SOUTH AFRTCAN CHURCH OR CHRIST MISSION

Johannesbiirg

1963 )

Fwd. Agent:

Sept. 15, -Oct 25

Missionaries:

Mrs. Hamilton
700 East Hauser, Rt. 3

^Celine, Missouri

"

Mr, & Mrs. A Hamilton, Jr

Box 17175, Hillbrow

Johannesburg, Sou.Africa

Dear Christian Friends,

While the weather there is beginning to cool down, we are getting hotter and hotter.
We had some much needed rain last week that cooled things down for a while but it is
back up there today.

The family and I are all doing very well. Francie had her iith birthday last week
and Annette had a little party for her with her fi?iends from the church. She enjoyed
herself very much and so did Jon. Jon is getting along all right except he still won*t
talk.

I think tliat he is just lazy.

The first of this month, the family and I went to Kimberley and then Bob Mills and
I went on to Craddock for the planning meeting for the conference for the native churches
next year. We had a very nice trip and the family enjoyed getting away with me for once
instead of staying at home.

At this meeting at Craddock the missionaries all met and decided to plan a preaching
rally here at the Troyeville Church of Christ for December, It will just be for a week

end but it ^11 be a great help to all of us. The theme is "How shall they hear".

We are looking forward to this meeting very much.

For some time now, I have been having a speech class for the ones interested in

teaching at the Church and right before we went to Kimberley ye decided to expand and
have more classes for these young people because we felt that they needed it and some of
the masked for it. So upon our return, we began having 6 hours of evening class work

(2 hours a night for three nights each week" and also Uncle Sam (we memtioned him in our
previous letters) is taking 10 hours of classes in the daytime besides these ni^t class

es. He is veiy interested and is a very sharp student so I really have to dig to keep
ahead of him and the others in these classes. The Elhurch here is supporting b-im in that
they^are giving him about I4.O dollars a month from the church and then inviduals are
helping him also. That way he doesn't need to work at a job bbut can spend all his time
with his studies. Rlease pray for him that he continues to do the fine job that he has
don e so far.

This is the first time a local church every supported a student minister.

_-. e_have 8. atudenta_ (2 men over 30, -2 young men in their 20's-and-ii-y^ung ladie4
enrolled in the evening classes of the School of Evangelism. Brother Mills, Zimmerman
and I agreed when we met at Craddock to each offer classes in our respective areas and

then upon completion of the required work we will award certificates of recognition alike.
Therefore we will have one School of Evangelism but it will be located in Capetown, Kim
berley and Johannesburg. One day we hope to have someone who will be able to give their
full time to such a school and have it located permanently in one place but until such
a time, we will just have to do our best to fulfill the needs of the local congregation.
Please make this a part of your prayers. The Lord knows the need and surely He can and
will fill it when the time is right.

We are happy to see the attendance at the Troyeville Church coming back up to the
ho's and 50's. The Lord added another young Chinese man (Robert Fortoen) to the Church
here last week.

Annette and I have found it necessary to buy a house. Because of the influx of
imigrants to this country, it is nearly impossible to find a decent house to live in when

renting. And the rents are so high that it is cheaper to buy and make paymentrs rather
than renting. Most of the other missionaries have already bought but we put it off as

long as it seemed best. Anyway we will have a permanent address even when we come back

from ^ rlough which is due in 1965. And if we don't have a missionary to come to live in
it while we^e gone that year, we can rent it out without any trouble.
;t)n-tlie 20th-of this month-we are^goihg^^b^rTTiaHhg^a Bible^^chbolWdnCMroh

service in Bosmont, a new Coloured area. At least one family from the church and possibly
more will be moving out there in the next year or two and so we want to get started there
as soon as possible. We will meet in the school and because we are a government recog

nized church, we won't have to pay rent for the use of the school. We will be there from

9 to 11 and then in to the Diet street building for preaching service. Later on we may
have the opport^ity for an afternoon service in yet another Coloured area.
With teaching 16 hours a week and preparation for these classes, on top of the new

