Ministry News: Moletsane Baptist Church (Soweto, South Africa) (April 2022)

“Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”

(Psalm 139:12)

Greetings, brothers and sisters,

Please find herewith the latest ministry news from Moletsane Baptist Church in Soweto, South Africa.

Family Life

At one stage, I felt like Job, but currently I feel like I am a pastor to Job. Some of our people are going through hardships of different kinds: from poverty to family break-ups. It is hectic but we are learning what it means to live by faith and not by sight.

In the midst of difficulties, when the road may seem very dark and the storm may feel very strong, we are reminded that God has not asked us to live by what we can see or feel. Our faith is in God, who is the source of all light and our refuge from the storm. God is so great, so wise, and so loving that we don’t have to understand why so many bad things are happening. With such a God leading us, we are content to walk by faith, not sight.

Church Life

There is a real buzz and a revival in the church. We are encouraged by what God is doing. The Lord is answering many prayers and building his church in this spiritually dark place. We are encouraged each Sunday by the fellowship of believers where we love, suffer, rejoice, and pray for each other. At the end of January 2022, we baptised three and welcomed three into our church family and are about to welcome few more in the coming month.

Systematic Theology Class

During this first term of our class, we all realised that theological study is not for the faint in diligence. It’s hard work, yet the rewards exceed our human imaginations.

We started the year with 26 believers and now we have 24 still committed. Our desire is to learn about God and love him more. How can we contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints if we do not have a deep understanding of that faith? And what better means to learn about our Creator than the one he himself wrote (2 Peter 1:21)? It is our desire and prayer that our love for him will abound more as we read what he has done, is doing, and will do for us.

Blessed Easter Conference

We spent some time as Christians to remember the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection and what his sacrificial death has accomplished. We invited a lot of our unbelieving friends and relatives and we pray that the seed planted in their hearts will grow to bear much fruit.

We were joined by our sister church, One Hope Baptist Church, and representatives from other churches. The pinnacle of our time was the sound preaching of pure-unadulterated word of God. People opened up their hearts to hear the word of God as they learnt about the sacrifice that Jesus did for the redemption of mankind.

Prayer Requests

1. By God’s grace, we continue to grow in the knowledge and deeper understanding of God’s word, being equipped for the work of ministry.
2. Continue to pray for unity and dependence on the Lord as we seek to worship and glorify him in all we do.
3. Please pray that we may look to God for provision and protection during this trialing times—that the Lord may continue to sustain and sanctify us.
4. Kindly continue to pray for our elders (Sammy, Nkuli, and Precious): for wisdom, gentleness, and understanding in day-to-day dealings of the church.
5. Please for our young adults conference to bear much positive fruit.

For Moletsane Baptist Church,

Sammy Leballo