8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica
1/6
1 6 1957
afrto*
I
>2Dtember
Greetings
in
Jesus na ^* e a e a l l fine
here i n
outh A fric a,
t h a t i s the Nicholsons are . The
Asiatic
f l u i s going: the rounds
of
the people. So many
of
the
African
people are ill with it and some
places
it has
reached
epidemic proportions. Now it i s
beginning
around
Fbrt
Shepstone.
So
f a r
there
have
be^-n few
i f
any
deaths
i n
Africa*
On Sunday the 16th of August, the children and ^ accompanied Alvin
t o
a small town on the reserve , near Durban, where we
held
s er vi ce s f or
a small
grouc of people
who are a
Part of the Durban
Circui t . They have
no r ^ n i s t e r r i g h t
now.
fe met in the ho-^ of an elderly woman.
I t
Was quite a good sized
hut ,
but the
Walls
were
so low and
the
roof came down
c l o s e r t o the
ground,
Alvin said
they
combined
7ulu and
Xhosa
methods.
The
r e a l
7ulu house is
all grass reaching right
to
the ground.
t
the Xhosa s use v/alls
made
of mud
blochs* Nhere
the walls
and
the
roof
met,
they
stored
shoes
and
odds
and ends as
it
formed a shel f , Kaffir Corn hung from
the roof to
dry and
the r e g u l a r c o r n m e a l l i e s
here v/ps p i l e d i n on e c o r n e r . The
yad
some of
the
big clay pots i n which
they s to red seed
and am^hewu.
They spread
grass mats on the f loor
fo r
the
people to
s i t
on
and
had
a
table
and
chair s for
us. ^hey served us tea
f irst . Ty^en
we had the
services, fe enjoyed them very much and found such a strengthening scir i tual ly
in
the meeting with them. Brother
^ ^obert
Mabovula Was
there
to
interpret.
After the services,
they
eave us rice
and curry, chichen ^nd potatoes
t o e a t .
Te sang
songs
t o g e t h e r
and
v;e
sang
some Zulu
sonvs fo r them
t h a t
they did
not seem to know. One woman sang so v/ell,
but
she had such a
cold and when we had f i n i s h e d she c o u l d n t t a l k
f o r
a w h i l e .
A matt Cams
from
another home and hearing th e p rea ch in g wanted us
to come to hie home and preach too. e wont, a ll the
people
going with
Us, so
we
had an even larger group
there,
he
house
was
almost full.
Here Alvin
preached
on the
church
of
Christ and ga e the s cr ip tu re s for
what one must do to be saved, ^ v e r a l spoke afterwards, but noen had
andy
further
questions.(They are a group
who had
been meeting on
their own
with no connections
with
any other group.)
The f i r s t group of people
all
accompanied us
to
the car,
sinking
every
step of the Way.
They
sing
slowly and
step in
rythm
to the
song.
fe had left
home
at 6j50 a*m. and
v. hen
we arrived bgck i t was 6p.m.
The Car had
just fcnen
overhauled and we hgve had
to travel
slowly. Over
200
miles
at
^0 miles
cer
hour i s rather tedious. Bjt we are so
thankful
t h a t the c a r i s i n f ine shape now.
The
pepple
where we went Sunday wanted us
to
come again on the
next
Smday, but
we
thought i t better
to
see
the
children of
the
Sunday
school,
because
we
had already missed two Sundays.
And we
are
planning to
be aWay
o n a n o t h e r .
In
(^hristign
Love,
V e r n i t a
Greetings to one and a l l fom Africa. After having
been
aWay from
home a Part of every mjnth so
far
this year, I hgve stayed at home during
the
month
of
August.
hree
Sundays
of the
onth we have tra veled to
Durban
to
try and
help the
work there
e
are hoping that before long
wn
Can find^ a Place
for
a minister o
live
there and he can go
to lead
the v. ork.
he
^Iders have been doing an excellent work, but
i t
does need
some
one
who can
give a l l h i s t ime t o
it
8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica
2/6
HI so have been trying to get
caught
up on the
many
things which go
undone when one
has
to be on the go a great deal
of the time*
Put now m
I a
planning
to
leave
home on the 10th of this
month
to
go
to J^anduli [ i
The f i r s t two days we
shall
be
having
preaching services with the other
I ^n is te r s near
there
and the i r people also Present , ^t th i s same
time
I
Want
to
instruct them in
the making of Concrete blocks so
that
they H
Can
begin to
make
them for their church building.
