1 January 1959 ;: ,

JAN

91913

Dear Friends in Christ:

s"=s :s!.Te.n:
mnn-t-Vi

This has truly been

has heen helping Brother

School at

*
Niok QwenesVia,

the Minister's Training

nie to make bricks for

^tL Pl^r^hfrl the sdhool shall be.

-the first buildings on the Pl^ ^ ^3^30 spont a little time

^n gTttlSn^ C^d TlL^^P^r^adrfor^ts test.

Just before Christmas we

and It has

^B^fj,g^that^tlmo the

;;

rrfod^on. We are right on the llO,

faithful l'i/ly:?"^^.fhavfsom; to go yet.

000 mile mark and still hav^ souu u e.

Wo made 10,000 brick for use

weU.
now we are making
It and then d\^gjthe dirt

We had made the aslng or started It an^W

out from the inside^nd

^Xthe Inslo and leave

. along fine until I told

^hoy oculd work all morning

the build
dirt under
qct over new years.
and
up thethecasing and ^avo it S
3. j^tI

wont off to do

dugout a'oout 3 foot down

lot tho casing down. Only tooy ^

and It tilted on one side

. it

it broke to pieces.

it for a bit to

^-

dig out tho sides to

- after they had o-ton

straighten _

casing.

roto;?f:fo
bog what hc.ppons.

But tho

1 went

,...

*I went back on Saturday

blocks and put down, the

c.on'o'blocks on two sidos. When
and build the corners ^
thev had gotten another builder
I went b0.ok again on Tuesday they
gix

to help and one of the

hours we had put up ato

^1

walls around the building,

blocks which are left this

we hope to use "P f

wth make more blocks for tho

lot we had received.

things to the native 9^11

^gj. o had not given them their

-gggauge of tho rain. We had

bSi?^l.jf"bti toL^^brto-g'the-^lls UP to seven fact.

w" had amost snjo^ble
^g'^and^what
a\loe
tho morning was the Pnl^
^.g take the
things on Suuday fer Ctol.tm.s

a real crowd on ^nrlotn s cj

aisappolnted In giftsf

for gifts and sweets

U had plenty. The s.

for thanks to many

fpgfoh! but thoy were all very h
sweets however did not qit I't the chicken on tooook
happy. After we arrived home Wj^Put
3^.^ finished
and then had Just a sa-idwi$oh

r"o;'ss s .<11.1
Frlmds, the time ^

same. Jotofld^looked

"

jftae at ho 5, draweth nigh. rs.

^
'the Travel Fund has I^sed the AlO^ nar

Jthat

3_ggg
travel,

than half of the money which we sh^ll^ offerlngg right away

Therefore nay we urge you to s en y

before

^tto'^tosrorHarch.'sr^hai^mra^s ?hL Hrs. Wldlund should have

th; monS before tiie first of February.

. '

Tho people at

to work.

, ^.

- ^

g gf gun bricks and

So wo f":p

. -

n
QS'irGmosha preached two Sundays out at ^nvutshinl
m
1 the good confession first
Sund.-y
one of They
the local
pollonan
made
and was
baptised.
have Tverv

ruml^ ar ^

r;
n

n
valley. other
Ihe streaa
between
two quite
side Is runs
a rook
pool about
four feet across and 12 feet long. It has a nice gravel bottom
and looks alnost like it had been prepared Just for that use.
to fret

before Christmas we wont out to Zobolo's

f'^ant from one of the sheep which we hr.d

2^

there
7rt ^ edressed the little twins
^ hOuse.
Whilethem
thereMrs.
Zobolo
and brought

tL'i'^tf^
k"'hnn h d

e S"

f V

hold ^he
thedifference
little gmin^d^kndm"^
then for the

3
lhs Her
more skin
likewas
a boyj
The iiyie
girlf was so datotv and ^sweet,
lighter
than the boys. They said S^#srijy3.-d;'l)u^"
the
girl, but Ilrs. Zobolo didn't thlhif
to part with her

only one. The other 2 children are boys too. Vemlta Nicholson).'

