FIRE DESTROYS
KWASIZABANTU MISSION AUDITORIUM

The massive auditorium at KwaSizabantu Mission, in KwaZulu, was gutted by fire on Saturday morning, 14 June.

The auditorium, which took ten years to build, included five kilometers of pews, and could seat 10,000 people, had been in use for over 18 years. Over 12,000 people, including King Goodwill Zwelentini of the Zulus, and Dr. Mangosuthu Buthelezi, attended the official opening of the auditorium in 1990. The structure was 18 metres high and included 32 steel girders running the full length of the roof. Each steel girder was set about 3 metres deep, with approximately 100 tons of concrete in each foundation.

The auditorium was designed by Creation Scientist Philip Stott, an engineer who has lectured extensively in universities worldwide.

The KwaSizabantu Mission auditorium has been used throughout the years for services, ministers conferences, youth conferences, Christians for Truth conferences and concerts such as for Handel’s Messiah.

The fire, apparently sparked by an electrical fault, broke out at about 9am Saturday morning, 14 June. Within 20 minutes the whole building had been gutted by the fire. The central roof collapsed and almost all of the benches were consumed in the blaze. Fire fighters were unable to reach the blaze before the entire building had been consumed.

The next morning, Sunday 15 June, the Sunday morning church service was held in the mission school hall which was overflowing. Rev. Erlo Stegen commented in his sermon that a building got burned – not the Gospel and not God. He is convinced that this fire is not the end of anything, but the beginning of something new and far greater and better than before.

The mission is due to host a Youth Conference of up to 5,000 young people from 30 June to 7 July. The mission is seeking to arrange a tent large enough to accommodate the young people.

An Extraordinary Revival

KwaSizabantu Mission is one of the most extraordinary and successful mission stations on the continent of Africa. KwaSizabantu Mission was founded over 40 years ago when God graciously sent Revival amongst the Zulus. The Founder of KwaSizabantu Mission, Rev. Erlo Stegen, and his team of over 120 missionaries, have established mission stations, schools and congregations throughout Zululand, South Africa, and as far afield as France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Romania.

A Dynamic Ministry

The school at KwaSizabantu Mission Domino Servite has often had the distinction of producing some of the top students in the country with the highest distinctions. The Cedar College of Education provides a four-year teacher training degree accredited by the Potchefstroom University of Higher Christian Education. The mission uses some of it’s 340 hectares of land for intensive farming, a greenhouse project, producing vegetables of the highest quality. The mission includes a bakery, a jam factory, a dairy and yoghurt production plant, a water bottling factory, and Radio Kwezi, one of the largest Christian community radio stations in the country, which broadcasts 24 hours a day in four languages.

KwaSizabantu is a Faith mission, which on principle does not solicit funds or give any appeals for donations. It is a hive of productivity and a testimony to the Christian work ethic.

It has thrived in spite of times of great opposition, slanderous campaigns and numerous death threats from enemies of the work. As Rev. Stegen has said: “Wherever God is at work, the devil is also there to do his dirty counter work. I’m of the opinion that the depth of God’s work can be measured by the amount of opposition encountered.”

A Hunger for Holiness

Erlo Stegen was a missionary for 12 years before the Revival broke out. He was determined not to “play church.” He preached straight: “Repent and change your lives. If you don’t you are on your way to hell.”

He saw the debilitating and devastating impact of ancestral worship and witchcraft. “The early Church didn’t tolerate sin. They had no room and no time for sin. They dealt with it most severely. We worship God and tolerate sin in our midst! If you pray for Revival, you are asking for something the world doesn’t understand. We read the Bible so superficially that we cannot grasp what it is about.”

“Revive your work O God” became the prayer of his congregation. It was December 1966 when the Revival broke out. Erlo Stegen explained that Revivals are terrifying things. When the Holy Spirit comes, He convicts us of sin, of righteousness and Judgment to come. “For God resists the proud.” 1 Peter 5:5

When the Fire of the Holy Spirit Came Down

“Judgment must begin at the House of God. The first thing that happens when the Holy Spirit comes into a person’s life is that He convicts that person of sin. There is brokenness.”

“In times of Revival the Word of God comes alive. It smights us and pierces our heart. The Word of God is like a hammer that breaks the rocks into pieces. It now became clear to me that it wasn’t the heathen who were standing in the way of Revival. I could only cry out: ‘Lord, there is only one person who hinders Your work and that is me! Please forgive me!’”

They were praying in a cow shed when they heard a noise like a great wind. “Everyone was conscious of the presence of God. All I could do was to bow down and worship the God of Heaven.”

Soon Rev. Stegen was busy counselling and praying for hundreds upon hundreds of sick, troubled and demon-possessed people. Witchdoctors came to Christ. People were healed. As the news of the incredible events spread like wildfire throughout the entire area, people flocked to Rev. Stegen and his co-workers. The Living Waters that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke about in John 7:38 began to flow, and today, over 40 years later, lives are still being transformed at the dynamic ministry of KwaSizabantu Mission.

(For more information, contact: KwaSizabantu Mission, Private Bag 252, Kranskop, 3268, South Africa, E-mail: mail@ksb.org.za, Tel: 032-481-5500, Web: www.kwasizabantu.com).

William Carey’s Mission Fire of 1812

As we heard the shocking news of the fire at KwaSizabantu Mission, we at Frontline Fellowship recalled the devastating fire of 1812, which destroyed William Carey’s mission warehouse in Serampore. The fire of 1812 destroyed Carey’s printing presses, 55,000 printed sheets, 1,200 reams of paper, whole sets of type for 14 languages and manuscripts for a Bengal Dictionary, 2 grammar books and several Bible translations - representing approximately 7 years of work. In the face of this catastrophe, probably the worst fire in mission history, William Carey praised God that no lives had been lost and he quoted Psalm 46: “Be still and know that the Lord is God.”

A Phoenix Rising from the Ashes

William Carey resolved to do better translations than the ones that were now ashes, and he consoled himself: “Every branch that beareth fruit, He purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit”; “The Lord has laid me low, that I might look more simply to Him”; “However vexing it may be, the road the second time travelled is usually taken with more confidence and ease than at the first.” William Carey also quoted Isaiah 61:1-4 and trusted God for better printing presses and more accurate translations – “A phoenix rising out of the ashes.”

Pray for KwaSizabantu Mission

The Lord did indeed bless the Baptist mission at Serampore far greater than ever before, after this devastating fire. By God’s mercies and grace, they obtained better printing presses, and became even more productive and effective.

It is our sincere prayer that the Lord may graciously mobilise intercessors worldwide to rally behind KwaSizabantu Mission at this time of crisis and loss. That we may collectively trust the Lord for, and work towards, this magnificent mission in KwaZulu, rebuilding their auditorium and becoming even more effective and productive in the future.

“Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of the streets to dwell in.” Isaiah 58:12

Dr Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74
Newlands, 7725
Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: (021) 689-4480
Fax: (021) 685-5884
Email: admin@frontline.org.za
Website: www.frontline.org.za