JAN 1 4197%

JJanuary, 1975

Dear Friends in Christ, - - — - -

Standing in the Eshowe Post Office, I slowly turned the blue air-letter over in my hands,deeply puzzled. The address was correct, but was written in MY OWN HANDWRITING! Whyshould t v/rite a letter to ourselves? Broken memories of the past month in Zambia flickedthrough my mind like fleeting shafts of sunlight on an overcast day.

There we were, 50 miles outside Livingstone, Sandy and I, racing through the bush on aborrowed Honda. We had left Michelle and Johnny behind a few miles to play with littleKrista Avery in her bush home. We had just crossed the wide, dry, sandy Ngwezi Riverbedand climbed up the steep, rutty embankment on the other side. The so-called "path"disappeared eventually. The long, sharp acakia thorns penetrated the legs of my bluejeans. We approached the one village we were searching for. Our eyes searched the bushahead. We knew this area by heart. Had it really been two years since we'd traveledthis same road?

yesterday.In the bush, time seems to stand still. It was as though it were only

Then came the shock. Libonda's Village was nowhere to be seen. It had mysteriously disappeared. We continued along slowly. Then we breathed a sigh of relief. There was thevillage. It had been MOVED and completely j^EBUIlT. All except the Church House. It wasexactlv as we'd left It two years before.

We sought out the headman's hut - a large, rectangular one compared to the other smallround ones. Libonda was so excited to see ^s, he dropped his glasses and they broke!After many handshakes with the village women, we stepped inside Libonda's windov^/less hutand sat down on proper straight-back chairs. Our eyes slowly adjusted to the darkInterior. Two walls were covered with flannelgraph and large color Bible pictures. Aclothesline with dozens of clothes laid over It divided the room in two, with a bed onthe other side. From the rickety, dirty table and cupboard, Libonda produced teacups,saucers, and spoons, blew off the dust and cleaned them with his hands. I followedElizabeth, his wife, outside as she built a fire to heat the water. She'd hauled itfrom the new village well, which was still being dug. Today, the digger had struck bedrock. We could hear the "ping, ping, ping" as his pick struck solid rock. What heneeds is a stick of dynamite, I thought. The year before, the rains were late coming,the old V7ell had dried up, and the village women had walked many miles to draw water fromthe Ngwezi River.

Our "tea" was served. It was the right color all right, but there was no tea in it, onlysugar. We sipped It leisurely with one hand while fighting a losing battle with the largebiting horseflies on our legs and face with the other hand. Libonda was full of news...how Likabangua's son had been riding his bicycle at night, stopped to fix his chain, andwas bitten by a snake. He died, and so on. Libonda handed Sandy a small brown envelopewith several Kwacha inside. Sandy started to protest, until Libonda explained that thismoney was for the sale of some Tonga hymnals. Why, Sandy had completely forgotten!Libonda could easily have kept the money for himself; we'd never have known the differenceBut he was too honest and loved God too much even to tell one small lie.

Here and there I noticed small evidences of the Blble-sewIng class I'd once held in thisvillage before Johnny was born. The embroidered communion cloths, some patchwork quiltson the ground drying in the sun, and yes, even some bread baking on top of the fire Insidethe heavy black pots, just as they'd been taught. The summer storm clouds were gatheringoverhead, and v;e could smell the rain coming. We were eager to ride over to some othervillages to pay our respects before the rain came. We promised to be back on Sunday forthe worship services. Before leaving, I quickly took some blue air-letter forms out of mypurse, wrote down our address on them, and asked Libonda to write. He promised he would,and he did.

Later that week, after we'd returned to Civing'stone, Libonda came to stay with us for a fewdays. The highlight of his visit was our invitation to "tea" at our missionary friends,the Berryhills. They lived some 10 miles from town in a village with their three childrenin a Tonga-style house with Western touches. Each room was a separate "house," mud-plastered and whitewashed with cement floors and thatch roofs. The Christians in thisvillage had also built a church house much the same as in Llbonda's Village. It was nearlycompleted; the wooden poles for supporting the corragated metal roof were still soaking.Libonda said later how much he enjoyed speaking with that Headman and to learn how hischurch members had tithed to build It.

