Joseph Mahlaola holds a BTh (Christ Seminary), BTh Honours and MTh in Biblical Greek (SATS) and Doctor of Educational Ministry in Leadership (SBTS, USA). Joseph served as senior pastor of Nokaneng Unity Baptist Church for 7 years, as a Missionary in Mozambique with Samaria Mission (the ministry of Christ Baptist Church) for 4 years, and as a Lecturer at Christ Seminary (the ministry of Christ Baptist Church) for 10 years. He currently serves as the senior pastor of Christ Baptist Church. He and his wife, Welheminah, have a son and a daughter. Joseph loves serving God and His church.

August 2024 Update

Prayer

CBC Prayer day – this is a highlight of each month, and it is a blessing to the leaders to see our church family come together faithfully to pray for our church as well as for one another. Please don’t become weary of attending this special time together – let’s fill the building on the designated days of prayer. The next Prayer days are on 19 October and 16 November.

Ladies & Men’s Breakfast

Fellowship is an important part of growing in Christ. These events are a wonderful opportunity to fellowship together around good teaching and a good meal! We encourage you to try to make every effort to attend the next one! The next Women’s Breakfast is on 2 November and Men’s Breakfast is on 23 November.

Women’s Conference

Once again this was a day to remember! We are so grateful to the Lord for the special time of encouragement from God’s Word Thank you to our teachers for the wonderful way that you encouraged us in our walk with the Lord. A special Thank You to the men of our church for taking care of the women by feeding them a very tasty lunch. Thank You for serving the women of our church in this way – you are appreciated!

Visitors Information Fellowship

We love to welcome visitors to CBC family! But there is a lot to learn and know about our church; what we believe, how we function, etc. And because of this we have these Information Fellowship gatherings twice a year to explain to our visitors who we are. And hopefully after attending one of these gatherings our visitors will want to attend our Membership classes and become a member of Christ Baptist Church. The next Visitor Fellowship is on 17 November.

Young Adults Retreat

The young adults always enjoy each other’s company, whether it is at church, at the home of Kwacha and Amanda Simwaka or on a special retreat. Please remember to pray for our young adults – they need much encouragement and support as they start their journey into adulthood. Pray that they will make wise and godly decisions. This year they spent a long weekend away at a local resort where their focus was on “Remaining in Christ”.

Burger Bash

Thank you to the Young Adult Ministry for taking charge of this fundraising activity in order to help with the Family Camp. These two events were like welcoming “a long-lost friend”. Thank you for your excellent service and for the opportunity to fellowship around a tasty meal. Keep up the good work!

Holiday Bible Club

This is always a highlight of our calendar and a wonderful way to reach into our community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Thank you to Pastor David and his excellent team, the topic for this year was “The Attributes of God”. We pray that God’s Word has penetrated the hearts of all the children that attended.

CBC Missions

Southern Gateway Church Plant - Things are progressing well at the church plant on the “Mission Farm”. There were 40 people in attendance on the last Sunday in July. The church was blessed to have two of the visitors from the USA join them for their Sunday service. House to house evangelism continues – a team goes out into the community on the first two Saturdays of each month. Please continue to pray for this work!

Outreach to Zimbabwe - We had a blessed time together with the 3 brothers from the USA and our brothers and sisters in Chikombedzi. During the 8 days that we were there, we were able to visit and pray with elderly church members. We visited the local Orphanage. Had a church conference for 5 nights. A Pastor’s Equipping Conference over 2 days. We spent a special day with the young people at the river, where we played games, but more importantly encouraged them from God’s Word. Street evangelism took place every day. We had a wonderful day of teaching on the Sunday, where all the visitors were able to teach a different Sunday School class and Pastor Joe Zbinden encouraged us during the Sunday Service. The church was so grateful to the team for their visit and hard work and so as a Thank You gift, the church presented the visitors with a special cake! This was a real treat both for the team and for the church (you cannot purchase a cake in Chikombedzi – you either have to get one in South Africa or from one of the bigger towns. This one came all the way from Harare!)

Christ Seminary Graduation Ceremony

It was a wonderful time of celebration for the 9 men that completed their studies in 2023 and who were able to receive the recognition of 3 years of hard work and to be celebrated by their family and friends. It is always encouraging to be a part of this special celebration.

Couple’s Conference

This year the conference was opened up to church members as well as to Christ Seminary students and graduates. All those who attended had a blessed time together focusing on their marriages. Thank you to Pastor Kris Stratton from the USA for taking the time to come and take us through the Bible’s roadmap of marriage.