From
there
I am
going
on to Tsomo where we
shall
s t a r t work in
PI
building the
church
house
for
them. The foundation will be
madd
of j
rocks*
Then the Walls shall be buil t with a traveling mould.
You
f i l l
t h i s machine with cement and move t
ahead
leaving jus t l ike a block in
that
place . Then you refill i t and move i t again and
thus
you do all
H
around the
bui lding.
You can
lay one fu l l course
aday. Th^s
makes
t
possible fo r us to use a
good
number
of
smaller
rocks
in the
Walls.
Usq
you do not have to Wait for the blocks
to
cure but
this
cures r ight in.s H
he
The
other
day
the
Postman
del ievered to
our
house a s l ip
of
paper
which
showed
t h a t
there
was
a Par ce l a t th e Post Off ice fo r us
from
America.
That
of
course always
brincrs
excitement.
Especially
th i s
time
for
Veri ta s
Yother had
writ ten she was
sending her a birthday present.
en
we got
them we found
t ha t
we
had r ec ei ved f ou r
pic ture ro l l s
from
Bfeji
Rasar
and
the
church
a t
Brandon,
lowa. Tiat
a
f ine
g i f t
t
was and
what
a
help
t wil l be in the work. Efecause we were
to
go to Durban on Sunday we
had our class a t
Songo s
on
Saturday snd
showed them one of the
ro l l s
and taught from one of the pictures. They t ruely
loved i t
Yesterday
in
Durban Vernita taught a lesson on the
flannel
graph. p
To these people
i t is
really something to
see the
Pictures all acted ]
out as t i s being to ld She also told them the story in ulS,
but
foound
t much
more
d i f f i c u l t than
when
t eaching the ch i ld r en
: ^
I t i s only
a l i t t l e more than a month now unt i l
the
Randall
shal l
^
be on
the i r
way back
to
Africa* recent
l e t t e r from
the
^Uls
say s th ey
rptnrn gt- i-hp of Fphrnary 19S8.
One
of the
^undieys
when v e \-tere going to Durban we
saw
some
monkeys,
in
the
t r ee s
near the
road. stopned and
the
young ones came near
the
Car to
r e t some thing
to ea t
But as t always
happens
I
did not
have
i y sl ide camera with me because I had jus t completed a
ro l l
of
f i lm
and not bought another. Th^t
i s
the closest that we have had them come
t o th e C a r
At 85>000 t apoeared t wos time that
the
Plymouth should have s me
v/ork done
on
t
New
r ings j bearings and timing cha in
were
nut in Put
a t the garage they said the
motor was
in
excel lent
shape. 5o now we
hone t
shal l
see us
th ru
t ll
1959
with ou t much more
expense.
Vhile you
in
America today are having a holiday for Labor Day. This
i s a
holiday here fo r
8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica
3/6
A
NE^ S ITH
^ IF Sf^UTH
liFniC*
1 November
1^57
This last
month we have been to visit in the olden City of
South
i^rica*
Not t h a t we
eaw any
of the gold t h a t Was there, but
we saw plenty
of
the
e a r t h
t h a t
they
are
bringing up while they are looking
for
it
This
Was one t r i p wherr
it
Was possible
for H e.
Nicholson
to
go
along.
So we
l e f t the
older
c h i l d r e n
with
f o l k s here a t Port Shenetone
and
she and Ja^es
weht
with mo.
Pnock
^obolo also went
with
us. Both
t o i n t e r p r e t and a l s o to v i s i t
h i s
brother who i s working i n Johannesburg
and
v/hom
he
h a s n o t
s e e n
f o r some t i m e .
The f i r s t n i g h t we stopped j u s t outside of Johannesburg so t h a t we
could be up e a r l y and meet Brother Stanley when he arr ived by t r a i n .
Was a - b i t
surprised
when he
saW
us because it Was
not
yet seven o clock
i n the
morning.
Our first v i s i t
Was
a t t h e Natal s p r u i t
L o c a t i o n
n e a r Germiston .
The S-fena.5^ took
us
to see the church
s i t e
which the ^ i n i s t e r has chosen
and which
shall
be
ours
after
the
papers
are
completed.