That evening, we took Libonda out to eat at a restaurant for the second time in his LIFE!On the way, our land rover narrowly missed hitting a hippo trotting across the road atnight. The next day began our journey home. Mr. Belcher, a farmer friend, drove a total of200 miles round trip in order to take us to the Botswana border. He acted as though It werenothing. At the border, we hauled our suitcases on the ferry to cros.s the Zambezi River toKazungula on the Botswana side. V/e watched for armed soldiers along the river bank, as thisborder was a real tension ^pot with gun fire breaking out every week or so. Then we got aride to the Rhodeslan border post where we again cleared customs and immigration. You dothis every time you leave or enter a country. Going home, we did it 6 times. Our "taxi"was k hours late picking us up, and we barely caught our train in Victoria Falls in time.Because we'd missed breakfast and lunch, we were ready to eat our paper napkins when dinnerwas served in the dining car.

We changed trains 4 times, and several days later arrived at the tiny station of Gingingluvu,Zululand, South Africa, where a friend, Mr. Wood, met us. As much as Johnny and Michelleenjoyed hanging their heads out the coach windows, even they were "cured" of train ridesfor a llfetimel We collected Mike, Richard, and Wayne from the mission hostel where they'dbeen staying during our absence. The seven of us waking up next morning In our trailer,it was pretty confusing trying to locate all the school uniforms, socks, shoes, etc. intime from all the piles of suitcases. And the boys had a thousand questions. Had we soldour house? (NO) How was Patches, our old cat? How was Crlstina's pet deiker, Bambi?How was Libonda and his village??? And we patiently tried to answer all their questionsabout our trip to Zambia

As these memories flicked through my mind, I tore open that precious blue air letter in thePost Office, now understand Ing who It was from and why it was in my own handwritting. Itread, "Dear Mr. Sandy, 1 and my wife are very glad that you paid us a visit few days agowith your wife. I hope you had a safe journey-back to Zululand where you are staying atthe moment. Please inform me when you will come here so that I may meet you. . Bring me awristwatch when you come. Besj washesfamLly.-frjara Mr. S-_Mrs. N. Liborsda-,—Livingstone, Zambia."

And we send our best wishes to you at this begmnlng of a new year that God will bless andkeep you during the coming year.

Happy New Yearl

S inclai r Family

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH MON PROFIT ORG.6750 North 7th Avenue U. S. PostagePhoenix, Arizona 85OI3 PAID

Phoenix, ArizonaPermi t No. 674

•AHMIGSrON SERVICES

BOX 177

KE8SPT0N, IN 46049

^ t

April 1975

Dear Friends:

"Can I TOUCH It, Mommy?" asked Johnny for the 12th.time.

No, no, NOl I shouted for the 12th time also. Up came hts hand from the bucket covered withthe sticky ceramic tile adhesive. I decided to forget about this messy business and finishthe ceramic coffee table later and get busy on this newsletter. It's overdue, but necessaryto catch you up on some recent, interesting experiences, all part of "settlin' in" to thisNEW, exciting work in ZululandJ

Sandy left for Zambia on business with hts motor bike and back pack. On his return, we thenrepacked and left on Good Friday to attend an Easter meeting deep in the Northern Zululandbush In the remote area of Ingwavuma. But we'll tell you more about that next letter.

When the heavy rains began last October, it took us three months of living in our trailer atthe Caravan Park to realize we couldn't hold out for a year there, as first planned.Especially convincing were the milk bottles floating away down the street and the water upto our ankles in the tent where the boys slept.

We moved Into this unfurnished house before ChrJ^stmas. and most of December was spent withSandy hauling our crates and boxes 'from storag"e"Th^u7ban, our nearest large city lying about100 miles south of us. It felt,jo GOOD ta^-ae-t-evervthina all TOGETHER again. Especiallyhappy were the children to see some toys again." ~ ^

._^_Th^_bP^use is located where a famous Zulu Chief named Citshwayo had his Kraal. Of course, hel '̂"^ied Tn 188k. The view is breathtaking - the dense forest on two sides and the miles and

miles of rolling sugar cane fields dotted with Zulu huts.

