Pastors in Africa are not only theologians, but also teachers, counsellors, spiritual and social development aid workers, doctors, as well as conflict mediators in cases of societal emergencies and problems. People who preach the word of God and provide comprehensive care for people in society and respect them are urgently needed in Africa. 

Increasingly more people from the poor and rural regions as well as from neighbouring countries are going to the large cities of South Africa to find work and prospects in life. They search for accommodations with friends or relatives in the often poor dwellings of the townships. Township is a description for the residential areas established during the Apartheid era for the black, coloured or Indian population. With “buffer zones” created by barriers, roads, industrial facilities or undeveloped land, they were separated from the white population until the end of the 1980s.

Our member union, the Baptist Convention of South Africa, has its churches mainly in the townships. In some areas they also start churches in the inner cities of the large metropolis. As EBM INTERNATIONAL we support since many years the work of church planters in the country. The Baptist Convention decides where the support is used best. In the past we have supported initiatives in the Western Cape, in Durban and in the North of the country.