The Work in South Africa by Les and Linda Maydell Read more about South Africa here NYLSTROOM NEWS January 2006 (This newsletter was written a week ago but we could not send it until today because a storm blew down the telephone wires.) For the past two weeks we, together with Darlington Ndlovu, have been in the Orange Free State Province. Darlington has been wanting to visit his former students that he taught when he was with the World Bible School. He had heard that these students no longer had ties with WBS. He had spoken to them telephonically a few years ago and encouraged them to follow the truth, but when his cell phone was stolen, he lost contact with many of these brethren. He feared that some may be sliding into denominational error. We started off by going to a place called Qwa Qwa. WBS had started 5 congregations in the area, but the brethren became unhappy because they were requ...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK January 2006 Dear friends People are amazing – especially God’s people! It is a wonderful testimony to the power of God through His Word that a person can find Christians in remote areas who have had very little contact with other Christians for years – and they are still dedicated to the Lord. We arrived at Reitz mid-afternoon on the last Thursday of December. This older couple had heard Darlington might be coming, but were not sure when. Yet, we were all welcomed with open arms. Bettie heard the gospel several years ago on a visit to Johannesburg. She taught her husband, Isaac. There was at one time one other Christian in Reitz, but he moved away several years ago. They have tried and tried to teach their neighbors and family, but to no avail. Yet they still faithfully worship the Lord in the...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS February 2006 LESSONS FOR NAMIBIA: Right now I am dictating this newsletter as we drive through the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. The roads are so quiet that at times you can travel 50 miles without seeing another vehicle in either direction – although there are plenty of cows, donkeys and goats that stand in the road from time to time. By the time we get home we will have done over 4000 miles in 3? weeks. During our many hours of travel to and in Namibia I dictated 2 lessons to Linda to type for me. One was on control – how we as individuals and how each congregation must be controlled by Christ and not by any other person or organization or congregation. The application of the lesson is that each person then must give sacrificially of his time and money so that the local congregation he is a part of...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK February 2006 I have been eagerly awaiting our return home so I can tell you all about the birth of our latest grandson - Titus Kelso (after his father and grandfather) White. From Les’s report you can see that it was quite an ordeal, but thankfully all ended well. I must admit that it was very hard for us to be so far away at that time, even though Gloria was well cared for by Sam’s mother and aunt. Fortunately a very friendly resident of the Windhoek campsite with internet access offered for Sam to send pictures through her email. So even though we are not yet home, we have seen him! Isn’t modern technology wonderful! In the left-hand top corner of the picture you will see a black blob that is our cell phone. This spot in this tree, under which I (together with the chickens) held Bible studies, plus...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS March 2006 Nylstroom I have been studying with Willie Vandeventer for many months. He is the husband of our sister Tina and is seriously ill with cancer. Finally, much to everyone’s special joy, Willie obeyed the gospel. We praise God for the power of His Word. We are also thankful for various men, especially Steve Buys, who often, with the help of his good wife, traveled up to Nylstroom and presented quality lessons so that Willie did not lose interest during times of our absence. (Steve is a quadriplegic and so his wife must do the driving. Many of you prayed for him when he was shot in the neck two years ago by hijackers and will be happy to know that he is as well as he can be and working very hard at preaching the gospel.) We make a schedule of work several months in advance so that all ...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK March 2006 Dear friends, A typical Zimbabwe hut is dimly lit by sunshine streaming in at the doorway. The windows, if any, are very small. A lot of times I feel just like that hut. When I am among the women of Zimbabwe I get glimpses into their lives, but for the most part my knowledge of them is dim. Yet I so need that knowledge to be an effective teacher. On this trip I was blessed to have an “open window” – Nancy Chabaya also known as Mrs. Dube. (Traditionally Ndebele women keep their maiden names after marrying. However, the government has now changed their records, recording all married women with the husband’s last name only.) Nancy, a widow, is the headmistress of Tongwe Primary School and is now on “long leave” of 6 months. She requested that she accompany us on one of our trips...