It is with gratitude to God that we, as members of the Emmanuel Baptist Church, Johannesburg, can testify to the fact that the church plant in Bloemfontein has commenced. Richard Raven and his family moved to Bloemfontein in October 2011 and immediately commenced with an outreach Bible study on a Wednesday evening. He also started a prayer meeting on Sunday evenings with a time of Bible study.
In February this year Richard stopped working fulltime in his secular employment and moved to working three days a week for his company. We are grateful to his company for their willingness to accommodate Richard on this basis. He now works the remainder of the time with the church. On 12 February this year, a worship service was commenced on Sunday afternoon with twelve adults present. In discussion with the elders of Emmanuel, it was agreed to move the afternoon service to a morning worship service as soon as this would be convenient for those attending, and then to continue meeting on a Sunday evening for a time of prayer.
We draw your attention to this work and ask that you join us in prayer that we, together with your participation in prayer, will see the kingdom of God being extended to the glory of his name. Could we also encourage you to make this work known in your congregations and should you have any contacts in Bloemfontein who are looking for a Reformed Baptist Church, where the whole counsel of God is faithfully preached, we would ask that you make contact with Richard.
At present, all the meetings are being in the home of Richard and Liza Raven.
Richard’s contact details are:
Home: +27 51 522 5586
Cell: +27 79 826 7872
E-mail: rlej.raven@gmail.com
Warmest Christian greetings,
On behalf of the elders,
Brian Stone