We discovered right away the disadvantage of our house being midway up a steep hill. When itrains, we get up to one inch an hour, with water going in the front door and out the back. Sowe learned to dig trenches around the house. Army.style-. In December, the whole family droveto Zambia and accomplished much regarding our Livingstone house, though the kids did complainabout those cholera shots they had to have to ehtef Zambia

We are within walking distance of the Junior-School where Mike, Richie and Wayne attend.They repeated one term last year of the grade they finished in Phoenix, then in January, theywere all promoted when the new school year began here. They are in 3rd, kth, and 5th grades,or Standard 1, 2 and 3> as it's called here. They've settled in well, considering all thedifferences of uniforms, Afrikaans language study and a* suitcase of homework every nightwhich must be signed by the parents. Mike did a crooked line on a page, and his homeworkwas 6 PAGES OF STRAIGHT LINES. The children must conform to such a degree that even if theBRAD for their lunch is sliced TOO THICK, the other boys tease them. Here, the bread isn'tsliced. We like our sandwiches THICK, American style.

All three boys qualified for the annqaT'Swimmbad. Wayne placed first and Richie second "in their events. Wayne qualified for the Inter-School Gala in which schools from all over Zululand competed. We sure got excited yellingduring his team relay races.

and out of a school of 500, that's not

Michelle began first grade in January - she's now 5 1/2. Her uniform is blue and white, andsometimes BLACK when she spills black shoe polish on it. I learned how to sew her uniformWITHOUT a dress pattern as the store was out of them. Her best friend, Karen, we take homefrom school as her mother has no transportation.

This leaves Johnny, who turned four in January. Though he enjoyed having mother all tohimself mornings, he became lonely and bored, as all the children on the street go to thetown s nursery. In March, Johnny joined them, and he's since made 60 new friends.

The first month or two, we slept on the floor, then gradually, we bought some furniture, andI've been busy sewing curtains and tablecloths. The washer we brought over was finallyhooked up two weeks ago. Until then, I washed by hand with the help of a Zulu girl. First,we had Bernadina, and some things disappeared. Then we had Ignesia, and the tomato plantsand buckets disappeared. Now we have Doris. l_^sjTarjd to ftr^d HONEST help. Everyone hereseems to have one or more servants, as labor Ts so cheap and Zulus so desperate for work.

Jhe metric system continues to confuse us. At the butcher's a while back, I asked for 500KILOgrams of mince (hamburger meat). He nearly fainted.I should have said 500 GRAMS. A big difference.

That's over 1,000 pounds of MEATI

• . -2-

In January, a missing suitcase finally caught up with us, but what a performance to arrangeto get it BACK from Texas where we lost it! It contained our only winter coats (Sandy's andmine).

Jn February, .^andy attended amission meeting in Kimberly, where the.Gordea-Nof^on family werehosts. Much was accomplished, and it was the beginning of great things being done for theLord. Sandy rode his motor bike, which helps save on gas and leaves me with the car at homefor transport. He got caught in several rain storms. He dried his wet clothes by pinningthem to his bike while riding down the road in 20 minutes.

We are the ,Qnly_American family living in Eshowe, though some American missionary childrenboard at the Lutheran hostel. The closest is a Canadian~born woman, Loulne, and we have becomegood friends. Joan and Floyd. Stamm are ou rclosest American missionaries and work with theIndians in Durban. We always look forward to Floyd's visits, especially when he has flown uptwice.

Also, in February, Shadrack Mazaboka and his friends and wife. Elizabeth, visited us in ourhome. He's one of our devoted church leaders. We received a very warm welcome that week endat his church in Quamashi, near Durban, in a school room. They took up their offering bysinging, clapping, and dancing down the aisle one by one, slapping their money down HARD onthe table, often taking CHANGE. Then they could come back a second or third time. Then later,Shadrack held a baby in his arms who was very sick and prayed quietly for her while we allsang. The people gave us a small gift offering afterwards, which came as a surprise to us, asthis was never done before In Zambia.

While living in the trailer, Sandy's "office" was reduced to the size of a shoebox he kepthidden in the corner shelf. Now, he's got an office in town above the theatre building and isgetting more organized every day. We are learning Zulu with the use of tapes and a languagetape recorder with ear phones. We hope to be fluent by the end of the year. Lesson I waspretty discouraging, but it gets better as it goes along (and harder).