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS June 2006 Our plans all came together when Gerry Sandusky and Kevin Britt, a Christian who is also a medical doctor, arrived on Sunday, 23 April. The following day we were on our way to Zimbabwe. We spent two weeks there, going to seven specific places. Kevin and I preached and taught some, but the bulk of the preaching was done by Gerry. At the new Village 3 congregation, Alfred had taught several more people and there were 13 baptisms. There were a total of seven baptisms at the other places visited. Kevin also spent much time seeing to the medical needs of the brethren. He did a lot of good and very likely saved some lives. We came back to South Africa so Kevin could catch a plane home, and within a few days we were on our way to Namibia with Gerry. We started at Rundu on the Angolan bord...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK June 2006 I have been praying a long time for a medical doctor to come with us to Zimbabwe, and at last my prayers were answered. There are many places in Zimbabwe where there is no medical help or even medicine. Kevin is a humble person who, in far less than ideal conditions, compassionately treated nearly every member of each congregation. (In typical African fashion, what one person gets, all must get.) He also went the extra mile – like literally pulling teeth! Furthermore Kevin was willing to answer my questions and even tell me some simple remedies that I can pass on to the women. There was a lot of TB (because so many with AIDS have active TB, which is highly contagious). I was surprised at the amount of pneumonia and low-grade kidney/bladder infections. However, something very impressive t...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS May 2008 It is so wonderful to be able to write this letter to you. Our hearts have been warmed by the way God’s people have responded to the needs of our brethren. The brother taking relief to them had already conveyed to me that the Zimbabwean brethren are truly thankful that we were endeavouring to raise the money. When I told him that the need had been met, he was overjoyed. Again, I am very sorry that I was not able to visit the congregations personally to give you a first-hand account of the need, but I will do my best to do this as soon as the situation makes it possible. I did hear the head of the Zimbabwean Farmer’s Union on the radio this week state that Zimbabwe has had its worst farming season in at least six years, and perhaps ever. Below is a list of the brethren who have committ...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK April 2008 Dear friends HOME! There is no place quite like it! It was a special privilege to get home before the winter cold and dryness kill everything. Les just walked in with an armful of ripe guavas - hardly any worms. He says we have hundreds! Guavas make wonderful fruit leather. Yesterday he found some custard apples. They really do taste like custard! The leaves are still on the frangipani trees (the first trees to shed) and everything still looks summery green. However, the days don’t feel like summer – jackets in the mornings and sweaters in the afternoons – and I have moved my computer, printer, and basic office supplies to Joseph’s old room as it is much sunnier (and thus warmer) than the study. Because of power outages that last hours at a time– (one just started NOW), I think this ...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK February 2010 Dear friends It is so wonderful to be able to communicate with you again – and wonderful to have computer, printer, land-line, and cell phone all working for the first time since we arrived back from the USA last August! These are my tools for being in touch with our FAMILY and doing our WORK, so they are REALLY important to me. My second new computer and old printer finally started talking to each other yesterday (after a month of trying) and I am holding my breath that we will have some respite from nagging various people to do what they are paid to do but don’t know how to do. Things do tend to move slowly in Africa (I literally spoke to over 20 different people over the space of 3 months before the cell phone got fixed), and, as much as I enjoy living here, I’ve never come to term...