Our Dumisani librarian, Nomophelo, has broken her foot and is now in plaster. This makes it difficult to hop on and off minibus taxies. So each week I take her to her library studies lectures at Fort Hare University. Last week I was filling up the car at our local BP garage, when a young Xhosa man, a forecourt attendant, with a very cheerful voice, appeared at the car window.

“Can I check the oil and water and wash the windscreen?”

“Not today, thanks.” I answered, but added, “What makes you so happy? Did you have  a good weekend?”

“I had a wonderful weekend,” he replied.

“Did you go to church?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, and in good ‘Authorised Version’ English, he quoted, “‘if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.’ And Jesus is in my heart and he makes me happy.”

We had a good chat about the Lord.  And despite the trials South Africa is going through at present, I came away very encouraged. For the last three weeks there has been a strike of civil servants, teachers, nurses and hospital staff, holding out for a better salary deal from the government. There has been picketing, intimidation and some sad reports of deaths in hospitals. But the government refuses to back down, and has deployed the army to support the health department.

You can easily understand both viewpoints, but the strike will cause serious damage in both the health care and educational sectors, especially as learners are about to write their matriculation exams.  The young forecourt attendant, who is likely to be paid a low wage of around £150 a month, plus tips, reminded me that in the current crisis our trust and hope must be firmly placed in the Lord.

The one thing he asked for, and I was able to get for him, was a modern English version of the Bible, as he found the language of the Authorised Version hard to understand.

John and I have been back in King William’s Town since mid-July, after a very busy but enjoyable eleven weeks in the UK. It was good to be back home, and we want to thank all who gave us opportunities to speak about the work at Dumisani, fed us and entertained us.

Whilst at home, I asked friends to pray for another teacher to help me in the Sunday School here at the church we attend. Someone has volunteered and we plan to meet soon to discuss how to rearrange the classes and what extra equipment we need.

As for John, he started teaching as soon as we were back, as classes had been in full swing for over a week. Every Sunday since, except for one, he has preached, and will again this weekend.  Next week he is to be taking a leadership seminar at a church in Port Elizabeth, and the weekend after he is to preach at our district communion. After that it looks as if he will have a break until October. We are looking forward to the mid-semester break and a camping trip to the Western Cape to see the spectacular carpets of wild flowers that cover the veld in spring.

As this is being typed, I’m enjoying a visit from my sister, her husband and two daughters. Separation from family is the one sacrifice – if we may dare to call it that – when living and working abroad.

We expect to be in the UK during October, as John is attending a special meeting of the Free Church of Scotland General Assembly, and I have to have some medical care.

Elizabeth

Old bridge, Shawbost, Isle of Lewis

It has been something of an eye-opener to revisit congregations of the Free Church of Scotland after an absence of two years or so and see so much clear evidence of progress. Since we returned in May, Elizabeth and I have visited many congregations in a variety of locations, from London in the south, to Ness in the north, from Leith in the east, to Callanish in the west.

As we prepare to return to South Africa next week, the first thing I want to say is a sincere ‘thank you’ to all who have received us so kindly and shown so keen an interest in Dumisani Theological Institute. We have been overwhelmed by the best of hospitality and the warmest of welcomes. Lest these comments be misrepresented in light of the title of this piece, let me hastily add that there is nothing new here. The Free Church has, in our experience, little room for progress in hospitality and has always been exemplary for its kindness.

The progress to which I refer has been in two areas. First, we have been very impressed by the amount of building and extension that is either being planned or is in process, or has been recently completed. Not so long ago many Free Church properties were notoriously neglected, dingy and unwelcoming. Not now!  In the islands new church halls abound. These not only house prayer meetings, but are friendly venues for young people’s work and gatherings for informal fellowship. On the mainland too there are a considerable number of congregations reordering and up-grading their buildings and improving their facilities. Others have completed well designed and attractive projects. All this bodes well for the future and implies an optimism that flies in the face of the alleged decline in church attendance. Whilst the Free Church remains a very small denomination and not the national church we once were and now aspire to be, the trajectory of development and growth seems directly opposite to that of the Church of Scotland, which is currently offering for sale a huge number of redundant churches and manses, many going for a song. We see clear evidence of our church making the move from maintenance to mission, from absorption with ourselves to concern for our neighbours and those beyond.

