Email Updates, Archive — 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006

2010 Email Updates

The continual vandalism and theft at Umzumbe Bible Institute has been draining and depressing. At last we have found a suitable person to live on the property. S’fiso Shabalala who worked for us as a security guard for 10 years has a job, but they have cut back his hours so he needs some extra employment. He is in the process of moving back to Umzumbe Bible Institute. He will help with maintenance and mowing lawns, and we will pay him for his work. It has been a lot of work getting a place ready for him to live. So many windows were broken, door locks were broken and all the beds and cupboards stolen. He moved into a very small room with just a couple of tables and a cupboard. Michael bought a two-burner electric plate and cooking pot yesterday. Today Michael is helping him bring a few of his things there so he will be a bit more comfortable. As soon as the rondowel (an old dormitory) is secure he will move there. I will make some curtains and we will get him a bed.   

We are looking into reopening the day care center, but it is a slow process. We met with the Department of Social Welfare ladies and the present committee, but I can’t say we accomplished much. The Department says we have to hold a community meeting so they can choose a new committee and recommended that it be this coming Thursday. The out-going chairperson is to call the meeting. If she has done so, we were not invited. We will contact the Department on Monday to check on that. The community will choose the committee so we have no guarantee that we will be chosen to be on the committee. The church lady we are meeting with has assured us that she will do all she can to get us chosen. Otherwise, hopefully, she will be chosen and she will ask us to help her. Pray for the meeting and for wisdom in the elections.   

The family has been through some tough times. The car dealership that John worked for was closed earlier this month. It was because of irreconcilable differences between the two directors. John was told that they would open a new dealership in the area soon, but he couldn’t get an answer out of them as to when that would be. He decided he needed to get a job, so he applied at other car dealerships in the area and we are waiting to hear when he can begin a new job. The company for whom he had worked offered him jobs in other areas, but he wasn’t keen to move away from Port Shepstone.    Rebecca seems to be doing well, but Gabriella had mumps (so we are waiting to see who else will get them), Chayah had tonsillitis, and Erin has been teething so she has been a bit miserable. Having sick children has been tough on the moms and dads.    Dawn is looking forward to the end of the school year in about 2 weeks. Then she gets to stay home with Chayah for a while. She had a very difficult class this year. The grade one teachers sent several of the children for evaluation and a lot of the children in Dawn’s class are classified as needing remedial or special education. No wonder they weren’t coping very well in a class of 32! Hopefully, next year will be better.   

The National Youth Seminar will take place from 10 to 15 December so Michael and I will be traveling to the Wellington in the Western Cape . We will both be teaching and leading small groups. Wellington is a long way from here so we will take two days for the trip. We are also planning to go on to Cape Town on that trip. We helped Monica Mvuna, a young lady from the Umzumbe area, get a scholarship to study medicine at University of Cape Town and she will graduate as a doctor in December.    Please pray for the day care center and the decisions that need to be made there, for S’fiso and the security of Umzumbe Bible Institute, and for the National Youth Seminar.

Caryl and Michael

October 2010

Our trip to conference and back went well. We divided the trips into two legs so we didn’t have such long days on the road. We arrived there on Friday, but the conference didn’t officially begin until Sunday. We did see quite a few people on Saturday and Michael had to attend one meeting. We stayed at a self-catering cottage and really wished we could have spent more time there. We usually had to be on our way out to the conference by 7 in the morning and only got home after 9 at night.   

I helped the financial committee with collecting the money while Michael was busy with other activities – like getting food and other supplies for the conference. I was very impressed with the financial committee. They worked well together and did a great job!   

On Sunday Michael was told that he had been chosen as the main speaker for the reception on Monday night. He prepared his speech between meetings and trips to town! He did well.   

Steve Caulley from the South African Bible Institute was the Bible study leader each morning. Unfortunately, Michael and I missed his lessons because of other responsibilities, but we heard really good comments from those who were able to attend.    After the conference ended on Friday morning, we stayed on in Beaufort West so that Michael could finalize all financial arrangements. That evening we were able to just relax a bit before we headed home on Saturday.    We made another trip to Eshowe this month. We planned to go to Mvuzane, a rural church, but rain changed our plans. When Michael met with the elders on Saturday they advised us not to go there. Even if the rain stopped, many people wouldn’t be there because of the muddy roads. We attended the church near town and the service was well-attended. We were encouraged.   

Our big frustration this month is with Umzumbe Bible Institute. When we went there this past Tuesday we discovered that the vandals have been busy again. This time they broke windows in the kitchen and all three rooms in the office block. They destroyed the key pads on both alarm systems and then just threw things around in the rooms. We called the police as one window had been removed without breaking it. We hoped for fingerprints, but the policeman said that there were no usable ones. We have reported to our insurance agent and are hoping the damage to the windows and alarms will be covered under “malicious damage”. An assessor has been there to evaluate the damage and we are waiting for his report. It seems that the only solution will be for us to hire a someone to live on the property. Pray that we find the right person.   

The day care center at Umzumbe Bible Institute closed for the July school holidays and the teacher resigned. They have not found a new teacher so the center is closed for now. During the past few years there has been serious financial mismanagement and the present committee is not functioning. Michael and I are talking to one of the ladies who was involved when the center started in 1997 and Pretty, a lady from the church. We went to the Department of Social Development and the social worker will meet with the present committee this week and insist that a new committee be chosen. Michael and I have volunteered to be on the committee. Our goal is to get the day care center up and running again and to teach Pretty how to handle the finances. Pray for wisdom as we get involved there.   

The family is doing well. Everyone seems to be back to normal health. We attended Rebecca’s school prize-giving this week and she got a certificate for her high marks. Gabriella will be in a school play next week so we are going to go and see her. Erin is crawling now and she can get around really fast! Chayah is talking a lot so she keeps us all entertained. What a joy our grandchildren are!!

Caryl and Michael

September 2010

It has been a hectic month. The trip to Beaufort West went well. There was a lot of progress on getting things in order for the annual conference. It is just a very long journey We went to Eshowe one weekend this month. We were encouraged as we visited one of the congregations. There were a lot of youth in the church and the church seems to be growing. Pray that they will get good Biblical teaching.

Schools have reopened after the public workers' strike. Education has really suffered this year. It will have a lasting effect on the pupils. Many schools have put some plans in place to make up for lost time. Some will have lessons during the term break, others have extended school hours, and some are offering extra lessons on Saturdays or before school in the mornings.

The national annual church conference starts on Sunday. As treasurer, Michael has been busy getting all of his reports and records in order. In addition, he was asked to collect, photocopy and compile all of the reports into booklets for the conference business meeting. We have spent a lot of time at the copy shop and then collating the books. So far 18 of the 25 pages are collated. We hope to finish up today and then we will get the suitcases packed and ready for the journey. The conference will be held in Beaufort West, which is over 800 miles from here. (That is the same place we went for the meeting last month. ) We will travel down in two days. Pray for us as we drive on Thursday and Friday. The conference starts on Sunday with a worship service. Michael will be leading the communion service that morning. From Sunday through Friday morning there will be worship services, Bible studies, lessons, and some business meetings. I will be teaching a lesson for the women on Thursday. Pray for me and for all the other leaders, preachers, and teachers. Pray that there will be a good spirit and that people will be touched and encouraged by the sessions.

The family has been struggling health wise this month. All of the grandchildren have suffered from flu and had to stay home. When Chayah was sick the doctor booked her and JP off. (JP had to stay home to care for Chayah because she couldn't go to day care and Dawn had just gotten back to school after the strike.) Erin has been diagnosed with atopic eczema. They had just started introducing solid food and gave her apple sauce. She is apparently allergic to apples. As her daddy is allergic to fruit and tomatoes, we assume she inherited it from him. She had a terrible rash on her head and face. Fortunately, it has cleared up and Dina and Sean are being very careful what foods she eats and how she reacts to them. There is also a lot of tension in work environments in South Africa. All of our daughters and sons-in-law are employed (for which we are grateful), but some of them are facing difficulties at their work places.

Caryl and Michael

August 2010

It looks like I missed the whole month of July and didn’t get a message sent off to you. My apologies. I am not sure where the time went!    We were involved in a Scripture Union Soccer Clinic near Port Shepstone for a week at the end of June and beginning of July. Michael learned some soccer skills from the coach and then tried to help his small group of boys learn them. I served the juice and cookies and then made and served sandwiches. It was an exhausting week, but we both enjoyed it.    When we went back to Eshowe in July we were very sad to learn that the husband of the family at the B&B where we usually stay had passed away shortly after we were there in June. Their B&B was full so we stayed at another place but went to visit our friend, Bev, before we left town on Sunday.   

Michael went to Jozini, in the northern part KwaZuluNatal, last weekend with Patrick Sithebe, one of the other ministers from this area. They traveled to a very rural area where they held services on Saturday and Sunday. It was an encouraging trip as the group is growing and the meetings were attended by a lot of young people.   

Michael has been very busy getting all of his financial books in order. This weekend we will be traveling to Beaufort West (nearly 800 miles from here) for a meeting of the executive committee, finance committee and other national leaders. It will take us two days to travel there. There will be meetings on Friday night and Saturday and then after the church service on Sunday we will start home. We will finish the journey on Monday. Pray for safe travel and good meetings.   

