Twenty years of blessings for church

BACKDOOR – The biblical word, Ebenezer “Thus far the Lord has helped us,” proved to be a living testimony for the founders and congregants of the Partners in Harvest, Iris Ministries, Backdoor branch outside White River, which celebrated the ministry’s 20th anniversary on Saturday.

Past Surprise Sithole founded the ministry on November 19, 1995 with the aim of taking care of widows and orphans as well as preaching the Gospel of repentance to the community of this area.

Today the church prides itself on having reached a milestone through the help of the Almighty, hence they count and name their blessings one by one and praised God for all of them.
“Only by Him we had opened Micheals Children’s Village which takes care for 22 needy and vulnerable children who permanently live at the centre.

“We also run a feeding scheme which feeds more than 300 children from the area from Mondays to Fridays.
“In 2003 we started a Bible school where we present a free three-week course to pastors,” adds Sithole.

The church also started a dignity project two years ago which aims to get young sex workers off the streets.

Mpumalanga News learnt that the church didn’t discriminate against anyone and provided shelter to the girls with the aim of instilling moral values, equipping them with life skills, restoring their dignity and above all winning souls for the Kingdom of God.
The doctrine of the church is not to judge people according to their sins but to welcome them to Christ as Christ Himself welcomed sinners. The church also runs a preschool and a sewing project for women.

“In all the above we are really thankful to the Lord for having seen us through thick and thin.
“We also love the fact that we are situated on the peak of the mountainous part of the province, which makes us visible to everyone,” he adds.

This journalist learnt from testimonies presented in the church that it was not all a bed of roses when the church started. They have been through challenging and trying times but came out victorious.

“We started fellowship under a tree and then used a tent before being blessed with this shelter. We survived rains and storms,” emphasised Past Wonder Maziba. “We used to walk long distances during outreaches but now we have our own transport,” Maziba adds.
“We are so blessed and we still have more dreams, especially to see people’s lives changed to glorify God.”

Speaker after speaker added that hard work, determination, unity and the belief they had in God helped them to achieve all this as a church.

It also has a prayer room available 24/7 for members to purify themselves, submit requests and praise God.

It has branches in various parts of the province including Lilydale, Mkhuhlu, Manyeleti, Masoyi, Clau Clau, KaBokweni, KaNyamazane, Barberton, Nkomazi, Middelburg and other parts of the country and over the borders. Attendees for the 20th celebration came from as far as Lesotho and Mozambique, Iris and America.