Join us in catalyzing local churches and partners to multiply disciples across Durban as we exalt the Savior, equip the saved and engage sinners for God's glory.
Durban is a major urban city of over 4 million people with significant cultural and linguistic diversity. For example, more East Indians live in Durban than in any other city outside India. Some communities are primarily Muslim or Hindu, while others are comprised of Europeans of Dutch and British descent who enjoy the tropical environment and Durban’s urban vibe.
The 51% majority of Zulu speakers attend churches that often blend Christian and animistic beliefs, building rituals around Old Testament laws of prohibition and combining them with veneration of ancestors and indigenous expressions of church. Current estimations are that there are 3 million unsaved people in Durban. Your gift will enable us to share the gospel, make disciples, and start new churches throughout the city in many of these communities.
Durban is also host to refugees from countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Our team engages these diverse ethnic communities in the inner city through a ministry called ‘The Welcome Center.’
A significant percentage of Durban is youth. We work through the local church and a ministry called “The Bible Talks” to engage university students and young adults in evangelism and discipleship opportunities.
Our team also works with the leadership of existing churches in four distinct Baptist conventions, encouraging them to pray for Durban and cast vision for them to reach the lost in their communities and train their members as disciples who in turn multiply disciples across the city.
We invite you to partner with us as we share the love of Jesus across this vast city. God is at work here, and your prayers and financial support will help the Rev. 7:9 vision come to fruition – people from every language, tribe, and tongue living in Durban, South Africa, will one day worship Christ around God’s throne!
Gifts toward specific efforts show us what you are excited about. Occasionally, we may redeploy gifts as we follow God's leading with urgent opportunities or changing international contexts. Any gifts received beyond the goal go toward a similar project or our team support.
Refugee Ministry
At the Welcome Center in inner-city Durban, we focus on reaching refugees and asylum seekers by providing sewing classes, computer training, and internet access for refugees to process residence papers. We also host worship services, discipleship groups, and leadership training there. Your gift will provide funding for rent and utilities, enabling us to share the good news with the refugee community.
University Ministry
Join us as we engage university students with the gospel and disciple believers. Your gift will provide funds for a ministry center to share the love of Christ with students in Durban. This center will teach life skills, host small group bible studies and discipleship, and equipping sessions for evangelism.
Sewing Ministry
Through our sewing ministry, 60 vulnerable refugee women learn a skill to provide for their families and study the Bible together while building friendships and community. Your gift will provide these newly trained entrepreneurs with the equipment necessary to create clothing and other goods, the means to open their own small businesses, and the opportunity to enter job skills programs with the tools for success. $220 provides one machine.
Expanding the Gospel’s Reach
As we share the gospel, disciple new believers, nurture churches, and develop leaders, we travel a lot. We want to ensure everyone has access to the good news and the training they need to play their part in building God’s kingdom. Your gift helps fund fuel and public transportation costs for our team’s ministry so that as many people as possible can hear the gospel and learn what it means to follow Jesus faithfully.
Recently baptized, anyone who knows him will tell you that Thabo* is a changed man.
God healed this tall, timid young man from significant personal trauma, which left him afraid to leave his home. Now, he is bravely standing in front of the church each week, leading the congregation to memorize Scripture.
Teen and young adult refugees quickly lose attachment to their birth country, its culture, and even their original language as they try to adapt and fit in here.
But that’s where you step in to help refugees like Thabo!
Your generosity to this ministry helps attract these young people by providing vibrant, English-language worship and a place of belonging.
While the city offers many temptations, The Welcome Church—thanks to your gifts and prayers—provides a safe space for these young refugees to gather.
Thank you for being part of the work God is doing in Thabo’s life, as he and others find purpose in Christ and godly, supportive friendships.
Please join us in prayer:
Your partnership in ministry is vital as we minister to refugees. With your help, we encourage those who need their faith in God restored and share God’s love with those who do not yet know Him personally. Thank you for your faithfulness!
Nandi* is a student active in the university ministry here in Durban City. She loves the Lord and is hungry to know Him better.
She is one of the many students growing in Christ because of your generosity to this ministry.
Nandi has matured spiritually as she has been faithfully discipled. Now, she is leading others to grow in their knowledge and relationship with the Lord.
“The Cottage” is where our team hosts weekly Bible studies, monthly ladies’ meetings, life skills courses, and regular discipleship sessions.
Your gifts provide “The Cottage” as a gathering place for these students.
Like many students, Nandi isn’t looking for us to give her answers. She is smart, resourceful, and passionate about her faith. She and other students need a safe space to ask questions and think aloud about their relationship with Christ.
Thank you for meeting students where they are, with their questions, concerns, needs, and interests. What an honor to disciple our next generation of believers!
Please join us in prayer:
Pray for Nandi to continue seeking God in her decisions and trusting Him.Lives are being changed here in Durban City. Real students like Nandi are learning to hear God’s voice. And God is using your gifts to make it happen.
*Name changed
Thank you for praying and giving to enable us to reach Durban for Christ. Your faithful intercession and generosity empower us to share the gospel, make disciples, and start new churches throughout the city in many communities. Whether with the multitudes of refugees from across Africa and Asia or with the Durbanites who have lived in the city for generations, your gifts share the hope and light of Christ to the 3.5 million living here.
Center reaches refugees in their communities. God has used the Welcome Center, which opened in 2022, to meet the needs of refugees in various ways. Displaced persons from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Kenya participate in this downtown training and worship center, as it ministers in their communities.
Creative strategies connect with needs. In its short time open, a number of salvations have occurred, and 17 of those new brothers and sisters have been baptized so far. In addition to a weekly worship service, the Center offers courses in ESL, sewing, and computers, each beginning with Bible Study. We also allow refugees to use the computer center to update their immigration visas with Home Affairs. Discipleship classes are ongoing, and in 2024, we hope to add lay-leader training for those who are faithful and growing in their relationship and knowledge of God.
Join us in prayer. 
Thank you for partnering with us to reach the nations for Christ. We appreciate your sacrificial giving and prayers as we labor together to solve the world’s greatest problem: lostness.
The goal represents the cost of our team’s ministry activities for this calendar year. The Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® (LMCO) fully fund our living expenses. The goal amount resets every January 1st. All gifts completed through this form are directed to our team’s ministry strategy.
100% of all gifts received are used overseas as we reach the unreached with the gospel together. Click here to learn how this is made possible through the Cooperative Program.
Giving to one of our specific team efforts allows us to know what you are excited to see God complete within our ministry. Occasionally, we may need to redeploy gifts within our team strategy as urgent opportunities arise, as we do our best to follow God's leading, or adjust to changing international contexts. Any gifts received beyond the posted goal go toward a similar project or our team support.
100% of all gifts received are used overseas as we reach the unreached with the gospel together. Click here to learn how this is made possible through the Cooperative Program.
Our living expenses are fully provided by generous churches and individuals participating in the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® (LMCO). These gifts enable us to remain on mission without interruption. Your support is a partnership with these churches, providing for us and our colleagues through LMCO. Our team receives recognition when partners give below to make our presence here possible.
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® is a registered trademark of WMU.
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