=,ee if
If we can about finish
^ up the &'work

Mqanduli
and places.
Tgono to
see
in those two

problla^'tLrer

Elizabeth to see about a

then
excited and we tell
men we arc too busy to get exolted g'^tting,
yet.
this nonth the Native girl who has been

She took
October 5
andI T
JustI seened to keep going down hill.
Thev sick
said in
^ g^ss that" is the best way "to"

Some one broke In the school building in Kinberlev.

i-hf?
and wrote was
on the
walls.
Took
their feet and broke the floor
typewriter-that
there
and tore
2

books-

movL to this side

Since this is not the first tine

r
JW?before
:P^^ayerfl^as,,iy.e,,npve
on
last fuw
months of wDrk here
Di^h
'

Forwarding Agent
Nrs. Ed. Widlimd .

133 W. Williams St.

Albert Lea, Ninn,

United States of

in the

Yours thru Christ theSavior

The Nichoi sons,

Marburg Ridge

^ort Shop stone. Natal

South Africa

-"-OIH'iiA HTUOS HX

IffEWa-WITH THE NICHOLSONS

IN SOUTH AFHIGA

Soofifor
news
is "that we
certain
that we are
conii^
home
we for
haveus received
the know
checkforfrom
Mrs. Widlund
to pay

our fares.

While not- enough had yet come in to cover the full amount

she .1^ arranged for the money to be sent to us until the other comes'

^
" Oompany
n
after our
the fares
money arrived,
therewithin
came atheletter
^M^ppixig
saying
must be paid
month.from
We the
have not done so yet, but shall be doing so shortly.

We are still moving along In overdrive trying to get all the

thi^s done that we want to do before- we have to leave. It seems like
most of our working days have to be l6 to 18 hours long.
the iranskei.

of January, Brother Enock ^obolo and I went down into

Uur first stop was at Mqanduli and though they had been

rain, it let up for the three days that we vjere there, and

we built, the walls up to the top of the windows. I^ow they can run the
concrete lintel sand; then finish up the rest of the work.

I have not

geard how they are coming. On Saturday, the lOth, we went on to Port
lizabeth, where we had an "indaba" on Saturday and Sunday, It was
hoped that Max Handall would be there, but he was unable to come,

however, while here, I found that the Pernbertons of Southern Rhodesia

werecoraing to visit in our home for a short time. On Monday, then
I wmt back to Tsomo, showed the folks how to put the windows to put

in the windows for their-building, made arrangements for the timber

for the roof and went to Butterworth to meet with the Pembertons, The
next day, after carrying, for more business, I returned home with them,

fv,
staygetting
in the along
franskei
another
week,
the M
Native folk are
well for
with
the work
leftbutforbelieve
them,
we greatly enjoyed the stay of the Pembertons,

Back home, we have- been pushing on with the work out at the place
_^her-e the school will be. It seems sometimes that we do not get much ~
done^fast, but we can really see that we are getting along in the past
lew aays, since we are now up to the windows. 'Phe work should speed
up now until we have gone by them. Not only have I been helping to

lay the brick, I can almost averPge one a minute, but I have to stop

and drive the truck back and forth to where we had made them. -^Iso
nave to take time to get water, and tlie work of getting things and

taking them out to where we are working. I have a native builder, who

is a groat help.

He knows well how to build as long as someone is

near to watch and tell him when things must be done.

But he seems to

forget what I have told hira, if he has to go very long before he does
the task.

We hope by the end of nest week that we shall have the roof

on,

The building at Invutshinl is moving along. The folks have been

^king blocks lately, Iney still need something over 500, Pheir pro

blem is that so many work that they cannot work on their blocks day by

day. If they could work for three days straight they would ha.ve them
done. We rejoice that Brother Ben Songo, minister of this congregation

was allowed to return home from the hospital the first of thi.s-mctnth.-- '
He is still taking some medicine and says his legs bother him some.