This
area
i s
just
beginning to be developed so
r i g h t
now
it
does not
look
l i k e much. The
people are l iving
in small
t i n
shacks, ^ut
it wil l
not
be
long
u n t i l
houses arc
begun i n t h a t
arca
The
Location
i s
four miles long and
I
do n o t know how w i d e . iMso
a n o t h e r
l o c a t i o n w i l l
c o n t i n u e
on from one end
so t h i s
w i l l
be a very
big
area t o have a work i n . fc-f ter we h-^d
seen
the s i t e he took
us
back and showed u s th e A dm inistration
building,
v;hich
i s a
very
nice
one.
I t
i s the only place t h a t I have v i s i t e d where
they
have
a l i b r a r y
r i g h t
there
f o r the
people of
the
l o c a t i o n . Af^er
t h i s
ho
s e r v e d u s
t e a i
^uring the af ternoon we v i s i t e d with the M n i s t e r John Sibinde.
This
man
f i r s t
came
to
us
thru
the
Correspondence
Lessons of
Ekother
H i s
^ has been several times in school and Brother Stanley has been very
haPPy with
h i s
work.
There Was
another
man who
had
come t o
see us and
we
spent
the
g r e a t e r
P a r t
of
the
a f t e r n o o n
i n speaking
w i t h him.
I f one does
no t have Government Recognit ion as a church, it i s o f t e n
d i f f i c u l t
t o
find a
place
to meet and
carry
on your
work.
So often
we find
neonle
who
Want t o
come
and
work w i t h
u s because
t h e y know tbwt we
have t h i s .
This man
belongs
to a group which
have
used the name,
Church
of Chris t
Apostolic Evangelist . He thought because he used
the
name church
of
Christ
he
must
be welcomed
immediately. I t soon
became
very clear
t h a t he
did
not
even
well
unders tand th e s c r i p t u r e s l t alone unders tand the church vfhich
Chr i st e s t a b l i she d .
Sunday we went
to
^rako where we visited with Nlmrod ^^ni. ^causo
they have no building vfhich i s big enough to hold
many
people,
the
services
were held
in
the open. There
v;ore
few
clouds
i n the- sky.
hen we
were
si t t ing
down we used umbrellas, for. shade- Put I find I can not r-reach
w i t h au u m b r e l l a
i n one hand
and
t h e
b i b l e
i n the
o t h e r ,
so
while
I
was
preaching
the to p
of
my
head
g o t a b i t r o a s e d .
In
the a f t e r n o o n we
spent q u i t e some t ime with them,
speaking about the
church bui lding
which
might be b u i l t i n the new l o c a t i o n where they
have
a s i t e . Also about
how they
would
go
about r a i s i n g
money for t h e i r bui lding. The building
i s very much needed f o r t h i s c o n g r e g a t i o n .
?t>nday
^e
went
to
Fketoria
to
see one
of
the
N^der
Secretaries
of
Native Affairs as to where might be the best place for our i^nister s
Training
School. I t
is
b u il t a t Kimberley
i n th e b u f f e r
zone and
we
know
that some
day i t nust be moved,
following
this we stoprted to see
the
Voortrekker M)nument, which
has been
b u i l t in
honour of
the
early
D u t c h S e t t l e r s
Monday night we were in Potchef etroom with
H n i s t e r
Saane.
Ne
Ig
having
some t rouble
with h i s
f o o t . The
Doctors dan n o t seem t o
help
it
and
they
say
t h a t
it
i s
caused
from an African disease . Brother Stanley
and I both preached here and then we had
to hurry
to get
him
to
the train
so he could go
back
t o Kimberley.
The
n e x t
day we
r e t u r n e d
back
a s f a r a s E s t c o u r t where v/e had s e r v i c e s
out i n the Reserve t h a t
n i g h t ,
c
enjoyed
the opportunity
t o go
back in
toward th e
mountains
here. Wg
returning
to acourt
tomorrov/
for
Evening
8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica
4/6
and Sunday services to be held in the Railway Cotunomid The Brethren from
all the area will be gathered together here. H
hen
we finishg^d our
journey home
on e^nesday we took time for a short
bit
6f shopping in urban, ^or
all
our time spent in the bigger
cities
we
did
not
find much-time for t h i s .
e
must send our presents for
Christmas
hpme t o o u r
f a m i l i e s now.
