One Challenge workers aim, more often than not, is to work themselves out of the job. Does this seem odd? Our goal is to empower local leaders, and future leaders, to impact their communities through the love of the gospel. Yes, sometimes we get things started, but really, we want to equip individuals to accomplish the Holy Spirit’s calling on their lives and transform their communities.
Before Cherie, an OC mission worker, left South Africa several years ago, she spent time mentoring and empowering Nhlanhla to take over leadership of the high school youth ministry in his community.
“I first met Nhlanhla when he was a primary school student in the after-school ministry I helped run in the ‘informal settlement’ called Zandspruit,” Cherie says. “Nhlanhla eventually graduated from the after-school ministry and helped me, along with about a dozen of his high school peers, form the high school youth ministry called Impumelelo Phambile. As God was beginning to move my husband and me away from residential ministry in South Africa, I asked Nhlanhla to take the leadership and become the youth pastor for the high school ministry.”
Growing in Ministry
It’s now been six-plus years and Nhlanhla has done a phenomenal job at leading and growing the ministry. “During our recent visit to South Africa, it was a joy for me to watch him in action, leading and teaching the students,” Cherie says.
Recently, Nhlanhla was ordained as a pastor and he was sent out by his congregation to plant a church in one of the small shack homes in Zandspruit, and it is growing! “The Word is preached to the people who come to the service, and it also echoes out into the crowded community,” Cherie says. “Nhlanhla leads and prays with power, and he has recruited some of the current high school students to take steps toward leadership in the church.”
The Lord is using Nhlanhla to not only spread the gospel but to transform his community and empower young leaders to do the same. “Nhlanhla is no longer the high school student I discipled but a responsible, driven young man with a vision for his future and the future of Zandspruit, his community,” Cherie says.
Sustainable ministry is not about one person doing one thing. It’s about equipping individuals to follow in obedience to the Holy Spirit, striving to transform their communities and cultures for Christ.
Pray with One Challenge
- Pray for Nhlanhla and his ministry. There is a lot of spiritual warfare and barriers he faces daily.
- Pray for the after-school ministry and youth ministry happening in Zandspruit, for the students and leaders.
- Pray for the new church plant, that it would continue to grow and be a light in the community.
Church Planting & Growth One Challenge is an international mission sending agency empowering local church ministry in more than 100 countries around the world. We invest in people and opportunities that enable churches to be planted, thrive, grow, and multiply. When invited by local leaders, OC conducts training for church planters and those interested in learning about disciple-making movements.
Leadership Development We are also committed to the equipping of leaders, inside and outside the church, with kingdom principles allowing them to move entire people groups toward transformation, hope and justice. Those leaders in turn can mentor others, and together we all bring God’s transformation to lives, communities, and nations.