It took five months, several trips, and much prayer to receive our Zulu Work Permit. Sincethen, Sandy's been able to go into the^Zulu areas where our^clTuTches^nd people live. Richardand Wayne each had a trip to Mtubatuba where our Zulu church Is centered. It's Mike's turn next

One week, Sandy traveled into the bush to find the home of Mutengwa, a church leader On theway, he picked up a man to help_dJjie.c±JiliiL.—B.y_aad_b^-_Sandy-aea^iri^-tW^-mao--ha4-:fus-t-eott-efi—out of jail after 15 years. Sandy asked what he was in jail for, and the man answered casuallyhe had a fight and killed someboyd....need I tell you Sandy DID Invite him to church and heDID reach Mutengwa's village ALIVE and WELL. Another overnight trip into a remote areaSandy took Mutengwa, and they waded acposs-ff river and walked on foot another two hours'toreach a certain village.

1 am teaching a first and second grade white Bibie Schooi Class and am also heiping in an afternoon children s Bible Story Hour with several other mothers. When it was last my turn I dida puppet show and made a puppet theatre from the large box our appliance came in. It was verysuccessful, except when my arms got tired and the puppets slowly disappeared from view.

Awhile back, a friend wrote us, "...our life isn't quite as exciting as yours..." Well, don'tlet that keep you from writing us! Without television and only one or two articles in the dailypapers about U.S., we get lonely for any news from home., was a year of dramatic upheaval

Ja4=aur_ |̂amiiy_^ We have traveled more, worked harder, preached as much, learned more, mademore decisions than any other time in our lives. Yet we experience the deep satisfaction inknowing we are where God wants us to be.

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH6750 North 7th Avenue

NON PROFIT ORG.

rM . . . .. U. S. PostaqePhoenix, Arizona 85OI3

Phoenix, ArizonaPermit No. 67^

Mr^srori servicesBOX L77

KEMPTON, IN 460499, •

Dear Friends

CHARU^TTE'S CHUPS 3 WS

June 16, 1975

"You must be tall like your dad?" I asked 10 year old Eric as he took another bite of hisbreakfast waffle a few Saturdays ago. Eric was spending the weekend with us and boarded atthe Junior School Hostel with out 40 other boys.

"Ho, he's dead," he answered quite matter of factly.Silence. Then curious Mike piped up, "How'd he die?""Oh, he jumped out of a window," he said without hesitation or shame. Then when this

bit of news was digested, more questions, and Eric proceeded to tell us the why and how of itwith remarkable acceptance for a boy that age.

Isn't it amazing what one little innocent question will bring to light? Yet, we weren'tsurprised, as many of the boys boarding at the Hostel were from similar backgrounds or brokenhomes. We enjoyed spoiling Eric that weekend, and he enjoyed being around our active, noisy,normal bunch. It also made me more thankful than ever that our.children were not in a boarding school, as many missionary friends are forced to do.

The family accompanies Sandy during holidays and some weekends into the bush, but due toschool, it's not always possible. However, Good Friday found us traveling up the highway atthe break of dawn, headed toward Ingwavuma District in Northern Zululand. After a long, dustytrip, we arrived at the Mosvold Missions Hospital late that afternoon. The Hospital issurrounded by a high security fence and gates We had found out about its existence fromBrother Floyd Stamm, our Durban co-worker, who had been before and drawn a make-shift map forus to find our way. We had planned to camp in the hospital grounds during the Easter meetings.By law, we're not allowed to camp just anywhere in the bush as we could do in Zambia. Themeetings would be a few hours drive from the mission and was centrally located.

The grounds were like a Tiny America - there was nothing that mission didn't have! Al,one of the doctors, and his wife, Mary, invited us to pitch our tent in their backyard.Michelle took to their little girl, Sherlene, right away, and the boys enjoyed playing withall the other American children, something we miss living in Eshowe, being the only Americanfamily living there. The children found a tree house and even rode a pet donkey.

Bob and Dorothy, Hospital Administrators, asked us to supper that evening. It takes alot of courage, I think, to invite 7 guests to supper on the spur of the moment, and they hadtwo boys of their own. We surely enjqyed their fellowship.

It took all of Saturday to hunt for that church where the meeting was to be and to findthe church leader who was to preside over it. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.Also, the lack of modern communication makes detailed planning for meetings difficult, i-f notimpossible. Early Sunday, all the missionaries from Mosvold Mission, including ourselves,gathered out on the runway for a beautiful "Sunrise Service" and sang the old, familiarAmerican hymns we love so well and heard the pharmacist tell the Resurrection Story. Then,after a quick bowl of instant Pro Nutro back at the tent, we were on our way.

