PRAY FOR NAMIBIA : Pray for the Walvis Bay Baptist Church

The Walvis Bay Baptist Church  was constituted  in  1975 under the leadership of Pastor Herbert Syré.  A  modest Sunday School work had  already begun by  a  Baptist  couple  in their garage  in 1959 .  

My own  relationship with this church  has been very special .  After I was converted in  Cape  Town  in  1978   I eventually had to  return to Namibia and to my home town , Walvis Bay  . I had asked my Pastor  in Cape Town where I  might find a place of  worship    since there was  no CESA church [1]  in Walvis Bay  . He  told me  that  I could always  go to a Baptist church . He assured me then that Baptist Churches  were  usually faithfully committed to the preaching of the Word . ( Note : That was  true  30 years ago !)

And so it was . Arriving back in Walvis Bay in 1980 , I  found the local Baptist Church  and was warmly welcomed  by their members and the  pastoral couple,    Don and Sue Watson. My heart found  a real  home there. It was  there that I was baptized and first became  a member of the church .  

The love of Christ was  genuinely expressed through  this  small church . The people, who were like a big family   gathered faithfully around the  Word  on Sundays  and  during the midweek .

The  home   of the Walvis Bay Baptist Church

I was given  soon opportunities to  lead youth Bible study groups  , and  I grew  spiritually .   Soon thereafter , Pastor Watson  received a call  to  another church  . Our church then  called  Pastor  Peter  and Lynda Radmanovich   from Claremont , Cape Town  to  be our  new pastoral couple   .  Peter  Radmanovich  was  a godly and very zealous  pastor . He led the church  to  acquire   a property  that would  eventually house the congregation . He taught us how to live  the life of faith  through prayerful dependence upon God .  The Sovereign Lord did miracles in those  years  in terms of providing a relatively poor, small  congregation  with  all the means  we needed to build  that place for the glory of His Name .  Our heavenly Father directed  the resources  as we prayed  . As a result  of the church’s testimony  a number  of  people  had begun to ask ultimate questions  and were  subsequently converted .

So,   it is no wonder  that I have a ‘soft spot’ for this church . It is the  first church  to which I belonged .

 Pastor  Callie Rossouw (l) and Marinus de Bruijne (r)

The church  has had two other pastors  since then  and as we now  speak , Pastor  Callie Rossouw  has been the pastor  of the church for the past  11 years . He is a faithful pastor  who loves to preach the Word . He loves the  doctrines of Grace  and seeks to see them applied in the lives of the congregation . He is married to  Carol  and they have three precious  adopted children,   Hazel , Rachel and  Charlie.  Under  Pastor Rossouw’s  ministry   the church  has matured .  Being  a port city  the church has  developed an international flavour .

A  former teacher   in the congregation , Marinus de Bruijne had sensed  the call to the pastoral  ministry some years  ago , and is currently being trained up  in the context of the local church  and with the help  of the Bible Institute  in Kalk Bay, in Cape Town,   South Africa .

Marinus  is married to Ilze  and their children are  Janke  and Jorik.   Besides  ‘learning on the job’  he has proven to be a great  asset  in the ministry of the church . Marinus has also  been instrumental  to  bring  young people together from our Reformed Baptist Churches  at an annual youth  camp . This is always a demanding  task  in a country like  ours , which is so big and where our towns are so far apart  and where we have relatively few people. Namibia  is the  second least populated country in the world !  

So why should we pray for the Walvis Bay Baptist Church ?

Walvis Bay , like the rest of Namibia  does not  suffer a lack of churches . But , like the rest of Namibia  the church  is  generally very man centered . Liberalism  ,  and much of the Pentecostal/ charismatic  phenomenon  and  the ‘new evangelicalism’ which focuses on entertainment  and relevance  have undermined  and supplanted  the old gospel message . Very few people in Walvis Bay actually live like  converted men and women  . The city is caught up in  all the vices of a port city ; many families are dysfunctional  ; materialism is rife .

But it is a city like this that needs the Lord Jesus !  

I believe  that the Walvis Bay  Baptist Church occupies  a unique place in that town , since  the focus of that  ministry is intentionally Christ centered . The heart of the worship  service is not  to entertain , but to make known  the glorious riches of God’s Word . There is an uncompromising call to discipleship  ,even though many  refuse  to follow that  call .

Pray for this church brothers and sisters , because it is  a faithful church . The church has  been often  mocked and scorned  for its uncompromising stance .  Pray then  for them what is also  true of the church in Philadelphia  ( Rev  3:7-13)  : ‘  hold fast to what you have , so that no one may seize  your crown ‘ ( Rev 3:11)

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[1] Church of  England in South Africa