“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” – Acts 1:8
The outreach and missionary ministry of Hillcrest Baptist Church seeks to minister to those outside the church, beginning with our Jerusalem (Hillcrest), to Judea (KZN), to Samaria (South Africa), and finally to the ends of the earth (the world), in an attempt to fulfil the Great Commission given by Jesus Christ:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Below are the current outreach ministries of Hillcrest Baptist Church.
Please contact the Church Office should you want more information or want to help financially
“Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.”
The outreach and missionary ministry of Hillcrest Baptist Church seeks to minister to those outside the church, beginning with our Jerusalem (Hillcrest), to Judea (KZN), to Samaria (South Africa), and finally to the ends of the earth (the world), in an attempt to fulfil the Great Commission given by Jesus Christ:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Below are the current outreach ministries of Hillcrest Baptist Church.
Please contact either the Church Office should you want more information or want to help financially
“Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more.”
This series examines socially relevant subjects from a biblical perspective. Three events are held each year, at which everyday issues that confront us all are dealt with. Answers to topics such as “What Happens When You Die?” or “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People”, often not sufficiently answered by modern society, are clearly explained through the word of God and give positive and life-changing direction.
Presentations are made by local speakers, as well as international, when they are available.
This is a specialized hospital, providing chronic nursing care for patients referred from all over Kwazulu-Natal. On the last Sunday of every month a team of volunteers from HBC conduct a service for the hospital residents. This team comprises a service leader, a lay-preacher and a musician along with those who convey the patients to and from the chapel in wheelchairs and assist them during the service.
Team members also conduct weekly visitations to patients, establishing compassionate friendships and following up on the messages preached.
Focus here is on the over-60’s, providing opportunities for loving fellowship for members and their friends and families. A tea or luncheon is organised each school holiday where congregants and their guests are served home-made eats while listening to a gospel message and musical entertainment.
Also part of this ministry is the “Visiting Friends” team of volunteers, who pay regular home visits to those in need of such a service, develop friendships, and assess and meet many other requirements.
Hillcrest Baptist Church also plays an active supportive role in the initiatives of its church-plant in the adjacent community of Edamini. Areas of involvement are:
These two centres provide daily care for nearly 100 children, ranging from pre-primers to matriculants, while also giving some respite to those family relatives who have undertaken the task of raising these children. The children receive a meal each day.
Part of this initiative is the annual Party Pack project which provides gift boxes and a special party for the orphans at the end of each year.
This initiative has evolved from the feeding scheme originally implemented to support families raising Vumelani orphans. With the advent of the COVID pandemic many households within the greater community have been left financially compromised and now receive food parcels through the scheme.
Financial donations are used to purchase items for the food parcels as well as “Future Life” cereal for the matric students who do their afternoon homework at the Vumelani centres.
Another initiative to have developed out of the Vumelani centres and in support of those raising the children involved, these monthly meetings were originally designed to provide spiritual teaching and guidance while handing out second-hand clothing and food parcels. The meetings are now attended by a team of volunteers from Hillcrest Baptist Church who teach various craft skills such as knitting, sewing, etc. This has proved very popular and has, in some instances, even provided a small amount of income for some of the households.
This is an ecologically sound and sustainable farming technique which produces generous harvests of nutritious food and which is being taught to communities throughout Africa. Various Edamini residents have attended training courses and now, under the guidance of a team from Hillcrest Baptist Church, are developing a vegetable garden to provide fresh vegetables for the Vumelani day-care centres. It is also intended that this be an outreach to the community to spread God’s word and to provide income for households.
Volunteers from various churches in the Edamini community are undergoing Sunday School teacher training. These training sessions are coordinated by a team from Hillcrest Baptist Church and instruction is provided by Child Evangelism Fellowship, a Bible-centred global organisation that evangelises children with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Among the trainees are teachers from the Vumelani Centres who use the material in their daily devotionals with the children.
Paulos Ntaka, pastor of Edamini Baptist Church, has spent much of his ministry planting and establishing churches in communities around Edamini and beyond.
In support of this, and understanding the need for well-trained men to lead these churches, a dedicated team at Hillcrest Baptist has, over the past two years, been involved in the translation of critical theological resources into the Zulu language.
Besides a busy local missions’ portfolio, Hillcrest Baptist Church is also involved in the sponsorship of a number of international missionaries and their families in countries such as Malawi, Kenya, the UAE, Nepal and Papua New Guinea. Their names are not listed due to the sensitive nature of some of the countries.