We drove along windy, bumpy roads for several hours, then left the road by a small dam,and drove to the spot where the guide would meet our car. His name was John, and he showedus the rest of the way to the little church at Ekukanyeni - over about 7 hills and throughabout 8 valleys, on foot. Johnny and Michelle took turns on our shoulders when their feettired.

Shadrack Mazaboka, the minister holding the meeting, met us while Elizabeth, his wife,introduced me around. The "greetings" look at least an hour before we crowded into the smallrectangular mud-wood-thatched church. With nearly 100 people, we were elbow to elbow andknee to knee as we all sat down on the grass mats while the men sat on chairs Cp^^ivileged)at the front with Sandy. We worshipped, listened, and sang for hours - clapping and swayingis how the Zulu people actively show their love for their Lord.

Before the service, a woman had given us a live chicken. I didn't know what to do with"her" until church was over, so tied "her" to a tree by one leg. After church, the kids hadworked up quite an appetite until they took one look in the pot at what was on the menu -mealie rice, pumpkin and hairy boiled goat. They ate the first two, but the latter....well,we tried it, but have you ever eaten shoe leather? Still, in thinking back over ourexperiences in Zambia, we'd never been so honored with a meal prepared for us before likethis.

After "dinner," we began the long walk back over the hills to the car. We had broughta water bottle along, which we used often. Several other people climbed into our car, alsoneeding a ride. On the way back to the mission, we had the most spectacular view. We weretraveling along the top of the mountain ridge, which forms the Swaziland border, and couldlook down into the valley on the other side.

Back at the camp, the children had a delayed Easter egg hunt, much to their delight.And Bob took us on a grand tour of the 150 bed hospital. But only I got a peek at a deadZulu man in cold storage awaiting autopsy He had been shot in the head that day in a commontribal clash with a Swazi. Doctors sure must have strong stomachs 1 We took the tent downEaster Monday to begin our journey home. All in all, it was a glorious experience meetingGod's people in the remote church at Ekukanyeni and showed us the wonderful things God isdoing among His people there. . .

Towards the end of April, we were invited to attend our first Zulu wedding--as "guests."I asked around to find out what to buy the bride, and the standard re^y^was "embroidered

pillow cases-;" which is what we settled on. It was a hectic week getting prepared, as Sandyhad only just returned from Zambia, and Mike had his birthday on Friday. We'd taken a carload of boys (10 invitations went out and 23 showed upl) to the park for a "braii" (theirword for "Barbecue") and some good ole American baseball (most played for the first time).

Anyway, early Saturday morning we set out towing the trailer with all the kids, plus ournewly acquired kitty. Tiny Time, Wayne's hamster and Mike's guinea pig. Richie's boy friendpromised to feed his new pup, Athena, while we werei.gsq^v We reached Ubombo District innorthern Zululand late that' day. We had stopped alohg^ the way to pick up Mr. and Mrs.Mutengwa. We parked the trailer in the middle of Mtubatuba about noon time and climbed inthe back for lunch. There had been a lot of food left from Mike's party, so there was nocooking.

That night, we camped at the False Bay Caravan Park. A .Zulu man, member of the weddingparty, slept in the car, and next morning, Sunday, we started out with our friend pointingthe way. It took us an hour just to drive the laih: 10 miles, which gives you an idea howrough the dirt roads were. When we arrived, Mrs. Mutengway introduced us. We were a littlebrave and tried out some Zulu. The trouble was, they began rattling off in fluent Zulu,assuming we could understand EVERYTHING.

About 150 Zulu people packed into a huge tent, which had been erected specially for theoccasion. Being guests, we were privileged to sit on benches at the front of the tent,facing the audience who were sitting on the ground. There was a table in front of us with aproper wedding cake on it - how it was transported to that remote spot undamaged is a miracle.There was also a small artificial Christmas tree on the table and hundreds of pieces ofwrapped hard candy. It was all the children could do to sit there perfectly still for 4hours in a hot tent looking at that CANDYl In the end, they were rewarded for their patience.

The ceremony lasted 4 hours. Everyone had something to say - and I mean EVERYONE.Sandy preached a message, and even I was called on to say something, which is unusual. Onespeech, for example, congratulated the bride on not having any babies BEFORE her wedding.It's common tohave one or more to make sure the woman isn't barren. However, this bride andgroom were Christians, and that made all the difference.