Coloured work we want to begin, it is cuttiwgi out some of our visits to the Native African

churches in this area and the European plans also must be postponed. Please keep in mind
the plans to begin the new work in Jo-burg, we have many areas that need to be opened,

and we hp^ to be ablA to train qualified leaders to put into these new works. Your prayers

are greatly appreciated. Atape recording will soon be ready, through our forwarding agent.
Please send us your zip code number. We have no other way of getting them.
Sincerely yours for Christ,
and Annette Hamilton

Vol. 1 -

No. 1

DIRECTORY

Hamiltons
Committee meeting to

plan 1964 conference

Kernans
Mills

Page 2
"
"

3
4
5

Nicholsons

"

Stanleys

"

Zimmermans

"

Building Program
Ooapl Llgbt

HAMILT0N8
Johannesburg

In conjunction with the Preacher and Christian leadership training done by brother Mills
in Kimberley, we have also opened classes in the evenings for eight of our church members here

in Johannesburg. Four men are studying to become ministers of the church of Christ. Three are
Chinese and one is Coloured. Two of the men are in their 20s and the other two are 36 and 40

years of age. We also have four young ladies of the church in the school which opened in Get ober.

One of the Chinese men (Sam Yung Pong) aged 36, is taking a full six hours of evening
classes and also ten hours a week of daytime study, which I teach him in the mornings. This
makes a total of 16 hours of work for Sam, (known to us as Uncle Sam), and he is being wholly

sponsored by the local church of Christ by being paid R30. a month

studies.

Please keep

"Uncle Sam"

in your prayers

that God will

to support him while he

use him mightily to preach

the Gospel here.

Of course leaching a 16 hour week cuts our plans to begin a new European (while) work,
since we have already begun a new Coloured work. We will have to postpone our plans for
developing the European work, and some of the visiting of the local Native African
developing the European work, and some of the visiting of the local Native African churches
will become impossible with the new projects under way.

We desperately

need funds for text books

or library books for the school of Evangelism,

as well as other missionary workers for Johannesburg. If you are interested in helping

out,

please write to P.O. Box 17175, Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa.

NEW COLOURED WORK OPENED

On the 20lh of October, we began holding services in one of

the large new Coloured townships in the Johannesburg area. Five
of us from the Troyeville church of Christ went out to Bosmont,
and began services, using a school room as a place of worship.
Since we are a government approved church we have the free use
of the school room.

We plan to do extensive calling and advertising of the

beginning services in Bosmont. Several of the Coloured members
of the church in town

will be expected

to move out to Bosmont

in early 1964. We will need to have regular services there for

them as well as for new people.
We hope that we can train a
Coloured preacher for this tremendous opportunity for the Lord,
here in Johannesburg.

Forwarding agent-

Mrs A.W, Hamilton Sr.

104 W. Sante Fe,
Marceline, Missouri

KERNANS
East London

Although Alvin oversees mosi of

Ihe
building for the mission, .lohn is le
arning something about it. Here Alvin,
with minister George Fupi, examines
a

During ihr rourso ol' our visils utiiony thn

churohos, wo moot many doligliltul Christ
ians. ami Ihoir childron. Horo, at a r.hurch near Siutierheim, Heather, Atuie, and
Giles make friends with a little African.

concrete block made by the mission's blo

ck machine

for the new church

house

at

Tarkastad.

v.- -

- l.-.'S '

The

i\ew Birth

Christian life,

is

the

beginning of the

a beginning which we all

rejoice to sec.

Here the

congregation at Iduiywa found a

spot in the river "where there was much

water,"

and the new convert

with the Lord.

Churches

of

was buried
Christ

in

South Africa average more than 1000 bapt

isms a year.

The major part of the work of the Kernans

is preparing Christian literature, part
icularly the monthly magazine SOUTH AFRI
CAN CHRISTIAN and Sunday school materials
Minister Sidney Roji gives a copy of the
magazine to a denominational minister and

explains to him something of New Testam

ent Christianity.

