If you are serving more than 900 students all over the country and beyond, it is essential to have an up-to-date student information system (SIS) and a comprehensive learning management system (LMS). To achieve this, Mukhanyo is poised to start what will probably be its most important capital expenditure project for the next year.

A number of service providers were identified, their programmes evaluated and a short-list of six providers made presentations. A final decision has been taken by executive management and is now awaiting final Board review and approval in June. Mr Gui Rios has been appointed to lead the implementation team as from 1 June.  The discovery, preparation, and implementation process will start in June for the new SIS and LMS to be operational before the end of 2019.

The new SIS and LMS systems will expand Mukhanyo’s ability to serve both distance and campus-based students regarding aspects such as registration, financial and other student matters, study material, assignments, assessment and progress, communication between lecturers, tutors, and students, etc. Students will also be able to communicate with their groups, tutors, and with the KwaMhlanga campus through their computer and/or smart phones.

One small challenge: The project will cost almost R600 000 for the setup and first four years. Fund raising has started, but it is by far not completed yet.
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In the meantime, Malcolm Buys, our ICT manager, reports that Mukhanyo has now fully implemented Microsoft 365 for the digital flow between faculty staff. This also makes other digital reforms such as the implementation of LMS and a digital library possible. Being in Africa does not mean you cannot keep with the times!

On 5 March 1994, the first meeting of Mukhanyo’s Board of Control took place. Lectures started in July of the same year. It is now 25 years later, so on 11 May we celebrated with thanksgiving to our great God and Father. We thanked the Lord who made it possible for His Word to be taught by Mukhanyo to many hundreds of students, today not only in KwaMhlanga but also in many other places across South Africa and beyond.

The thanksgiving started with a devotion by Dr P.J. (Flip) Buys, the retired former principal of Mukhanyo. Referring to Romans 8 and Isaiah 11, he pointed out the importance of training for the ministry. Today, while Christian churches are planted by the hundreds in Africa, the shortage of trained ministers who know the Bible is enormous. It is estimated that 95% of all church leaders do not have knowledge of the Bible. Yet we know that a man of God may be competent and equipped for every good work only through training in righteousness (1 Tim 3:16-17). The gospel of the kingdom has to be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations (Matt 24:14).

The annual report was presented by the present principal, Dr Brian De Vries, who highlighted a number of features (see the “highlights” below). Rev Isaac Maleke, Dean of Students, told the meeting about various efforts to mentor students. Dr Japie Malan, Dean of Academics, underlined the importance of learning to know the Bible and equipping students to handle the challenges of the ministry which they will face one day. Mr Jan de Beer reported on Mukhanyo’s finances: Total expenses grew from R1.9 million in 2008 to R8.7 million in 2018 with local income continuously growing, now at more than 50% of the total –healthy trends indeed.

Gratitude was especially celebrated with a number of short speeches by many alumni, former lecturers and community leaders – these speakers all informed the 100 people present with some anecdotes and interesting experiences from past years. The emphasis of all of them was the high regard they had for Mukhanyo and its work over the years, and how God has used Mukhanyo to prepare and equip them to spread the Gospel.

After a delicious lunch, the more formal annual general meeting (AGM) of member churches took place. To everybody’s satisfaction, it was short and sweet, led efficiently by the chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr Lusani Netshitomboni.

It was an eventful day, especially because it once again proved that our trust in God is never in vain. He has made it all possible, and He used many of His servants as His instruments in this ministry.  The meeting was unanimous in praying that God will provide and bless Mukhanyo for at least the next 25 years.

Pretoria Centre Manager – This position will be responsible for the high-level management and development of Mukhanyo’s growing Pretoria Learning Centre. The ideal candidate will also serve as a Senior Lecturer on the Academic Team.
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Marketing Manager – This Pretoria-based position is responsible for coordinating the following: newsletters, student recruitment, event planning, donor communication, fund-raising, marketing literature, social media, etc. The ideal candidate will have experience in these areas along with a passion to serve the Lord in Christian ministry.