The second observation is that throughout the Free Church there seems also to be a growing broad-mindedness – in the best sense – towards differences within the church. That is not to say, however, that tolerance is to be redefined as meaning that all values, all beliefs, all lifestyles and all truth claims are equal. Nor am I suggesting there is, or ought to be, a shift away from limitations we accept in subscribing to the Westminster Confession of Faith. But it is good to see a repudiation of intolerance in the area of secondary differences. One evidence of this is the growing tendency for congregations to work together with adjacent evangelical congregations of the Church of Scotland.

But to us, the most obvious evidence of this tendency is in connection with the current discussion concerning worship, whether or not the General Assembly should permit congregations to use their own discretion in introducing hymns and/or instrumental accompaniment, in addition to singing psalms. Of course, our experience is not a scientific survey, nor did we canvass opinion, but it was most heartening to hear people who have no desire to change, from congregations with no intention of changing, being sensitive to the claims of others to determine their own course in this matter. It struck me that there is emerging a mature understanding of the true nature of tolerance, as permitting others to do what we ourselves neither desire nor approve. Likewise, we heard people who do desire to use a wider repertoire of praise, assert the right of others not to change if they wished to continue with the traditional form of worship.

If this spirit pervades the plenary conference in August and the plenary Assembly in November then we will, whatever the final outcome, maintain that spiritual unity that is so precious to us. It is, of course, a fundamental rule of Christian ethics not to sacrifice a greater for a lesser principle. Apart from loyalty to God and the Gospel, can there be a higher principle than that of Christian unity?  I doubt it. It would, therefore, be a great tragedy in pursuit either of the status quo or change, if impatience with each other led to divisiveness. Surely it is better to defer change until we are living comfortably with our differences rather than forcing a narrow majority vote and so dividing the church. It might be worth thinking about the Assembly imposing a cooling off period of a year or two perhaps, for building consensus and cultivating further tolerance.

Tolerance, often derided by extremists as compromise, is precisely the principle inculcated by Paul in Philippians 4.5. Here he counsels “reasonableness” (ESV) or “gentleness” (NIV). But the word covers a range of meanings including that of not asserting our rights, willingness to yield, tolerance and kindness. Calvin suggests that one way of reading the text is to represent Paul “as bidding them rather give up their right, than that any one should have occasion to complain of their sharpness or severity. Let all that have to deal with you have experience of your equity and humanity.” An Assembly marked by equity and humanity will better serve Christ’s cause than one notorious for unyieldingness and fractiousness.

The aim of most evangelical churches and missionary societies is to reach the masses with the gospel. By means of radio and television sermons and evangelistic messages are carried to millions; tracts and evangelistic literature are distributed far and wide.  Internet websites hold forth the word of life to an increasingly sophisticated world community. Of course, the Church is blessed to have such remarkable resources available. Just as the sixteenth century Reformers made maximum use of the printing press, so today’s Church must deploy the latest technology in the cause of the Kingdom.

Yet there is a danger in all this sophistication. A number of years ago, mission’s writer, Jim Reapsome warned of the temptation to see high-tech applications as quick-fix solutions. “We like mass media because they fit our predilections for quick, mass solutions”. He rightly points out that some younger missionaries “do not know, for example, as some veteran missionaries do, that a Muslim needs to hear the gospel 250 times before he understands it.”

