless they

are sent?

Your

checks

for

their

8,000 need

should

be

marked

INTERNS a nd s en t

t o Michae l s fo rwa rd ing agen t :

S .A. Chu rch

o f Ch ri st

Miss ion

J a n e t

E c km a n

79 5 37th S t r e e t

Kimball,

MN

55353



b y Mic h a e l

M.

S t a n l e y

As

I

write

this we

ar e starting

a

n e w y e ar . In South Africa t h a t

1 alsomeans time to prepare for a newschool year. Forme this is

an especially significant year and it

is

no t s i m pl y b e ca u se

I

9 turned forty

last year

Mostly

it has

to with

Umzumbe ible

1 ̂ • • 1 Institute and the fact that my father has retired as principal. I

i.>| 0 W was chosen to succeedmy father and that has greatly increased

^ my

responsibilities

around the

school

Ev e n that

does

n o t tell th e whole story. I t j u s t

h a p p e n s

t ha t this

5111 is an excitingtimefor the school e havejust completed a new

l ^ v JW kitchen and dining facility and that is a much needed

improvement. Mrs. J am j am h as retired as cook

so we have th e

challenge

of

helping

a

ne w

cook

g e t e s ta blis h ed

at

school.

Weare

b y Mic h a e l

M.

S t a n l e y pleased

that

she will have

better facilities thanhasbeen

the case

in

t he p as t.

F or t he f ir st t ime we ar e helping a student to fu rth er h is studies on a college level.

In

th e past we have encouraged students to ge t

three years of study at Umzumbe Bible Institute. We

have

also helped students to get correspondence courses to improve their

education bu t we have not helped them to go on to college. Louw Koopman proved that he was a good st udent and a responsible

individual while

he

wa s in hi s first

year

a t

U mzumbe. D u ri n g h i s s ec on d year

he

further proved

himself

in hi s c a pac i ty

as

a Student

Teaching

Assistant. Sincewe consider

hi m

a potential

teacher

wedecided to help him

study at

seminary. He is to enroll as a

student at

th e Evangelical Bible Seminary of Southern Africa on 25th January. We look forward to watching his progress during the coming

y e a r

There ar e also some changes in the curricu lum for the coming year . Evaluation of th e school program began back in mid

1986 an d gr adual ly changes have been introduced. Under t he direction of my brother Duane a strong emphasis was placed on

developing a personalrelationship with Christ during

th e

first year. The second year programwas modified toplace greater emphasis

on developing a sound Bible knowledge while prospectivechurch leaders are urgently encouraged to complete three years ofstudy so

that

principles of church leadership

ca n

be covered more extensively. Although we will be short of teachers this year we will be

working on

materials

for th e new classes.

On a more practical level even the work program will bemodified to divide responsibility moreevenly among the faculty members.

Changes have

also been made where school

administration

is concerned.

Studentmarks

an d school finances

have

been entered on

th e computer an d

t ha t h as

made

tracking

down some information like

outstanding

school fees much easier to handle. We

ar e

also

able to

make

financial reports available every three months. If

anyone

would like a copy of

th e

financial reports you

ca n

write to

Duane Stanley the new mission forwarding agent an d he will send you a copy.

Yes 1988promises to bea busy an d exciting year. Wetherefore ask you to pray regularly for us an d for the groupof students who

will soon be

arriving.

In November

1987

Louw

K o op m a n c o mp l et e d hi s

second

y e a r a t Umzumbe

Bible In

stitute an d received

hi s

certificate. He h ad served a s a Student Teachinfi Assistant a s well

as lookinfi after t he L ib ra ry . This year he will be continuing

hi s

education at th e

Evangelical

Bible

Seminary

of

Southern

Africa in Pietermaritzburg.

In

d ea li ng w it h

a school on e de als

extensively with people. T hr oughout my

working life I ha ve enjoyed watching

people

especially

watching

people

de

v el op i n t h e i r C h r is t i an

lives.

In

more

re

cent

years that

has

been

even

more im

portant as

I realize that in time I am

go

in g to ha ve

to

give up m y w o rk

to another.

We

ha ve b e en l o ok i ng fo r

a replacement

so

t h a t

I

c o ul d r e ti re

an d

provide

fo r th e

on-going

o f t he

school.