[more] OUR WORK FOR THE LORD IN SOUTHERN AFRICA February 2010 NAMIBIA As mentioned, we took Norman Saayman with us on our recent 3-week trip to Namibia. Our first meeting was with the Donkerhoek brethren on their regularly-scheduled Friday evening song practice. Norman and I were invited to teach them a few new songs, and we had a great time singing and praying together. (The brethren lead beautiful prayers.) Afterwards they mentioned that for the next 3 weeks they had their own men scheduled to preach each Sunday, (whereas always in the past they had always invited us to preach). They said they would discuss among themselves and let us know about classes during the week. On Saturday we went to visit Leon, who is preaching at the congregation at Okahandja Park ("the hill"). He gave me a letter recently written and distributed to all the churches ...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS April 2008 NAMIBIA Accommodation is very expensive in Namibia, but just before we left Windhoek last time we managed to find a small caravan to rent at a campground near Okahandja Park (“the hill”). The caravan is a lot cheaper than car rental, so we left our camper at home and traveled to Namibia in our new Avanza. It is very economical on fuel and it made the long drive so much easier. We have just arrived home after a month in Namibia and are recollecting some thoughts and actions of the past month. Spending time with Darlington was a great encouragement to us. His hard work and help with the driving was extremely valuable. As always, there were morning studies at “the hill,” taught either by myself or by Darlington. The average attendance on Sundays is about 15 adults, but f...[more] AFRICAN ANECDOTES November 2009 It is wonderful to have the opportunity to sit down and write to you again after such a long time. I am sorry that it has been so long, but I can’t say that I feel guilty – there truly has not been time. I am very thankful to say that all is fairly well with us and with our family. Joy is experiencing problems with her pregnancy – gestational diabetes, and that is causing some concern, but we are praying that all will be well. She is due on December 17th. The purpose of our trips to Zimbabwe is for teaching. But sometimes the teacher learns more than the students! I feel this is always true for myself. Firstly, the one who studies for herself always learns more than the one who simply receives information, and it is one of my dearest wishes that African women learn how to study for th...[more] OUR WORK FOR THE LORD IN S. AFRICA November 2009 TRANSPORTATION TROUBLES As mentioned in my last report, I did a lot of research and decided to replace the 1800cc Mitsubishi engine in the camper with a 2000cc Toyota 3Y engine – a special import from Japan to third-world countries. (Due to strict pollution controls in Japan, engines have to be removed from cars when they have done 35,000 miles.) The 3Y engine parts are far more readily accessible all over southern Africa, and the 1800cc engine was underpowered, especially considering we also pull a heavily-loaded trailer. I was recommended to a mechanic in Pretoria with experience in doing this exact specialized modification. By the time I got the camper back, I was beginning to wonder if I couldn’t have done a better job myself, and this was confirmed when the camper could not go o...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS March 30, 2008 At Home Because of my shingles, I was unable to make my usual Sunday morning trips for three weeks, although we were able to have our regular Sunday evening service at our home. My right leg and under my right foot was the worst affected so that I could scarcely stand or walk. Fortunately, if I didn't move around, the pain was not too severe and so I was able to spend quite a bit of time working on lessons for the meeting in the Orange Free State. ORANGE FREE STATE The brethren in the congregation at Kroonstad organized a three-day meeting over the Easter holidays. They had never done anything like this before, but they did a magnificent job of organizing a venue, making sleeping arrangements in their own homes, and cooking meals. They invited neighbouring congregations; and, w...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK November 2006 Dear friends, The first rains of the year have arrived. The grass is green and the frangipani trees are filled with sweet fragrant flowers which can almost hide the smell of the spring blossoms of the aptly named herdersestinkgat (shepherd’s latrine) tree. The bushbabies that live in our roof have had their litters, and one baby twice fell through the cracks and landed on my desk! At dusk when it was time for his parents to come out, Les carefully took the ladder and placed him in the gutter next to the bushbabies’ “front door.” Because of the wet autumn, we had an unusually beautiful spring. The bougainvillas (magenta/orange/gold), jacarandas (lavender), & flame trees (red) were riots of color. According to Tina, they were all in mourning for Willie. How caring God is to provide comf...