What is true for the Muslim is no less true for the follower of traditional African religion, the Jew, the secularist or the nominal Christian. Authentic evangelism hinges on the cultivation of personal friendships in which the gospel can be introduced, repeated and explained. Such relationships are the context in which objections may be aired, questions asked and time given to finding honest answers. People have to be treated as unique individuals; each is special and their needs cannot be addressed by formulas consisting of ‘four laws’, ‘five points’ or ‘six truths! Evangelism takes time and for much of that time little or no fruit may be evident. However much we invest in technology, our major investment must always be in those instruments God has chosen to spearhead His mission to the world — people!

By all means let us use to the full all the technology available to us, and thank God for it, but let us not make the mistake of thinking that the goal of missionary work is the mere output of information. The aim of every evangelistic encounter is that our hearers understand the gospel, and respond to it by receiving God’s salvation in Christ.  And that’s only the start, for the Saviour commissioned the Church to make disciples, not just converts, and discipleship requires long term commitment.

Rev and Mrs W. Tshoni. Mr Tshoni (Free Church in Southern Africa) is one of the first two Dumisani students to graduate BA (Hons).

My last post referred to the tragedy recently experienced by a local Christian family whose eldest son committed suicide. Well, one day last week the father, Thomas, visited Dumisani’s coffee’s shop. In the course of conversation he mentioned that now his son had died he needed to go to East London, some 60kms from King William’s Town, to wash in sea water. Obviously this was some sort of superstitious or religious rite, but at the time I couldn’t make sense of it, though it reminded me of something I had heard or read.

This morning I was re-reading an account of two famous Xhosa prophets, Nxele, who encouraged resistance to the missionaries and their message and Ntsikana. Ntsikana was one of the first Xhosa leaders to encourage his people to believe in the Gospel. Around 1817, Nxele ordered his followers to meet him at Gompo Rock, also known as Cove Rock, near East London to witness the resurrection of the dead and the damnation of witches. Nothing happened. As a consequence Ntsikana sometimes taunted the followers of Nxele, and others who rejected the Gospel, with the words, ‘You only go to wash yourselves with sea water from Gompo.’

There are so many good things in the traditional Xhosa worldview that do not at all compromise Christian teaching and such values are to be celebrated and confirmed.  But, as is the case with every other culture, from one source or another, come other ideas – such as this – that contradict the teaching of the Bible and undermine the Christian’s transcendent hope in the work of Christ and its glorious outcomes. It is precisely this spirit of discernment that the Church here in South Africa, as indeed everywhere else in the world, not least in the West, so greatly needs. As Paul wrote to his friends in Rome, ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ Romans 12:2

It is Dumisani’s great privilege to teach students how to handle God’s Word themselves and how to teach it to others. On Saturday we had our annual awards and graduation ceremony. Some students have now finished their studies and are looking forward to ministry. They greatly need our prayers to remain faithful men able to teach others also.

Click here for details of our UK Home Leave 2010

Of all the graces listed in I Corinthians 13 Christian love is said to be the greatest. It might therefore be interesting to tot up the number of times, in an average semester, we Dumisani lecturers talk about love. But 1 John 3:18 insists love is not merely a topic for discussion, a word to be studied or a doctrine to be analysed. It is a practical reality. Says John, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” This means we must be ready to get involved in people’s lives, with all the inconvenience and frustration this may entail. We cannot pass the burden to some other agency, NGO or government department. The cup of cold water given to the poorest and the most neglected children of God must be given in Christ’s name to receive the Master’s approval. With that what need have we of anyone else’s endorsement?

This year, for me, the temptation to academic isolation seemed likely to increase if, as I mentioned in a previous news-letter, I was to teach undergraduate Church History at the University of Fort Hare. But this was not to be. In December the Ministry of Home Affairs assured me, in a very friendly and humorous but firm manner, that my employment status allowed me only to work for Dumisani and that if I was to take up the Fort Hare post, even on a voluntary basis, I might leave myself open to being arrested.

As I had planned two half days teaching at Fort Hare, that left rather a large hole in my week, but since then all sorts of quite unexpected opportunities for service have arisen. This has inclined me to believe that our plans were redirected by God.  Let me share with you some of the ways this has happened.