I am s t i l l gathe ri ng the th in gs for the buildings a t
Mjanduli
and
Tsomo. Hoping that at the close
of
t h i s
month I
shall
be able to s^end
some
time there
continuing on w ith the work. e a flk
you t o
pray f o r us
in this task of bu ilding th e churches, that by the power of
od
and the
guidance of His
Holy
S p ir it h is
work shall be done.
ftn6ther_of ;^e Mnisters fell
to
sin ihis
months,
^bey.^a^ked Brothor^
^ahXey ^
come
and see them since he Was
the
closepjt and so he took with
hima
number of
the
^fr ican brethren. After the meeting
the
man was asked
t o r e tu rn a l l
the
t h i n g s whioh
he
had been given as
a
minister and t o
leave the minister s home. The
church
had already stopped him from
preaching
when
they
had
learned
of
the
s i n .
^he Randall
family
shall
iand
in Capetown on
the
6th of November.
A vin Nicholson
P o r t ^hen s t o n e
Needless
t o say I enjoyed
being
able t o go along
with
Mvin t h i s month.
I t
Was
mostly
gett ing up early ,
t ravel ing and v i s i t i n g
churches, but
Was a joy
and
a change. I enjoyed more because I was
able
t o
t a l k with
the
women more
i n
t h e i r
language and
understand
a t l e a s t
a
P a r t
of what
Was being s a i d .
The
most i n t e r e s t i n g service Wa.^ the one on our Way
home a t TDscourt,
where we
plan to
be t h i s ween end* he minister took
us out
among the
g
boautifLul , , tho
h i l l o oo groon
and
r o l l i n g .
The big mountain for which the dist r ic t is named Ntabmhlophe) could be
seen in
the
distance. o arr ived here about 5o clock and
^ad a few
minutes
t o look arouhd
us and
breath i n the
cool mountain
aire before became
d a r k .
The
man
who
works with this group was a bit-
late
in coming, so we had
time Waiting.
Hiich i s
not unusual
a t
these services.
He
had t o
come
eleven miles by horseback a f t e r
h i s
work
Was f inished on
the
dairy
farm.
that
we
started
services
before
he came. Those
people
really
sang.
The majority
of
the group was women. I t was midnight by the time we
returned t o
Escourt to
f i n d
a room
f o r
the
n i g h t .
Ve a re lookipg forward
t o
the s e r v i c e s and t ime
t h e r e on
th e 2nd.
Al l the children wil l
go
with us and w e l l sleep i n
a
t e n t .
They v/ill
l o v e t h a t .
ffey
^od bless
all
of you is our prayer.
I n C h r i s t
V e r n i t a N i c h o l s o n
r
n
8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica
5/6
ITEWS WIT2I THE NXOHO.LSOirS
V - ..
liJ
SOUTH AFRICA
h
Ueoember 1957
This has
been
the
month
for
gathering
U P
the
las t
of the
tail ends for this year. ^ went to visit with
five
of the ohurohes
where I have not had time to iyisit before. Some i had purposely
le f t
because I had
planned
to do i t when
we
were preparing for
Conference, but since the date for Conference has been set back from
January t i l l April, I
have
gone to see them for their yearly visit
now
The f irst
Sunday
in
ovember
we a ll
went to Esoourt
where we
had
jart
in the services there
on
Saturday and Sunday, ihxs
was
the
first opportunity
for
the family to go together
for
a meeting so far
from home. The people were very happy
for ^rs.
iUoholson to be pe
present and have a part in the service. There were five baptisms here^
The second Sunday we went to Uurban to help the brethren theffc.
e
thought one of the young men v^ould be going to help them with their
work
for a while, but a letter which had sent to
him
took a
week
and
one half to
reach
himf even though he
lives
only fifty ^Tles away.
So even while he wss looking for i t the informotion oame late to him.
1 am hoping to take
him
to Uurban th is
month.
The
.fourteenth
began
our Journey to
visit
the churches.
The plym
Plymouth was rather leaded
down
also with six bags of
eight
steel
windows,
besides
he
books and other material which
always try to carry to supply the needs of the paoplei^ ? I t
for them. Tn faot
at
once place when went to see the Magistrate to
get my permit signed, the polioeman stopped to ask
what
i had in the
sacks.
He wss
checking to
make
sure 1
wap -not
oarrying the-weed
which
they s e l l
fo r smoking.