Forwarding agent- Mr Kenneth Pew,

Box 372,

fsJrfield,

MILLS
Kimberley
The mulii-racial

congregation

of

the

Kimberley

church offers many opportunities of service for which

we are very thankful, however there is just more than
one family can adequately manage to cope with, even
with the very capable help of our student minister,

brother

Roland Joseph.

Since our day time is occupied

with the printing of tracts and the GOSPEL LIOIT and

preparation and mailing of the same, and the evenings
are used for the night study classes with Roland,
ihere is Just not enough time for the personal
needs
of the congregation. At present we have only one
evening of the week not engaged is some way with a
vhurch meeting and that evening has us'ually been used
for calling of some sort. Each Lord's Day .our congre
gation has four separate Bible Schools scattered in
various parts of the city.
Kimberley is a city of
more than 65,000 population and is well on the way to
being one of the larger inland cities of South Africa,
hence we feel every justification in requesting your
prayers that the Lord may provide a family who will be
willing to come minister to the church and relieve us
for the increasing work of printing materials for the spreading of the Gospel through
our
postal roiitavls, and the visitation of the Native churches and resumption of classes among them
PRINTING EQUIPMENT

We praise the Lord for the provision of a brand new A.B. Dick offset press and much of
the related p<iuipmeni necessary for the publication of desperately needed materials for Africa.
Ke truly thrill at the nei\s from brother Simkins of the movement in Ghana toward New

Testament

Christjanily. Ghana has been one of the major countries on our mailing list for the GOSPEL
LIGHT, the correspondence lessons and tracts for some years. We presently have about 2000
addresses on our mailiiuj list there. With this equipment, we are now able to flodd Africa

with Gospel literature as funds are available for printing supplies Even with this handicap
we have printed the correspoiidonce lessons in both Zulu and Xhosa languages and have a tran
slator working on the Tswana langiiaho at the present time. We hope to add Afrikaans
later
aii<l as many other languagi's of Africa as possible. We have also reprinted most of our tracts
in new formats, using, in most cases, coloured inks to dress them up and make them more inter
esting to the African

who likes

colour.

This month

we are making a drive to obtain as many translations

of otir more easily pradC(?d tracts as possible. This
will include all nations in our mailing lists, Ghana
and Nigeria included, along with Kenya, Tanganyika,

and Nyasalaml. The Lord blessing this plan wo hope to

produce at least five different tracts in as many as
fifteen or twenty languages. At the present lime ive
are limited to five languages. The paper you are
presently reading is the latest publication on our
own equipment.
RECENT VISITS

Wo have been thrilled with

been able to work

into

our

the few visits we

schedule of late,

have

with

our African brethern. I have been able to go to HopeTown

and

the Tswana reserves

with brother

Stanley

while he was visiting us recently and since then have

been to the farms for a wedding and out to the irr
igation scheme where we had a most thrilling service
with about fifty of the brothers, worshiping in the
garage of the farmer,since they have no church house.

Forwarding agent-

Mrs Mabel Mills

Box 134,

West Salem, Illinois

NICHOLSONS
Port Shepstone

CHURCH

BUILDING NEEDS

South Africa is a growing nation and with its changes come changes in the work as well.
There was a day when its cities Just sprang up, and this was especially true of those areas
where Africans

built along

made their homes.

narrow streets

In many

of the smaller cities,

very close together,

we still find

every type of building material

However, as planning schemes have been taking place in all the cities,
Locations near all the cities being replanned as well.

the houses

being used.

so also are the Bantu

In the early days,

the churches were built of the materials which were the easiest to
acquire for the area.
But now as new sites are given,
they are given with the stipulation
that the buildings must be made of permanent materials and a plan must be submitted
and
accepted before any work can be started.

