Selected Areas of South Africa
VCP Statistics as of June 2011:
Members - 2,001
Churches - 123
Training Centers - 6
Coordinator: Richard Xaba

Richard Xaba has a theological degree from Zululand University. Prior to becoming a pastor, he was involved in animal husbandry. His wife is a qualified nursing sister, and he has three adult children.

Since joining the Into Africa Project in mid-2008, Richard has done a great deal of work, and fruit is being borne. We partner with the Free Methodist Church and the Wesleyan Church to help them reach unreached villages. 

The VCP ministry in South Africa works among three different language groups: Zulu in the Port Shepstone area, Xhosa in Mthata, and Tsonga/Venda in Tohoyondou. 

As of September 2008, 35 churches have been planted. See above for recent country statistics.

Testimony 

In Gamelake, a settlement close to Port Shepstone, a church that ministers to orphaned children has been planted. The pastor of the church is a man named Dumisane. He feeds 58 AIDS-orphaned children both spiritually and physically every day. He has done this from his own resources with some help from a local farmer and a small shop that gives him expired bread and milk. The children love being with him and enjoy his ministry to them.

All the children live with grandparents or in child-headed homes. Dumisane has a most wonderful ministry. When he plays the accordion, children rush out from the surrounding area to worship along with him.

Capetown - Project Good Hope
Coordinator: Kobus Cilliers

Kobus and Nelda Cilliers, and Their Three Children

The Long Road to Project Good Hope

God showed Kobus Cilliers at the beginning of his theological studies in 1973 the need to understand the house of Islam. A long road of learning followed in which Cilliers studied various aspects of the relationship between Christians and Muslims in the Cape of Good Hope area. 

Starting in 1984, Kobus served as a pastor of the Uniting Reformed Congregation in Kenhardt for 16 years.  In 2000, Kobus became involved with OMS Africa as the coordinator for the South African ministries of the Into Africa Project. He and his wife, Nelda, have three children.

In 2003 Kobus became a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Suider-Strand, assisting the community of Christians from a Muslim background in the Helderberg basin.  Several of the Dutch Reformed congregations in this area are involved, and work alongside churches from other denominations. The aim is to inform Christians about the real differences between faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the religion of Islam. 

Bold or Bashful 

Many Christians may feel intimidated when they hear the word “Islam” or “Muslim.” That does not need to be the case.  Muslims are people for whom Jesus gave his life on the cross in order for them also to share in the eternal life He wants to give.  Very often Christians are not aware of the differences between Islam and Christianity. Christians are not aware of the ideals of the religion of Islam, and are living in a state of “comfortable ignorance.”  Since the arrival of Europeans and Christians at the Cape of Good Hope, relations between Christians and Muslims have hovered between “good” and “very bad.”   

Faithful

Over the years many Christians have focused on bringing non-believers into their own kind of Christianity. They have often overlooked the fact that it is the Holy Spirit who convinces and converts people whom God has called.  This has resulted in an unholy competition among Christian denominations and mission organizations.  Project Good Hope seeks to inform Christians about Islam to be able to say honestly, “I Sincerely Love All Muslims” (ISLAM).  The Good Hope we share is that Christians are not under pressure to convince and convert non-Christians.  They can just love others the way Jesus did by living a life of love, and sharing the truth.

Christian Fellowship

The other real challenge for Christians is to involve Christians from a Muslim background so that they not only become involved in the work of Christian congregations, but also stay in touch with the Muslim community that has possibly cast them out. An interdenominational fellowship of Christians from the Muslim background facilitates the spiritual growth of these Christians.

Project Good Hope Staff Members

Dealing with the Past

The history of Christian-Muslim relations at the Cape of Good Hope is closely linked to the spiritual atmosphere within the Christian churches in the Western Cape.  During periods when the Church of Jesus Christ (all denominations taken together) came closer to following Jesus the Messiah, Muslims could more readily see and believe the message of Jesus the Messiah.  Those were times when it was relatively easier to make a decision to follow Jesus as Messiah. 

Project Good Hope is not about showing the results of the work. Rather, we seek to equip all Christians to share their belief in Jesus the Messiah faithfully, and also with their Muslim neighbors.  This includes an involvement with Christian businessmen in the Helderberg basin to help them understand their Muslim colleagues and workers. 

Equipping Disciplers

We have had wonderful opportunities to help equip pastors to understand the challenge of the house of Islam towards the Church of Jesus Christ.  Some of the training has taken place at Kalk Bay Bible Institute and the University of Stellenbosch. Opportunities have also arisen to inform and equip Christians in cell groups and small Bible studies to face the challenge of Islam and other religions.

Prayer Letters

• December 2009 - January 2010
• April-May 2010