In 1986 w he n U m zu mb e B i b l e Ins t i

tute

opened

a young m an

arrived

from

G r a a f f

R e i n e t . H e

w as

a b i t o ld er

t h an

th e

o t he r s t ud e n ts a nd h ad already worked

several years

in

th e

business

world. I t

soon

became

a ppa re nt th at he had

a

g r e a t

desire to serve th e Lord a n d th e

ability to ha ndl e

well

th e

work

which w as

assigned

to

him.

He

w as

r ai se d i n

th e

Dutch Reformed Church bu t b y h is ow n

admission he

had

never been v e ry a c tiv e

in Sunda y

School

o r c h ur c h though hi s

parents

were.

During th e

next

tw o

years

he

continued to p ro ve h im s el f b y b ei ng a

good example around school

an d

in his

classroom work.

L a s t

y e a r w e o f f er e d h im

th e

position

o f S t ud e n t T e ac h in g Assis

t an t. T hi s involved teaching a class in

English as

well

a s o th er

responsibilities

around

school.

H e did

a

good jo b while

keeping

up with

hi s

regular class work.

D ur in g t he

y ea r h e

expressed a

desire

to

s t u dy f u rt he r

and

after c a re f ul c o ns i d

eration

it

w as

decided

to

help

hi m

attend

th e Evangelical Bible Seminary of

South

e rn A fr ic a i n P ie te rm ar itz bu rg .

L o u w

Koopman

is th e

m a n s n am e an d he

is

now 35

years

old.

H e i s u nm ar ri ed

and

c laim s h e

does

n o t in te n d

to

m a rry .

I

H O P

F O R

T H F U T U R

b y

L y n n

L. S t a n l e y

wo u ld l i ke

to

se e

hi m c ha nge h is m in d i n

time. When he visited t he S em in ar y in

November

they

l oo ke d o ve r

th e

tran

script

of

hi s studies

at

Umzumbe

and

in

dicated th at they would

be able

to give

credit fo r

hi s

past studies. He

will

probably

receive credit

for on e

year

of

study.

We would

consider

h ir in g

Louw

a s a

teacher bu t wh e th e r

h e r et ur ns

to Um

z u m b e B i bl e In s t i t u t e a s

a

teacher o r not

he will be a better prepared

church

leader

i n w h a t e ve r

a rea

o f

s e r v i c e

he ente rs One

of t he c hu rc h s g r ea te st needs is a more

e d u ca te d le a de r s hip an d

we ar e

pleased

to

se e this developing. We a re

seeing

m o r e

of o ur c hu rc h people extend their ed u

ca t io n



D Y C R E

TI M V U T S H I N I

b y A l vi n N i c ho l so n

The

I mvuts hi ni D a y C a re

Center

children

and

staff pose

on

th e

site

of

t h e n ew building. In th e background

ar e

th e remains

of

th e

rondawel

w hi ch

w as

used a s a ki tchen

M an y y ea rs

ag o t he c hu rc h

a t

Imvutshini

hosted

th e

nnual

C o n f e r e n c e o f

the churches o f C h r is t

i n S o ut h A f r i c a .

To feed

th e people wh o attended they built

a

mud-block build

ing.

T he y u se d t re e s a n d br a nc he s

fo r th e roof

t r u ss e s w h ic h

they

covered with reeds an d grass. After t he m e et in gs

were

completed

t he y s aw th e

need for a

Da y C ar e C en te r

to

help

working mothers.

Mrs.

Mbali

sister of Barnabas

Songo w as

h i r e d

a s t he

o n e

to

r u n

the

center. S h e w e n t

to

D u r b a n

w h e r e

sh e

received

basic

training in

this type

of work.

Women s

Institute

is

an organization which promotes home-

building

arts an d

crafts

as

well

as public awareness an d

be

nevolence throughout South Africa. In many p la ce s t he se

women

tr y to help th e African

people

in th eir a re as . T he

women at So ut h bro om h e lp a t Imv u tsh i ni . Th e y su p pl e me nt

th e money paid

by

th e

p a r en t s a n d

us e it

to bu y

food and hire

th e w om en w ho t ak e c ar e

of

th e

ch i ld ren

Th e

Da y

Care

Center

started

with

eleven

children.

No w

they

have fifty-five

registered.