The bride came dancing down the aisle very slowly, doing a mini-step, while we sang andclapped. She was dressed in a beautiful long white gown, with her bridesmaid wearing a coralcolored dress and two little flower girls wearing (wrinkled) white satin dresses. They allsat down on the only other bench in the tent reserved for the wedding party. The bridesmaidsat there nervously "dusting" imaginary specks of dust off the bride's dress and FACE withher hanky CONSTANTLY, while the bride sat perfectly st'ill, not batting an eyelash.

After the ceremony, we were shewn to the new bride's Zulu home where the table had beenlaid for a delicious hot meal of boiled beejf and chicken with curried sauce and rice. THISmeat was TENDER, and we ate our fill happily. Meanwhile, the wedding party all hooked armstogether and proceeded to walk-sing-dance their way around the kraal in true Zulu weddingcelebration fashion. We left that afternoon about 4:00 p.m. in order to reach Eshowe by 10:00that night. The return trip went well, though we were crowded with extra passengers - eventhe pets survived.

We arrived home by 10:00 p.m., and at midnight, after the children were asleep, I droveSandy over :tGr.:..Gingingluvu to catch the 1:00 a.m. train for Durban and returned home by 2:00a.m. He was to meet Floyd Stamm in Durban, and together, they would drive to attend a missionmeeting, but that's ANOTHER STORY.

We hope and pray this finds you enjoying warmer weather. We're going, into winter here.Sounds strange, doesn't it?

Love in the Lord,Your Missionaries,

FIRST CHRISTIAN QIURCH ' " ^ ,

6750 North 7th Avenue '-= • vPhoenix,. Arizona' ^

^ ^ ^ •• • •• •• • • .

' : . MISSION-SER^^CES '-'^ - '•' . •• BOX .,4. '-'/M ' ' -

JUN^3 1975

NGN PROFIT ORG.

U, S, PostagePAID

Phoenix, ArizonaPermit No, 674

SANDY'S SAYINGS

Dear Friends and Brethren, August 4, 1975We greet you again in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, This has been a hectic time

these past two months, so let me catch you up on the news.First of all, the family continues to enjoy good health with one exception and that is of

Richard who has had a week off school with tick bite fever. Other than feeling terrible andrunning a high fever, he seems to be alright and has weathered the worst of it at the time ofwriting.

During the second week of June, we traveled to Graaf Reinet in the Cape Province for"Minister's Week" when about half of the African ministers with the South African Church ofChrist mission gather for four days of instruction and fellowship. It was attended by almostall of the missionaries working in South Africa at present including: Floyd Stamm, GordonNelson, Alvin Nicholson, Lynn Stanley, Michael Stanley, A1 Zimmerman, Brian Guy and myself.Floyd Stamm and I travelled together and .three of our Zulu leaders also attended. Brian Guywas the main speaker for this year. During the week, I outlined our plans for a comprehensive survey of all our Churches of Christ in South Africa and gave each of the men presentenough of the survey forms to cover the churches they serve. The survey is the first of itskind with our churches here and will cast some very much needed light on the "as is" situationin South Africa, We are asking for a record of the names of each member and a few questionsabout them that will enable us, when they are completed and returned, to gain the followinginsights: 1) An age curve; 2) Marital statistics; 3) Educational levels of the people;Tliis will enable better lesson writing. 4) Average wage earned by members of the church ofChrist which will enable us to better determine the amount of aid needed for church buildingsand Other projects and whether or not a certain congregation can afford it or not. 5)and6)Another two questions will determine how long each member has been a Christian (i.e, memberof the Church of Christ and 7) Whether or not his or her parents were members to ascertainthe source of the members, from within the church family or from outside. 8)Whether or notthe member's spouse is a member of the church will statistically graph the complete andincomplete family units for us, and finally, 9) by asking what language they speak in theirhome will determine the "heart" language of the membership which will aid in language study,selectionand lessons to be in what languages and in what proportion.

We may be in for some surprises, we may be disappointed, but we may be able to find outjust exactly what the total membership of the Churches of Christ in South Africa is as weare asking for actual names and not merely numbers that are so easy to guess at and add tofor better appearances. Whatever the case.is, it is going to take a long time to collectand compile and we certainly need the cooperati^on of all. We already have the cooperationof all the missionaries, but we may yet have to convince some of the Africans of the necessity of accurately doing this survey. As of now, the returns are beginning to come in slowly.Here in Zululand (our forms are yellow to distinguish from the rest of South Africa, for myown research and benefit), we have the cooperation of all our leaders already.