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS May 8, 2007 IMPORTANT - EVERYONE Please change our email address to LMAYDELL@gmail.com We will shortly be getting rid of our old email address (lmaydell@worldonline.co.za). Trouble receiving our newsletters: If you have been receiving our newsletters for the past six months, you do not have to worry about reading the rest of this email. If you have not been hearing from us lately, please read on. About six months ago, we got a gmail account and decided to start sending our newsletters via gmail because it is a lot cheaper and easier. One of the features that makes it easier is that I am allowed to send to many more people at a time on gmail. Using my old email address, I had to send my newsletter 14 different times (about 20 names per list) – and each time took about 10 minutes. Using...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS June 2007 For some weeks now we have been corresponding with a young college student and part-time preacher from Texas, Brady Cook. We picked him up from the airport on Saturday May 7th. I took pity on his jet lag and preached Sunday morning, but Brady preached Sunday night, and Monday morning we were off to Zimbabwe for two weeks. On Tuesday we started our normal teaching schedule of 9-12, 2-5, and an evening service. Brady was a bit daunted when he heard the schedule, but soon got into it and did a great job. We took turns teaching and preaching at five villages. Due mainly to the efforts of previous teaching by the local brethren, five obeyed the gospel. At each congregation I spoke about drought relief and the need for truthfulness and the need for members to be faithful. I also spoke about th...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK June 2007 Dear friends I pray all is well with you as it is with us. And if all is not will with you, I pray that it is well with your soul, and that the Lord will supply all your needs. I was having a difficult time writing this newsletter because it just did not seem that there was anything extra special to talk about this month. However, we have a young man, Brady Cook, working with us for six weeks – and in his eyes, everything was special! The pictures below are literally Brady’s “eyes,” since he took them. And so I thought I would use what Brady found interesting to just tell you about the ordinary things that happen on our trips. The very first and most important thing is greeting every person. “We are seeing you, mother.” “Did you get up?” “How are you?” “How are your children?” ...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS October 2007 RETURN FROM USA We had a wonderful trip to the USA! It was a blessing to spend time with each of our children and many brethren. We were glad to get home after a long journey and find all well. The country was in the grip of a severe water shortage, but after a week it began to rain. We have already received more rain in the last 2 weeks than in the whole of the last rainy season. Southern Zimbabwe has received good rain, but the central areas have not had any rain yet. They need our urgent prayers as they are terribly short, even of water to drink. The oncologist postponed my appointment and it was only yesterday that I was able to get all the blood, x-ray and sonar results. We praise God for His abundant mercy, granting me a clean bill of health for the past four years. LOSS O...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK October 2007 Dear friends Sunday, October 7th. Another hot, dry, dusty day has ended in Bulawayo – the 2nd largest city in ZImbabwe. It is a Sunday, and as the saints gathered this morning, the conversation revolved around who has got what to eat and how they got it. These are not people who live in grass huts, but people who live in houses just like yours and mine – and who used to have a life-style just like yours and mine. “My friend queued 3 hours for bread (small rolls, not a loaf) - and then the police came and took it all.” “I was SO lucky – I got to this shop just as a truck was unloading eggs. No one knew about it and there was no queue – and I got a whole dozen.” “There was this really sweet lady next to me in the bread queue. We were each allowed 8 rolls, but she only had mo...[more] SPECIAL REPORT September 17, 2009 SPECIAL REPORT – SEEDS and DROUGHT RELIEF Dear Brethren, We are very happy to let you know that we have the money needed for the seed! We know that you live in a difficult economic situation, and so we doubly appreciate your response. We are humbled by our Zimbabwean brethren’s willingness to suffer without food assistance in order to get the seed but we would really like to be able to also send at least some food – if not the full 10kg, hopefully, at least, half that amount. We are confident that some of you are working on it, but if you could let us know by Sunday night what you plan to do, then we can organize all the payments at once so that it saves on bank charges. If the maize meal can be delivered at the same time as the seed, it will also save on petrol and maintenance. A l...