Jerry D'Alton July Report
July 2007
Greetings in the name of Jesus!
July has been an exciting month here in Tsumeb! Our new building is coming on fast and although a lot of finishing still has to be done with the ceilings to be installed and the electricity still to be connected, we were able to meet there the last two Sundays of the month. What a difference it has made! It has meant carting chairs back and forth between the two buildings. Because of the electricity not yet being connected, we had to move our evening services back to the old building. We hope to have everything completed in another week or so when we will be able to move the school to the new building. The Town Council has offered us an additional building lot adjacent to our present property that will enlarge our property by another half of its size again. This is going to cost another $5,000, but we believe that this is a worthwhile investment and will give us plenty of scope for future development and expansion. The Council has agreed for us to pay for this property in installments with a $500 deposit and the balance payable over 24 months. Please help us to pay for this additional property.
The Lord has really been good to us in many ways. It was only nine months ago that we stood in front of the new property with pounding hearts, wondering how we were going to raise the money for the new building. Today, as the building is slowly reaching completion, we still have to pinch ourselves occasionally to test whether we are not just dreaming! We have also received an unexpected blessing from another source. Out of the blue we received an e-mail from Don Martell, a total stranger, who said that he was coming to Namibia on a camping trip and wanted to know whether we needed anything for our new building. He had been in contact with the West Side Church of Christ in Ontario, Canada, to find a church close to the Etosha Game Reserve, just 60 miles from Tsumeb, where he will be camping. We told him that we needed a projector screen for our auditorium and they almost immediately raised money for this! We can only speculate on how our project got onto the internet, but we suspect this was done by Janice Lyon of the Hilldale Church of Christ in Clarksville, Tennessee.
We have started work on the old building to convert it into a home for our orphans. The first phase is securing the premises with a brick wall that has now been completed. We now plan on renovating and extending the present storeroom for an apartment for the caretaker family who will have to live on the premises. We are, however, still short on funds to complete the project and will welcome any contributions to enable us to do so. The need for this ministry is great and we again want to appeal for ongoing finances to fund this project. With the old building becoming a home for these kids, we are entering a completely new phase in their care as we will now become directly responsible for all of their needs whereas in the past we only made partial contributions to their caretaker families. We want to thank the Hilldale Church of Christ for the two boxes of clothing they sent us for these children. We understand there are three more to come!
The work in the town of Lüderitz (pronounced Loo-de-ritz) where John Mununga, one of the 2006 graduates of the Bible school, is now preaching is going very well. John reports attendances of 40-50 and has had regular baptisms. My brother John and I support John from our own funds. One of our other 2006 graduates, Anselm Hamutenya, has also reported a baptism in the Kavango region. We also provide Anselm with a small allowance.
We are also happy to report two baptisms during July here in Tsumeb.
There seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel for our work permits. After a visit to a senior official of the Ministry of Home Affairs we were told that our permits are still under consideration and that we could apply for temporary extensions providing that we apply for accreditation for our school. There are very stringent demands for accreditation, but we have set the wheels in motion and are busy preparing the necessary applications and materials.
We want to remind everyone of the series of dedication services we plan on holding for the official opening of the new building early in 2008. Please let us know if your congregation intends sending a representative for this occasion.
We hear from Clarksville that Bennie Foro’s treatment has been completed and we expect him back on the 15th. Darol Walker, an elder of the Hilldale Church of Christ will be accompanying him home.
This month I want to introduce one of our students to you, Petrus (Peter) Njamba. Peter is very zealous for the Lord and we believe that he is going to develop into an excellent evangelist. Listen to a part of his moving story in his own words:
“I am Petrus Njamba. I was born in the village called Kaisosi, twenty years ago, and I’m the first born in our family. How hard is it to be the first born? We are only four including my mother. My father passed away long time. How hard is it for a woman to take care of the family alone? Growing up in the poor village where one must sell bottles to have some things (food?) for a day. It was really very hard to survive and sometimes if my mother did not sell wood, there would be no food for the day and this means going to sleeping without putting something in the mouth. I came close to quitting (secondary) school because some times going to school without eating or going home after school to find nothing on the table is very hard but my mother always telling me to study so that one day I will become someone in life. With the protection of the Lord Jesus we are all together. Because I am the first born I am the bread winner of the family.”
Incidentally, the pictures we publish in our newsletter are in the Jpeg format and can easily be copied and enlarged in any Windows program.
Thank you for your prayer and financial support in this exciting work.
Jerry & Maria D’Alton