Last week we were told that someone knew who has been stealing from Umzumbe Bible Institute. Nearly every time we go there, we find that someone has broken a door lock and gone through the things in the rooms. On Tuesday Michael discovered that a lot of the metal items that had been stolen were piled beside the road waiting for the scrap metal dealer to come and collect them. He called the police and when they came the crowd put all of the blame on two girls, who are 11 and 14 years old. They will not be prosecuted because of their age - and the real culprits will get away unpunished!   

Diane and John’s wedding on July 17 was beautiful. The weather was really nice and everything went really well. They had a two-week honeymoon and are back at work again.    Dawn is having a rough time. Right after school started after the winter break (extended for the Soccer World Cup) a major strike started. Although she would like to be teaching, the schools have had to close because the strikers are threatening and intimidating anyone who tries to go to school. JP is having a hard time at work so he is also very discouraged. Chayah, at 20 months, is chatting non-stop and keeping us all entertained. We don’t understand much of her baby talk, but it is still fun to watch her.    Dina went back to work the first of July and both she and Erin have made the necessary adjustments so things are going pretty well for them. Sean’s job is going well and the girls are doing fine. They are at a private school so their school has not had to close. However, strikers have been to the school. Police stopped them from entering the school grounds.

Continue to pray for our safe travel and pray that we will know how to deal with the theft issues at Umzumbe Bible Institute.

Caryl and Michael

June 2010

We just returned from our trip to the Eastern Cape . The trip to Sada is about 400 miles each way. We traveled down on Friday and Michael spent all of Saturday in meetings. He finally got to meet the chairman of the Church of Christ Mission finance committee. We were very impressed with him. He has handled financial records well and we also met his family who were very nice. The President, Secretary, and Deputy Secretary of the Church of Christ Mission were also there and they really were able to handle a lot of business. We stayed two nights with a member of the church and they treated us very well.   

On Sunday we attended a church service in a small church near Queenstown. The minister is a graduate of South African Bible Institute. After lunch we started home and stayed the night in Mthatha so we didn’t have to drive home in the dark. South Africa roads are extremely dangerous and that area is particularly bad at night.   

The KwaZuluNatal youth camp started yesterday. Michael has gone up to Hammarsdale today to participate in the teaching there. I am catching up at home. He will come home tonight and then we will both go up tomorrow. We will stay through Friday morning and then go on to Eshowe for our monthly visit there. Michael will meet with the elders on Friday afternoon and Saturday and we will attend church there on Sunday.   

The other news from South Africa is the FIFA World Cup which is taking place now. Soccer is the subject of the day! All of the games are televised and aired on radio. Even those of us who know nothing about soccer are getting caught up in the excitement. Praise the Lord that so far there have been no major problems. Pray for continued peace and security during the next 3 ½ weeks.   

The family is doing well. The schools have closed early for the mid-year holidays because of the World Cup. That means that Dawn, Rebecca and Gabriella are enjoying some time off. Diane and John are busy getting the last things organized for their wedding on the 17th of July. They have found an apartment and Diane is in the process of moving there.   

Praise the Lord for a successful trip to the Eastern Cape and for progress made on the finances! Pray for the youth camps which are taking place in KwaZuluNatal and other parts of South Africa this week.

Caryl and Michael

May 2010

Our Life Skills camp for Magog grade 7 students went well. Michael and I were mostly observers, but we did stay at the campsite for the whole time. Some issues that the students are dealing with came up and we will have to do some follow-up with the school. These young people are dealing with a lot of problems which are the result of lack of discipline at home and at school. Pray for us and for Pearl who is involved with the girls in grade 5,6 and 7 at Magog school.

Michael has had his follow-up appointments with the cardiologist and cardiac surgeon. Both have said he is recovering well. He is now allowed to drive - so we are both happy about that. He still tires quite easily and manages best if he gets a nap in each day. He doesn't lift anything heavy yet, but has been able to return to a lot of his normal activities. Thank you to all who prayed and encouraged us during this time. We are still waiting for our insurance company to decide what they will pay for. In the meantime we have used credit cards and asked our creditors to be patient.

We went to Eshowe this past weekend. Michael met with two of the elders on Saturday and it went quite well. One of them had been quite difficult the last time we were there, but was very friendly and cooperative this time. We went to Mpapala (about 25 miles from Eshowe) on Sunday and had a good service with a small group there.

We stayed at our usual B&B on Saturday night. We were not able to see the husband of the family as he is on chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer. He was not awake when we arrived, when we had breakfast or when we left. Please pray for Rob and Bev, who have become good friends over the past few years.

During the next few weeks we will be making a trip to the East London area for a meeting with the Church of Christ Mission finance committee. Pray for safety as we travel and wisdom in dealing with all the financial issues Michael needs to handle as Treasurer.

All of the family is doing well. Dina is still on maternity leave and enjoying her time with Erin. She is busy transporting the girls to school sports, dancing lessons, Girl Guides, youth group, etc. Sean's job is going well. He  moved into a new office and it is much more accessible so business has improved.

Diane and John are busy preparing for their July wedding so the invitations have gone out, the dress is bought, and they are organizing the reception. Dina and Dawn will be bridesmaids and they are sewing their dresses. Dina will also be making dresses for her girls. I am also sewing my dress as I searched everywhere I could think of and couldn't find a suitable dress.

Dawn is enjoying her job this year. She said the atmosphere is really good. JP is really enjoying the computer course he is taking and is hoping it might open up some new job opportunities for him. Chayah is growing and developing into a very active toddler.

Caryl and Michael

April 2010

It has been quite a month. I’m sure you know about Michael’s triple bypass surgery. He is recovering well. He still can’t drive the car or lift anything. It has added to my load a bit, but we are both glad that he had the surgery when he did and that his heart was not damaged before the blockages were found.

We had gone to Eshowe the weekend before Michael’s surgery. We will only be going back again when he is able to drive. We went to Umzumbe last Sunday for church. They had invited another man to preach, but Michael led the communion service.

Tomorrow we will go to Umzumbe again. After the service we will go to Magog Primary School to see that our grade 7 students get on the bus to take them to Skogheim Christian Conference Center for their Life Skills camp. This year a lot of the planning and preparation had to be done by Pearl , who works for Scripture Union and runs the girls’ club at Magog. She assures us that all is in order, but did ask that we attend the camp. So we will be staying at Skogheim from Sunday night until Wednesday morning.

We were not able to run our work program for the students to earn their way to camp this year. In consultation with the principal and teachers, we have agreed to allow the students who can’t afford the camp to go anyway and then work later in the year. It seems that all 61 students will be able to attend the camp this year.

Pray for the camp – for the students and for Pearl and her responsibilities as leader. Pray that lives will be touched for the Lord during this time.

On the home front, we have had a really frustrating week. We have been without water during the day every day this week. Sometimes the water comes on at night, but goes off again in the morning. One night we got up at 1:30 in the morning so Michael could fill all of our storage tanks and bottles and I did a load of laundry. Tuesday was a holiday so we planned to have the family here for a cook-out. Instead we went to Dina and Sean’s house. Today we planned to celebrate the three birthdays that were on Monday (Dawn, Gabriella and John) at our house. We had water this morning so Dina and her girls came about 10. By 10:30 we had no water, so the party was moved to Diane’s house. We have water tonight, but we don’t know how long it will last. They say it is a problem with the reservoir, but we are wondering how long it will take them to sort out the problem!

We want to thank all of you who responded to our emails during Michael’s surgery and hospitalization. You were such a blessing to both of us. Thank you for the words of encouragement and for your prayers.

Caryl and Michael

Late March 2010 - "Weddings, Visits to Eshowe"

There is great excitement in our family this week. Diane and John Evans got engaged and will be getting married in July! John is a lovely Christian man and we are all so excited for Diane.

Today we celebrated the wedding of our nephew, Devon Neethling, and Candice Geyser. It was a beautiful day and a lovely service.

Pray for us as we will be going to Eshowe next weekend (27^th and 28^th) to visit the elders and churches there. It will be good to see the people again.

We were very sad to learn that the husband in the family that owns the Bed and Breakfast where we usually stay in Eshowe has been diagnosed with cancer. Pray for Rob and Bev, who have become good friends of ours.

Michael and Caryl

Early March 2010 - "New Granddaughter, Erin"

Dina and Sean have another daughter. Erin arrived March 5, at 11:20 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds 7 1/2 ounces. Mother and baby are both fine. Rebecca and Gabriella are with us and we are all anxious to go and meet her.

Michael got back from Ministers' Week at noon yesterday. The lessons and worship services went well. He was encouraged. He was definitely left with the impression that the Church of Christ Mission is going through a transition. Continue to pray for the Mission.

Thank you for all the prayers.
Caryl and Michael

February 2010 - "We're back home, safe and sound."

The last month has been pretty hectic. We decided to take a crate so we collected some books and equipment to take back to South Africa . We were staying at my sister and brother-in-law’s home, which has a heated garage, so we built a crate there and got it packed. We closed it up on Thursday evening, February 11.We had contacted a shipping agent who said we should deliver it to a business place, where it could be collected by a trucker to begin its journey to South Africa . They were not open on Friday afternoon so we delivered the crate on Monday morning, February 15. That was cutting things a bit fine, but we have since learned that it is safely on its way.

We delivered the car to the buyer on Monday at noon . Fortunately, the new owners let us use it until we left. In fact, they delivered us to the airport in it at noon on Monday!