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS December 2007 Zimbabwe Meeting A few weeks ago, Elias from the Tongwe, Zimbabwe, area phoned us to let us know that the brethren had arranged a meeting for us at Village 3. We were able to go there because there was not yet so much political activity down in the south. Therefore, since we did not appear to the government or local chiefs to be interfering in the political situation, it was safe for us to go. We took Samson Musandiwa from Venda, South Africa, with us. He also taught lessons and taught the brethren more new songs. We thank God for his recovery from a light stroke. We delivered a bicycle to Edson, one of the men who is actively going around to a few congregations in the area and preaching. We were there Friday afternoon - Sunday morning. I mainly focused on sermon preparation, ...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK December 2007 Dear friends: We continue to feel so very blessed, and we sometimes ponder why, especially when we know so many good Christians who are experiencing severe trials. This month we had several misfortunes concerning THINGS, and Les and I also asked ourselves if maybe there was not some lesson we should be learning from that! We kept saying over and over, “At least we aren’t in Zimbabwe!” Yet, amidst the trials, we were awed by how God blessed us in so many ways. We decided to take a 10-day break and go spend a couple of days by the sea, visit Paul & Helen Williams (Paul preaches in Natal) and also visit Gloria, the recent widow of a much-loved preacher, Basic Cass. On our way there, we got lost and ended up in a rural African town which I still don’t know the name of...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK February 2008 Dear friends First of all, both Les and I wish you a very wonderful new year, filled with spiritual growth and blessings! Over the holiday time, we were able to spend some quiet time AT HOME. We thought we would get so much done, but unfortunately we had to spend quite a bit of that time fighting to get several things fixed and problems sorted out. I am happy to tell you that 2 days ago, after 5 months of fighting, the telephone was fixed and we were able to talk to our children without shouting over the background sound of “Niagra Falls”and repeating everything over and over! After several visits by technicians over a period of 3 months, the copier now works most of the time – sigh! More unfortunately, our troubles seem to be just a microcosm of South Africa in general. There were...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS February 2008 NAMIBIA We had scheduled a trip to Namibia from January 9-31, but Darlington Ndlovu, who was supposed to accompany us, was delayed in Zimbabwe with family matters relating to the death of his sister. It was good that we waited for him because, as usual, he was a very big help to the work and to us personally, especially with the driving. We left for Namibia on 23 January and returned home on 14 February. After 3 long days of travel, we arrived just a few minutes late for the ordinary Friday evening service of the Donkerhoek (Dark Corner) congregation which meets at Leon’s house. We were heartily welcomed and I was asked to teach. Arrangements were made for separate classes on Saturday. On Saturday, Leon was scheduled to teach. Afterwards there was a long question-and-answer session o...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS – JUNE 2008 June 21, 2008 ORANGE FREE STATE During May we spent two days at Brandfort, teaching separate classes for men and women in the mornings and afternoons. There were a number of older teen visitors, and one of the visiting women brought her husband the second day. Therefore I spent quite a bit of time on first principles. Then we went to Kroonstad for 1 ½ days. Brother Joseph Mokoena wanted me to meet Deon, an Afrikaans brother of an institutional background that he had bumped into one day. Deon has evidently been traveling around SA on a bicycle, trying to interest people in the gospel, depending on good-hearted strangers to provide his daily needs. Deon was out of town, but I did meet with a middle-aged Afrikaans man and his wife who had recently been converted by Deon. Deon came into their ...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK - JUNE 2008 June 21, 2008 “The veneer of democracy is so thin in Africa,” said a friend the other day, as we spoke about Zimbabwe. In just a few weeks, the peaceful country we knew has been turned into a churning pot of misery and violence. What is so very frightening to me is the way the youth have been used as a tool to inflict sadistic torture – beating people and pouring herbicide into the wounds so that they will slowly die, lacing people with petrol and setting them alight, chopping off body parts and gouging out eyes. It is as though they have no consciences. And what will become of these men in later life? I think of Mugabe – he was once such a young man, using the same tactics. And so when he came to power it was nothing to him to murder 20 000 Matebele to ensure his leadership. I now realize that the in...