The Joys of Visiting Seminaries and Institutes in South Africa

We've been thinking a lot about the many blessings that have come into our lives in the past month + 1 week. Certainly one of the many would be the joy we receive from visiting the classes. We have now visited 28 units, some near, some as far away as 1 hour;15 minutes from our "cottage".  Some are in homes, some are in school buildings, some are in churches, a couple have been in rooms of an apartment address, which are shared by a number of families, and so very poor.  Each teacher has a little different approach to teaching, but they all are focused on sharing the spirit and love with their students.

The students vary as well, of course. We've met Seminary students from 13 to 18, the normal entry age being 14. In the Institutes young people who are 18 or older;  some returned missionaries, many preparing missionaries, some college students, some young married couples, and even a few elderly sisters who want to learn more. Most of the students seem very engaged in the learning, and ready to share experiences related to the topic of the lesson. All seem to bring well-worn scriptures that have been treasured and well-marked. Many times we get an opportunity to bear testimony to the teacher and the class, and we are so blessed to feel the warm and peaceful spirit of our Heavenly Father with us at those times.

Sometimes I (Debi) am a bit reluctant to visit a class in a less-safe area, or one which will take so much of our time to get to, but always, we are rewarded with new insights and understandings of these wonderful people. Lynn keeps us going and has done an amazing job of getting us to where we need to be, and I am so grateful for his enduring faith throughout things that seem hard.

We've chosen a couple of classes to tell about in this entry: one in a township in Germiston, and another in a tenement-type building in Johannesburg. Keep in mind that these are both on the very poor as to the things of this world end of the spectrum. We could, and probably may talk about some on the other end of the spectrum as time goes on.

When we contacted Brother Kenneth Dladla to see if we could visit his class, he was happy for us to come, but said that we would need to meet him at the local "shopping center". As we pulled up to where he said he would meet us, we were amazed at all of the people doing business on that late Friday afternoon. We had arranged to phone Bro. Kenneth as we arrived, and as we did, he said he was just getting there. He had walked about three miles (in his Sunday suit) to meet us.

Brother Kenneth to the rescue!

We were so happy to see him!

I don't think there was any way we would have found the building his class meets in if he hadn't come and directed us there as he rode with us back the 3 miles he had just travelled!

There is actually another Seminary class that meets at the Germiston Chapel, but that is too far for the students in the township to walk, so Brother Dladla offered to teach this class in a community house which serves as a preschool in the first part of the day. The building interior is about the size of our living room, and is "decorated" with preschool posters. The only chairs are plastic child sized ones (note in the picture). He teaches the class Monday thru Friday, 1 hour each day, and he is really well prepared.

The students passed off scripture memorizations, and were well involved in the lesson.  Best of all, by the way he taught, they could have no question that this gentle man loved them and saw them so close to the way the Savior would. The little preschool room transformed into a safe and inspirational place for these students and their teacher, in an environment that struggles for safety and inspiration. We were so very touched.

Unfortunately, we don't have pictures of the second class I will describe, but hopefully you can picture it closely enough. Brother Obert Machele teaches Institute in his rented room in downtown Johannesburg and has done so for 4 years. He is here from Zimbabwe, and his wife and children are currently there. (Moving from country to country in Africa is very involved and sometimes impossible). His room is one in a tenement-type apartment, which he rents from the "original" renter who lives in another part of the apartment. There may be other families there as well, we couldn't tell that night.

Above Obert's neatly made bed was a make-do "closet" where he hung his suits and other clothes. He had a refrigerator in his "home" and some places to serve for drawers. A number of his "windows" were just open rectangles which he has found any kind of fabric to cover. 

The building is close to a fire station, and he had told us to phone him when we got there and he would help us park and get to his place. When he came out to meet us he was dressed in a clean suit, and so happy that we would come to his class.  We climbed 3 floors of stairs to his room, and were both shocked as we entered, both for the difficult living conditions and for his arrangements for his Institute class.  

In this small room he had set up 4 neat rows of chairs (probably 20 semi-matching chairs!), and his teaching podium was a table with a cloth over it and a number of books and notes which he used for teaching. Probably his pride and joy was a whiteboard he had somehow acquired behind his podium and convenient to write on. His entire room, besides the bed he sleeps on, was arranged and dedicated to his Institute students.

As those students came, it was amazing to see the variety of them. Some appeared to be quite poor while others were well dressed and had good employment or were students. There was such a feeling of respect for their teacher from each of them. Again, this wasn't your Utah Young Single Adult Institute...It included some younger married couples and some single older individuals. To the person, though, they were focused on the lesson and anxious to take part in class discussion. They talked of their challenges in life, with faith that they would get by. It was a wonderful evening!

We are learning and feeling many new things. This is the perfect assignment for us and we are loving it! It surely helps us to realize just what is important in life and what is just nice.