The journey home was long, but uneventful. We flew from Minneapolis to Atlanta at 2:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon. At Atlanta we went from the arrival gate to the departure gate and boarded the plane. The next leg was a 14 1/2-hour flight to Johannesburg . The flight was good and we managed to get some rest. In Johannesburg we went from the arrival gate to the departure gate and boarded the airplane for Durban . Fortunately, that was only a 1-hour flight. There was a thunder and lightning storm in Durban and, apparently several planes were delayed or cancelled. Our pilot announced on the way that he would check and see if we could land! Fortunately, the storm cleared and we made it safely to Durban . Sean Thorncroft, our son-in-law, met us and took us home where we were met by the rest of the family. It was late, but they let us wake the grandchildren up so we could see them. What a joy to see everyone again. For those of you who are wondering, Dina’s baby did not arrive before us. We are all ready and waiting now – Dina more so than anyone else.

The heat and humidity are a bit overwhelming, but we have had some rain and clouds today so it hasn’t been too bad. We went to bed quite late last night, but I couldn’t sleep so I got up and read until about 5. Then I slept until 11! Michael slept when he first went to bed and was up about 8. We know it will be a few days before we are back on schedule.

The suitcases are unpacked and we are enjoying our home again. We have heard from some of our friends and fellow-workers. Now we are busy sorting out the mail and trying to get our feet back on the ground.

We had a great furlough and were glad to see so many of you. Pray for us as we begin our work here again.

Caryl and Michael

January 2010 - Wrapping up US visitation and reporting to churches

Time is flying by and we will be retuning to South Africa soon. Our departure date is 15 February. Between now and then we will still visit two churches in South Dakota and I will speak for a ladies’ group in Minnesota .

We have had a good furlough. We have traveled safely and enjoyed our visits with churches in Ohio , Indiana , Illinois, Oklahoma , Nebraska , Iowa , Wisconsin , South Dakota and Minnesota . We have renewed old friendships and made new ones.

About two weeks ago we decided to send a crate back to South Africa . We didn’t originally plan to do that, so we have not been collecting items along the way as we usually do. In the end we decided that we needed to get some heavy parts to repair some equipment in South Africa and we needed to replace some old items. Since we are sending a crate, we decided to also get some books for the ministers and some communion trays and cups, which are not readily available in South Africa . We have put a bit of pressure on the Christian book store to get the items in time for us to get them and get the crate packed and shipped before we leave. Any contributions toward paying for the books, equipment or shipping would be appreciated. Check should be made out to South Africa Church of Christ Mission and sent to P. O. Box 18531 Minneapolis , MN 55418-0531 .

We are looking forward to getting back to South Africa . It will be good to be in our own home and to see our family again. Sean, our son-in-law, went to Umzumbe Bible Institute recently and there has been more vandalism and destruction on the campus. We are planning to do some repairs and then re-establish our out-reach program to the youth in the community. Pray that we will get good cooperation from the church and schools in the area.

Pray for us as we finish up our speaking schedule and as we pack and get ready to leave. Pray especially for good weather over the next 2 weeks so we can make the necessary trips to the churches. Pray for safety as we travel back home on February 15 and 16.

Caryl and Michael

2009 Email Updates

December, 2009

We have visited some churches over the past few weeks. It has been really nice to see so many friends and supporters. Now we are into the Christmas season and most churches are having special programs. We have been able to attend some of them and have really enjoyed that. We are also spending quite a bit of time with Diane while she is in the USA for a few weeks.

Dawn and JP celebrated Chayah's first birthday this week. We were really sorry not to be able to be in South Africa for that. The school year ended early in December so she is now at home being a full-time mommy, which she really enjoys.

Dawn has not been able to share a lot about the problems at her school as it is under investigation. She applied for teaching jobs for next year at two schools and was very disappointed when she did not get either one. Today we learned that a teacher resigned from one of those schools and she has been offered the position. She is really excited about that. Thank you to all who prayed for her and for those who wrote and encouraged her. It means a lot to us.

Dina and Sean are both working and the girls are out of school for this year. They seem to have worked out a solution for caring for the girls, but I wish we could be there to help take care of them. Dina will be taking some time off from her nursing position next year as she is expecting a baby in February. We are hoping that we will arrive back in time to be there for the new arrival.

We will be speaking at churches in Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Minnesota during January and February. Our plan is to leave for South Africa in mid-February. Pray for us as we travel and for the work in South Africa. We know that there will be a lot of work to do in regard to the position of treasurer. Also we will be involved with the churches in KwaZulu Natal and with the work in the schools.

We wish you all a blessed Christmas. May all of our celebrations truly honor Christ.

Michael and Caryl

Late November, 2009

Unfortunately, I do not have much information to share with you. The meeting that was scheduled for Thursday did not take place. It has been re-scheduled for the end of this week. We do not know much of the situation, except that it involves abuse of children by a member of the staff at her school. Please continue to pray that she will maintain her Christian witness through all of this. Diane has arrived in Minnesota so we are enjoying being able to spend time with her.

Caryl and Michael

Early November, 2009

Please pray for our daughter, Dawn. She is facing a very difficult situation at the school where she teaches. She will be involved in a meeting tomorrow. Pray that she will be silent when she needs to be silent and that God will give her the words she needs to say when she needs to speak.

Michael and Caryl

October, 2009

It is Friday evening and we have just returned from the Conference business meeting. Actually, there have been business meetings everyday. However, today they dealt with the most serious issues. First they gave the financial report. It is the first real meaningful financial report in about 7 years. Several people worked day and night during the past few days to get it done and there are still problems, but it is a real step of progress.

The elections for the Executive Committee of the Church of Christ Mission were held late this afternoon. Michael was nominated for President (chairman), but the incumbent president (Elijah Gontsana) won by a large majority. The deputy president is a man who served as chairman of many of the meetings this week and seems to be very capable. The incumbent secretary was re-elected - also by a majority. The deputy secretary is a man who takes copious notes so will probably also be able to do his job well. Michael and two other men - one the incumbent treasurer and another who has been involved in the finances of the Church - were nominated for treasurer. Michael won a majority of those votes and the previous treasurer hardly got any votes! The Director of Building and Evangelism is a young minister in whom we have a lot of confidence. The Executive Committee consists of these men and representatives of the six areas of South Africa. It looks like these will be men who will work well together. One of the comments Michael said he heard often as the church people congratulated the new Committee, was "We trust you." Praise the Lord for that. Thank you for all the prayers you have prayed over the past few days. We really believe that God's hand was in the elections. Pray now that these will do the jobs they have been chosen to do. Pray especially for Michael. There is a lot of work to do and some of it will be very difficult.

Michael will be teaching his lesson tomorrow (Saturday) morning. After the church service on Sunday we will drive back to Kimberley to visit a friend before returning home on Monday. Pray for us and all the other people who will be traveling back to our homes over the next few days.

We were not able to send this out on Friday night as planned. In fact, we are now home after a long day on the road. Saturday did not go as planned. They reorganized the schedule so the Farewell Service for Alice Fishback could be on Saturday morning because some of the people left for their homes on Saturday afternoon. Then the Executive Committee had meetings for most of Saturday afternoon. In the end Michael taught his class in the evening. There were about 80 people there and several commented on the good lesson. One man said that Michael should teach his class on the first day of Conference when more people are there.

Pray for us. We have a busy week ahead as we take care of business and prepare for our return to the United States next Monday. Hopefully, we will also be able to spend some time with the family here before we leave.

Michael and Caryl

September, 2009

We would like to ask you to pray for us specially this month. After much prayer and thought we decided to return to South Africa for the annual church conference, a gathering of church members from all over the country. Pray that some major decisions will be made and some of the on-going problems can be resolved at this year's conference.

There are some people who want Michael to be elected as treasurer at this year's elections. Financial issues constitute a major part of the problem. Pray for God's Will to be done in regard to this matter. Pray for us - for wisdom and guidance as we meet with the church members and church leaders. We really do not know what to expect.

This week we will be preparing to leave for South Africa. We will fly out early on Thursday morning and arrive in Johannesburg South Africa on Friday evening - after 19 hours on planes and 8 hours waiting to change planes in Atlanta. We will stay overnight in Johannesburg and fly to Durban on Saturday. Dawn, JP and Chayah will meet us at the airport. Unfortunately, Dina and her family will leave early on Saturday morning to visit Sean's parents for a week and Diane will be busy with something for work.

After a week at home we will travel across South Africa to attend the annual church conference. After the conference we will return home to spend a few days with our children and grandchildren before returning to the United States to continue our furlough.

Michael and Caryl

August 2009

It has been a really busy month. We arrived in the United States on the 14th July. We went to stay with my younger sister and brother-in-law in the Minneapolis St. Paul area. I ended up going for some emergency medical care the night after we arrived. I had done something to my back and was in a lot of pain. Fortunately, it didn't last long after I got some medication. Then I got a bad sore throat. I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to feel normal again! Now I am fine and Michael made the transition from South Africa to the United States without any problems.

For the first week we didn't have a car, so we either walked or took my sister and brother-in-law to work so we could use their car. Fortunately, by the second week, we were able to buy a 2000 Buick Le Sabre. We have been very happy with our purchase.

During the first few weeks we were involved in a lot of family activities. My extended family had a reunion so we were able to see some cousins we haven't seen for many years. Michael's sister also came from South Africa in July so all four of the siblings were able to be on one side of the ocean, which doesn't happen very often. We were all able to be at Michael's nephew's wedding. The four siblings and three spouses went on a short vacation to Chicago and we really enjoyed our sight-seeing which included a dinner cruise. Michael and I rushed home from Chicago to participate in the Stillwater Minnesota Relay for Life. My older sister organized two teams so we really enjoyed that and were able to raise money for cancer research.

