CHURCH

As mentioned, The Zolani Care Trust is the mechanism by which the Mission church of Zolani undertakes their community work. The Mission church is affiliated to the Apostolic Faith Mission movement though it operates autonomously. The church is quite small having only 50-60 members but since the community work has begun the numbers have periodically increased to 100. It is entirely Xhosa in its character.

The hope of the elders of the church is that many of the poor they are reaching out to will be saved. It is only by a change of heart that individuals, families and eventually the whole community of Zolani can be changed. Only Jesus can give them that new heart with all the assurance and certain hope that He brings.
The church regularly prays for what is going on. They also pray the finances in as it is God who knows the needs so it is rare for requests for money to be made. Instead God touches hearts to persuade those with resources to make them available for His use in Zolani whether they are Christian or not! The prayer is that God will raise up people from within Zolani to become the future project leaders.
It must be said that no trustee of the Trust can take a salary from the Trust or have vehicles or any other financial benefit from the Trust. Trustees may only earn from specific projects that they may be working within. Likewise the church does not have access to any funds that the Trust may have. Trust funds are only used for community work. The elders of the church are unpaid. This is a poor church of poor people. The church has an annual income of less than R20,000. Whilst they all give cheerfully, the bulk comes from the 15-20 who have employment.

GOD'S STRATEGY

God wants to see all men saved. For that to happen they must hear the gospel. The first gospel people read is not the four in the Bible but the one written on the hearts of His children. How do the lost read those hearts? by meeting them on the receiving end of the good works of love that God has called us to do. Within another year almost 50% of the homes of Zolani will have a regular and legitimate contact with the Mission church through its projects. It is that simple. We are trusting God to touch and submerge these lovely people beneath a tidal wave of His love expressed through the very practical activities of His children. Jesus came to be good news to the poor. If the Head of the Church came to do that then we the church must surely follow suit. They will truly hear the gospel and many will be saved.

As all these projects and proposals come about then the church will be very visible. The danger is that many will come and visit and some will try to see opportunities for themselves of position, money and even political power. The elders are alert to this possibility and have been encouraged to concentrate on friendship among church members and effective discipling. This will provide the firm base of strength, faith and loyalty needed should the church expand very fast.