Thomas is a Christian who lives in a nearby small village where he wanted to plant a small commercial garden, selling the produce for much needed cash. As is often the case, the problem was finding the start-up finance to buy seedlings, tools, fencing and so on. From a small fund available to us, Elizabeth was able to help. Since then, Thomas has often been in touch and we have visited his home.

A few weeks ago he phoned to say that his eldest son, a man of twenty-three had taken his own life whilst the balance of his mind had been disturbed.

As well as the shock and grief brought to the family, even a modest Xhosa funeral is a costly affair. As the funeral service would be at the home it is usual for the paintwork to be refreshed. A sufficient number of chairs for the chief guests had to be found. Food, and in Xhosa terms that means meat, sufficient to feed all who attend, needed to be purchased. Thorn-wood had to be gathered in from the veld for the cooking fires. But, because the death was a suicide, there would be no assistance from an insurance payout and, with neither father nor mother employed, the family had no regular income.

A large tub of paint was provided. Dumisani has a bakkie (pick-up), so I could help transport firewood and chairs. A bigger challenge was the undertaker’s costs. On the very day the deposit was made, our friends at Greyfriars Free Church of Scotland, Inverness, had a senior’s lunch meeting and an impromptu whip-round which returned exactly the amount of the deposit. This expression of love and support, coming from unknown overseas Christians, was a significant testimony. The funeral went off well, with a large number of persons attending. Though utterly bereft and haunted by the thought of losing a son in such a manner the family felt supported. Can I commend them to your continuing prayers?

Emma Brewster is a young friend from St Nicholas’ Church of England in Sevenoaks, Kent,  where we used to worship. She is now based in Port Elizabeth, working with the Student Christian Organisation. A recent email from Emma alerted me to the fact that the small Christian group at the nearby local agricultural college of Fort Cox was struggling. A student had contacted Emma to ask for Bible study material on discipleship and Emma asked me if I could pop-in to see them. She also wondered if there might be at Dumisani a student able to help on a regular basis. Fikile Stali, a former air-force pilot, training for the ministry of the Free Church in Southern Africa (FCSA), is willing to help, and we plan to visit soon.

Last Saturday, 27 February, there was a meeting of the Transkei Presbytery of the FCSA and, as usual, I attended. I was accompanied by a former Inverness neighbour, Rev. Douglas MacKeddie of Maryburgh, who is currently Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. We found it most instructive to hear how the Transkei congregations are growing through outreach to their neighbours. Another cause for rejoicing was the request, by Mr Mason Nkwelo, a successful businessman and mature Dumisani student, to be accepted as a licentiate for the ministry. The Presbytery gladly accepted his application and it now needs only the consent of the FCSA General Assembly in May.

As the role of moderator of Presbytery falls on ministers by rotation, my Transkei colleagues thought it had come around to me. I was, therefore, appointed for the next year. Though this is not a huge burden, indeed it is a pleasure, I might have felt unwilling to take on any additional responsibility if I had been teaching at both Dumisani and Fort Hare.

Not far away from King William’s Town, at a place called Fort White, stands a disused Bible college complex. Recently two white families, one from South Africa, the other from the USA, have moved in and are attempting to set up some small scale projects, including an agricultural scheme. On Sunday evenings they have commenced an inter-denominational service which is well attended. Not that there is any shortage of churches in the area, but there is a need for good Bible teaching. Next Sunday, 7 March, a team of Dumisani colleagues is to take the service. Ikho Magodla will lead, I’m to preach and Graeme Mshweshwe is to interpret for me. Nomaphelo Kwikwi, our librarian, will share her testimony, and she, with Hombakazi Tshandu and Lilitha Mshweshwe will lead the singing.

So, God closed one door, only to open another few.