They

start

in th e

morning

at about

7:00 an d r un u nt il

1:30

or

2:00

p.m.

Often th e children ar e

picked up by an

older brother

or sister wh o has

completed

th e

d ay a t school.

Th e f o un d a ti o n s a r e i n

a n d

th e walls

o f

th e ne w

da y

c a r e c e n t e r

building ar e up

to

floor

level.

Th e floor o f th e old buildingserved as

a

convenient place

to

m i x m o r ta r .

After ma n y years

th e poles t h a t had been used fo r

th e

roof

began

to

break.

We strengthened

them

so

they

would

hold

th e

roof fo r a fe w more

years.

T he n th e

g r a s s

an d reeds b eg an to

perish an d

th e r oo f l ea ke d badly

in a

rain.

It

w as

no good

put t i ng

a ne w

r o o f o n

th e

ol d

b u il d in g b ec au s e t h e m u d blocks

were st a rt i n g to

perish

a s well.

Finally the

c e nt er w a s moved into

th e

c h u rc h b u il d in g

and

no w

t h in g s a r e

s h ifted b ack

an d

forth several t i me s e a c h

week

according

to which gr oup is using

th e building. Th e

old build

ing was torn down and efore Ba/nabas ongo

died

they

s t a r t e d

to

ma k e t h e t r e n c h e s fo r th e f o u n d a t i o n s

fo r

t he n ew

building.

That is al l that wa s

done f or about

two

years. Since

I

returned

I

have b ee n h el pi ng t he m g et started building.

Most

of

th e work

has

been

done

b y m y se l f

an d

three retired

African

men.

We

have

du g

footings poured

th e

foundations

an d poured the cement for th e floor. They do have one of their

m em be rs w ho i s a

ma so n and he

is l ay in g t he

blocks.

We

ha d

trouble

sometimes getting th e things

we

needed

be

cause

it

rained

so

m u c h t o wa r d th e en d of

last year

an d

people

di d n ot w a n t to s e nd t h ei r

trucks

in

w it h l o ad s

o f s t one a n d

blocks

l es t t he y

ge t stuck. A local

African storekeeper

h as

carr ied

m os t o f th e

s tone f or u s.

Th e

ne w building

is 36

long an d

26

wide.

Th e

largest

room

3 6 X 14) will be for

general activity. T he o t he r

s ide will be

d iv id ed in to th r ee

rooms.

On e will be about 16 long a nd will be

th e

kitchen.

T he r emaining tw o

rooms

will be a sleeping room

fo r little children

an d

a storeroom fo r m at s a nd t ea ch in g

mate r ia l s

Cooking is a ls o d on e u n de r

circumstances

which a re less t h a n

th e best. In t h e n e w b u il d in g t h e k i tc h en will

be a

separate room

whi ch

will be

more

convenient a s well a s

safer.

Most o f t he money so fa r

has come

from th e missionaries

either directly or

from

th e offerings taken on S u nd a y a ft er

n o on s w h en

we meet together.

We a re hoping

t h a t

t h e A f ri c a n

people

i n t he c om m un it y

will

contribute to th e building

and

possibly

th e

ladies from t he W om en s Institute

will

also help.

Mattresses chairs a n d teaching

materials

ge t

s ta ck ed i n a

corner

of

th e

ch

urch

building when they

ar e no t

in use. Because of

th e

inconvenience s taf f a re no t as careful about fulfilling their

responsibilities

as

t h ey s h o ul d be.



S ou th A f ric an T o rc h

Published

quarterly

for

th e

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

U m z u m b e

B i b l e

I n st it u te a n d

Mr. & Mrs.

Lynn

Stanley

P.O. B ox 2 19

Por t Sheps tone

4240

Rep.

of SOUTH AFRICA

Forward ing Agent

Duane Stan ley

3012 39th Ave. N.E.

Minneapolis , MN

55421

M r & M r s A l v i n N i c h o l s o n

P.O. Box

219

Port

Shepstone

4240 Rep. of SOUTH AFRICA

Forwarding

Agent

M rs

Ri c ha r d

H a n s o n

7108 Low e r 170th C o u r t W.

Rosemount,

Minnesota

55068

Mr. &

Mrs.

