Lampstands have been established in five of the ten countries in this region with approximately 1500 saints in the church life in 25 localities. Lampstands have yet to be raised up in Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique and Namibia but there are already some saints following the ministry in these places.
Prayer
- Spread of the gospel of the kingdom to this region which has a predominantly Christian population.
- Strengthen the existing testimonies through perfecting, blending and (post-pandemic) visitations.
- Gain young people and equip them through training to become pillars in the churches.
LESOTHO
No. of localities: 1
No. of saints in church life: 25
No. of saints attending the Table meeting: 15
Lesotho is one of the few countries in the world which is completely surrounded by another country (South Africa). It is mountainous, about the same size as Belgium (30,355 km 2 ), and has a population of 2.5 million. 90% of the population is Christian.
The church life in Maseru (the capital city) is very young. The first Lord’s table meeting began in late 2018. The beginning of the church life in Lesotho is a wonderful testimony of the work in the Body. Some from Lesotho went abroad to study and came into contact with the saints. The saints picked up the burden to shepherd them and lead them into the church life. Upon returning to Lesotho, these ones desired to continue to practice what they had touched in the church life.
In the beginning there were only 5 sisters. Subsequently, more seeking ones joined the meetings. There are also high schoolers and children. Meetings are conducted from house to house (except during the lockdown period).
Before the pandemic, brothers from South Africa visited regularly to shepherd the saints. After the pandemic the saints plan to resume the visitations and spend longer periods of time there. Meanwhile, some shepherding is continuing online.
Before the pandemic, saints from Lesotho also visited South Africa and joined the Southern Africa Blending Conference (which is held twice a year) as well as the Young People ’s Conference.
BOTSWANA
No. of saints in church life: 15
No table meeting established yet.
Botswana is a sparsely populated country of 2.2 million. It enjoys political stability and economic strength (being the world’s largest producer of diamonds).
The beginning of the church life in Botswana in 2014 was also a work in the Body – 5 sisters touched the ministry through the UK and Germany; some others came in through South Africa and New Zealand. No formal lampstand has been raised up yet, but 15 saints gather together regularly – one has already graduated from the Full-time Training Pretoria (FTTP) in South Africa and four others are currently enrolled with the FTTP and at the moment are continuing remotely from Botswana. In spite of the pandemic, the saints have been going on and meeting by means of conference calls four times a week: Tuesday- prayer meeting; Thursday- ministry pursuit; Saturday- vital group pursuit and practice; and the Lord’s Day and prophesying meetings. The Lord’s speaking has greatly supplied the saints in these unprecedented times.
From 26 to 28 June, the Third Annual Conference for Botswana was held via Zoom. Over 100 participants joined from 10 countries (including South Africa, the USA, Brazil, Angola, Ethiopia,Tanzania, the UK and Malaysia). The subject was “The Will of God”. The saints enjoyed the opportunity to blend and to hear His up-to-date speaking. Some who participated are ― “warm doors” – family and friends of the saints who are open to the ministry and the gospel.
SOUTH AFRICA
No. of localities: 10
No. of saints in church life: 500
No. of saints attending the Table meeting: 350
No. of trainees in FTTP: 16
No. of saints who have been in FTTP since 2013: 67
South Africa is one of the most developed countries on the continent with a good educational and economic infrastructure. Over 80% of its population of 60 million are Christians.
In March 2020, over 400 saints from various Southern African countries attended the Biannual Blending Conference. During this time and in the days afterwards, the brothers taking care of the churches and the work in South Africa had much fellowship on the expansion of the Lord’s testimony in the region. The brothers feel that the Lord is leading the churches along the following pathway as He moves in South Africa:
- Focus on strengthening His existing testimony in 3 strategic cities — Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, instead of spreading ourselves too thin in too many places. Each of these cities has its own set of distinctive needs and environments. The population in these three cities combined is estimated at more than 12 million. We believe that the churches in them should be made up of at least 200 saints meeting regularly;
- Once these three places are established and strengthened, we would begin to spread to other cities and towns. We would carry out our service from the center to the circumference and move where the Holy Spirit has started His move.