Marching to the grave

When I walk along Cambridge Road to Dumisani in the mornings I pass the Amagasela Funeral Parlour. Often the sound of hymn-singing greets me. It tells me a family is attending to the arrangements for burying a loved one. A little further along, outside the rival firm of Ahh Chithi Bunga, stands a lorry. Its green tarpaulin is pulled aside, revealing a large load of plain wooden coffins. At the Kahla & Zantsi Funeral Parlour, a few paces further, all is ready to welcome the new day’s customers.  From Dumisani’s front door, I can see people entering Mtoba Funeral Directors. It is only eight o’clock in the morning. Death in King William’s Town is big business.

We often hear of those who have ‘passed away.’ Yet, despite the fact that almost 11% of all South Africans over 2 years old live with HIV, no one dies of AIDS. There is a conspiracy of silence. Adults expire from TB or pneumonia, or even diabetes; children from lower respiratory or diarrhoeal diseases, but no one dies of AIDS, indeed it is rarely mentioned. Official statistics are less sensitive: out of a population of 46 million, 6 million South Africans live with HIV/AIDS and in 2008 over 350,000 died of it.

World AIDS day was 1st December. South African media carried the usual mix of statistics, warnings, campaigns, moving testimonies of those living with HIV and heart-rending stories of the thousands of AIDS orphans. After years of denial, the government is now rolling out the world’s largest antiretroviral programme, but access to treatment is still low.

HIV/AIDS forces its itself on the attention of the world, but few seem aware of another plague, causing worse devastation. If there is evasion regarding AIDS, the world is in total denial about this other pandemic, a disorder which infects not 11%, but 100% of the world population. Its pitiless mortality rate is also 100%. Unlike HIV/AIDS this curse is centuries old and can also be described by a word of few letters: SIN.  Ralph Venning, who witnessed the devastation of the Great Plague of London in 1665, described it as the Plague of Plagues.

Transmitted from generation to generation, sin is endemic in the human race. Though, literally, infinitely and eternally more deadly than AIDS, there is a fundamental difference. For this pandemic there is a cure. The remedy is simple, easily obtained and free at the point of delivery, though infinitely costly to produce. It is the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son and its effect is immediate and total. That is why people who recognise the seriousness of the infection get so passionate about the remedy, describing it, with great understatement, as Good News. This is good news that no-one can remain silent about.

Although all Christians can and ought offer this treatment, there is also need for people to be trained in what used to be called, ‘the cure of souls.’ That is precisely what Dumisani Theological Institute does. It prepares God’s people to combat the plague of sin by training them to preach and administer the sacraments, to engage in personal conversations and to reach out to the community.

This work, though immensely rewarding, can also be arduous. We are glad to be coming to the end of the college year and look forward to a holiday. The first part of next year promises to be even busier, however, as I will not only be teaching at Dumisani, but also giving undergraduate Church History lectures at the University of Fort Hare on Mondays and Tuesdays.

It is impossible to exaggerate how much we need, and how much we appreciate, your prayers for our health, stamina, mental and spiritual freshness, and for all we need.

As the old year runs out and the new approaches, we thank you for your support and wish you God’s blessing, a very happy Christmas and a joyful New Year.

Two recent events have given me slender encouragement that creedal and confessional Christianity has not been totally overwhelmed by Post-modern relativism. The first is the publishing of  Alister McGrath’s Heresy: A History of Defending the Truth (New York: Harper One, 2009). I have not yet had an opportunity to get a copy in my hand and evaluate the book myself, but the publisher’s blurb is very heartening.

In recent years the distinction between heresy and orthodoxy has come under fire by those eager to reject the formal boundaries of sanctioned beliefs about God, Jesus, and the church. In a timely corrective to this trend, renowned church historian Alister McGrath argues that the categories of heresy and orthodoxy must be preserved.

Remaining faithful to Jesus’s mission and message is still the mandate of the church despite increasingly popular cries that traditional dogma is outdated and restricts individual freedom. Overturning misconceptions throughout the book, McGrath exposes…how many of the heretical beliefs and practices rejected by the church were actually more stringent and oppressive than rival orthodox claims.