Michael Stanley

P O Box 13

U m z u m b e

4225 Rep. of

SOUTH AFRICA

Forward ing Agent

Mrs . Ric ha rd E c k m a n

7905 37th St ree t

Kimball, Minnesota 55353

The

South African TORCH

(501-820) is a

publication of the South African Church

of Chri st Mission, an d is

published four

times each year

in

February,

May, August,

and November

by

Mission Services Asso

ciation,

7525

Hodges Fer ry Road,

Knox-

ville, TN 37920 9731 Second-class

postagepaid atKnoxville.TN 37901 2427

POSTMASTER:

Send

address changes

to

South Afr ican

TORCH, c/o Mission

S ervic es Associa tio n. PO Box

2427,

Knoxville.TN

37901-2427.

F i rs t Q u a rt er

1988

V o l u m e 3 9 N u m b e r

1

Sybil Evans began serving as forwarding agent

for

Lynn

an d Lucille

Stanley

in 1953

WELL

DONE, GOOD AND

FAITHFUL

by

D u an e D. Stan ley

As I

sit

down to th e computer to quickly generate a f inancial report for the f irst

month since I

took

over many of th e

forwarding

agent tasks

for

my parents (Lynn an d

Lucille Stanley),

and as

t he compute r mer ri ly

types

away

a

series of letters

to

supporters, I

have

time to wonderhow a very special woman looked ather first

month

of

forwarding

agent

responsibilities

whi le I

was

sti ll a preschooler.

Sybil

Evans began the ministry

offorwarding agent for

Lynn and

Lucille thirty-five

years

ago, as a young

woman

from

the

Horicon

Church

of

Christ

where Lynn

had

ministered. She ha d

often been

a babysitter for Darrel and

Michael.

She

writes,

I h ad

always

thought that

there

ought to be a

way

of using my bookkeeping and

secretarial

talents in some way for

th e

Lord. After

all,

that was what I was trained to do and what

my career

had

been from before I

graduated

from

high

school. For most of the

intervening

years, Sybil an d Lloyd have served with Christian

children s

homes

in

Boise,

Idaho,

in

Ladoga,

Indiana and

in

St. Joseph,

Illinois.

Sybil sti l l works

in

the

office for I ll in i

Christian

Children s Home. I just took my books

for

South

Africa

wherever we were.

Bu t th e load has

become

heav ie r and the energy

a

little less, and so

I

was asked if

I

could helpwith

the

responsibilities. I agreed

and

look forward tothe service. I will keep

finances

fo r

Umzumbe Bible Institute

and for Lynn

an d

Lucille, while

Sybil continues

to handle some of the personal responsibilities for them. I will do my best to answer

questions about

the

mission's work, provide missions

materials

for special programs,

an d in general, keep

supporters

well

informed

on this

vital

ministry.

It was exciting to

get

the first checks forwarded from Sybil. Quickly penned

across

an envelope

was the

note:

This person ha s been faithfully sending monthly gifts

from

the

beginning. And

she knows, for this person ha s

been

faithfully recording those

gifts from the beginning. A

missionary

often receives praise

and honor

for

his years

of

service to

th e

Lord s work

in a far-away country,

but

that

task could not be continued

without

the

years

of service of

someone

who is

seldomnoticed

or recognized, except by

the

missionary

an d

the Lord whom she serves. F rom both, I m sure, comes th e well

deserved recognition, Well done, good

and

faithful servant.

Form

3579

requested PO

Box 2427, Knoxv il le ,

TN

37901-2427



In

January

Brian, Deanna, andSonja Guy

returned to Sou th Afr ica f or a visit. They

were

here i n t he ear ly 70's as missionaries.

Brian

wa s

present at the

special

service

which

was hel d

to

honor

Mrs.

Jamjam on

he r re t i rement .

V olu me 3 9

^ 3

^(uj midUa lamp un i

mf

^

and

a

b/^htanio nuf

foik

Jtalnii

HfJOS

m m

tm g MM

^ ^

mj M li^k

u o

wj patk

a FR i c aN

Republic

of

Sou th

Africa

TORCH

Port

Shepstone

Transkei Umzumbe fl/b/e Instituiel

tCape

Town

Ea s t L o n d on

Second Quar t e r 1988

N u m b e r

2

E A S T E R M O V E S A C R O S S

T H E

B O R D E R

b y A lv in

Nicholson

At

the

Resurrection Weekend

Seruices

fo r

th e local area, the new church building

at

Redoubt

in t he T r an sk ei w a s

dedicated.

