​Mukhanyo held a day of training in April for its KwaMhlanga-based support staff. Training included workshops on Excel, digital and paper filing, distance education, gardening as well as nutrition and cooking. 

Different groups of staff met for the workshops that applied to their sphere of work. Senior staff with more experience assisted junior staff and for some workshops a skilled and qualified person from outside Mukhanyo was invited.

​This opportunity strengthened the unity between the support staff members and also helped these precious people, who mainly minister “behind the scenes”, to be even more effective in their work. 

"Train up a child in the way he should go when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6)

This is a verse typically reserved for parenting, using it at child baptisms and parenting courses, as encouragement for new parents or even on cards as a Hallmark-type congratulation for parents on the arrival of a new baby.

​However, it is very applicable to all people who are involved in one way or another with children's or youth ministry. Sunday school teachers, youth leaders and pastors, all have a role to play in the training of a child. All should work together as a team. 

This truth was highlighted recently at the Children's and Youth Ministry Conference hosted by Mukhanyo's Johannesburg Campus on Saturday 5 May. More than fifty leaders gathered at the Impact Community Church in Edenvale to be equipped in this area. 

Hayley Walker from Protective Behaviours South Africa (Keeping Our Children and Youth Safe) emphasised that all of us have responsibilities in this regard. And many churches and leaders have a lot to learn and put into practice. 

Johannesburg campus lecturer and pastor at Crystal Park Baptist Church, Gideon Mpeni (Multi-Cultural Children's and Youth Ministry) unpacked Acts 17:1-9 and Paul's method in witnessing to the people of Athens. When it comes to multi-cultural ministry, the key thing to remember is that there is no difference between skin colour, cultures or socio-economic factors when it comes to the real need – that of salvation. Though environments and traditions may vary, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". We need to understand the context in which we are ministering and then preach the Gospel in a way that will make the most effective impact.

Pastor Giel Vermeulen of Impact Christian Church (Teaching Children and Youth Effectively) explained the different learning styles that children have and gave some basic guidelines on how to minister to all of them within our various ministries without losing sight of the Gospel. 
Pastor Michael Lear of Springs Baptist Church (Choosing or Writing Sound Biblical Curriculum) used examples from his own experience and writing, and made the very important statement, "The Bible is your curriculum". If only churches would remember this and design and choose the material they use accordingly, then we will be effectively training our children in the way they should go.
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Given the positive ratings and success, Mukhanyo hopes to be able to make this conference an annual event. Pray with us that we all will grow in our ability and faithfulness in child evangelism.

​The use of social media can lead to self-esteem, boasting, gossiping, jealousy, pretending, lying, immorality, wasting of time, laziness and other sinful behaviour. But is can also be used to give information through to the congregation, advertise Christian events, spread the Gospel, communicate with far-away family and bring the church service to the bedside of an aged or sick member.
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These were some of the points that were discussed at the youth conference that was held at the KwaMhlanga Campus on Saturday 2 June. The attendees received the teachings by Rev Herens Nkoana with great appreciation and actively took part in the discussions afterwards.

The main thought was that the negative aspects of the social media are very significant and outweigh the positive aspects. Everybody agreed that one should use it with great wisdom and discernment. At any point of time one should feel free to show the information shared to one’s parents, pastor or even God Himself (Who in any rate sees it all!).
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All went home with the warning that the Word of God should have the major place in our lives and that we should live like David said in Psalm 119:9-11: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your Word. With my whole heart I seek You… I have stored up Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

Mukhanyo is blessed to welcome no fewer than six guest lecturers to serve during the second semester. All of them are highly qualified to contribute to the development of our students.

One lecturer, Rev Gesse Rios from Brazil, will teach diploma students the whole second semester on the New Testament. He is supported by APMT, a missional ministry of Presbyterian churches in Brazil. Others will be at Mukhanyo for shorter periods.