In Heresy, McGrath explains why no heresy has ever been eradicated—rival beliefs only go underground and resurface in different forms. McGrath presents a powerful, compassionate, and deeply attractive orthodoxy that will equip the church to meet the challenge from renewed forms of heresy today.

Not so long ago the term ‘heresy’ seemed to be the almost exclusive property of a narrow, sectarian, bombastic, fringe of the evangelical world, or if it were used, it was uttered in hushed tones, as if the very word was somehow inimical to Christian vocabulary.  Well, it is to be hoped that McGrath’s book will equip those who know in their heart of hearts that defending the faith and contending for the truth is of the essence of Christian witness, but perhaps lacked the courage to do it.

The second event came from Friday’s Commission of Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Last year’s General Assembly was marked by the revolutionary decision, by a substantial majority, against the clear teaching of Scripture, to sustain the call and induction of Scott Rennie, an openly homosexual minister, to a congregation and to stifle debate by the imposition of a gagging order, balanced by a moratorium on the appointment of homosexual ministers.  In defiance of the spirit of this decision the Presbytery of Hamilton agreed to nominate an openly gay man to begin training as a minister. This was covered by both the Times and the Herald. Then on Friday, the Commission of Assembly, by a slender majority of 43 to 38, interpreted the moratorium of May 2009 as extending to applications to train for ministry, as well to ordinations and inductions. The application of homosexual students will, therefore, be sisted until May 2011.

Whilst I rejoice that this obstacle has been put in the way of homosexuals entering the ministry, to me, this success is mitigated by the very slenderness of the majority. Obviously no sea change of attitudes has taken place in the Kirk in the intervening months since the Assembly. For the Confessional Christians of Scotland, of all Presbyterian denominations, there is, therefore, everything to pray for and much work to be done before the Assembly of 2011.

With a siren cry for peace coming from the senior court of the Kirk, many may be intimidated from keeping up the struggle. To those who are, we say, that whilst it is undoubtedly true that the apostolic injunction of James 3:17 calls on us to exercise wisdom that is “peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere,”  it retains and affirms a clear moral and spiritual integrity, it is “first pure, then peaceable.”

Dumisani students working in the library

Last month was relatively uneventful, which, after Augusts’ health scare is, I suppose, something for which to be very grateful. Elizabeth has an appointment with her consultant in early October, but we are not expecting anything alarming. During September, I had a number of opportunities to speak about the life of Tiyo Soga (1829-71), the first Xhosa to be ordained to Christian ministry.

The highlight of September was a visit to Potchefstroom, with Dumisani colleagues, Deon and Shelley Lombard, for Pantheol, an annual gathering of theological colleges which have links with the North-West University. The event was helpful, if somewhat dull, with our time filled by descriptions of new course structures, quality assurance procedures and the introduction of a web-based aid to teaching and administration. Much of the work of God, however, viewed from a human perspective, seems dull, but seen in the light of eternity may be highly significant and ordinariness ought not mask the tremendous privilege of preparing a new generation of Christian leaders for the Church in Southern Africa.

For Elizabeth and me the highlight of Pantheol was a paper on John Calvin and Human Dignity by Koos Vorster (Professor of Dogmatics and Ecclesiology). Koos reminded us that when he was a student in the 1960s his professors, supporting the doctrine of apartheid, denied that the concept of human dignity could be found in Scripture and attributed it to humanism.  Drawing on Calvin’s affirmation of humanity created in the image of God and his doctrine of natural justice, Prof. Vorster eloquently exposed the intellectual poverty and immorality of racism.

Of course, outside apartheid South Africa, rarely has it been doubted that Christianity teaches, supports and promotes the concept of human dignity, the essential unity of the human race and the necessity to be our brother’s keepers. Scotland’s Christian leaders recognised this as early as the Reformation when they sought to establish a nation under God, with universal education, a sound legal system, a democratic church government and, ultimately, a deep commitment to philanthropic missionary work.