27th, Brother Zobolo and I went to Zululand for three days,

we had a very hot trip, but a very good one. We were only sorry that
we could not have taken a longer time. These folks need a great deal'
of teaching.

However, we could see great progress since we went to

visit them the first time.

The Plymouth Station Wagon made the trip well except for four
times when we were troubled with vapor lock.

When I returned home

X fo'jnd that the master brake cylinder was empty and I had almost no

brakes.

This week an advert goes in the local paper and the Plymouth

siiail be at the end of its work for us.

It is really going to seem like

parting with an old friend, for never yet has It let us down, more than
slowiiig us up this time. In milage, it is moving on toward 114,000.
We are l-:oping to get $Q00 or 4900 for it.

n
Already vie are in the process of packing things we want to

take, the things to be left, ,and selling some of them. We hope vie
shall not have too much of a last minute rush.

We have one two-week trip to take In February, visiting the

churches. The church In Klmberley has asked us for a one-week
meeting before Conference, the first of April,

The other day, Steven was down to the ocean, swimming with some ^
They had been surfing in on the waves and decided to
go back to the swimming pool. One boy wanted them to come and swim
of his friends.

with him up the channel, but the otherssaid 'no^ ,

He turned back up

the channel, the other boys going in closer to the beach. One boy wag
on the beach, when he noticed that the first boy ssamed to be in

trouble.

The he saw the fin of a shark.

He shouted to the bpys.

They came out right away. They saw, then, that the first boy was
having trouble, and saw blood in the water. The boys helped him out
and found the shark had taken his leg off below the knee.
Sandra's class at school.

He is in

He is getting along fine so far.

We have our summer schedule, which is wellfilled with camps.

The time is all filled, with the exception of two weeks, from the
first of June to the middle of August. In fact, I am not certain if
I sbail be able to spend the two weeks that have been planned, to be
with my parents in Edmonds, Washington, for their fortieth wedding
anniversary. This reminds me of what a Swedish man said the other

day. Ho said the Swedish Church gives their missionaries l8 months

holiday after seven years, but in that 18 months they expect them to

do 2 years work.Butwerejoice, for the service that we have in the Lord^

And we well understand that tuere oometh a great day of rest for all
who are victorious irith Christ.

"Ve "are looking" forward~^?0""seeing-many-of- yjsu face to face, when

we arrive back in America.

Yours for Christ in Africa,

Forwarding Agent i
Mrs. Ed Widlund

133 W. Williams
Albert Lea, Mim.

The Alvin Nicholson Family

Box 219

Bort Shepstone, Natal

South Africa

11

NEWS WITN TOE NICHOLSONS

IN SOUTH AFRICA

2 March 1959

Creetirigg to all.

This should be the last News Letter

which we shall be writing to you from here at Port Sheostone,

We are hcpir^ to get one done for April, but if so it shall

have to be done at Kimberley.

The first half of the month was mostly spent in pushing

the work at Umzurnbe where the school for ^ ative Ministers shall be,

The building Is almost completely done now except for the door
-.nd wmndows which need glass

The man is Plastering the place

ab the present time.

On the l5th of February an the family went to Durban for

^ur fir.ai service with the church there. On the l6th I, with

L^ock Lobolo, left for Umtatawher^J we had sorvldes that night,

hno next day we sav/ the vjork that had boon done on the church at

'.iqanduli and went on to Idutywa.

Wednesday we stopped for a short

r.ime at Tgomo and then on to Stutterheim where we met with Mr. and

Mrs. Max -^andail and John Kernan,

This was really the beginning of our preaching tour. Gladys,

John and I spoke while I'tex had four weddings.

He had one more

the next morning. St Stutterheim we stayed at the home of a man

who has a saw mill. On the 19th" we came back for services at Tsomo.

It was the first time for the others to see the dhurch building
that is going up there. I vjas hoping that they would have the wailsdone. But because of much rain in January they were behind. But

I think that the vjork is now completed.