Records Manager – The Records Manager is responsible for managing a team of dedicated people in the Student Records department. This position, based in KwaMhlanga, manages and coordinates all administrative activities involving student admissions, registration, record-keeping, and graduations. The ideal candidate will have experience in office management and educational administration.

More information and additional vacancies are listed here.

After extending the KwaMhlanga campus significantly a few years ago, it was time for the Johannesburg facilities to be upgraded and the Pretoria facilities to be expanded.

Pretoria. The story of the Pretoria study centre is also a cause for thanksgiving. The state education authorities did not want the study centre to be located at the facilities of a high school. So a different venue had to be found.
The ideal place was found in a large hall adjacent to a Dutch Reformed Church in the suburbs of Wonderboom-South, even closer to the centre of Pretoria. In addition to a suitable conference centre, offices and classrooms, this church has a large secure parking area.

Mukhanyo now rents a part of the centre. The facilities had to be adjusted and renovated drastically, but today there are four lecture rooms, a library and four offices. All this was paid for with local donations.
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This facility can now easily be used to teach a hundred students, with the further potential of expansion. Here marketing will also be of importance this year.

Saturday, 9 March was a joyful occasion when 64 certificate, diploma and degree students graduated, equipped as church leaders to spread God’s Word in their communities in South Africa and beyond.

During the graduation ceremony, the students dressed in black gowns, square academic caps and black and dark green neckbands, were addressed respectively by Principal Dr B. de Vries, Rev P. Manzanga and Dr L. Netshitomboni, the Chairperson of the Mukhanyo Board. Referring to the parable of the Talents, the Principal greeted the students with a “well done good and faithful servants” (Matthew 25). Rev Manzanga reminded the students about Jesus’ instruction to Peter to feed and care for the sheep (John 21). Dr Netshitomboni asked the attention of the students to worrying developments in today’s South African society.

What made it even more of a special event is that it was in 2019 – Mukhanyo’s 25th anniversary. For 25 years the college has been teaching many hundreds of students, both new and experienced church leaders. Through them Mukhanyo is reaching thousands of people, to tell the world about our great God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Thousands of people in southern Africa are learning about God’s great deeds and saving grace, and how to honour and please Him in the way He expects of His children.

This day was the first in a number of commemoration events to thank God that He has blessed Mukhanyo and made it grow and develop in many ways. The next major event will be Mukhanyo’s annual meeting on Saturday 11 May, which will be held in KwaMhlanga.

In the past year Mukhanyo was evaluated in various ways.  It has proved to be above expectations. Just look at the following:

• The Council for Higher Education has accredited Mukhanyo’s new BTh and BTh Honours degrees. This means that the Department of Higher Education & Training (DHET) and the Higher Education Qualifications Committee (HEQC) of the CHE – the government agencies that review all higher education in South African – have found that Mukhanyo’s academic quality is on the same level as those of similar qualifications at universities.
• The students from other African countries, who are studying at Mukhanyo, are impressed with Mukhanyo’s standards. And similar colleges elsewhere in Africa make use of Mukhanyo’s programmes. Mukhanyo’s annual consultation of Bible Colleges unites and builds cooperation among reformed evangelical theological institutions.
• Many church groups all over South Africa and beyond make use of Mukhanyo’s diploma courses which are fast becoming a benchmark for effective biblical training for church leaders, also enabling students to progress to higher levels of theological training.
• Many local visitors and international ministry delegations in the past year have been impressed with the quality of Mukhanyo’s facilities, including its computer facilities, recording studio, lecture rooms and the fast expanding libraries in all three locations.
• To maintain our high standards and to continue improving, the Board of Directors had approved several audits by professional consultants for early 2019: The annual financial audit will soon be completed, a governance and legal compliance audit has been started, and a comprehensive ministry audit will start in a few months.
  

We thank the Lord for all these improvements and we pray that He will send more and more students to make use of all that Mukhanyo offers.