Stanleys - South Africa

The provincial women’s and men’s meeting was held the first weekend of July. This year it was at a church quite near our home so we didn’t have to make a long trip. Although the services were almost entirely in Zulu we were impressed that most of the speakers seemed well-prepared with messages and lessons. It is always good to see people who come from other congregations. The fellowship is encouraging for all of us.

We are making progress on the efforts to hand over the mission property to the local church. We offered it to them and they accepted. We just have to work out exactly how it will be done. We can donate the property, but we understand that the government will impose a donation tax so we are trying to find out how much it is and who is responsible for that.

We have been spending most of our days this month sorting through papers, teaching materials, books and photographs that we have collected over the past 48 years! We are donating some of it and destroying a lot of it! It is not an easy task!

We have approached a real estate agent in regard to selling our house, but have been advised to do a bit of “de-cluttering” before we put the house on the market. We have been in the house for 35 years so there is a lot of accumulation to go through! We would need to sell our house before we could move, but we have looked at some houses in gated complexes that we would consider as a possible new home for us. Pray for the right buyer for our house and for us to find a home we can buy.

We have decided to make a short personal trip to the US from mid-August to mid-September. Michael’s niece, Amber, Duane and Kathy’s daughter, passed away in early July from complications from muscular dystrophy and an operation. Michael’s sister, Debbie, who lives in South Africa, decided to go to the US in mid-August. It is not often that all four siblings are on one side of the ocean so we decided that we will also go for a visit at the same time.

Pray for us as we make some huge transitions in our lives here and as we travel to the US next month.

Photo – Brother Dinga, one of Michael’s South African Bible Institute extension class students, preached at the July Women’s and Men’s meeting. He ministers at Ingwavuma in the far north of the province.