Our Bible classes continued with an average attendance of 5 students. The Bible Study day on Saturday 17 October was attended by 14 students and quite a few interesting topics were covered once students submitted some questions regarding the promises to Abraham, temptation and the Kingdom of God.
My weekly responsibilities now consist of:
- Teaching individuals and groups of friends at the Durban BEC.
- Leading an evening study class for young members and friends from the Durban, Westville and Pinetown ecclesias.
- Sharing the Lamontville Bible Class with Bro. Cam
- Leading an evening study class for our Congolese brethren.
- Attending and speaking at local ecclesial Sunday , Bible Class and special events.
On November 21st, the Durban BEC had a ceremony to recognize students who had completed one or more of the correspondence courses. Of the 90 students who qualified to receive a certificate, 30 of the students attended and brought guests. We had approximately 70+ adults in attendance. Barry Van Heerdon gave a motivational exhortation, cake and tea were enjoyed by all and overall the ceremony was received very positively. Many of our students attended the BEC the following week to receive their pictures and had very positive comments about the ceremony. Additionally, many of the students who couldn't attend have been visiting the BEC to get their certificates, which has resulted in extra attendance at the BEC in the following weeks.
In mid October I took 6 of the Mariannhill youth to Johannesburg for a weekend camp. We had reached our goal of raising all the necessary money for all of them to attend. It really was an uplifting weekend for all of us, and I think the youth really enjoyed meeting other youth from around South Africa.
I have handed over the Lamontville youth group to the new volunteers, so I have more time on my hands to focus on the schools. So instead of going to Lamontville every Friday I now go to the BEC and give a class if there are any students in. At the moment there is one student, Cathy who is a catholic and wants to know all about the book of Daniel and Revelation. I am very young in the word and also find those two books a tad difficult but David White has offered to give me weekly classes and so by doing so he teaches me how to teach others. I am really enjoying that!
Main Projects:
- Mariannhill Bible class
- Increasing local interest in God’s word in Margate and Pietermaritzburg
- Bible Education Centre (BEC) Durban
- Ecclesial support at Candu
- Mason Lincoln (Happy’s) School for the Physically Handicapped
- Concerts and talks in Durban
- Theses are dotted about Durban and it’s greater area, and then Margate, Candu and Pietermaritzburg are significant distances away, meaning travel expenses (petrol) are high.
After a brief spell in Kathmandu renewing my Indian visa it was back to Hyderabad. I spent a day out at Darsarlapelly (Jayanthi Rehabilitation Centre for Sufferers of Leprosy) with two Australian sisters. After a few days Sister Carmen Gurd and I went off on a whirlwind tour of South India. Our first stop was Madurai in Tamil Nadu. We visited Sister Roja and her family who moved there about 7 months ago. In that short time she has amassed a large number of contacts so Carmen and I gave a couple of bible classes while we were there and spent some time with her cousin James (he was visiting from Coimbatore specifically to meet us) who is keen to get baptised. We also met a number of the blind people that Sister Roja is working with - helping them to learn to read Braille etc. On our third day there we headed out to see Sister Roja's mother - self-named Sister Glory. We met a number of the elderly women that she cares for and bought them some sleeping mats, blankets and sari blouses - all of which they were in desperate need of.
Lamontville Youth is arguably my favourite class. I co-teach this with Julie Machacek and Laura Skinner on a Friday evening and there is a usually a group of about 20 kids – mostly girls – who are all lovely. We play a game and relate it to a spiritual lesson in order to make it memorable. It’s not just their enthusiasm to learn about the word of God and sing – very loudly – but the relationships that we have developed with them that make them special to me. One of the older girls recently confided in me some of her worries – just teenage girl worries – but I was really pleased that she felt able to come and talk to me about it.
Our first two months in South Africa have already been an unforgettable experience, I have learnt so much, and spiritually grown more than I have in the last two years! There seems to be so much to do out here and so many people to help that we really didn’t know where to start! My immune system really let me down for the first month, but thanks to Dr Mahen and very strong antibiotics I feel healthy again and ready to take on the challenges of the coming months! Here is an update of some of the projects we have been working on so far:
The past 2 months have been spent largely in Hyderabad. We have moved house to the mission flat which is a temporary arrangement until renovations are completed on another residence in the compound where mission activities are co-ordinated from. It seems that our role, for the time being, is centred around the activities of the mission office instead of getting out and visiting contacts and brethren in distant places.
During this time there was major flooding in southern Andhra Pradesh which affected members of 5 ecclesias. Some of our brothers and sisters lost all their possessions and in some cases the houses they were living in were completely destroyed. In response to this we were able to assist by arranging a team of local Hyderabad Brothers to go and visit the flood affected area with some emergency supplies of food. After 3 days they were able to return and provide information that was valuable as we endeavoured to digest the scale of the flooding and its impact on our brothers and sisters.
Mission to Jamaica
Overview of Port Maria, Jamaica Projects
White Fields
White Fields Home Page
Gallery of Recent Photos
White Fields Concept
Fieldwork News Archive
WCF Newsletter - Winter 2009
White Fields Reports - Oct. & Nov. 2009
WCF Newsletter - Fall 2009
White Fields Reports - September 2009
White Fields Reports - August 2009
White Fields Reports - July 2009
White Fields Reports - June 2009
White Fields Reports - May 2009
White Fields Reports - April 2009
White Fields Reports - March 2009
White Fields Reports - Feb 2009
Compilation from Cambodia Feb, 2009
Report from Jamaica Oct, 2008
Report from South Africa Oct, 2008
Baptism in Cambodia Feb, 2008
Trip to Nayudapeta India Jan, 2008
Allen and Tara Laben – India 4
Allen and Tara Laben – India 3
Allen and Tara Laben – India 2
Allen and Tara Laben – India 1
Gospel of Peace–Hawaii
WCF Brethren Visit Romania and Turkey, March, 2005
Exploring Cambodia–Early Preaching Activities
Jamaica, December 2004–January 2005 [1.1 MB PDF]
Basic Bible Teaching in Joliet, Illinois
Newsletter Archive
Spring 2009 Newsletter (PDF)
Winter 2008 Newsletter (PDF)
Summer 2008 Newsletter (PDF)
Focus on P2P–Spring 2007 (PDF)
The Year in Review–Winter 2006 (PDF)
FOCUS ON Outreach DVDs–Fall 2006 (PDF)
FOCUS ON Sisters–Summer 2006 (DOC)
FOCUS ON Fellow Workers–Spring 2006 (PDF)
FOCUS ON Life Solutions–December 2005 (PDF)
FOCUS ON 30th Anniversary–Fall 2005 (PDF)
December 2004 (PDF)
December 2003
May 2003 (PDF)
December 2002 (PDF)
December 2001
January 2001
