April 2022

I was born and raised in the Eastern Cape. In 2008 I moved to Gauteng to study at the University of Johannesburg. That’s where I came to faith through the ministry of Campus Outreach. After my Honours in Financial Management, I moved to Cape Town to work in the finance department of an oil company. After working there for five years, I started my undergraduate degree at GWC. When you first started your undergraduate at GWC, what were your reasons? I had come to college for the Higher Certificate, which was meant to be just one year. I’d initially come because I wanted…

GWC’s various buildings in Muizenberg are the spaces where our students live and learn together. They’re indispensable to the residential theological community. But they’re also not cheap, and things tend to break down over time. So I want to tell you about two building-related projects that are presently underway: the Hope solar panel system and the Morris House elevator. Firstly, Hope’s solar panels: This student residence consists of four floors, each approximately 400m2. The ground floor has parking facilities for 15 vehicles, a reception, and a student lounge…

In August 2018, we partnered with GWC to run a non-accredited three-phase introductory course across Africa in teaching and learning for higher theological education (TALHITE). When lockdown prevented us from travelling, we moved online and managed to extend the scope of the training across the continent and beyond. The impact has been life-changing for many new and existing lecturers in theological institutions, who have previously had to struggle with no training and little assistance. As one participant writes, “This introductory course in Teaching and…

At the heart of the Explore program are small groups of believers meeting together under the guidance of a trained facilitator. The last two years of COVID-19 struck at that heart, making those groups at times incredibly difficult and others impossible. But thanks be to God that Explore isn’t merely still going but growing. As the graph shows, though the total number of module enrolments dropped in 2020, we registered slightly more module enrolments last year than we did in 2019. Furthermore, 2021 saw our largest number of graduating students to date. So, Explore…

A few weeks ago, I shared a reflection on my undergraduate studies at the Gospel Coalition Africa. I unpacked three pitfalls that students must beware of as they pursue theological studies. Theological training is so enticing that one faces the danger of missing the purpose of engaging in the discipline of theological study. Most students enter theological training because they desire to serve the church, helping God’s people to grow in their knowledge and love for him. However, as one’s brain starts to be massaged with deep theological thoughts, it’s easy to…

In my previous article, I looked at the criticism common among black millennials within the South African context that calls Christianity a white man’s religion. I tried to answer that common objection by looking at the past, particularly the role that the Ethiopian church played in Martin Luther’s imagination of the church, during the Reformation. Though I have slightly modified the aims for this follow-up article alluded to in the previous one, I will continue to look at the legacy of the African church, especially the role of theological education. In dealing…