Next on the programme, I presented the current work of Dumisani in this our thirtieth anniversary year. In doing so I made reference to the wonderful work of the Lovedale Missionary Institute. Lovedale was founded in 1841 by the Glasgow Missionary Society. It continued under the Free Church of Scotland, then the United Free Church of Scotland and finally the Church of Scotland.  For over a hundred years this multi-racial educational institution produced a steady stream of black intellectuals, ministers, poets, hymn-writers, journalists and educators, until its work was sabotaged by the 1953 Bantu Education Act.

Today, South African  theological colleges such as Dumisani, have a fresh opportunity to train Christian leaders for service in a nation which guarantees equal rights under the law, but which is beset with increasing secularism. If present opportunities are to be seized Dumisani needs well-trained teaching and ancillary staff, adequate buildings, sophisticated computer facilities and a good library. In fact we need what any UK based theological college would take for granted. Such people and facilities are not easily found nor do they come cheaply. If the vision of thirty years ago is to become a reality Dumisani depends on the prayers and generosity of our international friends and supporters.

Thank you for helping us.

University of Fort Hare: Centre of Theology & Religion

After a mammogram indicating a suspect patch, Elizabeth recently saw a local consultant. Thankfully the news was good; there is no urgent need of surgery and probably no need at all.  There is no sign of anything sinister but the merest hint of an irregularity that needs to be watched. Elizabeth is to see the consultant again in three months after a further scan. A Christian man himself, not only did he waive his fee, but invited Elizabeth to see him at any time if she has any concerns. We are very, very grateful for the support and prayers of all who shared with us the uncertainties of the last weeks.

When not away, we are now  very happily worshiping  with the Free Church of Southern Africa congregation in the Club View area of King William’s Town.  We love the fusion of African warmth and vibrancy, evangelical commitment and, as in the Scottish church of John Knox’s day, the use of the Lord’s Prayer, Apostle’s Creed and Doxology.

Enjoying lunch

Elizabeth has started a Sunday School; the first week there were eight children, then fifteen, last Sunday and today over twenty. Some children coming from nearby  houses will hopefully help us contact their parents.

With funds from the Greyfriars-Stratherrick Sunday School and Mother and Toddler group we have bought cheerfully coloured plastic children’s chairs and tables. All but the pre-school children are able to follow simple English and some of the older girls translate the story for the youngest.

The adult congregation is growing steadily; attendances can be unpredictable and we have yet to achieve the number which hides a few absences, but it is all very encouraging and we have every reason to praise God.

Today (16 August)  we were joined by our sister congregations in the King William’s Town district. Our district minister, Umfundisi (Rev) W. Tshoni preached and our visitors brought generous contributions for our building fund. Nine years ago the municipality gave us the site, but the economics of building are challenging and the work is not yet complete. If you felt inclined to contribute your donations would be very welcome.

Starting in January, I will being teaching some Church History classes at the University of Fort Hare, taking first and second year undergraduate students for three lectures each week. The course emphasises  African and South African Church History and ties in with my research into the first Scottish missionaries. UFH is ta result of the work of the educational work of Free Church of Scotland at the nearby Lovedale Missionary Institute. Lovedale’s racially integrated educational policy was deliberatly  undermined and finally destroyed by the racist policies of the South African Nationalist party and especially by the passing of the execrable Bantu Educational Act (1953).  So it will be good for the Free Church to once more have even a minor role in helping the teaching of theology in this historic and strategic university.

Work at Dumisani is both demanding and very satisfying. Elizabeth is involved with students not just by cooking for them but at a deeper personal level too. Under the surface, belying their cheery smiles, so many face deep difficulties and struggles.  One student with whom Elizabeth has struck up a good friendship has been going through a very tough time. We found her recent Facebook message to us both humorous and moving. After I had commented on a good but exhausting day,  she wrote (I hope you can understand the SMS text style):

“u dserve a rest. we r grateful for da information and teachings u gve 2 us. preparing us 2 b genuine equipped leaderz. my mum Elizabeth is a gud gud gud wife I knw.  shel prepare a warm soup  4 u 2 help ur mind relax. I miss chatin 2 her, I can easily relate and cmfrtably share ol ma troublz and chalengez. gudnyt.”