Prof Paul Krüger, emeritus professor of the Reformed Theological School, NWU Potchefstroom, will teach an intensive course in Pretoria from 16-20 July on Old Testament prophetic books for all Mukhanyo’s degree students.

Dr Bosco Bangura will teach intercultural evangelism (for BTh students) as well as ethics (for Diploma students) in August. He is from Sierra Leone and at present is serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the Faculty of Theology, North-West University in Potchefstroom.

Mr Andrew Gilhooley will teach on Old Testament poetic books and the book of Ruth in September. He is an American who is currently researching at the University of Pretoria for a PhD in Old Testament Studies.

Rev Sechaba Legoete will teach on church planting for our diploma students in KwaMhlanga. He is a Mukhanyo alumnus and presently serving as a pastor in Barberton.
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And finally, Dr David Galletta and will visiting Mukhanyo in October to teach the General Epistles (New Testament) for degree students, as well as Creed and Confessions for our diploma students. He has visited and taught at Mukhanyo almost ten times in the last ten years. He is a and has been teaching all over the world.

Ms Tunize Bezuidenhout, Mukhanyo’s Distance Learning Centre Coordinator, recently visited a number of distance learning support centres, including groups in Ladysmith, Empangeni, Welkom, Hoopstad and Moloto.

The purpose of these visits was to build relationships, encourage the students, evaluate the operation of the groups, provide training where needed and offer ongoing support.

Here are some impressions gained from the visits.

• Tutors invest much effort with the students and go the extra mile to help them.
• Administration takes much of the tutors’ time, especially marking assignments and exams.
• Many of the students are financially supported out of the tutor’s own pocket or subsidised by their local churches.
• Mukhanyo succeeds in its goal to train African church leaders and is making a difference.
• The thinking and knowledge of students are broadened by the studies. They express that a whole new world opens up to them.
• Students now recognise the authority of the Bible and can test the authority of preachers who give false teaching.
• Students say they are taught in their churches that they should read only the New Testament. They have now learned the importance of the whole Bible and how the Old Testament opens up the New Testament. 
• Students are making a difference on ground level in their communities.
• Students preach what they learn in class. They are enthusiastic about the truth and are eager to learn more. 
• Students struggle with conflict in their churches because they are now preaching and doing things differently.

Tutors at these centres are not paid by Mukhanyo. We recognise and appreciates the hard work – often voluntary – that they are doing to extend the Kingdom of God. May our Father keep and strengthen them so that are able to continue their very important work.
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Mukhanyo is also working to further improve and expand its network of distance learning support centres. An experienced manager is needed to guide this vital area of theological education and to coordinate quality support for the growing number of Mukhanyo facilitators and distance students. Click HERE for more information about this open position.

From time to time Mukhanyo has the opportunity to be a blessing to the community in ways beyond the ongoing instruction at the several campuses.

On Saturday 27 April, a group of churches launched a new organisation called “Rainbow Churches”. These churches are located about 40 km from our KwaMhlanga campus. Their aim is to unite Christian churches in the matters they agree upon and be of help and support to one another. The local association has more than thirty affiliated churches.

Mukhanyo was invited to assist with the official launch of the Rainbow Churches Association. We were honoured to be part of this celebration, especially since these churches are led by the son of one of the original founding members of the Masakhane Churches Board, which was involved with Mukhanyo from its inception twenty-five years ago.

Several Mukhanyo staff participated in the formalities. Jacques Malan, a Senior Lecturer at Mukhanyo’s KwaMhlanga campus, gave a message from the Bible. Then Rev Isaac Maleke, our Head of Student Support, led the launching ceremony in which representatives of local churches and Christian organisations pledged their support. Christian literature was also distributed.
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It was a blessing for Mukhanyo to be part of this well-organised event and our presence was much appreciated by those present. Mukhanyo is especially grateful for the opportunity to support this network of local churches.

We thank the Lord that the Council for Higher Education (CHE) approved our new BTh and Honours programmes. The Higher Education Qualifications Committee of the CHE communicated on 25 April their final approval of the prior to commencement conditions for these programmes which we submitted long ago in 2014.

