Grace Baptist Mission

11 July saw an extraordinary visit from GBM to the Bible School. Maciek Stolarksi heads the literature arm of this ministry and had already sent some of their book samples to us – it was great to put faces to the names! Travelling with the team was Ray, a pastor from Zimbabwe, who brought an impassioned plea to the student body that we pray for his country.

prayer ‘n praise

10 June saw Mark & I heading up to Umzimkhulu for the monthly TEE school. Pictured below is a donation of blankets and warm clothing that was distributed among the learners there – thank you, Fynnlands Baptist! On the way back, the White Witch (aka the Daewoo station-wagon) lost power at Harding and again when we were nearly home. Please pray for the proper repair of this vehicle.

Mark & I went up again (in a different car) this month, to discover that the key to the community hall was unavailable – due to political tensions within the local ANC. We moved over to the next village where we had a good day of teaching, but we do need to find a suitable, reliable venue.

ZSB

Zululand School of the Bible in Empangeni also had their second week of teaching 2-6 June, so I took the opportunity to nip up the coast and teach Isaiah. Besides enjoying the super hospitality of Bruce & Jenny Mackenzie, I met my teaching colleague Chris Wood (Hillcrest Baptist) again. Like us, ZSB has a smaller group of students this year and would love to acquire more! A school like this only becomes financially viable once learners number about 30 – so now you have a target to pray towards.

A highlight was our visit to the local university where around 70 students crowded into a lecture room to praise God before the impending exams – what a charismatic, multinational experience (Nigerians certainly do not appear to lack self-confidence)! Interesting thing was that right next door, a group of Shembe devotees was going strong too.

BSM

A new satellite is in orbit! Bethany School of Missions, Tongaat on the KZN north coast. Under the leadership of Rev Jacob Moses, BSM has been training missionaries for many years. Since 2008, however, SCBS has been responsible for providing the same curriculum as we do for our other satellites at Tylden and Empangeni. My vehicle broke down on my first visit to them in March, but this time there was no problem. Here’s the group that met 2-6 June:

new partnership

Through an informal partnership agreement with Pietermaritzburg Christian Fellowship, SCBS has acquired 3 new students: Phiwe, Webster and Mark (Uganda). As part of their discipleship track at PCF, these learners are taking the Certificate in Pastoral Ministry at our school one week every quarter. Welcome, guys! We also welcomed 2 new teachers at our second school of the year, namely Cronje Fourie (Bethal) and Neels Muller (Port Elizabeth).

new venue

Mixed feelings, I guess, about the new location of our Umzimkulu school. The previous set-up was great, just ideal for small-group ministry. Only problem was its distance from the bulk of the students, hence the move to a more convenient location. An advantage is the mostly tar access road, but disadvantages include the time to prep the place for teaching – it’s not small.

the top end

Our second SATS meeting last month underlined the need for a more ‘hands-on’ approach that, frankly, Elma and I are finding increasingly difficult to provide. The core subjects common to all the Certificate students last year have been replaced with individual tracks requiring separate supervision. To have one person administering each level would be ideal!

(l-r) Michael Mountjoy, Herbert Shirley, Robert Tunyawashe, Mark Hannaway, Beryl Mkhize, Daniel Dudeni, Mrs Mgandala, Bruce Harborth, Elma Brook, Owen Britz, Gerald Milne. Absent: Pinkerton Camba, Nelson Thomas

unexpected

Tylden Bible School week passed swiftly. My subject ‘Heart of Missions’ seemed to have acquired nearly twice the lecture hours it had originally, but more interesting was the warm debate concerning the question of missions funding: just how do African churches sponsor the missionary enterprise?

Unexpectedly, I met up with an old friend from Westonaria – pastor Steve van der Schyff – who’s just moved to Cathcart. Steve just happened to be visiting a mutual friend at Tylden when we stumbled across each other! Also unexpected was the inclusion of local evangelism sessions in the afternoon programme…

Tylden Bible School

I leave tomorrow for ‘Light of the World Mission’ at Tylden near Queenstown, Eastern Cape. LWM runs one of our satellite schools under the direction of Frik Labuschagne (the others are at Empangeni and Tongaat). An interesting feature of this school is the inclusion of scholars together with the student body during holidays – it really makes for creative teaching! Pictures to follow…

Please pray for travelling mercies and a blessed week.

prayer requests

We would covet your prayers regarding the following:

• On my way to a new school in Tongaat (KZN north coast) this morning, the vehicle I was driving lost power and had to be towed back to a garage in Margate. Apparently, the conrod had gone through the engine block. Thank God for our good friend Bruce who undertook my towing ‘as unto the Lord’, but this small crisis highlights again our desperate need for a reliable Bible school vehicle – preferably a bakkie (pickup).
• Please be in prayer for our second Umzimkulu school tomorrow. Our SCBS presentation last week to pastors from that area went well and will help boost local awareness – as well as, hopefully, enrolment! We leave at 6 am in a borrowed Lada.