We also spoke for thorn on

the morning of the 20th before we wont on to Idutywa.

At Idutywa there had been seven baptized before we arrived.
We had both afternoon and evening services and that left us free

for an early start on to Mqandvili, At Mqanduli we had two weddings

followed by the four messages in the afternoon. The wails to the
church building here are almost completed.

The man who was to de-

liever their cement l::^d not brought it to them, so they will be a

vnile in getting: the rest of the v^rali done and the roof on, but
tney are -going to have an excellent building.

Sunday morning we left early for Lusikisiki, which was the

loiigest drive that we had to make between churches. Our first
stop here was at Qaukeni. We arrived about the middle of the

afternoon and thu brethren were not sure that we were going to

make it.

We held services here on Monday morning as well.

They .

have a new church site and are getting things in hand for its .fencing,From Qaukeni we went to Mount Bleak which is also in the same area.

These folks have Just completed a building for the church serv ices,but it is at the Kraal of the minister.

Max has a portable tape

recorder and^^some good recordings were made by three of Mcosini's

daughters..

Tq see them you would never guess that thoy are ag old

ag they are, but even for bein^- small there is nothing small about
their voices. They had thought perhpas Brother Randall "WQiild come
with his airplane so had put up a cloth for him to tell tie direction
of the wind,

- The 2Ath found us at Ngwenyeni in the Flagstaff District.

These people are building by plastering mud dagga on a frame made
of wattle wood. This site is the hardest of all to get back to as

far as the motor car is concerned, but it is very pretty the way
it sets back on the top of the hill. This was the church to give

Mrs,^Randall an offering, though! all were happy for this was the

fii'su r-j.rre chat one of the Missiona.ries wifos had been able to travel

thi'u ail the churches.

was traveling vflth us.

Also Sidney Roji the minister from Idutywa

He decided he would make the trip and go

back with the Randalls when they went. It was a help for Zobolo
was sick for a few days and the people enjoyed having another of
the African Ministers to visit them and preach at night.

At Puffadder we had the largest of the congregations to

gather during the week.

So large was the group that, like

Ngi'jenyeni before them, vie had to preach out of doors. Mrs.

Soianl haa. prepared a number for the Choir to sing for the
Miss ionaries,

Thur,sdpy found us in the ^igtrlct of Bizana v/ith Ashwell

Bukuia, '-^'he church at Qungobe was completely filled. Our

lodging for two days in this area wag provided by one of the

local trading stores. It was so closo to where we were vrorking

and such fine hospitality,
Friday at Kwotshubi's we fiirst had

two 'weddings, then two sermons followed by the other two ttet

night.

Kwetshubi has himself made a building for the use of

the church at his home.

Wq have a ohiur'ch site In his district,
which the church has recently fenced and after harvest time shall
begin to make the blocks for it.

Saturday wo came back to Port ^hep stone and went to see how
work vjas progressing at Unizumbi.
men had gone from work before
we arrived there, Sunday we were at Invutshini with Ben Songo
and his people. Many of the folks from 2obolo's place had come
directly to the church meeting, while a bus load came from Gcilima.
How we wished that the building had been completed, for we again
had to meet out in the sun and it vras the hottest day we had had

in our tour. What a fine meeting we did have, however. Before

services we made some recordings with the Sunday School Children,
They thought it was a real treat. The walls of the church building
at Invutshini arc completec^ but they are waiting for me to help
them with the roof .

We 'are hopihg~to do ' thls"~on Wddne sday.

The ^.ndalls left for home this morning, taking with them
the little black and white dog which we have had almost ever

since we have been here. Now we must begin the packing in

earnest for we have just over two weeks left before we shall be
on our way to Kimberley for the Meeting with the church and the
African Conference.

Yours in GhStstian love, .

