Natal – Dec 1976

Natal Tour Part 2

Bambi Tea Garden, Coffee Bar Umhlali/BallitoBay

6-Dec-76, 7.00p

7-Dec-76, 1:30p, 7.00p

8-Dec-76 , 7.00p

Seph: We were told we were be going to host a Coffee Bar near the beach for 3 nights. Sounds great, until we got there.  The first clue must have been the overgrown track we had to drive on to get there!  This was the North Coast near Umhlanga, and everything seemed overgrown. When I first saw the building I was taken aback! It had no glass in any windows, and was a mess.  It was obviously an abandoned building!  The former Bambi Tea Gardens”. Being the cheerful, “see everything on the bright side”, kind of group, we set about cleaning up the broken glass and all the junk & rubbish in the place, to make it presentable. That afternoon we drove to the beach to hand out leaflets to the beachgoers to invite them to the Coffee Bar, but why anyone actually came in is still a miracle!  The nights were spent sleeping on the bare concrete floor of the building, it was hot, and I guess we were grateful there were no windows! I know people did come, and as at many of our meetings, people accepted Jesus.   Years later while I was in UK, I met a couple in the ministry, who turned out to be South African, but more surprising, as we talked, come to find out he accepted Jesus into his heart that night, in Umhlali in the Coffee Bar, and went on to serve Jesus full time.  Wow!  How many other stories like that will we hear one day in heaven.  We were so blessed to be used of God, what a privilege.

Cecil: When we left Balito heading down to Kokstad, I think we left straight after the evening meeting, at about 1am.  Some of us had food poisoning – Les being one.  I drove his Datsun 1200GX with Les and Joan in the back seat.  I was wasted, and struggling to stay awake.  I think Mac was driving the El Camino, also struggling to stay awake.  I opened the window of the car to get cold air hoping to keep awake.  Wasn’t long when Joan woke and asked me to close the window.  It was a tough trip – I remember at one stage thinking the road was rough but soon saw I was driving on the grass verge!   This shook me up, and I woke up enough to get to the end of the journey – I believe the Lord still had some plans for us.

Natal Tour Part 3

9-Dec-76 • Kokstad 10:30am : Grenswag School

9-Dec-76 • Kokstad 11:30am : Kokstad High

10-Dec-76 • Matatiele 10am: Matatiele School

10-Dec-76 • Matatiele 3pm: Open Air Square (Steps of Town Hall)

10-Dec-76 • Matatiele 7:30pm: Rally at Methodist Church

11-Dec-76 • Kokstad 12am : Open Air Square (Park)

11-Dec-76 • Kokstad 4pm : Full Gospel Church Xmas Party

11-Dec-76 • Kokstad 7:30pm : Town Hall

Seph: Stuart Lear sure worked us hard! Two, sometimes three events a day! Lots of packing and unpacking. I remember Matatielle, up high in the mountains near the Lesotho border.  Mac & I were staying together, and our hosts must have been wealthy!  Their servants came to the car to carry our luggage, all dressed up fancy, even had gloves I think!  I remember being quite surprised. It is strange what one remembers, but they did have a beautiful daughter! Fortunately Theo had pictures of our time there. Singing on the dusty steps of the town hall in Matatielle. It was a market town, with many Lesotho residents crossing the border to come to the shops. The next day we were in a very nice green park in Kokstad, and I may be dreaming here, but I thought Keith gave his testimony here. Please correct me if I’m wrong, Keith.

Cecil: If I recall Keith and I stayed with a family in Kokstad?.  They were typical Church going Afrikaners.  One night at dinner the ‘oom’ asked us if we would pray for him – he was starting a rather dubious business which was a bit left of the law (not sure what it was), but he needed prayer to ask God to make it a success.  We proceeded to give him a bit of counselling on ethics if I recall correctly. We were deeply spiritual mature Christians you know ……

Natal Tour Part 4

12-Dec-76 • Margate 9am: Methodist Church

12-Dec-76 • Margate 10:30am: Methodist Church

12-Dec-76 • Margate 8:30pm: Amphitheater Behind the shops? Small Amphitheater

13-Dec-76 • Harding 7:30p: Harding Town Hall

14-Dec-76 • Harding 11a: Open Air

14-Dec-76 • Harding 7:30p: Harding Town Hall

15-Dec-76 • Harding 7:30p: Harding Town Hall

16-Dec-76 • Margate 12am: Open Air next to Beach

17-Dec-76 • Pinetown 6p: Windemere Center, Carols

18-Dec-76 • Durban 6:30p: Open Air, Beach Front

Seph: The tour included a number of trips to Margate, once in a small amphitheatre behind the beach shops, and then later we had a larger open air concert. Stuart Lear continued to work us hard, with three events in Margate in one day.

Oh…Oribi (Horrible) Gorge.  It scared me out of my wits! Especially when everyone was sitting on the rock overhang….I ran away and hid….convinced someone was going to fall into the gorge! 

Harding was just a tiny little town, yet we were there for 2 nights.  Must have just about met everyone in the town.

I remember the Carols in Pinetown, but more specifically the place Mac & I stayed.  The people had told us to make ourselves at home.  Our sleeping place was in the old servants quarters, but they had said it was ok to be in the house. So, that night after the Carols, thinking our hosts were away, we sat in the kitchen talking and having a cup of coffee.  Feeling a little hungry, I opened the fridge and found a bowl of something, got a spoon and started digging in, just at the moment our host came in! Rather embarrassing.  

I don’t remember the open air on Durban Beach, but I do remember meeting with Stuart Lear one night on the trip. We had communion together. I was so tired, and the prayers were so long and monotone, I tried so hard to keep awake, but fell asleep! Don’t know if anyone noticed, but I’m sure others were asleep as well!