KNYSNA NEWS - A retired Anglican clergyman from Knysna has written a chatty, informative book about his life.

Reverend Winston Dickerson worked under Archbishop Desmond Tutu for a number of years.

There is an account in the book of how Tutu kindly helped Dickerson when he asked for Tutu's assistance in a family matter.

There is a continuous thread running through Dickerson's book, titled Water and the Living Water of Life. It is the importance of the Holy Spirit's leading and the power of the Lord in one's Christian walk.

Community

Dickerson and his wife, Lorna, lived in Knysna for 15 years before relocating to Fraaiuitsig, which is east of Mossel Bay, in 2022.

In Knysna, Winston was involved in the community, volunteering his services as a retired Anglican priest, and Lorna helped at the Friday morning knitting and sewing group at Leisure Gardens Senior Citizens' Home for 15 years.

During his years in Knysna, Winston ran 12 Selwyn Hughes Biblical Counselling Courses. He and Lorna were counsellors for about three decades of their lives.

The Dickersons ran a guesthouse on their property in Rexford, Knysna, called Winlow Lagoon View.

In his autobiography, Dickerson comes across as humble and teachable, admitting his mistakes.

Encounters

In Water and the Living Water of Life, Dickerson's descriptions of his personal encounters with the Lord and the Holy Spirit on his own and in ministering to others make gripping reading. The ways in which the Lord has answered his simple, honest prayers for people are truly moving.

There are accounts of the manifest presence of the Lord, of healings and deliverance.

Also absorbing are Dickerson's accounts of day to day relations and dealings with members of his congregations.

These interactions were not always easy.

Dickerson's book covers periods of his life in Knysna, East London, Grahamstown and Cape Town. He was in Knysna during the fires of June 2017.

There are also accounts in the book of trips overseas.

Called

The Lord called Dickerson to full-time ministry when he was working for Transnet in East London. He had experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit and people kept coming to him at work, asking him to pray for them. The Lord confirmed to him he needed to leave his secular job.

Dickerson is warm and loves people. He is exuberant, affable and enjoys laughing.

He says: "You don't have to point out people's sin. They are all too aware of it. You have to point the way to the gospel."

He concludes: "I have been a builder, accounts clerk, a priest, a medical aid developer, a writer and a publisher. I have self published. The job of a marketing manager was the toughest job of all. I am no good at selling anything except Jesus Christ."

If you would like to purchase Dickerson's book, contact him (082 202 5282 or winlow@mweb.co.za).

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