Oi'r American Address will be

c/o Guy Howard

Eft. 2 Box 18

Huroibi, S. Dak. or
c/o. Mrs, ^d. Widiund

133 N. Williams St.

Albert Lea, Minn,

The Nicholsons

Box 219

Port Shepstono, South Africa

"

APp

IN iiv^UTH jUi'iaC^

^
28tJi March 1959

Greetings to all. ^^0 are writing this last News -t-etter

you from Mimberley, We are writing a few days ahead of time

to

for the -Annual Conference will be beginning on ^"ednesday the

first and v/e knew that we have little time then to "get this
letter done,"

It is_ needless to say that this past month has been very

much on the busy side,

""^ight after the first of the month we

began to get things sorted out for packing and trying as fast

as we could^^to finish up the building operations' th^t were still

going on.

e have been very har/oy. that the neoole Invutshini

have been able to do so well on their building.

had to see to

the ordering and hauling of some material. Also they asked that

I come to help them make the roof trusts.

v.ent out the Saturday

followsing in the afternoon to give them a bit more help and

found that they had most- of the roofing on one side done,
we helped them and just before dark the asbestos roofing was

with the exception of the ridging and some nails,

''he

on

next

morning when we came for ^unday ^chool, hen ^ongo the minister
asked if I would not come beck again at ,1 p.m. for they wanted
to have services in the nev/ building. Nyen though there "was
no glass in the windows and the ridging was not yet on and only

part of the plastering was done and the floor not yet poured,
there were over 75 people gathered for the service. And to

make it even a greater day'for the first services in the building

two came and made the good confessiofa. They are working very
hard now to have the work on the buJlding all done when we
return so thot v/e may hove a big service there on the 12th of

April, which will be our farev/ell service v;ith them,

have

been very proud of the work which they have done.

Also except for a little bit of work the building which has
been built at Umzumbi is finished,
aiso we have had word from

the lawyer that the little niece of land which we need in the

Native area shall lively be ours shortly.

Gn the lOth and 11th of March, A^ock ^obolo and

trip to -Escoort and Chieverly for our last time out.

tv/o good meetings in this area, ' ''his

made

had

is a new area where work

has been begun since we came to ^outh *^frica.

One of the men has recently sent in his resignation from

the ministry. l was sorry to see him do this for I still felt
in time he could do very good work. Nis biggest trouble has
been jealousy,
was not willing to go to the older men and ask
advice and help of them, and some times when he had asked for
help with some of his troubles, after a solution had been worked
out and agreed to he would change and try to work some Plan

of his own.

Now at least until "^rother Stanley can have some

new men trained at school we shall have to ask one of the older
men to take up his work for a while again.

Some of our things we have sold, others have been packed

and left for the Stanleys. But because we did not like to leave
all of the things at the farm, we have stored them with several
friends

in town.

Vve had hoped to get all our things moved by Thursday night
the 19th.

But could not make it,

on the 20th.

^"e finally finished at noon

-^fter heving dinner with one of the friends we

left for Kimberley.

stopped for some food at Bietermaritzburg.

at about 6 for we olanned to drive on another" 8^ miles and

camn for the night, ^ut as we were Returning to the car,,

"^ernita misjudged the curb and feil, soraining her ankle.

Because it swelled so quickly we went at once to the out

patient department of the hospital where they -^rayed it and

then wrapped it for it was not broken.

ortunately it has
not given her very much pain, though she is greatly handicapped
in getting about,
stayed that night at Bietermaritzburg
and came on to h-imberley on Saturday,

We have been hatfing a good meeting here in ^imbefley

though the attendance has been very small. However this is
a very new work and has very great opportunities,- ^ur attandenee
has been gradual increasing, '^ven this time we do not have
the time that we really need to give .to the meeting.

H.obert ^Hlls and I have been to Wa^-j-enton to check and

see that things were In order for Conference there.

Brethren have, been doing very well, -"-Iso we have ordered

most of the, food, ,'^'he largest item to be ordered was the bread,of which .we are getting six dozenloaves a day.

steer ordered for .meat and fopr sheep.

'^hey have one

think perhaps they

shall have to get more meat than this.

