Greetings from a warm – no, hot – Cape Town. In regard to the weather, it has been unseasonably cool until yesterday. We have had a south wind, sometimes pretty strong. The wind was blowing from Antarctica, which isn’t too far for wind. In the last two days, summer has returned. Today, it will get up to 40 degrees which sounds pretty normal for the Midwest in the US in early March. However, this is not Fahrenheit degrees, it is Celsius, which is about 100 degrees F.
During the past several days, I have been involved in several interesting and informative things. I was privileged to spend some one-on-one time with Thompson Ntobie and got lots of his perspective on conditions, history and concerns. He is a very wise man and has the ability to convey his thoughts in several languages. Unfortunately, I barely understand English. He gave me his account of the SACM and its twists and turns in its history. He shared greatly the problems arising from attempts to westernize the Xhosa people by well-meaning but poorly advised missionaries. This is a great concern to him and to me. He has nothing but praise for the SACM. He also shared about some new works with which he will be involved.
One of the works that Steve and Thompson are involved with is in Queenstown. This is an exciting work with very enthusiastic people. A couple of years ago, they baptized 200 people. Thompson, Steve and I will be traveling (a very long day’s trip by car) up there in a few days. I’m looking forward to this opportunity and apparently, they are too.
Yesterday, Steve and I picked up Thompson and went to the Bavumeleni Children’s Mission for a worship service. It was for children and was held in a very hot tent. It has been a long time since I’ve been in a tent meeting. What a joy! They sang. They moved. They prayed. They heard Thompson’s lesson in Xhosa. They gave testimonies. After the service, they left the tent and were fed “real” food. It has been quite some time since I’ve been around many little children and these little Africans give me great hope for the future of their society. We could learn much from them.
Saturday was a fun day. The Fergusons, the DeWitts, the Rutters and I went to the very end of the continent. The name of the place, in English, is “the needle”. It is where the Atlantic and Indian oceans officially meet. It was very windy and there was a substantial surf. We saw lots of real estate that looks like what we see in the US. Farm land, small towns, cattle and produce. The restaurant menus don’t look like anywhere in the US. For lunch, I had spinach and lentil soup. That was really good.
Finally – the container. The container which was loaded and shipped in early December from the US and which was routed through Israel, has finally reached the dock in Cape Town. It is to be unloaded to be off loaded today and should be delivered to the SACM warehouse in the next day or two. The African brethren are eager for the Bibles and other materials. In the next few weeks, there will be great rejoicing in some African homes and churches. They can now have a Bible of their own!
Rejoice with me. Because we care, Africans can come to meet and know “the
Word”. Yours in the service of Christ, david
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