The

building work wa s do ne b y th e local elder

who

is a builder.

The

Resu rr e c ti on s e rv i c es ove r

Eas ter

weekend a re t he h ighl ight o f t he yea r' s

se rv ices for

th e

Afr ican churches .

I t

is

th e

one time w hen

almost everyone

is of f

work and when they a re

not committed

to

their families as they

ar e at Christmas

t ime .

Several

years

ag o

th e

Churches

of

Ch ri st o f Na ta l began to

get together

in

one place

for

these meetings. This year

they chose to come to Brother Zobolo and

th e

people he works with. His people

wan te d t h e

services

to

be

held a t Redoubt

across

th e

borde r in Pondoland, wh ich i s

a part

of Transke i .

Ephraim

Nqupaza and the people

there

have built a church building

doing

al l th e

work themselves. The y h av e a ls o b ee n

busy build ing a growing

and active con

gregation there.

First o^ Tuesday I loaded the tent at

school

an d then

went

to

Gcilima

to pick

up th e Zobolos a nd t he things they were

taking

to us e at the meetings.Wednesday

I

bought

a

half

a pickup load of food.

Thursday I added to

it (food

is much

cheaper

here) and

I

took it down

fo r

th e

meetings. I

was

glad to se e that th e people

had a l ready se t up

th e tent. They wanted

me to take pictures o f t he

two

oxen

they

had bought to furnish meat fo r th e

people.

To th e African

people

one o f t he

measurements of

a

good

meeting is

p len ty of meat to e at a nd t hey had i t this

t ime .

Th e

road

from

Port Shepstone to th e

border is very

good,

but

in

the Transke i

it

is a tarred road

with many

po t

holes,

some

of

which

they

have

filled with soil

an d

s tones .

Brother

Zobolo

told

me they ha d places

fo r more people on th e two

buses

t hey had

chartered a nd th ey

would

leave at 6:30.

Because th e

meet ings began

on Friday

morning, I thought he meant

tha t

morn

ing,

but

he

meant on Thursday night. So

Friday

I

had to

make

two trips down

to

take people who

ha d

no other way to go.

There was one

bus

t ha t

c ame over

20 0

miles to

th e

meeting

an d other

people

arrived by

cars an d

vans.

The Friday services

centered

around

th e

words

o f

Je su s on

th e c ros s and

interspersed

between th e sp eak ers th e

church

choirs sang.

Saturday

we were back for th e

Dedica

tion

Service and

I brought t he message

that

afternoon. The church build ing was

fa r

too small fo r th e numb er o f people

present, so we

ha d

a service in t he t en t

and

then marched

around

th e building

singing.

A few words were

spoken

and

th e keys g iven to th e elder to

open th e

building and then as

many

as could

went

inside fo r t he s ing ing of a

hymn

an d

p r a y e r .

Sunday

morning

Vernita

and I had to

g et up

early

to t ak e t he canopy o ff th e

pickup and pu t th e rack

back

on ,

because

th e

rack

works

better

for

car ry ing the

On the hoo f s ho rt ly

before

going

into

th e

pot Two

oxen

were

slaughtered

to feed

th e large crowd

attending

the meetings.

To accommoda te

the c rowd who a t t ended

th e services at Redoubt

t he l arge

tent

was

se t

up next to th e new c hurc h building.

Many of t he ma in services were held there.

tent.

The services started early

with

the

Communion

service,so

that

those

having

a long

way

to go could be on

their

way.

Ourroads in thi sarea are very

crowded

a t

this

t ime ofyea r.

After the morning mes

s age t hey had a n umber o f th e choirs

s ing. As they are s inging

people

will give

money t o t hem.

This

money is given to

their leader

who is most

always an older

person.

While t he y d id not at al l hurry

during the services

in

th e

morning,

once

it was over they hurr ied to get

food

to

eat

and

to get

th e tent

down

and loaded.

Vernita

and I had to wait th e

longest

be

cause

the

dishes and some o f th e

othe r

cooking

things

had

come

from

this

side

and they had to al l be washed and

made

ready

fo r

u s to

bring them

back.

