St. Peter Confessional Lutheran Church in Middelburg, South Africa, is the recipient of generous support from the Michigan District, LCMS and from the Here We Stand Campaign’s International Ministry Initiative. St. Peter’s ministry has been in place for 27 years but, thanks to you, the last 3 years have seen an unprecedented growth, with many new initiatives being implemented:
Education and Nutrition
Bethel preschool, on the campus of St. Peter Lutheran Church, has now over 200 students aged from 2-5 years. These children receive not only an education, but also 4 nutritious meals a day.
St. Peter Christian College, the church’s school that sits on a separate campus, started with 30 children and 7 staff. It now boasts 8 grades with 556 children, and plans to add a high school by next year. It is considered a privilege to receive an education, and those students value what they’re given.
Healthcare
A new health clinic will officially open on January 1, 2017, but they have already served the student population and their families with an eyeglass clinic that MOST Ministries brought earlier in November. Once officially opened, the health clinic will continue to provide free health care to the community, which is a welcome alternative to the inefficient public healthcare system.
Economic Boost
St. Peter has also built a facility on campus that houses entrepreneurial businesses. Currently there is a bakery and a laundry on site, with space for two more business starts. These businesses serve the school and also the community at large.
Another form of economically raising the community is through construction work: the school has been growing and building facilities at an unprecedented pace and, when they build, they employ people who live in the shanty town.
New Mission Starts
Two other communities not far from Middelburg have new mission starts. One is already established, with 30-40 people in worship at a facility of their own. The other just started–with a conversation between a wealthy doctor and a worker-priest who met at a gravesite. The doctor offered his house to host church services and also a piece of land across the street to build more micro-businesses, a childcare center, and a church.
Foster Care
The District’s most recent support, already with Here We Stand Campaign dollars, has gone to assist in the upgrading of a building that was given to the church for a children’s home. This foster home will have a mom and a dad living there. It will have room for 22 children and in phase 3, when it’s finished, it will include a nursery that will be able to take 6 infants, for a total of 28 children. St. Peter is partnering with a Christian agency that has been doing this for years. This children’s home is offsite, in the city of Middelburg, but they’re hoping to have another one built on campus as well.
Featured photo by Seth Hinz/Michigan District, LCMS. Other photos courtesy of Rev. Bill Wangelin and Mrs. Kristin Rathje