There is still some work to be done, but we can start teaching the Honours programme immediately and the new BTh probably in January.
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Thanks for your prayers in this regard, and let’s keep praying as there are still several other matters – including the final approval of our new higher certificates – that we are still waiting for from the CHE.

All hands on deck! On 13 April a consignment of no fewer than 14 000 theology books arrived in a container from America and were offloaded at the KwaMhlanga campus.

The books have been donated by various publishers in the USA and are intended for Mukhanyo’s sites, not only in KwaMhlanga, but also for Johannesburg and Pretoria. If possible some books will also be donated to other theological study centres and distance learning centres.
All staff and students who were available on this memorable day had to roll up their sleeves to help offload the boxes. They now have to be catalogued according to the Dewey system and distributed across the several locations.

It will be an enormous task for Mukhanyo’s new librarian, Nurse Nkosi, who joined Mukhanyo at the beginning of the year. She has been very busy in the past few months to bring everything in the library up to date and hopes to be able to start working on the new books in a month’s time.
At present Mukhanyo’s library already has some 12 000 titles and needs upgrading and extending. Now that the Johannesburg campus is functioning well and growing, an extension of their library also has become an urgent matter.
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We once again thank the Lord for enabling this important step forward for Mukhanyo, and especially for using the publishers and donors as instruments in His hands to make this possible.
Looking at the history of Mukhanyo over several decades, one realises how the Lord has continually provided for Mukhanyo’s needs and enabled the work of training church leaders and ministry workers. May it once again energize everybody involved at Mukhanyo to continue the work according to His will!

For many years now South Sudan has been a war zone, first for independence from North Sudan, which was achieved in 2015, and now civil wars between tribes. There are a significant number of Reformed Churches, but they are in serious need of pastors.

However, through a sponsorship of a Presbyterian Church in North America, two young men from South Sudan recently arrived at Mukhanyo this year to start their BTh studies!

They have hair-raising stories to tell. As a child, Stephan Benykwack fled with his family through North Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and ended in the Netherlands where the family became members of the Christian Reformed Church. But his father was homesick and they returned to South Sudan. After hearing of Mukhanyo, his pastor decided he should study here. 

Deng Garang also had to flee the war, from North Sudan to the Uganda border in the south. He was converted after a Reformed youth conference. He started evangelizing and soon realised that he needed to know far more about the Bible. 

The two arrived at the end of January and are staying in Mukhanyo’s hostel in KwaMhlanga. They are coping well with their studies and the English language (their home language is Arabic), and they are working hard. 

Please pray that the Lord will bless them and enable them to complete their studies so that they are equipped with a sound biblical and theological knowledge to spread the Word once they return to South Sudan.

Over and above the two South Sudanese students, Mukhanyo’s full-time theological students include two from Zimbabwe and one each from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Swaziland.

To plan is one thing. To implement is quite another. Looking back on 2017 and forward to 2018, Mukhanyo has been doing both.  Many things are in place or will shortly be in place to accommodate a significant increase in the number of students, and this number has already been steadily increasing over the years.

The 2018 academic year promises to be at least as busy as 2017, if one looks at all that has already taken place or will happen within the next few months.  Some of these activities include:

• Assistance to the Rainbow Churches of South Africa in Siyabuswa with their more than thirty affiliated churches, as well as continued cooperation with church networks in Hillbrow;
• Plans for the upgrading and development of the Johannesburg campus – plans which already are advanced and can be implemented as soon as the funding has been finalised;
• Bible study classes for the teacher education programmes;
• Phasing-in of newly developed teacher training certificates.

​This is all in addition to all the accredited qualifications in theological education, as well as the facilitation of NWU teacher training programmes.
 
FOCUS: Personal Evangelism
A large number of new short courses are in the planning stage. One of these is Personal Evangelism. Most of the content will be presented as seminars on 7 and 21 July. A flyer with details will be available soon, after which registrations can be made.