Brother

Zobolo

re turned homeby bus

and

only his

wife c am e b ac k w ith us.

The y e st im ate d t he re

were

over

500

people

present

fo r

some

servi ce s. Two

families,

who have mov ed fr om other

churches in Transkei ,

came

to

place

their

membership with this church. A woman,

who

wo rk s a t

th e

Ca s in o a b ou t 25 miles

away, has asked that they begin services

in t h a t a r e a .

The

churches

went home talking

about

camp, how

they

will tr y and

ge t a bu s

fo r

al l to go to Conference

toge the r in

Sep

tember and

tha t next

year's

meeting, th e

Lord

willing, wi ll be at Gingindlovu in

Zululand.



M I N I S T E R S W E E K 9 8 8 K L E R K S D O R P

MATLOSANE

During Ministers' Week classes were taught by Bob Mills an d

Dennis

Messimer. Dennis

an d

hisfamily recently

came

to work

in

South Africa. They ar c living

and

working in the

Johannesburg

I

The church

building where Ministers ' Week

wa s

held is wel l

kept

an d attractive. The meeting

was

well-organized

and everyone

was encouraged

by

the spi ri t

that was

present.

Ben

an d Lydia Serathi

minister

to

the church

in

Klerksdorp,

where Ministers'

Week

was held. They wer e

both

students a t

Umzumbe Bible Institute a few years ago. Their children ar e

Lancelot. Camelot

an d

no.

no t

Guinevere ) Sylvia.

M TLOS N

Messages

during Ministers'

Week were

given

by both

ministers

and missionaries.

Gladstone

Ndamase,

minis ter in

Dobsonville,

SOWETO,

seems

to be

making an important

point

as his

interpreter, James

Mbaso,

waits his turn.

Th e

ladies of th e

church wer e kep t

busy

with

preparation,

serving and washing up

f or t he

meals

which were

given

to

those a t

tending the

meetings.

The

ministers no t

only

enjoyed th e food,

hu t also

th e

fellowship as

they gathered

a t

Ministers '

Week

and

shared

in

physical and

spiritual

feasting.

The miss iona rie s a lso enjoyed the fellow

ship and go t together to talk whenever

there

wa s a

free

moment. Their tea (Coke) wa s

served

to them

as they

s a t

outside

discussing

th e

issues

at hand.

L to R:

Den

nis

Messimer.

Floyd Stamm,

Alice

Fish-

back,

and

Michael Stanley.



The men s

dormitory

wa s built in 1960out

of

mud and cement blocks and then plas

tered. Some of th e

plaster was

removed and

replaced once,

but

it

is

in need of being re

placed again.

We like to think that when a job has

been completed,

it

will

stay

that

way,

bu t

with buildings this is no t

true.

They must

constantly be maintained and upgraded.

A few years

ago

we upgraded

ou r

bath

room t home nd

th e

cos t r n

lmos t

half

what we had

paid

for th e

house

20

years before. Now we are faced with a

renewal program at school, and th e

cost

is daunting.

Because

we are trying to

divide the school property

from

theres t of

th e

acreage,

t he heal th department

ha s

dem nded s ome

renovations.

Most of

th e

changes do

not

involve a

great deal of

doing,

bu t each

one

adds to

th e cost of the ongoing of the

school

an d

t akes t ime to complete.

The

most costly

effort

will be

the taking

of f

of the plas ter

on

on e e nd of

th e

men s

dormitory and

completely

replastering

that

part

o f t he

building. It

was

built

originally

of soil-

cement

blocks,

which

ar e

no t

particularly

Most

of

our rain and wind comesfrom the

sou th so the plaster on

this

side has suffered

mos t. The b ri ck

wall

in

front

of th e

building

has helped to

keep

th e

rooms from

getting

the ful l force

of

th e wind

and

rain.

hard, but which in some of

ou r

buildings

have

stood

more

than

25

years.

We

hope

by

making these improvements

i t will ex

tend

the life of th e building another 10

years. We replaced

th e

church bui ld ing 8

years ago. Because of

t he t remendous

r ain s o f th e pas t 8 months, some of th e

walls

o f the m en s

dormitory have

been

shifting. We were awa re o f t he problem,

an d knew

it h ad to be done

shortly,

bu t

now

i t is urgent. We will have to add

some

more windows and improve

another

wall.