From there we went to my sister's house to wash clothes and pack so we could begin a month-long trip to Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. We will be returning to Minnesota at the beginning of September. We traveled to a Stanley family reunion in Pennsylvania, where the Minnesota ancestors came from in the mid-1800's.

We have spoken at one church and visited one church in Minnesota, visited a family from one of our supporting churches in Wisconsin, spoken at one church and visited another church in Ohio, and spoken at two churches in Illinois and one church in Oklahoma. We are on our way to Nebraska to visit two of our supporting churches. As we travel from place to place we are visiting friends and family.

In addition to our church visits over the next few weeks, we will also be making preparations to return to South Africa. Originally we had planned to return to South Africa in September, but realized that we would not be able to visit many of our supporting churches by then, so we decided to stay until February. However, the annual church conference in South Africa is at the end of September and beginning of October and Michael feels that he needs to be there for the conference. We are praying that some major decisions will be made. So we will be returning to South Africa for a few weeks in September and October. We also found out that if we are out of South Africa for 183 days during the tax year, we are not subject to South Africa income tax - which is quite a lot of money.

We have been keeping contact with the family in South Africa by email and text messages. Technology is certainly great for us!!

We are looking forward to seeing many of you over the next few months. Please pray for safety for us as we travel. Also pray for our trip to South Africa and especially for the annual church conference and for the decisions that will be made there.

Michael and Caryl

July, 2009

As I mentioned in the last email, it was the anniversary of Mac's death on June 9. Diane invited the family and a few friends to a special service at Oribi Bible Camp. Her minister led a short time of memories and prayer time and then Diane scattered Mac's ashes from the top of the water tank stand - a favorite place of Mac's. The three nieces released gold helium-filled balloons at the same time. After a time of meditation, we all went to Debbie (Michael's sister) and Lynton Neethling's for soup and fellowship. It was a special time and another milestone for Diane.

The 7th of June marked our 40th wedding anniversary, but we were all busy so the day went almost unnoticed. Michael and I went to a church service where the people from one of the older congregations in this area are starting a new church. They meet in a hut now, but have land and are hoping to build soon. After church we went to Diane's and all of our children were there so we enjoyed a short visit with them.

Michael traveled to Kimberley in mid-June to attend the South African Bible Institute Board of Governors meeting and the annual general meeting. (I was not able to go as I had agreed to do a doughnut demonstration at a women's meeting.)

At the end of June we made our monthly trip to Eshowe. Originally Michael planned to attend a men's meeting on Saturday, but it was postponed. We went up on Friday night and he attended a funeral on Saturday. The place where we usually stay was already full, so we stayed in a new place this time. It is outside of town and is very quiet. (They don't even have a tv!) I was there by myself on Saturday, but I kept busy. Michael had cut wood to make a new sign for the church, so I sanded and painted the undercoat on it. Now the church will have to take it to a sign-writer to complete it.

A lot of our time is being taken up with getting ready to return to the United States in a few days. Our grandchildren are on vacation and our daughter, Dina, is on night duty so we have the children for a few days. We are still trying to work out if their presence is a help or a hindrance to our travel preparations. We have found a single man who is a Christian to stay in the house. We will store our vehicles and leave the Umzumbe Bible Institute property in the care of the Umzumbe Church. Fortunately, right now it is winter and our dry season so the grass and weeds won't be growing very fast. We moved a few things out of the buildings yesterday because we are worried about burglaries.

Just before we leave South Africa, we will go away for a couple of days with all of our children and grandchildren. We are not going far, but we will all be able to stay together so we are really looking forward to that. Our plan is to play games, visit and just relax together. We just need to be sure the overseas suitcases are packed first! Pray that we will have a good (and productive) week.

Looking forward to seeing many of you over the next few months.

Caryl and Michael

May, 2009

Where did May go? I missed sending out a message for the whole month. For most of April we spent a lot of time at Umzumbe Bible Institute. We had decided to have the Magog grade 7 Life Skills camp at the beginning of May, so we allowed those who wanted to work their way to camp to come after school to pull weeds, cut grass and work on the road. There was great excitement when they had finished and the bus came to take them to Oribi Bible Camp for four days.

Scripture Union helped us organize and run the camp. It was a great camp. Michael was very busy as he presented some of the sessions and also worked with one small group of boys. Mr. Nala, a teacher, helped with Michael's group. Last year he wasn't even sure he wanted to accompany the students; this year he participated in everything and commented to Michael about how much he appreciated the camp! Michael also led the hike one day. They have the students take a sack lunch and walk out into the nature reserve. I was the chief cook which involved being in the kitchen for about 15 hours each day to prepare meals for about 65 people. I had 2 or 3 helpers, but still had to take the major responsibility. We both came home quite exhausted.

Recently two of the Scripture Union girls started running a girls' friendship group at Magog for grade 6 and 7 girls. They meet each Tuesday after school for games, refreshments and a Bible story. We are hoping to be able to find a young man who would be willing to do a boys' friendship group. The boys are feeling quite left out.

Michael has attended a couple of committee meetings with a group of people from the churches in KwaZuluNatal over the past two months. They are discussing the future of the churches in our province and trying to solve some of the problems in the churches. He has also been dealing with some disagreements between the elders in the Eshowe churches, where we visit once each month. He has made some extra trips there and stayed longer on the weekends. Pray for continued wisdom for him as he deals with these men.

In mid-May we decided to make a trip to George. Michael offered help sort out some of the financial problems in the national church. We decided to travel by Greyhound bus. It took us 18 hours each way to make the trip.(If we had driven, we would have spent two days and one night on the road each way.) While we were in George, we stayed with fellow-missionaries, Pete, Fran and Denzil Laughren. We had a very good visit with them. Michael went to see the treasurer one day, but he refused the help. That was very frustrating for Michael.

Dina, who is a registered nurse in the private hospital maternity ward, has had to go onto night duty for a few months. As a wife and mother it is a difficult transition, but she didn't have a choice. The rest of her family is doing fine.

Diane is not looking forward to next week as it will be the anniversary of Mac's death. Please pray for her. She has been very busy at work and is feeling quite exhausted. She has organized two programs with her new job as national training coordinator of Scripture Union and she really enjoyed that. Pray that Scripture Union will be able to find a regional director to replace her as she is now doing both jobs.

On April 19, Dawn and JP had a special service to dedicate themselves to raise Chayah in a way that honors God. Their cell group stood with them during the ceremony. The minister spoke and then Michael prayed for Chayah, Dawn and JP. JP's family came from Empangeni and the family gathered at our home after church for a meal and photo session. It was great fun!

We are beginning to get things ready to be away from our home for two months. We will be flying to the United States on July 13. We are scheduled to return to South Africa in September, but that could be extended.

Sorry about the delay in getting word off to you. Will try to do better in the future.

Caryl and Michael

April, 2009

It seems that I completely missed out an up-date from us in March. My apologies.

We visited the children who were injured in the accident several times. The girl had a broken arm, but no other injuries. She was released from the hospital in less than a week - in time to attend the funeral of the girl who was killed. The boy was in Port Shepstone Hospital for about 4 weeks and then he was moved to Durban for reconstructive surgery.

We attended the annual Ministers' Week in Barberton at the beginning of March. Michael preached one day and I led a Bible study for the ladies on two days. The theme for the week was "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Messages and lessons included responsibilities of husbands, wives and parents. We were very impressed with the preparation and presentation done by the ministers. We also enjoyed the fellowship. Unfortunately, there are still problems in the executive committee. Continue to pray for a revival in the lives of those leaders.

From March 23 until April 3 Michael and I taught at the South African Bible Institute in Kimberley. Michael had one student in the first year class (Christian Decision Making) and I had three students in the second/third year class (Establishing a Sunday School). We provided lunch for the students nearly every day while we were there. They welcomed the food, but that is not the whole story. When we arrived the kitchen was filthy and it was overrun with ants. We bribed them into cleaning up with the threat that there would be no food if the kitchen was dirty.

While we were in Kimberley we stayed with Michael's friend, Roy, and visited with Steve and Brenda Caulley, fellow missionaries. The weather was quite nice while we were there. Kimberley can be extremely hot in summer and extremely cold in winter (especially since there is no central heating in the houses.) This was a good time of year to be there.

Now we are getting ready for the special services that will be held this weekend in Gingindlovu - nearly 100 miles from here. We will go up on Friday morning. During the day the men from the various churches will preach on the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross. Michael has been asked to teach a combined class for men and women and I am to bring a lesson for the women. That will be on Saturday. There will be a service on Sunday and then we will return home.

The family is all well. Rebecca and Gabriella have finished the first term of school at their new school and they are very happy there. They are having a short break now and Dina and Sean are both working, so the girls have come to stay for a couple of days. Dawn is getting ready for school as she will be returning to her teaching job in mid-April. Chayah will have to go to a day-care center. Chayah is growing and beginning to charm us all with her smile! Diane is almost finished with the sewing for the wedding on Sunday. I went to her house a couple of times and helped cut and pin bridesmaids' dresses. The bridesmaids' dresses are all done except one hem. The bride's dress still needs a hem and some beading, but will definitely be done. It has been pretty stressful, but she is doing an absolutely beautiful job!

