Sikwane Circuit executive report - 7 June 2008

Report from the Circuit Executive Committee for the period 2007/2008.

7 Junie 2008

Dear brothers and sisters,

It is with gratitude to the Lord our Father that I am presenting this report at the first meeting of the Sikwane Circuit Executive in Maun. To stand here in the newly built church is just a sign of the fact that the Lord is still extending His Kingdom through the DRCB, despite many difficulties.

In a sense the year 2008 was a very difficult year for the Circuit Executive Committee. Not only did we have problems with members in our committee, but we also gave special attention to the disciplinary case from the DRCB Gaborone Case.

As most of you know, the main case that the Circuit was dealing with was the three cases against church council members, brought in by the Church Council of Gaborone. The first case was against Prop. Nkolonyane and deaconess Molefe for not leaving the meeting at the instruction of the chairperson, the second was for deaconess Molefe referring to the expatriate members of the church council as “baeng”, or visitors/foreigners, and the third was against Prop. Nkolonyane, deaconess Molefe, and elder Moseki for going to the ministry without exhausting the proper channels within the church.

The executive committee tried its best to solve the case, but due to several constraints it was not possible. Therefore this case has been handed over to the Reconciliation committee, being Prop. Mooketsi, Mr. Steinberg, and Mrs. Kalayamore, who will have an opportunity to report back later in our meeting today.

A disconcerting factor in this case was also the fact that the Synod gave an oral directive to the Circuit that “all the decisions that they have taken was wrong”. Although this directive was followed up with a letter from them, they never liaised with the Circuit Committee in this regard, and also never contacted the committee to provide any information to them. The committee has taken this up by requesting a meeting with the Moderamen, but up to date there was no reply from the Moderamen.

The Circuit has also dealt with Mr. Rampoo’s case. Mr. Rampoo is still arguing that he has the right to be licensed, although the feedback from the theological committee was that the Nehemiah Bible institute is “not registered” with the DRCB. The committee found that one of the main problems was the lack of written communication from the relevant committees to Mr. Rampoo regarding this case. This case has not been solved yet, and the new committee will have to liaise with the Theological Training committee in order to solve this issue.

Furthermore we also want to convey to the meeting that brother Metlaleng has indicated that he is busy with his studies at Kgolagano to become a pastor in the church. He has forwarded his letter to his church council, but we have not yet heard anything from them. We urge upon congregations also to be alert that the circuit needs a recommendation from them, in order to forward the request to the Theological Training Committee.

Furthermore it is evident that there are also problems at Mochudi – West congregation. It seems that the congregation has stopped Rev. Bogatsu’s stipend. Furthermore there were even an article in the daily news about problems with elders at the Bokaa ward, although these problems never reached the circuit in a formal way. The new committee will also have to attend to this case in detail.

The Circuit Executive is also still awaiting response from the Synod regarding the constitution, and for the past nine months it seems as if nothing has been happening in this regard. The circuit executive is very concerned about this, since the confusion concerning the constitution is just complicating the current disciplinary cases.

Last but not least, the evangelisation committee has requested permission for two outreaches to be held in Sikwane congregation, one in July, and also a 40 day outreach early next year. The circuit executive has approved this, and encourages the other congregations to participate there.

I thank the members of the Executive who cooperated well in difficult times, especially Mma Kempf who made a lot of effort to come all the way from Ghanzi for our meetings.


Yours in Christ Jesus.



Rev. J.M. Wessels.