The PE BEC

We are falling farther behind with our posts! We're now in Durban, working at the Durban BEC, which is to be our main focus while we're here in South Africa. But that's getting ahead of the story. First, a few words about the Port Elizabeth BEC (Bible Education Centre). By the way, a couple more pix have been added to the previous post.

The BEC in PE is built inside a shipping container, the kind you see on container ships and trucks. They got it used (and somewhat the worse for wear), painted it, and did some other refurbishing. The reason for the container is that it is moveable. Right now it is parked in the Kwadwesi township, on an empty piece of ground along with a row of other informal vendors--next door is a vegetable stand. It's across the street from a busy shopping plaza, and there is a lot of vehicle and foot traffic. Quite a few people stop in.

The BEC is open Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. On Wed and Fri the main person manning it is a young brother named Luzuko Gedze. He is very sharp, as well as a very spiritual young man. He is just about to complete his university shooling in IT, and hopes to get a job in systems administration. This will be great for him, but will have an effect on the BEC from a staffing perspective. On Saturdays, Bro Zwelakhe Shologu is there, and often his son Bro Nkosinathi is there, as well as Luzuko.

Mike Floyd and we stopped in briefly on Friday (28th), and climbed up to see what might be done with the roof to stop a leak. There has been some water damage inside, not severe, but some of the books were affected. Mike then took us with him to get some patching materials. We failed to notice that none of us put the ladder back inside, so it was gone when we came back on Saturday. Vanessa brought Jane and I back on Sat, and bought a replacement ladder at the building supply place across the street--we felt bad that this was necessary. She left us there, and Paul spent the next hour plus on the roof, in gale winds, trying to patch things up. We had a sealer and some fabric intended for this kind of repair. In the wind, there was no way we could get the fabric to stay in place. We ended up applying the sealer, and Mike will try to do the rest of the job at a later time.

When we arrived, there were two active Bible discussions in progress--both in the Xhosa language, so we weren't able to participate. Zwelakhe and Nkosinathi were engaged with a man who had come in the week before, and who had completed the first Bible course in the intervening week! He was interested in baptism, a wonderful desire, but he does need a bit more study--and he got some more of it in the hour & a half class they had. Meanwhile, Luzuko was busy with another man, who stayed for over an hour. Jane handled the people who walked in while these discussions were going on, and Paul was clomping around on the roof. Nearly everyone speaks English, even if their first language is something else, so she did fine. After the students had gone, Jane did some cleaning, straightening, and organizing of the course material, which had all been hastily shifted around to get out of the way of the water.

After the BEC closed, Zwalakhe took us home for dinner with his family, prepared by his wife Sister Grace. This was our first traditional African meal, and it was delicious! We had samp & beans, samp being something similar to what we would call hominy, along with melt-in-your-mouth beef. We had a lovely late afternoon of fellowship, including an attempt for Jane and I to learn one of the clicks in the Xhosa language, with very shaky results. Then Zwelakhe dropped us back at the flat where we were staying.

On Sunday, the PE ecclesia hosted a "Family & Friends" day, a concept we would like to introduce back home. Each family in the ecclesia is encouraged to invite 2 family members or friends. They have the worship service early, at 9:30, then have the visitors arrive at 11:00. There is a Bible talk, followed by lunch. On this occasion, Paul did the exhortation for the worship service, and then gave a PowerPoint illustrated talk on "My Father’s House" for the public talk. There were quite a few visitors, and the meal afterward gave an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other a bit.

After lunch, we said our goodbyes to everyone, and we were warmly welcomed to come back if we're able to, which we would love to do.

Monday was again travel day, so we packed up and Mike took us to the airport. We didn't know who was going to pick us up, and both we and Mike tried to reach several people in Durban, with no success. So, we got on the plane anyway! Sure enough, everyone but us knew that Bro David White would be there to meet us, he was, and he took us to the Durban ecclesial hall, where we are now staying in a flat above the meeting place. More on that next time!