St. Paul's Newsletter Page Two

Are you interested?

Seeking individuals who are serious about their faith, have a love for God, a desire to serve Christ, believes the Bible is the Word of God, and is open to be used by God.

Is this you?

If it is, Pray for God’s guidance. If, after you have prayed, you feel God is calling you to be an elder or deacon phone Pastor Rich. 828-0020

Are extended to the family of
Mae Warnsdorfer
who died July 15^th

and to the family of
Gert Bailey
who died July 18th.

Hello, all. July 3, 2001

Just checking in and letting you know what’s been going on. Both of the pastors are on vacation, so I have the helm this week. Of course, we have a wonderful staff here, so I don’t have to do much besides prepare sermons, visit sick folks, and counsel with whomever needs to talk to someone.

I stayed the past two nights with a family that wanted me to experience ordinary living. It was enjoyable, but their house is cold!! There is no central heat here, so unless you have room heaters, your house is cold. It doesn’t seem to bother them, but I couldn’t stand it and had to have a heater in my room last night. Yesterday we went to a cultural center that shows you how the various tribes came to migrate to the places where they are now located and we walked through villages to see how the people live and what they eat. They also performed tribal dances. It was fantastic! They had some friends to dinner last night to meet me and we had the most wonderful talk about the Holy Spirit and the work of the Spirit.

This afternoon I’m going to a museum and to see some other sites I haven’t yet seen. I spent the morning writing the devotion for tomorrow’s radio broadcast. This will be my fourth broadcast since I’ve been here and I will do my last one next week.

I preached the evening service on Sunday and will preach all three this Sunday. So I will be writing the rest of the week!

Last week I went to Soweto to experience township living. I met my Zimbabwe friend’s uncle. He lives there. It was such a contrast between the “zones” of the township. There was great wealth and great poverty side by side. I was told that there are six million Blacks in Soweto alone! It is quite vast and so different from the city proper.

I have bet a Black evangelist couple that have befriended me. They came here as missionaries and decided to stay. They have been here for seven years…originally from Jamaica by way of London. I have to say I have met some fascinating folks and God has given me the opportunity to speak with a lot of people in close, personal settings, who have a lot of questions on faith and spiritual power. I believe God is getting ready to do something new in this church and has sent me here to help start the picking. It’s very exciting.

I also visited Sun City. It is the Las Vegas of South Africa, but there’s only one casino. It was a little disappointing after all the hype because we drove all the way there (two hours) and could not get into the Palace (the hotel). You are not allowed in unless you are staying there, so I could not see it, except a bit from the outside. I saw the inside in a magazine article, which is why I wanted to go there. Big disappointment.

Next week I will be visiting two of my Princeton colleagues in Capetown. That will be my last adventure before heading off to Zimbabwe. I will leave here on July 22. I will be back home on August 3.

Blessings and Love,
Rhonda

Tuesday, July 17
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Subject: Out of Africa

Sawubona!!! (That’s “greetings” in Zulu)

Since I wrote to you, it has been a busy time here at St. Columba’s. Both pastors were away on vacation and I was left to carry on. Fortunately, no one died while they were gone, so I didn’t have to conduct a funeral. Besides preaching, I mostly had to visit the sick and make the monthly communion visits to the retirement villages.

The church delivers care packages each month to various tenants in subsidized housing throughout the city. I went on one of the deliveries last month. It was my first time meeting poor Whites. During apartheid they did not have a poor White class, I’m told. But since its fall, the restructuring of the society has created this class of people. I’m not sure how that happened, except that the availability of opportunities for Blacks have allowed some Blacks to better their conditions and these people are no longer above them. There are still many, many poor Blacks than Whites. But it is such a double standard with these people. These Whites are so resentful that the government has not done better by them…they don’t feel they should be in the position of poor Blacks.

I attended a reception at Guild Cottage, which is a home for abused children. It is an annual function where they report their progress for the year. Guild takes children who have become wards of the court and keeps them for up to one year until they can be placed back in their homes (that have been made safe) or adopted.

I am attending another reception this evening at the Key School, which is a school for autistic children. They will be dedicating their new Life Skills Center, where they teach these children basic household and self-care skills.

I preached two services the week prior and all three services last week. I did the radio devotion for the past three weeks. Alan asked me to do it one last time tomorrow because he has to go out of town. I also have to preach Sunday before I go to the airport.

I went to Gold Reef City last week and took the underground tour in a gold mine. They show you how the gold is mined and then they show you how it is poured to make gold bars. There is also a mint that demonstrates the money minting process. It was very informative.

I have just returned from a long weekend in Capetown. Two of my fellow Princetonians are there. We had a wonderful visit. I spent Friday afternoon at a home for children with HIV. Two were having birthdays, so we gave them parties. On Saturday, I went to Franschhoek, which is a wine region. They were having a Bastille Day Festival. All the wineries were represented under the big tent, so we enjoyed the wine tasting. There were also lots of vendors, food and entertainment. Sunday, I gave the children’s sermon at the Methodist church where my friend Giselle was preaching. After church we drove all around. I saw most of the area and climbed to the top of Cape Point, looking down on where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. We also went to Simon’s Town and saw the African penguins. Monday we tried to get up to Table Mountain, but they closed it because it was too cloudy. Then we tried to get the ferry to Robben Island (the prison), but it was fully booked all weekend, so I was forced to go to Plan B and did lots of shopping!! When I returned last night, my car was still here! (smile)

I will be leaving on Sunday. It’s a bittersweet time. I am leaving here and heading to Zimbabwe for a few days before returning to the States. My time has seemed very short on this side. I am so thankful to God to have been blessed with this tremendous opportunity. Please keep me in prayer for safe passage and I’ll be praying for all of you.

Blessings,
Rhonda
..

Dear Pastor Rich & St. Paul’s -

Thank you so much for the scholarship money. It will really help out paying for books and such. I appreciate St. Paul’s keeping me in mind. I look forward to giving back to the church through teaching Sunday School this Fall. Thanks again.

Love,
Sara Beckerdite
.