Most bui ld ings i n t hi s c ount ry do not go

below ground level, and we ha d built on a

slope, and

with t he heavy ra in s the re

has

been considerablewash away. Estimated

cost of

repairs

for

this building

is 1 000.

We do

no t

have

th e

funds

for

majoralter

ations

from

our

regular funds.

There

ar e

no

plans

fo r

new build ings

this year, bu t

we

will have to make re

pairs

on

a

number

of

th e present facili

Even

t he east side

of

th e

building

is badly

cracked and th e onlysolution seems to be to

r ep la st er t he wall s. Hopeful ly , then

th e

building will

l a st another

few years.

t ies.

Some

floors h ve to be

resurfaced.

One

of

our big problems is

that

of

t ime to

ge t

everything

done. We

were

pleased

that t hey d id not require changes to

our

wat er sy st em.

Two

of th e

young men

in th e

room mos

damaged by th e water had t o move out o

their

room

t h r ee t ime s

when

i t flooded.

n

spite

of thi s inconvenience,

we received

little complaint

from

th e

students,

but it

is ou r great

desire

to improve their

con

ditions

as

rapidly

as possible.

These

young men ar e our future ministers, and

t hey a re t he bes t advertisement

we

have

fo r the school .

Mos t

s tudents

come

be

cause they have talked to someone who

has

been here.

A

Bible publishing

firm in

dicated recently

that

they do not

have

great display

and

advertizing material,

bu t rely on satis fied customers sell ing

their Bibles. We ar e happy

when our

s tudents do

th e

s m e for

us .

FAREWELL, MRS. JAMJAM

In February a spec ia l service was

held

at

Umzumbe

Bible

nst i tute

to

honor

Mrs.

Jamjam

on

her

retirement as

our

cook.

Sh e

smiled broadly when Mrs. Stanleypinned a

corsage on

her.

The

Umzumbe

Bible Institute choir sang

so ng s for

Mrs.

Jamjam. On e

h d been

written specia lly

to tell he r how

much

th e

s tudent s app reci at ed t he work she had

done—not only as cook, bu t as Mama

Jamjam.

f

i I M•

Many gif ts were

broughtfor

Mrs.

Jamjam

and a collection

of

money was t aken .

Both

gifts an d money will be useful to

he r

as sh e

retires.

She

plans

to build a

smal l

house

and

l ive

ne r her

re la t ives

in

th e

Transkei .



S o uth A f ric an T o rc h

Published quarterly

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th e

following

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a n d t he i r

F O R W A R D I N G

A G E N T S

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M r s .

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H a n s o n

7 1 0 8

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Ros emount, Minnesota

55068

M r.

M r s .

M i c h a e l

Stanley

P O

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4225 Rep.

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Forwarding

Agent

M r s .

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7905 1 3 7 t h Stree t

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T he South African TORCH (501-820) is a

publication of the South African Church

o f C h ri s t

Mission,

an d is

p u b li s he d f ou r

times each

year

in February, May, August,

an d November by Mission Services Asso

ciation, 7525 Hodges

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postagepaid atKnoxville,TN 37901-2427.

POST MAST E R :

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S e c o n d Quar te r 1 9 8 8

V o l u m e 3 9

N u m b e r 2

A

N EW

B A T C H O F S U R P R I S E S

b y

Mic h a e l S t a n l e y

African

independent

churches.

Th e

first

wa s

a young ma n

who was brought

to school by t he b is ho p of h is c hu rc h.

L a t e r a

s t u d e n t

a rr iv ed w h o

w a s

th e

arch-bishop of

an

independent church.

These people offer us th e opportunity to

present New

Testament

Christianity to

\ ^

those who

are not

familiar with.it. The

1 IV ^ t impact of the

Bible

on these people can

I • If

often

be most encouraging tous asmis-

- V n s i o n a r i e s an d teachers.

Wm W The reasons forwhich students come

E t school c n lsos w gre t diversity

p This year

half

of our students

came

to

A g

school as

a

result of the

encouragement

of

ministers.

That proportion is higher

than n o r m a l .

S o m e o f

t h e s e have

t h e i r

Nicholas Monti left and CornellFupi eye on the ministry as a specific goal.

right . 2nd year students at Umzumbe We also have two older men who came

Bible Institute, accompanied Michael to school because ministers in their

Stanley

when he went toEaster servicesin areas have died in r ec en t y ea rs .

theEasternCape.

