Short Term Couple Needed!
ZEMA’s Sunbury Christian Camp in Sans Souci, South Africa is a self-catering camp and conference center for the use of Christian churches and organizations.
ZEMA is looking for a couple who could serve as caretakers of the facilities and property for two to three years (the time frame is negotiable). The couple would need to raise support or be self-supported. This position would be ideal for a retired couple with some handyman skills.
In-Person ZEBS Classes are Back!
Last month, President Ramaphosa opened the country for religious gatherings up to 50 people and broadened available travel time by extending the curfew hours. At Sunbury, ZEMA teachers acted quickly to resume in-person learning but had to make some changes. Students had to reserve attendance on WhatsApp, either Friday or Saturday, no overnight stay. Temperatures were monitored, masks were required, and a snack (instead of a meal) was provided. The thing that did not change was there was a whole lot of teaching! We were thrilled and thankful that 22 students on Friday and 25 on Saturday were able to attend class despite the short 2-day notice! Teachers stayed overnight Friday to plan ways of expanding our virtual library and laid the groundwork for sharing virtual material in the future. Paul Seelhammer attended with equipment to record the lessons for use in other schools. Nozipho Swart demonstrated an SD card that will be made available to students later this year. The team had opportunity to introduce students to a new LightStream device. Eighty percent of our students succeeded in connecting to the LightStream, and there were over 50 downloads during the hours remaining. The LightStream is a portable, wireless hotspot. It’s wi-fi signal allows people to log on and access information that has been previously loaded onto the device. It is not the internet so we control what can be downloaded. Providing our teachers with a device, they will have resources available for students, i.e., videos, audio recordings, or other material. The device at Sunbury has the Jesus film in multiple South African languages as well as recordings of our radio ministry broadcasts, the audio Bible in Zulu, and various other items. The information can be accessed through wi-fi, Bluetooth, or a micro SD Card that we can sync and provide to students. It will be extremely beneficial since information can be streamed or downloaded for free by our students! They will not incur any data costs since they are only logging onto the device and not the internet. This is significant as there are no unlimited internet plans in Southern Africa. Kim Livingston and Paul Seelhammer have been working to obtain a Zero-Rating for the ZEMA website. Should the government grant approval, material on our website could be accessed free by our students. ZEMA has applied twice, however during COVID-19 the Department of Education is focusing on schools and varsities. Prior to the pandemic the government awarded this status to Bible colleges and other places of study.