This
we believe to be a good plan but it has also placed a strain upon the building
program of the mission here. When new sites are granted and the papers have been signed
we
are to begin on the buildings within six months and have them completed within a year.
Since the arrival of Max Randall

on the mission field

the African churches have had their

own building funds to which they have contributed and it has greatly helped to increase thework
that has been done, but it has not been able to keep up with the work which needs to be done.
Plans for the year of 1964, call for the completion of the work at Gcilima, Warrenton and
Tarkastad, There are sites already given at Kimberley and Vryburg. Awaiting government action
at the present time are Natalspruit at Johannesburg and Douglas. At Gcilima and Warrenton, we
can almost say that the walls are completed, and the next task is the roofing and plastering
of the building. At Tarkastad the foundation is dug and the church is working on making blocks
for the building. First plans have been drawn for Natalspruit and have been approved by the

planning engineer of that area.

we shall need about $5000

Kimberley plans are being worked on, but for this work of 1964

to put with that

of the African Fund

and the money which shall

Forwarding agent-

Mrs Ed. Widlund,

be

raised by the local churches.

1603 Morley Road,

Albert Lea, Minnesota

STANLEYS
Port Shepstone
THE

BIBLE TRAINING SCHOOL

The iTHining of o uilniblry lor Iho

cliurchi-s here li:is boon a Imuj difficlill task.
11 uas begun us soon as
there were converts on
the field,

first

by

Ihi-

missionaries

personally with a few men

l'J127

with the calling

of a group

men to make up a class.

man of that

first

working

as <'arly as
Al ieasi

class is still

of
one
min

istering, Mr T.D. Malhibe of Douglas.

The early school

"mini brick"

was a Ihret- room

building at the buck

the (Church in Kiraberley.

It wus

of
used

for sevi'rul years us u iruining cent

er and then used as u dwelling till
1951.

In 1950-51 a four room building

of hurnetl brick was built to replace

the original. It was c<ni.s i rni'i ed in siii'h a way Uiut it couiil lUisily be doiiblrnl in size. This
was used for six yours, luil before il c(]n)d be adtled to it became evident that Kiinb<>rley was

not the best place for a iriiitiing school for Africans.

work there

Nearly 100 different students took some

and al! but two of ihi' active ministers in 195B

(whiMt the school was closed)

had

been given some training in those bulidings.

Under the governmoiit's itrogrum of

necessary

to find

removing the Africans

a more suilubli? place

for the school.

from the urban areas

it became

A place adjoining the reserves

at

Umzumbe, Naiai was chosen ami approved by the government. The first new building was creeled
in 1960 and the school was reopened in May of that year. Classes have been held continuously

since that time

and

another

fifty students

plus many

of the active ministers

have been to

school at Umzumbe.

There are now two teachers at the school with brother Nicholson teaching one class when
he is not travelling visiting the churches. A four room dormitory has been built and a dining
room-kitchen unit is being completed at present. The greatest needs are: a larger student
enrollment, another teacher and pledged funds for operation and expansion.
THE CLINIC

With the help given by the Columbiana

Ohio church a subclinic was opened at the
school

in June 1962.

community help.
clinic.

A woman

Il has been a real

One baby was born at the

bitten by a snake

was

undoubtedly saved by our being able to

get the doctor through the clinic. It has
also proven an opening for the church as
a center

of community

only a nurse
are for a

a week

activity.

comes to the clinic.

So far
Plans

doctor to visit the clinic once

and

the secretary

of the

local

welfare board has promised to help. The

local people have been approached in reguard to helping build a clinic building
and the nurse and the minister feel

that

the help will be given.

Forwarding agent-

Mrs Sybil Evans,

Route 1,
Ladoga, Indiana

ZIMMERIIIIINS
Cape Town

European-

These are a group of young people

from the

Polo Road

meeting at the
in Mowbray.

church

in a

Zimmermans

home

Coloured-

The presence of the Coloured

housing development at Bonteheuwel, Capetown, is a challenge
to us for Christ.

African-

Brother Tusha, one of our African

ministers

with

members

of

the

Church of Christ at George, about

275 miles from Capetown.

Forwarding agent-

Mrs Ida May Kepler,

139 Kennedy Road,
Binghamton, New York

BUILDING PROGRAM

t"

Warrenton

Kr

ai

V.

.!

*..':

*'-

, .

l'

-sutib "

Forwarding agent-

Hf

Mr Bruce Miller
2522 East 38th. St.

Indianapolis, Indiana