 As from the beginning of 2019, the Pretoria Learning Centre will have moved to much larger facilities on 12thAvenue, Wonderboom South (just off De Beer Street).
The former facility, adjacent to the C R Swart High School in Waverley, had its limitations. The new location is adjacent to the local Dutch Reformed Church offices in Wonderboom South. The new facility is presently being renovated. When finished, it will have four lecture rooms, five offices and amply storage, a suitable library and computer lab, a reception area, and plenty of safe parking. The Pretoria Learning Centre will continue to offer Mukhanyo’s Bachelor of Theology degree (both for fill-time and part-time students) and also serve as an interactive support centre for the BEd programme of North West University.
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 Dr Japie Malan at the Sola 5 Conference Mukhanyo has again enlarged the Academic Management team! In August the Board of Directors approved several changes to further strengthen the team in preparation for past and projected growth. Then in November, the Board of Directors approved the following two senior appointments: Dr Japie Malan has been appointed to serve as Head of Academics at Mukhanyo as from January. He is an ordained minister in the Dutch Reformed Church and for many years has led the Adullam Mission near Secunda. In addition to a PhD in New Testament from NWU Potch, he also has a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. Dr Japie has already served at Mukhanyo for a number of years as Senior Lecturer and manager of the Johannesburg Learning Centre. He and his wife Annake have three married children. Mr Marius Nel has been appointed to replace Mr Jackie Tredoux as the Head of Educational Delivery. Mr Marius comes to Mukhanyo with almost 40 years of experience in education, including more than 30 years’ experience in education management. As from April 2019, Mr Marius will be responsible for all the management and scheduling of all teaching & learning staff, including all part-time lecturers and distance learning facilitators. Mukhanyo’s academic team now consists of the following highly qualified and experienced people who serve in their respective positions: Dr Brian de Vries Principal Dr Japie Malan Head of Academics Mr Jackie Tredoux Head of Delivery Rev Isaac Maleke Head of Students Dr Bryson Arthur Programme Manager: Honours Dr Willie Zeze Programme Manager: Degree Rev Peter Manzanga Programme Manager: Diploma Mr Jacques Malan Programme Manager: FOCUS Dr Greg Phillips Academic Registrar Ms Sherley DeBruin Student Records Manager Pst Glyn Williams Distance Learning Manager  Mr Marius Nel  After spending nearly a million rand, the renovation and expansion project of the Johannesburg Learning Centre is mostly completed. Almost all the work will be finished before the December holidays.
We are grateful to the generous donors in South Africa and beyond who made these urgently renovations possible. These renovations are a huge difference to the facilities and create a much more functional space and atmosphere for continued growth in this location. Please thank the Lord for excellent progress made in 2018 on matters related to Mukhanyo’s accreditation with the Council for Higher Education (CHE) and the ongoing registration with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). We are grateful for the following qualifications:
We are thankful for the new people joining the Mukhanyo team! But we are still looking for more people to serve in this growing missional ministry:
Senior Lecturers: Two additional full-time lecturers are needed by January 2020 to serve Mukhanyo’s growing student body. We welcome applicants who meet the criteria outlined in the job advert found HERE. Mukhanyo also welcomes partnerships with local and international churches/agencies who can send and support a Senior Lecturer to serve at one of Mukhanyo’s locations. Visiting Lecturers: Mukhanyo also welcomes experienced pastors to apply for part-time teaching opportunities. We believe that future pastors are best taught by experienced ministers who are presently serving in pastoral ministries. So we welcome the involvement of local ministers who have suitable teaching skills and many years of ministry experience. Please submit your CV to the Principal (bdevries99@gmail.com) if you feel called to serve in the way. Communications Manager: This new position based in Pretoria is responsible for coordinating the following: prayer letters and newsletters, student recruitment, event planning, donor communication, fund-raising, marketing literature and social media, etc. The ideal candidate will have experience in these areas along with a passion to serve the Lord in Christian ministry. Read more… Assistant Librarians: Applications are open for two Assistant Librarian positions, one in KwaMhlanga and the other in Braamfontein JHB. Applicants will ideally have some experience working in libraries and/or other administrative environments. For more information on the different available positions, read more here.  Malcolm Buys Next month we will welcome several new people to the Mukhanyo family. As previously announced, Dr Arthur and Dr Phillips will join our gifted team of lecturers.
Dr Bryson Arthur will serve as Senior Lecturer and Programme Manager for the Honours Degree. He has many years of experience in theological education in Africa as well as considerable experience in academic management. Dr Greg Phillips will serve as Senior Lecturer and part-time Academic Registrar. He has more than 15 years of experience in theological education. Initially trained as an engineer, Dr Greg later studied theology to obtain an Honours BA, MA in Theology, and PhD in New Testament. Last month Mr Malcolm Buys joined the Mukhanyo team as our full-time on-site ICT Coordinator. We are thankful for his experience and ability with computers, and we look forward to his help as we take the college to the next level in all things technology. We also welcome several new part-time lecturers who will start teaching in January at the various locations: Dr Victor Pillay, Rev Frikkie Mulder, Mr Andrew Gilhooley, and Mrs May Arthur. We thank Mr Pieter Bisschoff for his four years of faithful service at Mukhanyo, coordinating the Teachers Education programmes and the Pretoria Learning Centre. He also served in many ways behind the scenes and will certainly be missed at Mukhanyo. We are grateful for Pieter’s ministry with us and for his continuing role as an ambassador-at-large for Mukhanyo. Ms Tunize Bezuidenhout left the Mukhanyo team in a full-time capacity, but she continues serving the college on a part-time basis. We are thankful for the seven years of service she invested in the ministry and also for the last two and a half years she worked to bring better order to the Distance programme. Pastor Glyn Williams is the new Distance Manager, an upgraded position that is responsible for the oversight and coordination of tutors and facilitators in all distance learning support centres. He has a BTh Honours in Theology and is working on further studies. Glyn was serving as a part-time lecturer in Johannesburg, but he is now the full-time Distance Manager and also lectures. We are thankful for Glyn’s additional responsibilities on the Mukhanyo team. Mukhanyo’s leadership has always realised that our location in Johannesburg has enormous potential. But several limitations made it difficult to exploit it fully. Not for much longer! A renovation and construction project of R1 million has started in October.
