 It’s not too late yet to register for studies in 2021. Prospective students are also welcome to attend one of the two January intensive modules:
To register for 2021 study at Mukhanyo, phone or email the coordinator at one of the following campuses/centres:
For information about Mukhanyo’s accredited theological qualifications, see https://www.mukhanyo.ac.za/programmes.html. Information about each learning centre is explained at https://www.mukhanyo.ac.za/learningcentres.html.
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 We thank the Lord for His gracious hand over Mukhanyo and His wonderful provision during 2020. God has provided in many ways and, apart from the initial lockdown, we could continue with the ministry of training church leaders for ministry. Praise His Name!
During the many months of the COVID-19 lockdown and the various restrictions, Mukhanyo has been able, not only to continue most of its work, but also to continue serving students and developing study material – even while working from home. Yes, of course, many adjustments had to be made. Lectures had to change to various forms distance communication. Many of us had to work from home, especially in the first few months since March. Some students did not have the facilities such as laptops, smart phones or internet and could not keep up. Remunerations of staff had to be supplemented through the government unemployment insurance fund for several affected workers during the hard lockdown. Despite these challenges, however, Mukhanyo’s staff received on average the equivalent of 100% of their salary, even during the lockdown months! Mukhanyo also received extra small “food voucher” donations, which were distributed on several occasions to all staff, who in turn could pass them on to people in dire need. We thank the Lord that the 2020 curriculum of all Mukhanyo programmes could be completed, and year-end examinations took place according to plan. On an even more positive note: Mukhanyo’s Rustenburg and Durban advanced learning centres have been established soundly and expect strong growth next year. While the number of students exceeded a thousand last year (including the students at some 80 distance study groups and the education programmes), the number could well pass 1 250 next year. We thank the Lord for all these blessings and pray to Him that we may continue this important work in His name. Looking Ahead with Confidence  It wasn’t an easy year, but Mukhanyo’s Durban Advanced Learning Centre was able to start on a sound footing and is looking forward to consistent growth in various ways. Here are some plans for next year, in summary:
Looking Back The second semester of 2020 progressed very well. It has been greatly rewarding to walk alongside the students and see their growth in godliness, understanding of God’s Word and theological skill. In the past year, a second instalment of books – 3 000 titles – was received, bringing the total in the Durban library to approximately 5 000 good quality volumes, including wonderful commentary sets, digital resources, reference books and many theological and biblical resources. The library computers also provide students access to the Logos Bible software system and links the local library with Mukhanyo’s four other library collections. An open day was held on 11 November, giving prospective students the chance to see what Durban is offering. This day allowed them to attend part of a lecture, ask questions and enjoy some refreshments.  Three additional lecturers will join the Mukhanyo team in 2021. But more full-time lecturers are still needed, with several positions open to start from July 2021 or January 2022.
Three New Lecturers On 28 November, the Board of Directors approved recommendations from the Management Team to appoint three additional lecturers:
Present Vacancies In addition to these three new lecturers, we also welcome several new part-time and visiting lecturers who now serve on Mukhanyo’s team at the various regional centres. As of January 2021, there will be more than 30 committed church leaders serving on Mukhanyo’s faculty. More information about our gifted and experience faculty is found at https://www.mukhanyo.ac.za/lecturers.html. Mukhanyo is still seeking to fill two academic positions: a Campus Manager and a Programme Manager. These appointments were delayed by the pandemic in 2020 but the plan is to fill them before the third quarter of 2021. More information about these open positions is found at https://www.mukhanyo.ac.za/vacancies.html. More Lecturers Needed More full-time lecturers are also still needed to serve the students in our five regional centres. The academic selection committee will continue reviewing and testing applicants in 2021. More than 75 applications were received in the past year for teaching positions. Mukhanyo is seeking for lecturers with faithful ministry experience, consistent Christian character, and sound biblical confession. Each faculty member subscribes to the teachings of the Christian faith as expressed in the Mukhanyo Statement of Faith and several historical confessions. The Bible, as summarised by these sources, is the foundation of our biblical perspective, our value system, our motivation for ministry, and our curricular content.  Siyanda started studying our Bachelor of Theology degree at the beginning of 2020. He’ 28 years old and is a high school teacher in Umlazi, close to Durban.
