Nelson Mandela Burial in Qunu

"Come home Mandela, the sun has set." These were the painful wails of a woman who was part of a crowd of villagers who welcomed Nelson Mandela's coffin back to his ancestral home of Qunu.

They had been waiting along the highway leading to his home all day. Women dressed in traditional Xhosa clothing danced and sang songs about Madiba, asking him to watch over them from the spirit world.

One of those gathered said she believed his presence back home would bring good fortune to this modest village. But some expressed unhappiness that they would not be allowed to attend the ceremony because of a strict guest list.

"How can you have a guest list for a funeral, that is unAfrican," an elderly woman told me. According to local traditions, everyone is welcome at a funeral and the more, the better.

Another woman who lived a few houses away from Mr Mandela's home said she would miss his generosity. "At Christmas time Tatomkhulu (grandfather) would give us clothes for our children".

"He was our Christ," she said crying.

There are mixed emotions here, a sense of deep loss, punctuated by a sense of pride that a global icon was born of these simple people.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Qunu

Nelson Mandela’s Burial Date & Funeral Details Released | See Details Here

The burial details of the late South African President,
Nelson Mandela has been announced.Jacob Zuma, the current President of South Africa has
declared 10 days of national mourning.

Sunday, 8th December 2013 is the National Day of prayer and reflection for the late icon. He has
asked people of different beliefs to gather in their
various places of worship to pray for the departed
hero, his family and the nation.
Nelson Mandela’s Memorial Service
On Tuesday, the 10th of December, Nelson Mandela’s
memorial service will be held at the FNB Stadium,
near Soweto.
Lying In State
From 11th to 13th December, his remains would lie
in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he
was inaugurated as the first President of the
democratic South Africa in 1994.
Nelson Mandela’s burial
Madiba will be laid to rest in his home town of Qunu
in the Eastern Cape on Sunday, the 15th of
December.
The former President who is fondly called “Tata” –
The father of Nations died at his home in
Johannesburg, South Africa at exactly 11:50pm on
Thursday 5th December 2013 at the age of 95.
Nelson Mandela is survived by his former wife Winnie
Madikizela Mandela, his spouse Graca Machel, his
three daughters – Makaziwe, Zenani, Zindzi and
many grandchildren and great grand children.
May his soul rest in perfect peace (Amen)

#NewsWrita
Posted By – Ojelabi Oluwatobiloba

THE APOSTLE OF COMMUNICATION. Paul Crouch.

Paul Crouch through TBN preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ through out the world, and set a platform for other Ministries for Global Evangelism.

Nelson Mandela: Father of Modern South Africa dies at 95

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• In a nation healing from the scars of apartheid, Nelson Mandela became the moral compass

• With bouts of illness, the anti-apartheid icon faded from the limelight in recent years

• Mandela spent 27 years in prison; 18 of them were on Robben Island

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, destined to lead as the son of the chief councillor to the paramount chief of the Thembu people in Transkei.

He chose to devote his life to the fight against white domination. He studied at Fort Hare University, an elite black college, but left in 1940 short of completing his studies and became involved with the African National Congress (ANC), founding its Youth League in 1944 with Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu.

Mandela worked as a law clerk then became a lawyer who ran one of the few practices that served blacks.

In 1952 he and others were charged for violating the Suppression of Communism Act but their nine-month sentence was suspended for two years.

Mandela was among the first to advocate armed resistance to apartheid, going underground in 1961 to form the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto weSizwe, or 'Spear of the Nation' in Zulu.

He left South Africa and travelled the continent and Europe, studying guerrilla warfare and building support for the ANC.

After his return in 1962, Mandela was arrested and sentenced to five years for incitement and illegally leaving the country. While serving that sentence, he was charged with sabotage and plotting to overthrow the government along with other anti-apartheid leaders in the Rivonia Trial.

Branded a terrorist by his enemies, Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, isolated from millions of his countrymen as they suffered oppression, violence and forced resettlement under the apartheid regime of racial segregation.

He was incarcerated on Robben Island, a penal colony off Cape Town, where he would spend the next 18 years before being moved to mainland prisons.

He was behind bars when an uprising broke out in the huge township of Soweto in 1976 and when others erupted in violence in the 1980s. But when the regime realised it was time to negotiate, it was Mandela to whom it turned.

In his later years in prison, he met President P.W. Botha and his successor de Klerk.

When he was released on Feb. 11, 1990, walking away from the Victor Verster prison hand-in-hand with his wife Winnie, the event was watched live by television viewers across the world.

"As I finally walked through those gates ... I felt even at the age of 71 that my life was beginning anew. My 10,000 days of imprisonment were at last over," Mandela wrote of that day.