After the annual Conference is finished we shall return

to Bort Shepstone to finish getting our things in order, paying

off the bills, etc, so tha.t we shall be ready to go to Bnrban

on the 14th and be all reedy to sail on the 16th.

We will write you next time from -^^erica.

^ours in Christ,
'Bhe Axvin Nicholson '^-amily

Box 219

forwarding Agents

^ort ^hepstone, Natal

Mrs, -Sd Wfciiund

South Africa

135 W. William

^Ibert i'ea, Minnesota

V" r.

.,,fv

".-v.:, Iov;a

Dear Christian ^ricnAsi

Grcctin,:^s in J:eus' nanK.

This letter cores to you from Afoerica this

tinEi and how we arc enjoying :xctinf^ old friends a^^ain and socin,^ our

fa'-^ily.

Alvin has been in three camne and Vcrnita in one in S Da'e*

Prom

now on v/c will be traveling together in tir rcniainin^r cara-eg of the sumnEr.

fc are rojoicine; in the fact that John Tarl: has ncccetcd Christ as
his Saviour and Was baptized at R\ron church on Sunday, the 21st of June.
He attended CaRip with Vornita and n^de the Good Confession there- It was

his first time as a camper.

H: just turned vleven the day after wc landed

in New York.

Since Icavin^r Port She-stone, we have had word of a terrible flood

that caRK to the ^uth Coast. The old bridge at Port Shcpstono v.-as Washed
out and both approaches to the new one also.

The electric plant and sugar

mill were badly dama.pcd also. The tov.-n was without lights for a^Eut a week
and without water for two weeks- ^rc have not had any word as to how the
Christians fared-

'Tc have been praying for them and ask that you do also-

Vfc had a very enjoyable trip over.

The ocean just could not have boon

better and wc were not bothered with very much seasickness. *?eewere throe
Weeks on the ''inohcster Castle and this v;a,s the ship we enjoyed the most'Jc met other missionaries, wc were freer an the shi^ was not so big and wo

had more dock spacc. ''c were six days in London and as wc were favored
with six days of sunshine, wc filled the days full of sightseeing- yc saw
'icstmlnstrr Abbey, St- Paul* s Cathedral, Houses of Parlimont, changing of
the guard at EickinghaRi Palace, the Tower of London and London ft-idge- Ho
al^o'saw the guard practising for the Clucon's birthday- He stayed in a

missionary hoi: there and enjoyed it very iR-jch. The. trip from Southampton

to New York was taken in the nueen ?4iry-

It too!: us five da:vs to make the

trip and was very smooth. It was cold so that we could not s^cnd 'Ruch time
outside. It was a joy to finally sec the Statue of Lib-rty, though it war

foggy and w- could not sr-c it very clearly- 'k stayed with the Vaughn Elliots

' iff"New York and enjoyed it very much.

They arc fine people-

It Was wonderful to see our parents and brothers and sisters again-

Five years makes chan-cs, but it did not seem to make so '.luch chan-c in them.
The chan'^c comes mostly in the children. It has been wonderful to meet

old friends and make new ones in the camps and church-s-

The fellowship

has been wonderful. He are in Sutherland in a camp at the present tinr.

HciE at Sutherland, wc have noticed the cban-ee, for bhildrcn that wc had in
Sunday school classes have now -raduated from able collcc and some arc
getting married.

He ask your 'Prayers for the Christians in Africa, for the mlsEionarics,
for the school as it is Put into action, and for us as v.-c travel amon~ the
churches, and make our final decision as to our return to Africa- Our older
children will be staying here in Arrrica to finish their education- It is
a hard thing to do to IcaVc them.

Jfey God bless and guide cach of you is our prayer. Thank ynu for your
support, prayers, and' for making it possible for us to have this furlough
tiRE .