Siyanda grew up in Umlazi within a Zulu family which practiced African Traditional Religion (ATR). ATR involves polytheistic ancestor worship and makes use of traditional healers. His father died when he was 14, and subsequently Siyanda began to have questions about Christianity. His initial view of Christianity was that it was a colonial religion without any relevance to Africans. Yet despite this, he started to read the Bible from Genesis. It was during this period, as he read John’s Gospel, that he received Christ, at age 17. He started to attend a Pentecostal church in Umlazi and became involved in the youth and teaching adult Sunday School. Some years later, a friend told him about the diploma-level courses offered by Mukhanyo at a distance learning centre in Scottburgh, on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. He started the diploma programme with Mukhanyo in 2019. It was through studying at Mukhanyo that Siyanda was exposed to the doctrines of grace and Reformed theology, which had a massive impact on his faith and his understanding of the gospel. After a year of studying at the diploma level, he enrolled at Mukhanyo’s Durban Advanced Learning Centre in January 2020 for the degree. His lecturers find him an excellent student who has done very well in the programme so far. He now attends Covenant Waterfall Presbyterian Church and would like to one day plant a gospel-teaching, biblically faithful church in the Durban area.  Dr Voddie Baucham is the keynote speaker of the next Bible College Consultation, along with many other experienced theological education leaders within southern Africa.
The theme for 2021 is “Standing Firm for Truth in Bible Education within Africa”. The Theological Education Association of Southern Africa (TEASA) is hosting this event together with Mukhanyo. More information is published on their website: https://www.teasa.co.za/ Keynote addresses planned for this tenth annual consultation are:
Registration for 2021 will open in February. For now, please save the date, 8-10 June 2021, and pre-register at www.teasa.co.za. To Work for the Lord You Need to Know Him  After working for the Lord in ministry for almost two decades (1985 to 2003), Pastor Paul Mahlangu came to realise that he didn’t properly understand the Bible, hence the work he was doing for the Lord was not properly done. He then started his theological studies at Mukhanyo. Today he’s one of Mukhanyo’s fulltime lecturers.
The great turning point in Pastor Paul’s life was when he got the opportunity to study reformed theology. That was after having been involved in ministry for so many years – without a proper understanding of the work of the ministry. Born in Bethal, he moved to what was then called the KwaNdebele homeland where he matriculated at the Mandlethu High School. He had been brought up in the Zion Apostolic Church, a syncretistic church. “That church never preaches salvation”, he says. Upon Paul’s arrival in KwaNdebele, he came across people who were preaching salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, he was converted, became a child of God and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ. That’s where he became involved in his church’s ministry, preaching through tent meetings all across South Africa all these years. Today he’s also pastor of this church in KwaMhlanga. While doing this ministry, he came to realise that he had been working for the Lord but without proper understanding. He needed to study. In 2004 he heard about Mukhanyo and decided to register. He completed his BTh degree in 2007 and then his Honours degree in 2009. At present, Pastor Paul lectures mostly Homiletics modules with the diploma-level classes. He’s also involved in the new Focus programme and distance Higher Certificate classes. In addition, he’s busy with Zulu-language Bible study classes in three nearby villages. At times, he has also lectured Ecclesiology, African Spirituality and Old Testament. What are his future plans? Pastor Paul answers, “To reduce my workload so that I can further my studies and do a Masters in Theology”. It may be that he becomes one of the first students to do the Master’s Degree of the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary that will soon be facilitated at Mukhanyo starting in July 2021. A Success and Much Potential  A success, yes! But always room for improvement, growth, and huge potential to train church leaders to preach the Bible and be equipped to plant and run churches. That, in a nutshell, is what Mukhanyo Theological College is increasingly doing, not only in South Africa but also in six other African countries.