American's Thanksgiving

True, settlers in English and Spanish colonies celebrated thanksgivings in their earliest years. And throughout the 1800s, New Englanders held such observances with their families and friends. But as a national commemoration, the holiday dates to 1863. That year, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a Thanksgiving holiday, even as the Civil War was raging.

Thanksgiving day is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the Second Monday of October in Canada.

Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, and has long been celebrated in a secular manner as well.
Enjoy!

Paul Crouch: One of the fathers of American Christian Broadcasting dies at 79.

Pray for the Crouch family, as we await burial arrangements.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Paul Crouch dies at 79
• He was the co-founder of  Trinity Broadcasting Network
• He worked in radio and TV for nearly 60 years

Paul Crouch, one of the fathers of modern American Christian broadcasting has died at the age of 79 and the tributes are pouring in. Crouch teamed with his wife, Jan, to launch the Trinity Broadcasting Network, which is now the country’s largest Christian television broadcaster. Trinity is one of the largest owners of broadcast TV outlets – and its shows can be seen on 287 stations in the United States.


Crouch was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, the son of Assemblies of God missionaries. Crouch, whose father died when he was seven years old, was mainly raised by his mother with the help of his grandparents. He soon became interested in amateur radio and announced he would use such technology to send the Gospel around the world. He graduated from the Central Bible Institute and Seminary in Springfield, Missouri in 1955 with a degree in theology.
He also received three honorary doctorates: a Doctor of Litterarum (D.Litt) on May 29, 1981, from the California Graduate School of Theology,Glendale, California; a Doctor of Divinity on May 29, 1983, from the American Christian Theological Seminary, Anaheim, California; and a Doctor of Laws degree on May 5, 1985, from Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Crouch and the former Janice Bethany (Crouch) met in 1957 and were married in Missouri. They have two sons, Paul Crouch Jr. and Matthew Crouch.

Early broadcasting career
Crouch began his career in broadcasting by helping to build an educational AM station (KCBI-AM) on campus while a student at Central Bible Institute and Seminary. In 1957 he became a radio announcer at KRSD in Rapid City, South Dakota and progressed rapidly to program director. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to manager of sister station KRSD-TV, the NBC affiliate in Rapid City.
In 1961, he was appointed by the general council of the Assemblies of God to organize and operate their newly formed Department of Television and Film Production in Burbank, California, a position he held for four years. Crouch was responsible for the ongoing production of films focusing largely on foreign missions and foreign missionary works, as well as the Assemblies of God’s large inventory of audiovisual materials and children’s teaching aids.
From 1965 to 1970 Crouch was general manager of KREL radio in Corona, California. In 1966, he purchased a minority stock interest in KREL. During his time at KREL, he successfully completed the station's application for an increase in power to 5,000 watts.
After leaving KREL in 1970, Crouch was invited to serve as general manager for KHOF-FM and KHOF-TV in San Bernardino, California.

Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) history
Crouch left KHOF in 1973 and with his wife, Jan, founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). In 1974, TBN purchased its first TV station, KLXA-TV (now KTBN-TV). Since then, TBN has grown to become the United States' largest Christian television network, and the third largest group owner of broadcast TV stations in the U.S., with CBS, FOX, and NBC holding fourth, fifth and sixth place, according to TV News Check's annual listing of the Top 30 Station Groups.
TBN is viewed globally on 70 satellites and over 18,000 TV and cable affiliates. TBN is also seen on the web globally. TBN is carried on over 287 television stations in the U.S. and on thousands of other cable television and satellite systems around the world in over 75 countries, where their programming is translated into over eleven languages.

In the US, TBN’s coverage grew through agreements with national cable operators. TBN is viewed via major cable and satellite companies such as Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Verizon FIOS,DirecTV, AT&T, Dish Network, and Charter.[6]
In addition to TBN, Crouch and his wife developed and oversaw operations for TBN’s affiliated television networks: Smile of a Child - children’s channel, JCTV - youth network, The Church Channel,[10] TBN Enlace USA - Spanish language network, [not in citation given] TBNE-Italian, The Healing Channel - Arabic language network, TBN-Russia, TBN Nejat TV - Persian-language channel, and TBN-HD, TBN’s new high definition network.

Death
Crouch died at his home in Orange, California, on November 30, 2013, after a decade-long fight with degenerative heart disease, his grandson Brandon Crouch told The Associated Press. Trinity Broadcast Network had reported that Crouch became ill and was taken to a Dallas area hospital in October while visiting the network's facility in Colleyville, Texas. Later he returned to California for continued treatment of "heart and related health issues."