The building is within walking distance from the Johannesburg bus terminal, just two blocks north of the Gautrain’s Park Station. The location is ideal, but the teaching facilities inside were somewhat limited and basic. This all will have changed, hopefully by early next year, ready for a new intake of students. At present the centre has 27 students who taking the accredited BTh degree and Diploma programmes. New classrooms, a large library, a computer centre, offices and other facilities will be able to cater for at least triple this figure. In addition the security outside the building has been improved. The City of Johannesburg has also upgraded the area around Park Station. The enthusiastic faculty and admin staff, under the management of Dr Japie Malan, is looking forward to the new year. They pray that our Father in Heaven will bless and enable them to teach more and more students to serve the church as pastors and other church leaders.  Eleven easy steps to become a good tutor You don’t have to be a pastor or theologian to become a good tutor for one of Mukhanyo growing network of distance study groups. But you do need to have knowledge about a number of important things. On 2-4 October 2018, Mukhanyo held its annual workshop for the tutors of its many distance study groups. It was well attended by 32 tutors from as far away as East London and Malawi. After three days of hard work everybody agreed that it had been very worthwhile. Which does not mean that running a study group is easy and without challenges. To mention a few: Because it is a part-time study, some students are tempted to drop out when they find the studies difficult. Commitment and finances are often problems. And it happens that tutors have to give advice to students on private or religious matters. But there are always ways and means to address such issues. The workshop devised specific methods to motivate students and to prevent drop-outs (it is called the InterVision method). Attention went to practical things such as how to teach, writing and assessment of assignments, administration and financial matters, team building, dealing with cultural differences, supporting local discipleship, communication and co-operation, and so on. The Mukhanyo offices are busy upgrading study and assessment material and improving the quality of DVDs. It is expected that new distance qualifications will become available in the new year once fully accredited by the Council for Higher Education. All tutor workshop participants went home inspired and motivated for the magnificent task ahead with one motto: “We are all Mukhanyo!” · A quick survey during the workshop revealed that in 15 study groups there were altogether 64 pastors from Independent churches as students! · It is expected that approximately 50 students will complete their students at the end of the year to graduate in early 2019.  “I wish I had received such teaching . . .”
Congregations expect much of a pastor’s wife and she often finds it difficult to balance her time between her family and the ministry. Apart from that, the family of a pastor often has the feeling that they “are living in a fish bowl” and that the congregation is watching them closely. They seem to just never get it right in the eyes of some of the church members! How does a pastor’s wife deal with this? Should she withdraw from being involved in the ministry? Should she be involved in everything at church even at the risk of neglecting her own children and home? On Saturday 6 October 2018, a Pastors’ Wives Conference organised by Mukhanyo was held at Midrand Chapel. Four women spoke on the topics “Supporting your husband in ministry”, “The challenges of parenting in ministry”, “How to organise a women’s fellowship”and “Hospitality, reflecting Christ in your home.” We learned that a pastor’s wife should be sure about her position in Christ – the most important is what Christ sees in her life and not what people see. When children are brought up in the Lord’s ways and learn to love the Lord and have respect for others, they can be taught and will probably love to be of help reaching out to others or with hosting guests. On the other hand, it was clearly stated that neither the pastor nor his wife can save their children – that happens through the saving grace of Christ. Each of the sessions also included much practical advice. All the attendees agreed that it was a blessing to them and some of the older women replied with a sigh,“I wish I had received such teaching when we started in the ministry!”We are so grateful for those who attended and especially the younger ladies who are only starting off on the road of pastor’s wife.  “Many pastors are hypocrites”
Matthew 6:5 says, “you must not be like hypocrites … they love to … be seen by others.” And many pastors today are hypocrites, according to Pastor Elias Masango when he addressed the audience at our Church Leaders’ Conference on 13 October. Pastor Masango led the session on faithfulness in Christ-like living. He stated that many pastors pretend to be godly and love to be seen by others, but they are hypocrites. However, a faithful church leader is no hypocrite. Rather, he has a deep and genuine walk with the Lord, and he seeks God’s glory instead of his own. The 70-odd attendees at the conference were taught the importance of the life and character of a faithful church leader. The other two main sessions were on “Faithfulness in Preaching” by Dr David Galletta, and “Faithfulness in Church Leadership” by Rev Thokozani Thwala. Questions & Answers Toward the end of the day a question and answer session was held. One question: “What if a person feels called to the ministry, but his pastor gives no encouragement and treats him as a threat?” Answer: Be careful; don’t ignore the normal church channels. And be patient because the Lord can take you on a long road to the ministry. Another question: “Is it biblical to bless the Bible before reading it?” Answer: Quite unnecessary. God has already blessed his Word.. During the breaks there was a constant buzz of informal conversations. Many of the guests also flocked around the book tables to choose some good biblical books to study at home. We were amazed at the number of books sold at this event. Please pray with us that the Lord will continue to bless the good teaching that is being received. |
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