This month marks two anniversaries for us; it marks Jjie ben^^^ear_we have been missionaries in Africa with the Zambia work at first and now Zululand "in"South Africa. It alsomarks (on August 31st) the end of our first year in South Africa when our ship tied up inPort Elizabeth for the first time after crossing the Atlantic ocean. We have made a lot ofprogress during this year in getting settled and getting around Zululand and finding out thescope of our new work. One measure of our progress is the meeting held just this past weekend, August 2-3 when over 100 persons, including virtually all the leadership of our churchhere in Zululand gathered at the village of Zacharia Lhumalo near Nongoma in central Zululandto select a committee of men who will act as the representative leadership for the Zuluchurches. The churches were torn with strife and division for so long, now with men agreeingto work together, we declare that God has indeed blessed us with this new found unity andfellowship amoung the leaders.

Those of you who have been following our problems in trying to depart from Zambia finally,will be glad to hear that we have sold our house, the sale to be completed August 15th andapplication has been made to the government of Zambia to export the proceeds to enable us tosettle in Zululand and buy rather than continue to pay high rents in order to live here. Wethank God for His provision. With this completion, we can finally get permission to bringdown our personal effects still stored there. Up until now, living with no furniture andborrowed beds, it has been like camping inside the house 1

God bless. All our love.

November 1975

News of Sandy and Charlotte Sinclair ^ ^Missionaries in Zululand, South Africa '.rv,

Dear Friends and Brethren:

It's springtime in Zululand (southern hemisphere) and the hills are bright and green withthe recent heavy rains. We have hardly had a dry day for the past three weeks, but todayis nice and sunny.

The past several months have been extremely busy ones for the Sinclairs and many changeshave taken place around our house.

all, we hayq_mqveg!^__^anothe ,hojJse^^...Just across town and for once we find our-'I^TWsTh a more permanent Situafioh. "The house we were in was nice, but the lot it wason left much to be desired, especially in Eshowe's rainy climate, and we were almostwashed down the hill on more than one occasion. AM we needed was another 4" overnightrainfall and we'd be gone. We now have an" old "a ieve ITot "withthe potential of a good garden where we can raiseour own vegetables and fruit. The houseresembles a typical midwestern farm house which is quite unusual for here, even doublestory houses are rare, but we are pleased, l_t ,was a ,baroa in. and the sale of our ZambianJiouse, when we do get that finalized and wade through the red tape, "wTTPTalce '̂cFre of

The only problem is that It can take as long as8-fC)' years'to get the funds""exported from Zambia.

here are making good progress. They were in such a disorganized state lastthat the formation of a Zululand Church of Christ Committee was a real blessing, it

consists of twelve active African church leaders from Zululand and Swaziland with whom Iwork closely. This has extended our work over the churches from as far south as Umlazi,south of Durban to Swaziland, north of Zululand, a distance of about 300 miles long andfrom the Indian ocean inland to Nongoma district, a distance of about 100 miles wide.

The Annual Conference of the South African Church of Christ Mission was held in Klerksdorp,about 450 miles from Eshowe, from September 9-14. Both Charlotte and I were able to attendwhen we found good friends with whom we could leave the children. The three older boys,Michael, Richard and Wayne, spent the week on a Sugar cane farm, Michelle was in town, andwe took little Johnny. We camped In our'pup tent In a small park about 6 miles from town,with nearly_al| the other missionaries In South Africa camping too. We enjoyed thefellowship of the Nelsons, Mills, Lynne and Michael Stanleys, Nicholsons, Smaages, Guys,Landlses, as well as about 300 African brethren from all over South Africa.

At the conference I was able to further explain our current survey of all the churches inSouth Africa and show the charts and graphs taken from samples of the returns returned sofar. The men were impressed, and we were all in for surprises from some of the factsuncovered. We expect to complete the tabulations when about 7/8ths of the returns comeback adequately filled In. I will cover this later.

