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| Part of the great congregation |
The annual SOLA 5
conference is now over, but fond
memories remain. Eastside Baptist
Church has been privileged to host this Association of God centered Evangelicals in Southern Africa for the second
time since its inception in 2005. Since
the conference invites member churches
from across the SADEC region (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique,
Swaziland, South Africa and Namibia) the
challenge to organize such an event is formidable – particularly in terms of communication. The Zimbabwean
delegations made up of 7 led by
Joseph Soko was eventually unable to come. We really missed those dear brothers and
sisters. Despite a number of last minute cancellations we had a full house.
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| Some of the Zambian delegates |
It needs to be said again and again that this fellowship of churches is unique!
Where else do you find such co-operation among churches coming across from a
number of nations and borders? This
takes commitment!
Our organising team
led by Doug Reissner, Liz
Walters, Niels and Bente Bernstein together with dedicated help from many church members ensured that
eventually every visitor was
housed, fed and fetched for the meetings. Most people were housed by members of our
churches. Some were placed in guesthouses,
the accommodation which was paid for by
members of the Windhoek churches.The meetings started on
Thursday evening and ended
on Sunday with lunch after the morning worship.
The SOLA 5
steering committee led by Peter Sammons from Germiston Baptist
Church chose as our theme this year the subject
of “Gospel Tolerance”.
Six speakers, Jeff Gage (Free Grace Baptist
Church – Boksburg), Tim Cantrell (Antioch Bible Church- Johannesburg), Isaac Makashinyi (Emmasdale Baptist Church, Lusaka), Erroll Wagner (George Baptist Church,
Western Cape), Chris Wooley (Midrand Chapel, Gauteng) and Joachim Rieck (Eastside Baptist Church, Namibia) were allocated to handle various aspects of this subject. The
substance of the addresses given
was meaty and well received. The audio recordings will soon be
available on the SOLA 5 website.
http://www.sola5.org
Missions
reports were heard from the
various regions. It is clear
that this group of churches is actively
spreading the gospel in the Name of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Zambia
reported that the planning of the Africa
Christian University (in Lusaka) is
progressing well (See the ACU website
at http://www.acu-zambia.com). Ray Warwick, dean of the new University spoke passionately about the aims of this unique University.
A new initiative
is underway in Malawi as Newton
Chilingulo (sending church - Living Hope Church, Pretoria, S.A.) aims to
return to Malawi to engage
in church planting in Lilongwe.
South Africa, Namibia
and Swaziland all
reported pleasing progress in church planting, and in pastoral
training efforts.
Two churches joined the SOLA 5 on this occasion: Heritage
Baptist Church (Johannesburg) and Elim Baptist Church (Limpopo
Province, S.A.).
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| Pastor Laban Mwashekele presents the Namibian Missions Report |
There are a
number of churches seeking affiliation
with SOLA 5 at this time,
and for this we are very pleased. It
should be stressed once again that SOLA 5
does not aim to be a denomination. There is no distinctive head office and no distinctive leader. The steering
committee annually rotates among the member churches. This
year Jeff Gage from Free Grace Baptist Church (Boksburg,
S.A) will be our chairman. Hein
Strauss our extremely efficient and able administrator
for the last 9 years asked to be released from his duries at this time. The annual business meeting gave him a
well- deserved standing ovation. The business meeting then appointed Kobus van der Walt and
Jeff Gage to take over
Hein Strauss’ work.
SOLA 5 is an association and a fellowship of like
minded churches, existing for the
purpose of sharing resources
for the sake of the progress of the gospel. This
association only works if churches are committed to real
relationships with one another. The
greatest benefit that we have from this association is one another! If you
read this and would like to learn more
about the core values and constitution
of SOLA 5 then please visit our website at http://www.sola5.org/
THIS YEAR'S SPEAKERS
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| Jeff Gage |
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| Chris Woolley |
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| Isaac Makashinyi |
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| Tim Cantrell |
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| Joachim Rieck |
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