We enjoy getting responses from you. It's always good to hear what you are doing. Pray for the meetings this weekend and we will be thinking of all of you as you celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

Caryl and Michael

March, 2009

It has been a hectic couple of weeks since we sent out the last message. We went to Umzumbe church the first week of February, expecting to have the usual few people. We thought we could go and then rush home for a family gathering to celebrate Rebecca's birthday and Dawn and JP's anniversary. That day we had the biggest group at church that we have had in a very long time. The message Michael preached had an impact on some of the people who then wanted to give testimonies. It was a long service, so by the time we got home, lunch was ready and the family was waiting for us. We are so blessed that people were touched and I really did try to remember that it was what we had been praying for!

In the afternoon we enjoyed the time we were able to spend with the family. We got out an old jigsaw puzzle and several of us worked on it. We also ate, watched t.v., ate, visited and ate. (Michael and I finished the puzzle later in the week and found that 2 pieces were missing!)

The next weekend, we traveled to Bloemfontein so I could attend a women's workshop, where I was asked to represent the Umzumbe Church. The wife of the minister in the Durban area went with me. It was a very good workshop with sessions on our responsibilities as Christians in a world where gender-based violence is so wide-spread. We had good fellowship and worship times.

While I was at the conference, Michael traveled on to Kimberley to attend the South African Bible Institute Board of Governors' meeting. It was a long trip, but we both felt it was worth-while.

This past Friday both Michael and I were involved in shopping for special events. Michael and one of the young ladies from Umzumbe bought food for a meeting on Saturday. The ministers of KwaZuluNatal met with Elijah Gontsana, the chairman of the mission, to plan for the annual conference. It is a national meeting that is to be held in KwaZuluNatal later in the year.

I bought food for another Scripture Union camp, which was held at Oribi Bible Camp. I went up on Friday and cooked supper and then stayed over to cook breakfast for about 25 people. The leaders said they could handle the rest of the meals on Saturday and they had another cook for Sunday.

After I left the camp, I went to Diane's house to help her sew. She is making a bride's dress and three bridesmaids' dresses for a wedding in April. One of the dresses needed to be done before Sunday because the girl was here for the weekend. I helped cut and pin. I left before dark to return home and learned on Sunday that she finished the dress about 3 a.m. Hopefully, she won't have such time constraints on the rest of the sewing!

Sunday morning Elijah Gontsana, Michael and I left for church at Umzumbe. Less than a mile from the church we were met by a group of people who were carrying some children. We learned that the children had been riding a bike and were hit by a car. I started making phone calls to get police and ambulances while Michael assessed the children. Unfortunately, the youngest girl (age 10) had already passed away. The other girl (age 13) was sitting up and talking to those around her. The boy (age 11) was in very serious condition. His scalp had been torn loose over about half of his head, he had severe head injuries and he had a broken leg. Michael stayed with him until the ambulance took the two children to hospital. Fortunately, the boy remained conscious and was able to talk to Michael and answer questions. Michael suggested I take some pictures, so I was official telephone operator and photographer.

We took Elijah on to church and he preached and ate lunch there. Michael and I went into town and went to the hospital as quickly as we could, but we were too late to have them admitted to the private hospital, where someone had to be present to guarantee payment. However, we were assured by the ambulance personnel that they were better off at the provincial hospital as they are more experienced with trauma cases. As soon as we felt that they were in good hands, we left and spent the rest of the day with our children and grandchildren. I think we needed that after the traumatic experience we had been through.

Yesterday we went in to the hospital to check on the children. The girl is in a ward. Her arm is in a cast as she broke her wrist. She is complaining of pain in her leg, but it doesn't seem to be broken. The boy was in ICU, though they were getting ready to move him to a ward. Michael went in again today and found out that they have not completed setting his leg yet. Both the femur and tibia are broken - compound fractures - and he will have to have plastic surgery on his head. Michael understood that they were to operate on his leg later today and then move him to a hospital in Durban for the plastic surgery.

All three of the children attended Magog Primary School, where we visit on a regular basis. The boy obviously knew and trusted Michael. We spoke to the teachers today. The older girl is in grade 7 and the other two were in the same class in grade 4.

The funeral for the little girl will be Saturday. Unfortunately, we will not be able to attend as we will be leaving on Friday for the annual Ministers' Week in Barberton.

Pray for us as we travel to Barberton. It is a long journey and we probably won't be able to leave until about noon, so will only arrive in the middle of the night. Pray for the conference. I will be leading a ladies' Bible Study on Tuesday and Michael will be preaching on Thursday morning. Pray for the others who will also be involved in the teaching and leading.

Michael and Caryl

February, 2009

It is long past time for me to get a message off to all of you. My apologies for missing January completely!

We were helping Diane move into her new house on the 29th of December, when we received a call asking us to meet the next day with Simphiwe's father and the social worker. When we got there her father, grandfather, step-mother, step-grandmother, and another lady were there with the social worker. We found out the other lady was Simphiwe's mother's sister. After a long discussion between Simphiwe, her father, her aunt and the social worker, we were told that they had agreed for Simphiwe to go to live with her aunt on the north side of Durban. The shock was that we were to take her home to pack and she was leaving immediately. She requested to see two people before she left - a counselor and a friend who had taken her on a couple of outings. We have visited her once since she left and we have talked to her on the phone. She is very happy and settled in school there.

Recently we were called in the middle of the night by another girl from the Umzumbe community. She felt threatened so Michael went out and stayed with her.

She spent the next few nights in one of the rooms at Umzumbe Bible Institute, but Michael called Child Welfare and she has now been taken to a place of safety. She is an orphan who was supposedly being cared for by an aunt and uncle. They were, apparently, not doing a very effective job and had recently thrown her out of the house. Unfortunately, there are a number of girls in similar situations in that area.

Diane had a rough three weeks around Christmas with a lot of "firsts" without Mac -Christmas, New Year celebration, their anniversary and her birthday. The move from the house she and Mac built came in the midst of that and that was also very difficult for her. She is now settled into her new home and busy with her job again.

We visited the Eshowe congregations again in January. Michael met with the men and they had a good discussion. There are still problems, but there seems to be more co-operation.

Michael preaches at the Umzumbe Church most of the other weeks. It is a small congregation and we have become very frustrated with the lack of Christian commitment and integrity. Pray for wisdom for us.

We have resumed our visits to the high school where Michael leads in devotions for the students each Tuesday morning. He tries to choose some item of current news and bring a Christian challenge related to it.

Last week I cooked for a Scripture Union conference. There were 70 to 80 people there from Monday breakfast until Friday brunch. I had two helpers for 8 hours during the day and then some volunteers came in to help in the evening. After cooking 13 meals and being in the kitchen for about 15 hours each day, I was exhausted, but I did enjoy it. I spent much of Saturday in bed - I needed the rest, but I also had a 24-hour flu bug!

We have had a lot of rain and some very hot weather so the grass is growing very fast. Michael uses his lawn tractor and a bush cutter to cut the grass at Umzumbe Bible Institute. School boys often come to rake the cuttings and help to clean up afterwards.

The family is all well. Mom is much the same. Visiting is getting harder as she isn't very talkative. Dina likes her job at the private hospital. Rebecca and Gabriella have settled in well at their new school and it is so good to hear them say they like school. Rebecca turned 11 yesterday. Diane is in Cape Town for a week for a senior staff conference. JP has just returned to work after a long leave (The office closed for the December holidays and he had requested his annual three-week leave for January since the baby was due in early January. Then Chayah arrived early so he was able to be home until she was nearly 6 weeks old.) Dawn is on her three-month maternity leave, so is enjoying being at home with Chayah. Dawn and JP celebrated their 4th wedding anniversary today.

Caryl and Michael

2008 Email Updates

April 2008

I think I am way behind in writing to you. We have not had an internet connection at home for the past month, so I have not kept up very well!

When we got back from Cape Town we had a huge mess to clean up. We had a very bad storm and lightning hit our house. It damaged or destroyed the telephone, TV, HiFi, video recorder, printer, and modem. It also tripped the earth leakage system so our electricity was off for several days. When my neighbor phoned me to say their electricity was back on but our lights weren’t coming on as they should, I arranged for friends who had keys to go and check. Indeed the electricity was still off and our refrigerator and freezer had completely thawed. They cleaned up the water in the kitchen and turned the electricity on. When we got home we had to clean the refrigerator and freezer and destroy meat that had thawed and frozen again. The telephone was repaired in a couple of days, but we are still waiting to get the other equipment. The TV and HiFi were repaired in Durban so we have to go there to get them. The video machine is in the line to be repaired. The ISDN modem is being replaced with an ADSL modem (so we are looking forward to that!). The printer is not repairable so we are looking for a new one. We have claimed from our insurance company so are hoping that they will cover the damages.

South Africa is having a severe power shortage so we have “load shedding”. They shut off the electricity for 2 hours every other day. Fortunately, they do it on a schedule and they seem to be sticking pretty close to the schedule. Ours is off from 4 to 6 in the afternoon. It does make preparing supper a little difficult. To add to my frustrations, our water was also off for several days this month (while Michael was away.) They said it was a broken pipe. In four days our water was off for over 60 hours at one time and 12 hours another time!

Michael just returned from teaching at South African Bible Institute. He was there for two weeks. He had three students this year. He stayed with a friend and was able to visit some of the churches in the Northern Cape .