[more] OUR WORK FOR THE LORD IN SOUTHERN AFRICA September 2009 FOOD We have just spent two weeks in Zimbabwe, mainly in the area (Gwanda South) that experienced virtually total crop failure and continued to need drought relief. Thankfully our camper did not give us any trouble. We held two-day meetings at three central locations and saw brethren from 16 of the 19 congregations in that area. We also taught at two other places near Bulawayo. The brethren are very happy with the way the aid is being distributed. We received many expressions of appreciation for the help you have sent, Several told us that they pray for you when they sit down to eat and give thanks for their food. Many of you have already seen messages of thanksgiving on the slips. I will put some of the brethren’s letters below. Some things in Zimbabwe hav...[more] AFRICAN ANECDOTES August 2009 Actually this letter should be AMERICAN Anecdotes, since that is where we have been for a very long time. I’ve never seen Les so happy as when he dived back into his own bed! Because we only have 2 weeks to sort out all the little (and not so little) things that went wrong/unattended for the last three months, plus get ready for a 2-week trip to Zimbabwe, I really do not have time to write a proper letter. However, I just HAVE to say my own VERY HEARTFELT thanks for all the love, the support, the encouragement, the meals, the good times, and all the other good things. And I also HAVE to apologize for all the phone calls and visits we wanted to make but didn’t/couldn’t, and the appointments we couldn’t keep when Les was ill (it is SO hard to stay on his diet when travelling – and his s...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS August 2008 AT HOME The name of our camper is “Eagles’ Wings” (Isaiah 40), but my wings have been clipped! Although Linda drives me to the various congregations within 1-2 hours of us each Sunday in our car, she does not feel safe driving the camper on long trips because she has problems with her eyesight (no depth perception). The cast was due to come off last week, and so we planned to make a trip here in South Africa towards the middle of this month. However we had to cancel it because unfortunately the doctor has found that my bones are not knitting as well as they need to. I am confined to my cast for at least an extra two weeks, and probably some kind of brace for awhile after that. The doctor said that the slower healing is likely due to all the chemo and radiation I received. So I have b...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK August 2008 Dear friends Although I feel bad about Les’s fall – and how awkward it is for him to do things, it has been a real treat to spend some time at home and have time to do some things that were long overdue – like clean out over 10 000 items from my computer’s email “inbox!” For my birthday, I got a card from Gloria that said, “Do something for YOURSELF, Do something FUN.” One hour later the phone rang. It was our good friends the Beckleys who have relatives visiting from the USA. They wanted to know if we would like to go with them to a game farm near us where cheetahs and wild dogs are bred. Seeing as I have never seen a wild dog, and I LOVE being in the bush, I agreed on the spot! A jewel of a day – great company, interesting and people-loving guide, and beautiful nature. At the...[more] Nylstroom News October 2008 OUR TRIP TO THE USA We had a wonderful trip. It was so good to spend most of our time with our children, grandchildren, and Linda’s mother, but it was also good to get home and find all well. I just want to thank those who helped us financially so we could make the trip. We came back feeling very well physically. My broken wrist has just about recovered, though I still have to work at increasing mobility. I am again able to drive, and we hope to start on our travels within the next two weeks, although we are not yet sure where we will be going! Things are still uncertain in Zimbabwe. Some areas of Zimbabwe are fine, but since there is still concern among the brethren in the area where Bigboy and I are messengers concerning benevolence, we may go to Namibia or to another area of Zi...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK October 2008 Dear friends This will be a short letter because I don’t think anyone wants me to go on and on about how our grandchildren are the cutest, sweetest, smartest grandchildren ever – since everyone feels that way about their own grandchildren! :-) Suffice it to say that we had a wonderful visit with our children and their families and other relatives, spending a week with each child and a week with my mom. My only regret is that the time whizzed by so fast that we did not have time to contact so many of our dear friends. We basically spent our time getting our grandchildren to get used to us all over again – and then it was time to leave! But without the kindness of those who helped us make the trip, we would never have had the opportunity at all. We cannot say enough thanks to God and to t...