Unda Awka had been slipping in and out of consciousness through lack of food prior to the arrival of aid.

Over the past decades we have all seen the graphic and harrowing pictures of starving people used to alert us to their needs. They rightly tug at our heart strings and we spontaneously react by sending a donation. Not to do so would be unthinkable.

Here in South Africa, as in other parts of the world, we daily see a form of deprivation that cannot be photographed. How can you take a picture of a starving soul? How do you convey on a video the suffering of a people dying from spiritual hunger? But this invisible famine is real. It is what Amos 8.11 spoke of, “a famine…not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”

Recently Dumisani was contacted by John Piper’s Desiring God, International Outreach, with a view to learning more of the work we are doing and enquiring how they might be of help to us. My eye was caught by a heading on one of their leaflets announcing Theological Famine Relief for the Global Church. I thought, this is exactly what Dumisani is engaged in. Not just going out into the villages and local townships to preach the gospel, though we certainly do that, but by teaching and training God’s great famine relief agents, the ministers of his Word.

The problem with a spiritual famine is that not all the starving feel hungry. Spiritual starvation often creates apathy rather than desire. But where God’s Spirit is at work people do sense their need. Deon Lombard, who teaches Old Testament, was invited last Sunday to preach in Xhosa at a Zionist congregation in a location not far away. Zionists believe the gospel but mix it up with aspects of African traditional religion, including sacrifice and the ancestor cult. But God is at work and Deon found a people who had come to see that salvation was through Jesus alone, and they desperately wanted to know more of God’s Word. Another Dumisani associate works fulltime among Zionists and reports an amazing openness to Scripture. Sometimes we have students from this background who are keen to get to grips with Scripture in order to pass it on to their people. It is not only Zionists who are hungry for the Word; the same cry comes from evangelical churches, mainstream denominations and marginally Christian groups.

The challenge for Dumisani is to train those who can serve up Christ-centred, nourishing, spiritual food because Jesus assures us that “whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”  Dumisani doesn’t run courses on anything fancy, everything is geared to feed the spiritually hungry. The problem is we are limited in what we can do by the resources available to us.

Nothing is more distressing than to hear of a mother who wants to feed her family but has nothing in the cupboard. We are not quite like that but at times feel we are getting close. And that is where you can help.

We recently launched our 30th Anniversary Challenge. It is comprised of two parts, covering what accountants would call capital and revenue expenditure.

Firstly, we are asking for help to raise money to build a purpose designed theological college. Does that sound expensive? Well, it’s not. It will cost little over R4 million, at today’s exchange rate,about £380,000 or $500,000. Here in South Africa you get great value for your money and it really makes sense to invest in God’s kingdom; it is certainly safer than banks and shares.

Secondly, we want to create a stream of regular funding from which we can pay recurring and ongoing expenses, such as salaries and the general running costs of Dumisani. You might like to think about helping with this by setting up even small regular payments.

Larger sums may be deposited directly into Dumisani’s bank account (details below). Please bear in mind that for every transaction paid direct into our bank account the bank charges Dumisani R100 (almost £10).

Smaller sums and regular gifts in favour of Dumisani are best channelled through the International Missions Board of the Free Church of Scotland, who can advise on direct debit payments in favour of Dumisani.

Free Church International Board

Mr Calum Ferguson, International Missions Board, Free Church of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH1 6LS

Dumisani’s Bank details

First National Bank, Corner of Cathcart and Maclean Street, King Williams Town, 5601, South Africa

Account Number: 61264001672 - Branch Code: 210519 - Swift Number: FIRNZAJJ