I decided not to go to Kimberley as I felt I needed to be here for Diane at this time. Mac is not very well. He has been in hospital since we got back from Cape Town on April 3. He is still receiving chemotherapy and he is on oxygen most of the time. He has times when it is very hard to breathe and then he panics. He is in a lot of pain. His knees are very swollen and sore. They think that is a side-effect of the chemotherapy. Diane stays with him at the hospital most of the time. She continues to do work from the hospital or home or wherever she is. Please continue to pray for them.

We are getting ready for our annual grade 7 Life Skills camp which will be at the end of May. Pray for us as we prepare for it. We will need to provide work days for those students who do not have the money for the camp. We make sure every student has the opportunity to attend camp by earning their way. Pray for those who will be attending and for those who will be teaching and leading.

Michael and Caryl

March 2008

We have safely returned from more traveling. We attended the annual Ministers’ Week at Postmasburg in the Northern Cape. We took the chairman of the Church of Christ Mission and his wife with us. They came to our house on Friday evening and we traveled to Kimberley on Saturday. We stayed the night there and then traveled on to Postmasburg on Sunday morning. We arrived just in time for the morning service. I think there were a few sighs of relief when we arrived, as Michael was the preacher that morning.

Throughout the week there were devotions and a class each morning. There were also worship services and lots of meetings. We were very impressed with how well the church people worked together to provide for us. The meals were very good and they also managed to be on time in spite of the difficulty of cooking outdoors.

No one had planned the program for the women so they asked if I would teach a lesson one day. Fortunately, I have learned to be prepared and did have some notes with me. I felt the lesson went well and all the ladies participated in the discussion. I really enjoyed the fellowship and times of getting better acquainted with the ministers’ wives.

The next big event is Easter and we will have a busy weekend. The churches of KwaZuluNatal will meet together in the Durban area. We will go up on Friday. During the day there will be a long service (from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) in which there will be sermons on the seven last words of Christ from the cross. After a big meal, there will be an evening service. Then on Saturday there will be classes and meetings. They have asked both Michael and me to teach on Saturday. By Saturday evening we will be in Eshowe for our monthly visit to the churches there. On our way home on Sunday, we will stop in Durban to pick up the people we take from Umzumbe to attend the services there.

Next week we will be flying to Cape Town as Michael’s sister’s daughter is getting married there on March 29. Several months ago we decided that all of our family would fly down to Cape Town and spend a week so we could enjoy a family holiday at the same time as the wedding. We are all really looking forward to it. With Mac’s health we are still a bit uncertain as to what he will be able to do, but we are continuing with the plan for a family holiday. Mac is in the hospital again because he has been in a lot of pain. The latest news is that they will continue the chemotherapy though the oncologist says it is simply buying a bit more time. We continue to pray for a miracle.

Please pray for the meetings this weekend that God will bless all who attend and give safety on the road. Easter is one of the biggest holidays in South Africa and there are a lot of people traveling. Also pray that we will have a safe trip to Cape Town and that we will all be able to enjoy the time together as a family.

February 2008

It has been a while since I have written an email, so this will try to catch you up on our activities so far this year.

We have traveled quite a lot already this year and there are more trips coming up. So far we have had safe, though not uneventful, trips.

On the 6th of January we went to Umzumbe for church. It was a rainy, miserable day and no one came to church. We had communion and came home.

On the 13th of January we took three of the ladies from Umzumbe to Estcourt for a funeral. The wife of the former minister there had passed away. When we first came to South Africa we often went to Estcourt and Mrs. Sithebe was very kind to us. She had a very difficult life and yet was always smiling and joyful. We will certainly miss her.

On the 19th and 20th of January we went to the Eastern Cape for a church service. We picked up the minister and his wife and traveled about 2 hours on a gravel road to a very deep rural area. There was no electricity, but we had a great worship service there. On the trip home we suffered a vehicle breakdown which forced us to stay overnight with the minister and his wife. Diane and Mac rescued us the next day. We will write a report on that in the next South Africa Torch.

On the 27th of January we were in Eshowe for our monthly visit. Although the attendance was small we had a good worship service. The elder invited us and two other couples from the church to lunch and we were able to have a good discussion about issues in the three churches in that area.

Last weekend Michael traveled to Umtata . Two of the elders there are doing studies through South African Bible Institute and needed to write exams. South African Bible Institute asked Michael to administer the exams. He left Umtata quite late on Sunday and only arrived home after 1 in the morning!

Tomorrow (Thursday) we will leave for Kimberley . The South African Bible Institute Board Of Governors meeting is Friday afternoon and Michael is a member of the Board. On Saturday we will also attend the graduation of the students from 2006 and 2007.

Mac and Diane continue with a real “roller-coaster” life. At the beginning of January the doctors told Mac that there was nothing more they could do for him. Then later in the month he had scans and he was told that the cancer was gone in the left lung - though there is scar tissue - and that there was some scar tissue, but less cancer in the right lung. Also the tumor in the right lung was shrinking. The end of last week he ended up in hospital with gastroenteritis. Fortunately he was only in hospital overnight. However, this week he is very short of breath and the doctors did scans again. They think he has a lung infection or pneumonia. Continue to pray for Diane and Mac.

Michael and I saw the doctor recently and we are both on some new medications. The doctor says it is just because we are “aging”. Actually, we are both feeling quite well. We are just suffering from the heat right now as we are in the middle of summer.

We have been busy with routine maintenance at Umzumbe Bible Institute. We have mowed lawns and done a few more repairs. Last week in the midst of the mowing, Michael was asked to take a lady to the hospital because she was ready to deliver her baby. She had called the ambulance, but it hadn’t come and she was getting desperate. Michael will give a more detailed report in the next South Africa Torch, but I will just tell you that the baby arrived about 5 miles from the hospital!!

Michael and Caryl

2007 Email Updates

December 2007, Christmas Newsletter

First of all we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2008! We wonder where the year went. Last year we were snowed in on New Year’s Day! We definitely won’t have that this year - though we have had a lot of rain recently.

The National Youth Seminar went very well. The attendance was lower than we had hoped, but those who attended were blessed. It was held at Margate, which is only 20 miles from home, so we returned each evening and were able to sleep at home. Michael and I shared the responsibility for our small group with Simpiwe Mteza, a young minister, who was interested in getting some training and experience so he can be small group leader in the future. He did a great job. Another man sat in on our group as well. The youth we had in our group participated very well, so we really enjoyed our time with them.

The last day of November the Smith family from East London came to stay with us. Phil participated in the National Youth Seminar and he stayed with the youth in Margate. Roxana and the boys stayed at our house, did school work (she home-schools), did some sight-seeing and took care of their two dogs. They stayed on for a couple of days after the seminar. We really enjoyed our time with them, but felt the time was too short, especially as the seminar took so much of our time. They have now returned to the United States to minister in Kansas.

We spent a couple of days in the past week helping our son-in-law, Mac. He is the manager of Oribi Bible Camp. They are fixing up a couple of the houses on the camp site for use by families. We painted, repaired and helped out wherever we could.

We are looking forward to a busy few days. We will be going to Eshowe this weekend. Michael’s brother and his wife (Larry and Marguerite) from Minnesota are here for a few weeks. They are staying with his sister, who lives about 30 miles from us. On Monday night (Christmas Eve) we will be having a Christmas celebration with all of them (18 people, I think). On Christmas Day we will be at Diane and Mac’s house with our children and some of their in-laws. I think there will be 23 of us.

Again we wish you all a very happy Christmas celebration. May we all keep Christ at the center of our celebrations.

Michael and Caryl

October 2007

We attended the annual conference of the Church of Christ Mission in September. As we had expected, things were pretty tense at the beginning of the week. Some of the classes were cancelled for the executive committee to hold meetings. When it came time for the reports, we just heard one excuse after another as to why there was no financial report. It has been about 5 years since there have been proper reports.

On Friday the elections were held to choose the new executive committee. Some of the men asked Michael to serve as election officer as they felt he would be accepted as unbiased. He began by giving a devotional and encouraging the people to choose officers who would fulfill their responsibilities as servants. The election went very well and the result was that only one of the previous committee members was returned to his position. The spirit among the people seemed to improve as soon as the elections were over. Please pray for the new committee. They will be meeting soon to try to resolve some of the issues which have been causing problems.

Michael and I participated with Scripture Union in a Life Skills course at Port Shepstone High School in October. There were about 250 students and 25 volunteers to work in small groups. It is such a blessing that the school is open to this Bible-based program.

The end of the school year is approaching and the students are writing exams. Michael has continued to give a devotional talk each Tuesday at the rural high school, but the attendance has decreased from around 200 to about 50. The teachers are very discouraged because the school year was disrupted by a strike, absenteeism is extremely high, and there is a serious lack of discipline. We try to encourage the teachers when we are at the school.

Please continue to pray for our son-in-law, Mac. The last time he had chemotherapy the doctor was thrilled to see that the cancer had stopped growing. However, within a few days Mac was in terrible pain and has now been admitted to hospital for pain control medication. He has been in hospital for about a week and will be receiving chemotherapy again tomorrow (Wednesday). It has been very difficult for Diane. She spends as much time with him as she can, but she is also trying to do some work at her office.

Michael and Caryl

August 2007

Michael spent two weeks in Kimberley teaching one student at the South African Bible Institute. He was disappointed in the student, but felt that he made some progress in helping the school get better-organized with finances. A friend from Kimberley has agreed to help with the book-keeping.