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS – Letter of Thanksgiving November 3, 2008 Letter of Thanksgiving Our hearts have been greatly humbled by your response and we give praise to our loving God. The need has been met; indeed more than met, and the order for 8 tons of seed was placed this morning – 4 tons of an early-maturing open-pollinating seed (which means it will reproduce itself), and 4 tons of a special drought-resistant and even earlier-maturing hybrid for extra dry areas such as Gwanda South. When we went to bed last night, the need was nearly met. When we woke up this morning, there was an abundance! It reminded us of how God cared for the Israelites, sending them manna while they slept! To those of you who met the need, on behalf of ourselves and especially the brethren, we give humble thanks. Each person’s contribution, no matter how small, has mad...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS – Special Request October 31, 2008 THANKS FOR DROUGHT RELIEF We are overwhelmingly thankful for your wonderful response to our request for help for the brethren in Gwanda South. That need has been met, with many others also volunteering to help. It is so awesome to see the love of God in the hearts of our brethren. As mentioned last week, I have found a way to ship maize meal directly to Gwanda from South Africa. I had to nag and prod the supplier, but the first shipment of 5.25 tons should go out early next week. We are praying that all will go well with it crossing the border and getting to its destination. Government regulations change in the blink of an eye! If it works, that will be a big load off our shoulders. Maize meal is currently selling in Bulawayo for US$750/ton. This shipment, including deli...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS November 25, 2008 SEED We cannot give enough praise and glory to our great God for your overwhelming response. Even to those who gave “small” amounts - it made a big difference to someone. For example, if God sends the rains, $25 will enable two farmers to feed their families for a year! After the first load was delivered to the brethren in Gwanda South and other areas south of Bulawayo, we were able to place a second order to help brethren far south at Beit Bridge and north of Bulawayo all the way to the Vic Falls area (Binga).This seed was delivered last weekend. During the week we spent in Zimbabwe, they had rain just about every day, from the southern border all the way to Bulawayo and west to the Botswana border. We hear the rain extended up to Binga. Many have plowed and planted their seeds alre...[more] NYSTROOM SCRAPBOOK November 25, 2008 The landscape shimmers in the breathless dry heat of an African spring. The stark dead look of the bush is relieved by splotches of pale green (large trees whose roots go deep down to damp soil). Sudsy clouds build up in the beige-blue dirty sky. The air becomes close, and sweat-drops trickle down face, arms and legs. Before the rains: But at least the clouds give some relief to the “queue” of people that extends outside the immigration facilities at the border (they have gone to SA to get food). Queue for the SA passport stamp, queue for SA customs (twice), queue for police clearance, queue to cross the bridge, queue again on the Zim side to pay for crossing the bridge, and again for customs, and again for car insurance – all the while watching with eagle eyes that no o...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS - GOOD NEWS! January 7, 2009 Good news – the brethren have received maize meal. Even after we thought all was smooth sailing, one of the suppliers let us down and the other supplier’s truck had an accident and spilled 25 tons of the 28-ton load down a hillside in South Africa, where bystanders got an unexpected Christmas gift! However, I must say that the supplier (V&M Grain) was very professional about it and made good the loss. In addition, they worked overtime and in their Christmas holiday time to reload another truck and do the delivery. The truck got from Johannesburg, through the border, and to Gwanda/Bulawayo in an amazing time of three days. The meal arrived on 22 December and all of it has already been delivered by Bigboy and Gumpo. David and Ellen Baize were visiting in Zimbabwe at the time the maize meal...