What a century it has been!
The Church of the Nazarene in South Africa held the centennial celebration to mark the hundred years of the church. The event took place at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Sunrise district. Mpumalanga is a historical landmark because it is the area that the Church started work in South Africa. The event took place from 11th to 13th October. The National board and the various teams did a wonderful job of planning the event.
Nazarene children, youth, and adults all came from all over South Africa to grace the celebration. There were also guests from Swaziland, Mozambique and Lesotho.
The other participants included General Superintendent Carla Sunberg, Regional Director Dany Gomis, Field Strategy Coordinator Musa Kunene, Regional staff, districts superintendents, Deputy Minister for Basic Education, pastors and local congregations. It was a great moment to see young and old celebrating the heritage of holiness
together in South Africa. On Friday, the event was filled with worship as the team from various churches led the congregation. Dr. Kunene opened the service with a word from John 2-3 and the title of the message was “It is time to go…” He challenged the Church to “go and make more disciples”. Several people responded to the altar call after the message.
On Saturday, the worship team led the congregation close to God. Dr. Sunberg shared from Psalm, “It’s time to sing a new song” was the title of the message. She challenged the Church to continue to spread the message of holiness and addressing the issues in the communities.
The Church also took time to recognize the Nazarene Chaplains that are serving in the army, police and correctional services and it was led by Dr. Gomis.
The historical speeches were given by Dr. Litswele and Dr. Khoza, the Nazarene veterans who have been in the church for a long time as part of the children’s ministry. They narrated the history of how the church began in Mpumalanga province reaching out to children through VBS. They also shared the fond memories of the first missionaries that preached and also the first national pastors that served the church.
The historical speeches were given by Dr. Litswele and Dr. Khoza, the Nazarene veterans who have been in the church for a long time as part of the children’s ministry. They narrated the history of how the church began in Mpumalanga province reaching out to children through VBS. They also shared the fond memories of the first missionaries that preached and also the first national pastors that served the church.
The office of the President of South Africa was represented by the Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Reginah Mhaule. She brought greetings from the president. The commissioner for gender equality shared on how the church can help to address the challenges of gender-based violence against women and children. The District Superintendents participated in the cutting of the centennial cake being led by Dr. Carla Sunberg.
Dr. Sunberg apologized to the people of South Africa for the pain caused during the apartheid era and how the missionaries participated by allowing the creation of districts based on racial discrimination. The NMI president for Africa Dawie De Koker also apologized for the pain caused. A call to action towards the reconciliation of the Church in South Africa was made.
Sunday marked the closing of the celebration. All the pastors present were honored and appreciated as they marched to the front accompanied by the song Holiness unto the Lord. A prayer was offered by Sunberg. Gomis shared on the vision for Africa Region. The church is called to be authentic, present, relevant, and interdependent. Sunberg shared the word for the closing service from the book of Revelations 7:9-8:1. The title of the message was “The Holy Hash”. She called on the church to listen to the voice of God.