As

ambassadors

for the

A mb ro se N ya wo

is 70

years

old an d

school, they

have

made contact with this Johane Mathejwa is 73. Teaching these

young man whom they hope willbecomea men is quite a challenge, however

their

student at the school. Our best adver- commitment cannot be questioned.

t is ing is often our students

an d

former desire to fill th e need which th e

students. church

ha s

for a

minister.

Each year our student

body

at

Um- One

student came to school because

zumbe BibleInstitute provides us with he had met a former student while at

some surprises. Some years it is the teachers college; another because she

number of students (either many or was a neighborofaformers tudent. Two

few , or it may be the number of

Ian-

or three of the younger students have

guages. This year it is the

wide

variety come because for oneoranother reason

of backgrounds. For more than ten they are unable to continue in high

years we have been concerned because

school

and they have not been able to

we seemed to be unable to

attract

find jobs. Past experience ha s

taught

us

students from the Tswana language that these students often develop corn-

group. This year half of the first year

mitment

toChristduringtheiryearsas

class can speak Tswana. Normally Zulu students.

and Xhosa predominate as the Ian- Advertisingfor theschoolhas always

guages

for student conversations. This proved to bea

difficult

area to

handle,

year

Zulu

andXhosa speaking students

Over

the years we have

learned

that

are learning to speakTswana. someofourmosteffective advertisingis

We normally receivea large number whatwegetfromformerstudents ofour

ofapplicationsas a resultof the

corres- school.

They can reach prospective

pondence courses that Robert

Mills

students on their level and produce

re-

offers. These come from several suits. The students who come to school

countries in southern Africa and gen- as a result of this kind of advertising

erally include several from peoplecur- can come from unpredictable back-

rently serving jail sentences. It is very grounds (some may have little or no

seldom that we actually get students connection with the church),

arriving at school, but this year has The result of these factors is that we

been an exception. We have yet to re- never have time to get bored.This year

ceive a student who was a prisoner, but has already provided a lot ofchallenges

this

vear

we

received two

wh o

were

from an d

it

looks l ike t hey a re n ot over yet.

Nicholas

M o n t i

left) a n d Cornell Fupi

(right),

2n d

year

students

at Umzumbe

Bible I ns ti tu te , a cc om pa ni ed M ic ha el

Stanley

when

he

went

to Easter services in

th e Eastern

Cape.

As

ambassadors

f or t h e

school,

they h av e m ad e

c on ta ct w it h t hi s

young ma n

whom they

hope will become a

s t u d e n t

a t

th e school. O ur best a d v e r

tising

is

often

ou r

students

an d former

students

Each

year

ou r

student

body at

Um

zumbe

Bible

Institute

provides

us

with

s om e s ur pr is es . S om e years i t

is

th e

n u m b e r of

s tu d e n ts

either

m a n y

or

few), or it ma y be t he n um be r of la n

guages. This

year it is th e wide

variety

of backgrounds.

Fo r

more t han te n

years we

have

been concerned because

w e se e m e d

to

b e u n ab le

to a t t rac t

s tu d e n ts from th e T s w a n a la n g u a g e

group.

T hi s y ea r

half of

th e

first

year

class

c a n s p ea k T s w a n a. Normally Zulu

an d

Xhosa

predominate

as the

la n

guages

for student conversations.

This

year Zulu and Xhosa

speaking students

ar e

learning

to

s p ea k T s w an a .

We normally

receive

a l a rg e n u mb e r

of applications

as

a result of th e corres

pondence courses that Robert Mills

offers. Th e s e co m e from several

countries

in

southern Africa an d

ge n

er ally include sever al from people cu r

rently serv ing

jail sentences.

It

is very

seldom t hat

we

actually

g et s tu de nt s

arriving at school,

bu t

this year has

been

an exception.

We h av e y et to re

ceive

a

student who

wa s a prisoner, bu t

this

year

wereceived two who were from

F o r m

3 5 7 9 r e q ue s te d

P O B ox

2 4 2 7 , K n o x v il le ,

T N

3 7 9 0 1 - 2 4 2 7

Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1988 SAfrica

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Transcript of Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1988 SAfrica