Gone are the days when Mukhanyo was only a college in KwaMhlanga, a semi-rural area some 65km northeast of Pretoria. Today it also has some 80 distance groups all over the country and beyond, as well as full-time study centres in Johannesburg, Rustenburg, Pretoria and Durban. The five campuses/centres together have some 300 active students and growing. But the fastest-growing area of Mukhanyo’s activities is its distance programme. At present, the 80 centres have over 700 active students and 151 registered tutors. Pastor Glyn Williams, Lecturer and Distance Manager, reports that seven new centres were registered in the last year (despite the pandemic), and enquiries were recently received for eight potential centres in four countries, three of them outside South Africa where no Mukhanyo centres currently exist. In 2019, 76 students completed their Diploma in Theology. Some have continued their studies and started their BTh degree, while others want to start their own distance groups. Glyn has visited many centres and is impressed with the high level of dedication by both the tutors and students. But he’s also recognises the need for more tutor support and training. At the annual Distance Forum in September, the improvement of material delivery, the provision of quality material (study guides and DVDs), as well as further empowering group leaders, was discussed. This is already a high priority, with the implementation of a tutor training programme, tutor self-assessment and student support. This year the Distance Forum took place at Mukhanyo’s Johannesburg Campus, where most group leaders attended online through Zoom. Not without technical hitches, of course, but proving that the future servicing of distance groups through technology is viable. The distance programme is substantially subsidised by donors, something for which Mukhanyo is very thankful, especially now, in that even through the COVID-19 pandemic, donors have shown to be able and willing to continue their contributions. This enabled the Mukhanyo staff to continue developing and improving programmes, and serving the distance groups. Many groups were able to continue meeting during the lock-down, either physically or online using various platforms. For some this proved more difficult due to distance and limited facilities. But the pandemic also proved that distance study is viable, and that academic quality can be maintained without ignoring the importance of dedicated and equipped tutors.  Registration is open for studies in 2021. Mukhanyo has a complete range of quality programmes for Bible education, including these accredited qualifications offered in various locations across South Africa:
These qualifications and others are offered across Mukhanyo’s five main regional centres and its growing network of distance locations:
* National Senior Certificate (for detail see prospectus)
** The international ThM will be facilitated on behalf of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and is expected to start in July 2021. To register for study, phone or email the coordinator at one of the following Mukhanyo centres:
For information about Mukhanyo’s accredited theological qualifications, see https://www.mukhanyo.ac.za/programmes.html. Information about each learning centre is explained at https://www.mukhanyo.ac.za/learningcentres.html.  It’s with great pleasure that I express my sincere gratitude to MTC for giving me an opportunity to be equipped with the Word of God and to serve properly in the Christian community.
I must say the study has given me a deeper, wider and true knowledge of the Christian faith and worship of Jesus Christ. Since I started studying with MTC, my knowledge of Scripture, the interpretation and the application thereof, has tremendously improved and I can now face any situation with confidence and ease. This has also made my relationship with God to be much deeper and closer. I also want to thank the Mukhanyo Theological College leadership and staff for their obedience and commitment to God’s call to dedicate themselves in educating the nation in understanding and applying the word of God as presented in the holy Scriptures. I must also commend MTC for its well-structured program with in-depth resource material and experienced teaching staff, thus enabling one to progress with ease. I’m now more equipped than before graduating to share the Word of God in His Great Commission which is to the ends of the world. I can do that with confidence, knowledge and with all humbleness. Further, my graduation with MTC Diploma in Theology has been an excellent training field for me, I have recently taken a senior leadership role in my church. The qualification assists me in leading the flock of God with confidence and understanding the perfect will of God for all saints. Once more thank you MTC for your great contribution to my life of Christian faith and development. God mightily bless you, and may the great Lord continue using the college to help others. Pastor Michael Mndawe (Class of 2019, Mamelodi distance group under Rev. K.T. Mogale) |
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