--

- -

" ^

Yours in Christ,

Alvin & Vcrnita Nicholson !?3 family

Rt. 2, Bas 18
Huron, S- Dak-

FORHARDING ftGENTi
^^rs- Ed Hidlund

155 H. Hilliara
Alb:rt Lea, linncsota

QCT

Suthei'land, la,
October 1, 1959

5 1953

Dear Christian ^'riends,

Greetings in Jesus' name. This nev/sletter comes again from

Sutherland, where we are making our home., until we are ready to sail
back to Africa,

VJe moved here the ist of Septembei'j and a r e now

\fe have rented a house and the people from the
X'

pretty well settled r

church have loaned us the furniture to use until our return to Africa,
The church here also had a food shower for us. for which we are very

grateful

Vi/e have been here for about three weeks now, but

Alvin

has been home only about 5 days during that time-

as sne naa gecmeury'.

taking
Sreve xa aci freshman
xj.
uarLXiig, geometry as he
that
making friends

has had algebra and bookkeeping because he started

ftfrica.

John is in the 6th grades

James is

neighborhood.

Our travels this month included a trip to Vi/orthington, where

we stayed four days^ f>aribault, wnich v/as our first ministry, and
Litchfieldj v/hich v/as'our second,
also spoke at the Minnesota
Bible college. Alvin traveled alone to Gering, Nebraska, for the
missionary Sally there and '^unday, September 20th, spoke at the
Westside Christian Church in Kansas City Ko, '-his church along
with the Humansville church have been sending support for Sandra.
It was wonderful to meet with ail of these people and it has indeed

been a blessing to us.

wish to express our thanKs to these
churches for their hospitality, and for the opportunity to tell
of the work in South "frica.

We plan to return to South Africa in June of I960,

^his will

allow the children to complete their year of schooling here and

then begin the second half of their school year out there. Before
wo return, we need to raise living link support for one adult and
one child,
also, would like to have ^^100 a month more pledged
toward our general expenses v^hilo out on the field.

Wo are finding th-e fellowship vrith the people here in the

church a real blessing. The children arc so happy to bo with the
young people of the church.

May God bless and guide you each one.

V/e appreciato your

prayers and help

Yours in the Master's service,

Alvin Sr. ^ernita Nicholson & family

Box 21.V
Sutherland, la,

Forwarding Agent:

Mrs. Ed, V/idl.uTid

13.3 W, ^"illiam
Albert Lea, Minnesota

Box 214

'
/

Sutherland, Iowa
9th ]"!ecember 1959

'

Dear friends in Christ:

Greetings in His precious name, \"e had a most welcome

letter from the x-ynn Stanley family in iifrica to say that they

have received the permission which they needed for the land
where the ivfrican men shall be living, while they are going to
school, '^"his certainly mahes us very happy for it ^eans now

they can really make plans for the opening of school next year.
Since the last letter was sent out to :^ou we have spent a

good amount of time traveling, host of it having been in l.issiouri, Illinois and Iowa, with one trip for a rally at the
College of the i^criptures. It v/ap a real thrill to be with
the iiissionaries at the ^^ational Mssionary convention in
Springfield, Illinois and here them tell of the work which is
blSg^done for the ^ord around the world, hany
acquainted with before v-e went to the field. You know Missionareis have many friends that they never see because their iuilough times do not match.

The children are findinE that their time isreally filled

here in this country, ^his comes because there is much more
extra curricular subjects xdiich they have nere.

Oddly as it may s em, we are enjoying the cpd and snow.^

It is really quite a change from the weather tnat we nad known

at Port Shepstone, but it seems good after the constant warmer

weather.
e feel it will be good to nave a write Christmas
as well.

Ihe Stanleys arrived in 'Africa in October and are making

their hoiae in North'Shepstbhe; which is- just across the

hmzimkulu-.River from Port ohepstone. Tney are doing tnis

because the school for the Ministers is being

f ...
rural area next to one of the African areas. The school
run for eight months rather than the ten x-zeeks as before.
The a1. Zimmerman family will be going to Africa early m
January to take over the leadership of the Polo noads Church
in Cape Town to free iiax Randall for the ..frican work again.
Our ereat need for the present is the buildings that we

have sites for today.