The weather was very cold while Michael was in Kimberley. He said he often saw ice by the road as he drove to South African Bible Institute early in the morning. He stayed with a friend, whom he has known since primary school days in the 50s.

I chose to stay at home (where it was much warmer.) I worked on sorting out some old mission papers, filing, and putting some historical information on the computer. When Michael got back we took care of some of the office work that had been piling up. We made significant progress in reducing the backlog.

Please continue to pray for Mac and Diane and all of Mac’s family. Mac continues to get chemotherapy. It really makes him exhausted. He sleeps a lot and doesn’t have the strength that he once had. To add to the drama for the family, Mac’s dad was retrenched because he wasn’t coping at his job. His brother, Oliver, came out from England to visit Mac and ended up helping their parents take care of business related to the retrenchment. Then Mac’s dad ended up in hospital for two days as he was not doing well. Oliver’s wife is expecting a baby next month and she experienced some problems while he was here. The family really feels overwhelmed by all of this. We continue to pray for them. They are Christians, but this is a very tough time for them.

Yesterday we celebrated Mom Stanley’s 86th birthday. We took a cake to her before we went to church and then all of the family visited throughout the day. She got several bouquets of flowers and lots of cards. She keeps telling us that she thinks Jesus will come for her soon.

Pray for the national church in South Africa. It is in a state of crisis. Too many people are more interested in power, prestige and position than in God’s Kingdom! We continue to pray that God will work in the hearts of men and women.

Michael and Caryl

July 2007

The annual youth camp was held at a school in northern KwaZulu Natal. Attendance was especially good with over 125 attending. The classrooms were used for classes, meals and sleeping. There was a large hall for the worship services. Michael and I were hosted by a teacher who is a member of the church. We were well cared for. There will be more information and pictures of the camp in the next South Africa Torch.

Mac, our son-in-law, has been receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatment for lung cancer, but the cancer is continuing to grow and spread. His doctor has done some more tests and is changing the treatment. Please continue to pray for Mac, Diane and the rest of the family. His parents and grandmother live nearby, and his only brother and his family live in England.

Michael will be teaching a two-week intensive class at South African Bible Institute in Kimberley from 30 July to 10 August. Pray for him as he teaches and for his students.

Michael and Caryl

13 June 2007

Please pray for our son-in-law, Mac, and for our daughter, Diane. Mac has been seeing a doctor for several months because of problems with his lungs. He was treated for pleurisy, then pneumonia and finally allergies (to dogs, dust, grass and mold). However, no treatment seemed to help, so on Thursday (June 7) his doctor sent him to Kingsway Hospital in Amanzimtoti to see a pulmonary specialist and to have tests done. They did a bronchioscopy, drained fluid from his lungs and removed a swollen lymph gland amongst other things. The lymph gland confirmed what the doctor suspected and on Monday we were told that it is lung cancer. This week he has been going through more tests to determine whether the cancer is present in any other part of his body. The CT scans which were done today (June 13) are clear., but he is still in hospital as he will be having more tests.

The oncologist is anxious to get started on treatment, but they are waiting to determine whether their insurance will cover treatment in the private hospital. There is a government hospital with a good oncology department, but right now the government workers are on strike. Because there is a danger of that happening again or of equipment breaking down and delays in getting repairs done, the oncologist is working very hard to get permission for the treatment to be done in the private hospital.

We will keep you informed as we learn more.

Michael and I will be leaving on Friday morning for Kimberley There will be a South African Bible Institute Board of Governors meeting on Saturday and the Annual General Meeting on Sunday. Pray for us as we travel and as the Board makes decisions regarding the school. We will return home on Monday.

Caryl

Late April 2007

We are back in South Africa and are getting settled in. It is great to be home again!

Dina and Sean moved out of our house about a week or so before we got back. Intruders took advantage of their absence. The alarm went off and the security company sent someone out to check. He said all was in order. When they contacted Sean to say the alarm had gone off again, he decided to come out and see for himself. The garage light was on, so he went around the back of the house and discovered a couple of young guys had broken in. He shouted and they escaped over the concrete fence around our property. They did not succeed in stealing Dina and Sean’s bicycles (which they had moved out of the garage) or anything else of value, but they had made a huge mess in the garage, even eating part of a cake that was in the freezer.

We have enjoyed some family time since we got back. Sean and Mac celebrated birthdays the day after we got home. We got to see a lot of their friends and enjoyed birthday cake and home-made ice cream.

We have been to see Mom Stanley a couple of times. Her health has deteriorated some, but we enjoyed our visits with her. She recognized us immediately and even made comments about people who had sent greetings to her.

We stopped by Magog Primary School on our way to Umzumbe Bible Institute early last week and most of the teachers came out to welcome us back. We are looking forward to getting back to our classes there and we are making plans for the next Grade 7 Life Skills camp which will be at the end of May.

When we went to Umzumbe Bible Institute we were able to assess some of the damage done by the intruders at the end of last year. It is a big mess and we have not been back to start the clean-up yet. Two doors were stolen and at least one other door will have to be replaced. It looks like the best plan might be to back the pick-up up to the building and take a lot of stuff to the dump! It seems that their main purpose was to damage and destroy.

While we were at Umzumbe Bible Institute, the high school students walked past on their way home. Many of the Grade 8 students, who had been in our Life Skills classes last year, greeted us and two girls even came into the yard and visited with us.

We plan to go to Mntwan’ungamizizwe High School next week. Michael will resume his Tuesday morning devotions for the students (and teachers) there. Once we have completed the necessary repairs at Umzumbe Bible Institute, we will resume the extra lessons in English for them. We will have to replace our computers before we can begin computer lessons.

Michael has telephoned some of the church people so we are making contact with them again and are looking forward to resuming our activities. On Sunday (21st April) we will be at Umzumbe for church and on April 28th we will go to Kwa Mashu (near Durban). Our plan is to visit the churches throughout KwaZulu Natal over the next few months.

Pray for us as we get re-settled and as we re-establish our ministry programs.

Caryl and Michael

Early April 2007 

Our time in the States is getting very short. We leave on the 11th of April, so have less than two weeks left. It is a busy time as we pack and prepare to leave.

We have completed our speaking schedule. It has been a good year. We visited 22 churches, two ladies groups and some individuals that support us. We had to cancel two speaking dates because of weather. In January we were within 50 miles of the church in Nebraska, but they had so much snow that they cancelled their church service. At the end of February we got snowed in and had to cancel a speaking date in Indiana because we were snowed in in Minnesota. We also visited four churches that have an interest in our work, but are not regular supporters. We spoke for some youth groups, cell groups, and schools while we were traveling. We were blessed with good weather most of the time and safe travels. We enjoyed our visits with people who hosted us and provided meals for us.

We are now in the process of packing up our possessions so we can move out of the house provided by the Horicon Church of Christ near Truman Minnesota. What a blessing that has been - a place to call our own when we weren’t traveling! We will store some things with our siblings and pack a lot to take back to South Africa with us. We are trying to decide what to keep, what to store, what to throw away, and what to take with us. Now if the weight limits for our luggage weren’t so low it would be a lot easier! Of course, we also need to take some goodies back to the family in South Africa.

Pray for us as we prepare and as we travel. We are looking forward to getting back to our own home, seeing our children and grandchildren, and resuming our work.

Pray for us as we reestablish our work with the young people in the local primary and high school, as we return to the Umzumbe church, and as we travel throughout KwaZulu Natal and visit the churches to preach, teach and encourage.

Thank you to each of you who welcomed us to your churches and your homes.

Love,
Caryl and Michael

January 2007

It has been a busy month with a lot of traveling. Not only have we visited churches in South Dakota and Minnesota, but we also took a few days to enjoy a vacation. Although it is a strange time to do sight-seeing in the northern part of the United States, we spent three days in Western South Dakota. Michael had never see Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Black Hills, the Badlands, Wall Drug, etc. I had been there so many years ago that I had only vague memories of my visit. Since we were already in South Dakota, we decided to head on west and we really had a wonderful time. There was some snow, but it was warm enough that we didn’t even need hats, though we did wear our gloves while we walked the presidential trail at Mount Rushmore. It was a most enjoyable interlude.

This year we were able to attend the Dakota Christian Conference and what a blessing it was. The messages by Ben Cachiaras were challenging and the fellowship was great.

So far the weather in our travels has not been bad. We have had some snow, but have been able to get to all of the churches as scheduled. The end of January has brought us more typical Minnesota weather – cold, snowy, and windy.
We are getting anxious to return to South Africa and our flights are now booked. We will leave Minnesota on April 11 and arrive home on April 13. A lot of work awaits us in South Africa. We will have to repair the buildings at Umzumbe Bible Institute as a result of the damage done during the recent break-ins. We will also re-establish our ministry to the school children in our area and visit the churches of KwaZulu Natal.

Pray for us as we travel to visit churches in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana and Ohio over the next 2 months. Also pray for us as we make decisions about what to take back to South Africa with us.

Caryl and Michael

2006 Email Updates

December 2006

We have been busy traveling over the past two months and I seem to have gotten behind in my emails.

We have enjoyed our visits to churches - renewing friendships and reporting on our work in South Africa. We have traveled many miles and have had safe journeys, for which we are most thankful.