[more] OUR WORK FOR THE LORD IN SOUTHERN AFRICA August 2009 USA TRIP. We are home now after a wonderful trip to the USA. It was great to see family and brethren. We are so thankful that our travels were blessed with safety and were accident-free. We want to thank all those who made our trip possible – those who contributed towards our travel (report below), especially the two families who paid our airfare to the USA, and all hosted us, fed us and prayed for us. We also especially want to thank our son-in-law Jeremy Harbig and our daughter Melody for the use of Melody’s car the entire time we were in the USA. Travelling over 9000 miles and not having to rent a car saved hundreds of dollars. We decided to extend our trip for three extra weeks because Linda’s mother needed help moving into a retirement center. She had been living in her house for 56 y...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS February 2009 ZIMBABWE Last week we returned from our trip to Zimbabwe, making a quick visit to several areas of the south-western part of the country. We visited Guyu (Gwanda South), Dadata (Gwanda North), Saphila (Filabusi) and Bikimani (Mberengwe), as well as the Hillside and Kensington congregations in and near Bulawayo. I taught on marriage and on having a passion to serve Christ (Ps.37:3-4). The ladies requested Linda to speak on how to remain faithful when suffering and how to help their children when they cannot go to school. (Most children have not been to school for several months.) Everywhere we went the brethren were so excited about and thankful for the seeds and maize meal. Some said they were so hungry before the maize meal arrived they just did not know what to do. Each Christian go...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK February 2009 For several months the two main political parties of Zimbabwe, Zanu-PF (the ruling party) and the MDC (who won over 50% of the vote in the April 2008 elections), have been holding talks. They make and break agreements. No one knows what is going to happen next. This causes continued hardship on everyone in Zimbabwe. The economy has virtually collapsed. Zimbabwe inflation is unmeasurable, and the currency is worthless. Most people in Zimbabwe now use Rands and US Dollars to do business, but at highly-inflated prices. Education has been seriously disrupted for nearly a year, it is virtually impossible to get medical treatment, electricity and water are only spasmodically available, trash is not being collected, cholera has infected over 60 000 and killed over 4000, mail takes months to del...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS March 2009 ZIMBABWE Since my last newsletter, two more 30-ton loads of maize meal have arrived in Zimbabwe. Reports are that the rains have been good in most places and that some crops will be harvested. We thank God for those of you who contributed money for seeds, for without those seeds, there would have been very little. Now there may not be enough, but there will be something. Because the rains have continued late into the season, the crops are all still in the fields, and brethren are supplementing their diet with “green” maize. However, it is only when the crops are dried and harvested that they can be ground into maize meal and eaten as their staple food. Therefore the brethren are requesting that the drought relief extend into May, at which time they will be able to accurately determine h...[more] NYLSTROOM SCRAPBOOK March 2009 Dear friends, I know we have lately given the impression that there is much physical need in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe, and that is true – and that consumes much (sometimes too much) of our time. However, there is a more serious need – the spiritual need. “Dear spiritual parents...” “Dear Daddy and Mummy....” – these are not letters from our children, but the beginnings of letters, emails and text messages from our brethren here in Southern Africa. And then there is the personal contact with scores of different brethren each month needing spiritual counsel or encouragement from us faulty and chipped earthen vessels. Looking back on my life – how I wish I had known the preparation I should have been making! Somehow I never imagined doing what we are doing now. And I never imagine...[more] NYLSTROOM NEWS May 2009 MANY BLESSINGS IN A SHORT TIME We have been here in the USA for 3 weeks. We arrived in the USA just in time for Joseph’s graduation from USF with a degree in mechanical engineering. He has been blessed with a job in Houston. Linda and I, together with our son Joseph, were then blessed to spend nearly 2 weeks visiting various congregations in TN and AL and reporting on the work. On Thursday, 14 May, about 6 am, when we were in Decatur, Alabama, we received a call from our daughter Melody that she was on her way to the hospital. We packed our things and prepared to depart for Tampa, but about an hour later, before we finished packing and eating breakfast ,we got another call from Melody. She said, “Seven pounds, 9 ounces!” Both mother and baby are doing very well, thanks be to God. “Grand...[more] back |