There are 442,000 people in the Johan

nesburg area and we do not even have one

wish we could find people and churcnes wno woula pleage toward
thin work for a few years. The iifricans are helping as best
they can and none of the buidlings are built and
free. The average income for a family out there is ciboutsj30
a month, and the "joverninent says in the cities they snoula

have about 1200 amonth.

Please keep us in your prayers and may God richly bless

and keep you and grant you a very Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year.

-
Yours

Forwarding /tgent:
^'^rs. ^d. widlund
133
^-illiam

Albert Lea, i'^innesota

or Christ in i^frica,

^
Alvin & Vernita NichAison ^.faiirily

560 - 3

SUMMARY OF THE WORK 1959

A brief survey again of the country of South Africa: It is one sixth the size of the Un
ited States, with a population of 9, 000,000 native (black) Africans, 2, 000,000 coloured,

J and 3,000,000 white or European. To designate the colored people, they are mixed black

^ and white, Chinese, Indians from India, Malayans and others of that skin color. Church
of Christ are spread over a great area of South Africa.

The beginning of 1959 saw a tour made by Alvin Nicholson, John Kernan, and Max
and Gladys Randall, of the churches in the Pondoland Area. The tour ended at Imvutshini,
the first of March, with a big meeting of all the churches in the area. A recording was

^ made of the children singing such choruses as "Nci-Nci-Bo" or "Joy, Joy, Joy" and

"Ohlakanphileyo" or "The Wise Man Built His House". It was quite an experience for

them to hear their own voices for the first time.

A church building was started in 1958 at Imvutshini near Port Shepstone. It was com

pleted just before our return to the United States. The natives themselves did most of
the work with Alvin as the overseer. The native women carried all the water that was

j used in making the block on their heads from a stream down the hill. They also helped
\/ carry the blocks which weighed 18 pounds apiece. Anew building was also completed
at the new site for the Minister's Training school at Umzumbe, north of Port Shepstone.
It is now in use as the first session of the school opened February 2. During the tour
of the churches some work was done on the two buildings at Tsomo and Mqanduli. Those
buildings should be finished by now.

In November of 1958, an evangelistic meeting was held for the European church in

Capetown. Again, the last of March, a meeting was held in the European church in Kimberley, with Alvin doing the preaching. After the close of this meeting, we attended the

Conference at Warrenton, north of Kimberley. One of the highlights for us was when

the Africans came bringing gifts for us a yellow and brown Basuto blanket and an aircase for Alvin. A tea set and 20 pounds (money) for Vernita. A skit was given by the
women before they brought the gifts.

In April, we sailed on the Winchester Castle from Durban for our first fiMough.

We went to England, spending five days in London, then sailing on the Queeh Mary for
New York. By the time we arrived in New York in May, after a month on board sMp,

we were glad that our journey had ended. It was good to see our loved ones and friends
again.

Our furlough has been spent traveling throughout the United States telling of the work
in South Africa. The summer was spent in ten youth and missions camps. During most

of this time, the family traveled together. When school started in September, the move
was made to Sutherland, Iowa where a house was rented and the furniture loaned by the

church people. The work in South Africa has been presented in churches in South Dakota,
Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Washington, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky. Atrip
is planned now to Oregon, speaking for churches along the way, then into California and

back.

We have applied for sailing back to South Africa via the South African Marine line, a
freighter. A date has not been given as the schedule was not made up beyond June 10th.
We desire to sail the last of June.

Over 1000 baptisms have been reported for 1959. Word has come that Bro. Lebram

fJ 4 Solani, a minister in the flagstaff district has passed away. Some have said that witch
craft might have played a part in his death. His is a great loss to the church for he was
a good minister and adds to the great shortage of ministers.
The first term of the Minister's Training School at Umzumbe was opened on Feb. 2.
We have not heard how many men reported to take studies. The Stanleys have been liv

ing at North Shepstone since October. Bro. Stanley is in charge of the school. Another

building has been built since their return to the field from furlough.