We attended the National Missionary Convention in Indianapolis. What a joy to share in the worship services, attend workshops, meet missionary colleagues from South Africa and around the world, meet Bible college students and see many of our friends from churches around the country.

We reported in our last email that we had heard from our son-in-law that the mission property had been burgled. Unfortunately, the burglars have broken down the doors again and again after Sean repaired them. We now know that we have lost tools, mattresses, a small refrigerator, a gas cylinder and equipment which we had on hand. The last time they even stole the doors off two of the buildings! We won’t know the full extent of the losses until we can go back and start looking around for ourselves. Michael phoned a lady who lives near the mission and she says they suspect some people who live in the community are doing it. We just don’t know how to stop them or what to do to protect the property - short of hiring someone who could be on the property at all times.

The National Youth Seminar was held early in December. We have not heard much about how things went, except that the attendance was lower than anticipated. We pray that those who were there were blessed and encouraged in their walk with God.

We are at our home near Truman now and will speak here on Sunday. Then we will be going to visit family for Christmas celebrations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. We are looking forward to that, though we will miss our children and grandchildren in South Africa over the holidays.

Pray for us as we continue to travel in the new year. We will be in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Indiana and Ohio during the next three months. Our goal is to finish our speaking dates by the end of March and then return to South Africa in mid-April.

Crime is really a serious problem in South Africa. We would ask you to pray for our family and the Christians in South Africa. Also pray for God’s protection for anything of value left at Umzumbe Bible Institute.

Michael and I wish you a very Merry Christmas. May your celebrations be joyful and Christ-centered. We also wish you a blessed year in 2007.
Love,
Michael and Caryl

October 2006 Supplement

Shortly after we sent out our monthly email to you, we received word from our son-in-law, Sean, that there had been a burglary at Umzumbe Bible Institute. A lady who lives near UBI phoned to tell him that there had been a break-in. All of the doors in the office/library complex had been broken, the alarm system had been removed from the wall, and all of the rooms had been ransacked. On a more positive note, it seems that nothing may have been taken. We were surprised to hear that he computers and lawn mower were still there. We are waiting to hear from Sean if he can tell if anything is missing. Of course, we will not know until we return and see for ourselves as Sean is not that familiar with the things that should be there. We do not have burglary insurance so we will just have to pay for the repairs that have to be done. Pray for Sean as he has to deal with this in our absence.

Caryl

October 2006

We are well into our speaking schedule and it has been encouraging to meet with people in our supporting churches. Over the next few months we will do more traveling and will visit as many of the churches as possible.

If all goes as we plan we will be mostly in Illinois and Indiana in November, Oklahoma and Nebraska in December, South Dakota in January, Iowa and Nebraska in February, and Indiana and Ohio in March. We will also be in some Minnesota churches almost every month.

We have not heard much from the people in South Africa. Michael wrote to the teachers at the schools in the Umzumbe area. The English teacher we have worked with for the past few years did respond and he said, “I told my colleagues at school about our letter and they were happy to learn that you are still okay. And they did express the fact that they miss your Tuesday Prayers.” We will be glad to get back to that again when we return to South Africa.

We know that the annual conference took place in South Africa, but we have not received any reports of how it went. We continue to pray for the Christians there.

We have learned from our children and Michael’s sister that Mom Stanley has not been very well. Our desire is to see her again when we return to South Africa, but we do not want her to linger in pain. Continue to pray for her.

All of our children seem to be keeping busy and we are thankful for email so we can keep in touch with them. Sean has begun his orthotics/prosthetics clinic in Port Shepstone and we are pleased for him.

One sad note is that a very dear friend of mine (Caryl) in South Africa passed away recently. She was a little older than me and had some health issues, but I was surprised to hear she was gone.

We are getting geared up for winter. We have our winter coats and boots, so I guess if the snow comes we are prepared. We have seen a few light flurries, but so far no snow has stayed around.

Continue to pray for us as we travel and report to churches. Our desire is to inform and encourage interest in the work in South Africa, Pray that we will be able to do that.

Caryl and Michael

September 2006

Greetings from Southern Minnesota. We are happily settled in our home and enjoying country life. We have made applesauce from the apples that grow in our yard. We can hear the sheep bleating in the pasture across the driveway. We saw three deer out the kitchen window tonight.

We have begun our travels and have booked almost all of the weekends until early December. We will be contacting other churches to arrange dates in the new year soon. Our initial speaking engagements have been in Wisconsin, but the next four weeks take us to churches in Minnesota. Then in mid-October we head out to Eastern Ohio for our first long trip.

It has been great to see friends and family again. We have enjoyed our visits and times of sharing. The people at the Horicon Church of Christ have been very generous and are taking good care to us.

We hear regularly from our children in South Africa, but have not heard from any of the African brethren and co-workers there. We do know that the annual conference will be held at the end of the month and we would ask you to keep the speakers and leaders in your prayers.

Dina began work as a nurse at the hospice in Port Shepstone and Sean is looking into opening up an orthotics/ prosthetics clinic in Port Shepstone. They seem to have settled into our house now and it sounds like things are going well for them.

Pray for us as we travel and speak. If you have specific times when you would like to have us come to visit, please contact us by email or phone.   michael.stanley@venturenet.co.za  or  caryl_stanley@hotmail.com
612-770-7921 (Michael’s cell)   or  507-436-5232 (house)

August 2006

We are getting settled in the parsonage at the Horicon Church of Christ, which is in a rural area just south of Truman Minnesota. The house has a bedroom, bathroom, office, living room and kitchen on the main floor. The upstairs has three bedrooms, which we just use for storage. The church people have loaned us furniture and essentials. They have been most welcoming and we have enjoyed our time here.

We spent the first month based in Minneapolis and involved with family activities. We were able to participate in a wedding, a holiday, a cancer fund-raiser and a family reunion.

We begin our visits to churches this weekend. We will be in Wisconsin and Minnesota in August, September and October. In November we will be in Illinois and Indiana (for the National Missionary Convention.) In December we will go to Oklahoma. We are in the process of arranging the schedule for the rest of the time. Pray for us as we travel and speak.

We have discovered that the trunk of our car is a little small for our suitcases and display, but we are happy with our car. We got cell phones while we were still in Minneapolis - and now discover that we have no cell contact at our house. We have to drive about 10 miles to get a signal.

However, it seems it will be better in most of the areas where we will be traveling. Michael’s number is 612-770-7921. When we are at home you can reach us at the Horicon Church of Christ. The number is 507-436-5232 and it rings in our house.

We are in regular contact with the family in South Africa. Sean is handling our financial affairs there and we are all on a steep learning curve!! We thought we had everything in order, but we are all thankful for email so we can quickly deal with issues that come up.

Pray for the churches in South Africa. The annual conference will be coming up at the end of September. We have heard that the venue has been changed since we left South Africa. We are not sure why that was done. Pray especially that there will be a revival among church leaders.

Michael and Caryl

July 2006

We arrived back in the United States on July 14. It is great to be here and we have been busy since we arrived.

It definitely was not our smoothest trip! We had trouble checking in in Durban because we wanted to check our luggage through to Minneapolis. The agent was having a lot of trouble so we finally asked her to just send our luggage through to Johannesburg and we would collect it and check in again. By then we were late so had to run to our flight. When we were seated and the doors of the plane were closed, Michael realized that he had left his DayRunner (a book which includes calendar, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) in the security tray. We couldn’t go back, but the flight attendant was able to confirm that it was there. When we got to Johannesburg we tried to have it brought up before we left at near midnight. Unfortunately, all the planes had already left Durban for the night.

The flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam was not full, so we were able to stretch out a bit and we both slept. I suppose there were movies, but neither of us were interested. We were exhausted and really enjoyed just getting some rest.

We had a full plane from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. When we were somewhere over the ocean they asked if there was a doctor on board. Later they announced that we were making an unscheduled stop because of a medical emergency. They said we would land at Goose Bay. Before we landed they told us to prepare for an emergency landing, but we didn’t land. Michael had noticed that he couldn’t see the wing because of fog or cloud. We were on the way down when, suddenly, we were climbing again. Apparently, the runway for instrument landing was closed for repairs and the visual landing runway was not visible. So we flew on to Gander and landed there. The emergency medical case was taken off the plane and we refueled before going on to Minneapolis.

Fortunately, our family hadn’t given up on us, in spite of being about 2 hours late. We enjoyed a meal at a restaurant with 11 other family members before heading to Duane and Kathy’s for the night.

Since we have been back, we have done a little fun shopping (like treats we haven’t been able to get for a few years) and some major shopping. We have purchased a car. It is a 2005 Chrysler Sebring. We trust that it will serve us well for the next few months. The Mission was given a brand new laptop computer with printer. It has worked hard for us over the past few days as we have taken care of some important mission work.

Last weekend we attended the wedding of a nephew. We helped with the Groom’s Dinner on Friday night and Michael was invited to participate in the service on Saturday by reading scripture. It was so nice to be able to participate in this special family event.

Tomorrow we leave for a week of holiday. We will return in time to participate in the Stillwater, MN, Relay for Life and the Stanley family reunion at Kimball, MN. Then we will begin visiting churches. We have a few weekends scheduled, but we look forward to hearing from you about when we can come and visit you. Please contact us at michael.stanley@venturenet.co.za  or phone us on 612-770-7921 to arrange a date.

Pray for our family and the churches we have left behind in South Africa. Also pray for safety for us as we travel here in the United States.

Caryl and Michael