The leadership training sessions are still in their beginning stages, but we have completedone book of "Ukuxoxa NonkuIunkuIu" "Talking with God" by Fred Holland (4 students) and"Bheka Itestamente Elisha" (N. T. Survey) with 5 students so far. Opportunities to teachare overwhelming; we are only limited by time and distance. We are in the process ofdesigning a TEE concept program that will adequately educate a ministry. One of theresults of the survey returns so far has been to show us that a full 50^ of the men In ourchurches are functionally illiterate, never having been to school at all In their lives.Among other things, this has shown us that many of our lessons are way over the heads ofmost of the members. We are making adjustments to these facts though, but we still aresearching for some acceptable minimum standards for church leadership.

As none of our Zululand churches meet In permanent church buildings, 1 signed up for abrick-laying course recently offered by the South African Brick Association. It consistsof a 10 week course designed for the non-professional. After my third week, I can say Ibuilt an acceptable brick wall during class last week*. When we acquire urban church sites,local codes require them to be built of brick, and this should help me at least know whatI am doing.

We have become aware of more and more lost mail these days. If you have written us recentlyand not gotten a reply, it is not because we don't write. Several letters I have writtenhave not been received, and we have been informed of letters sent to us we did not receive.Please bear with us as this is beyond our control. Please write again. Must close fornow. God bless.

Sandy and Charlotte

viiAI ^

Dear Bill,

Greetings again from Zululand, and we trust the Lord continues to blessyou at this special season when we remember the birth of His Son.

V/e are all fine, but continue to be rather busy. At this time of theyear here in the Southern Hemisphere it is of course summertime andalso the end of the school year. The schools ended for the year onDecember 5th and all of our school going kids, the four, completedtheir years well and will be advanced to the next grade in January,When schools start in January Michael will be in Standard 4, Richard inStandard 3, and Wayne in Standard 2, (To translate into US grades justadd two.) \'fhile Michelle will be in class 2 (same as grade two) The"standards" start after the first two grades, ie grade 3 is "standard"one. At the end of the school year weeks were filled with final examsand all the other familiar end-of-the-school-year activities.

V/e are enjoying our "new" house immensely, but having to have workersdaily to clear the literally tons of undergrowth around the house. Wewill complete the painting at the end of this week, and it looks nicein a fresh coat of white with "Forest green" trim. We are employingtwo little "umfaans" (young Zulu boys) to cut the tree branches etcinto 9" long lengths of firewood for our stove that heats the house'shot water. Soon we will have a year or more's supply.

This is also the favorite time of the year for the Zulu Christians tohave many of their meetings, and every week-end for the past month,and for the rest of December and into January we will be having two-three day meetings, A recent meeting far to the north in Zululandat Manaba we recorded ten baptisms. We had an excellent committeemeeting at KwaMdolomba on October 25 and 26 which I mentioned in mylast letter to you, although many problems were cropping up, some ofthem, concerning personalities in positions of leadership in Zululand,will not be easy to solve, and we need your prayers.

The most signifigant meeting that has taken place recently was heldlast Saturday and Sunday at Masundwini between ourselves and theindependent African church under Absolom Mdalose that I mentioned inmy last letter. We were favorably impressed with them, and althoughMdalose himself could not come from Durban as he had^to work that weekend, Floyd Stamm came up and brought four of his Indian leaders fromhis work in Chatsworth. We all had an opportunity to preach, andFloyd and the Indian brethren left for Durban at almost 11:00 pm. Themeetings continued all night, and in the morning we had a businessmeeting with our leadership who attended, and theirs, in which a frankquestion and answer period of discussion was exchanged. We continuedpreaching at 9:00 am and church went on until 2:30 pm after which we wereserved the goat they had killed for the occasion, I remembered itbleating outside the door the night before!

We will have a follow up meeting on December 20 + 21, and other meetingsslated for December include one at Maputa, the farthest north of any ofour churches in Zululand, it is almost in Mocambique, and followed byone at Kwa Mashu in Durban, 400 miles to the south of Maputa.

I finished my 12 week bricklaying course December 1st and passed withflying colors, Charlotte began her women's meetings in November. Shewill go to three churches twice a month for all of Sunday afternoon.

Must close for now, drop us a line, God bless.

ZULULAND CHRISTIAN MISSIONA.O. {3ANDY) SINCLAIRP.O.BOX 111, ESHOWE

2UJ,Ul.AHD, SeiSt R.S.A.

&„Charlotte