The
churches visited wor:
^ ount
^yliff
Umtata. Qweenstown,
Tarka-
ptad and Stutterheim. I also.went to Foanduli to leave tiie
windows
or the church building there and to see hovj
they
their work.
They have
hovjever,
been able to
do noDhing because
the
European
who
promised us sand in ^ep:.ember had not yet brought t .
I
had
planned also to
do
some
work
on
the church at
Tsomo,
but because
it wL thrtime of plowing the .brethren
had
not gathered many things t.
t oga the r t h e r e
While a t Q,\veeneton f i l l ed
the
paper? in
for a church s3te. They have asked us for a plan of the buil .ing
vDhioh we
would propose to
build there
and then
will
let us
shall
have a site. 5 or church aervioos we met in one
room
at the
Minister home. It is a larger
room than
most of them nave, but still
much
smaller
than we really needea for
the
people who oamo.
tim
Thoreforo
on
the
24th
of ovembor 1 was in Kinborloy. In the
morning
i
was v,ith Brother
Stanley in
the morning
service with the
ohuroh at Grocn Boint. and
had
a part in their seryioo there. ^ the
afternoon wo drove to Warronton whoro Brother Stanlp had ^
and
brou^t a short message. This
was
my first ti^e to visit this
ohuroh
On
Tuesday the 26th because
brother
Randall and ^iolderman were
umablc to got to Himberloy on that day,,, we took the man who
wore
pchool
studying
and
wont
to Delpoorts ^ope to work
on
the
church
ing.
There
also the
man
had not
pr^p.orcd
the
Ovmont
promised. Hut
we
had enough
on
hand
to
keep us busy
for
the day.
8/10/2019 Nicholson Alvin Vernita 1957 SAfrica
6/6
4* 1
* oH t
On' Tliarsdny
when the
other
men RboOnaln
fT
nl^t
talking.
'J hcy^wcro^r^^^
ana went on to ^npo ^ ^ ^
yiiion
tho exhaust
Wo
haa not goho
very
far on our wo aia
havc^
Of
^^^o-tS^.^Ja - -^oyca
it
tery
muoh
ana wantoa
mo
icevc i t for 0 while. ^
-Kionta.
Sixteen barrels of us.a clothing oamo
not
rooeivoa
We
want
to
got somo nan. But
with tho
'
their last shipment of t>io stuay.
But
those shall bo Vory
the ^bv^thc Cisiors .
much
apBrcoia^t;_^y^__^^
^ ' y
tovs
f-^rTET-otfliaren of
tba-'
S- .t^rhoolf'whorv^c'wcnt fo''scf?hemlast Sunaay^thoy ^
wc'^haa
forgotten
them.
olothihg''
from
tho
Wissiona^
Council:
,
all. Vo
toys^cnme
from
the
kne
giflm
s\Sna
Iowa *
Wo
^hnnk
both of
tleso
churches for th.se
uthcrlona, own. _ .tive Affairs hero in
While I was
gone
the g^with -him to
soo
tic site
Bert Sbepstono
calloa to ^ f ohurch site. I sha^ go in -
at
Songo^s
which wc l;^
^Wc
hone
very
much that it
snail
bo
in the next to build there.
onrp for ??C
wouia
li^tc to o p
4/J-./1 fhrt tho Flppiionririon would try | ,
While in imbcrloy io pick o plnoo thai, if?
to
meet
together
fo^^
^lecc
apocarea
to
bo
^>n
at
III ;3o'?oiS
?;f
S'ITSSm
SSrSi
. -
hope that
you
ao not fina it 33 0^^3^20^1011^^^ the
Hews shall not
bo
too hara to
^o
_. rcturnoa
States
usofl.
the auplioator V ,,,,.'3,
one which
Brother Stanley
hrv-
returned
it
also.
I
lave
taaon
on.^on^wn^^^^^
*v -v> nr-4nj- I t in
diffor-ut
than any IP-^rh-os bv
the
tirfis
hnn boon
u. lns
, pomo t roublo -,v* X aVn Ll'
'tha? h- o a^L tSis letter ana also print .a the hntivc pap.r c.
lafc gotten
on
to Fost
of
its ways.
w,,,i,erous
Wc
wish
you
all
a
very
orry
Christmas ana
a
luppy
an
Hew
Year SHE
>iViil.ii IC BS0H3
At
U r t
Shopstonc, J^atal
South Afr ica
n
f r