New Apostolic Church
International

Nelspruit, South Africa. With a population of some 65,000 inhabitants, Nelspruit is the capital of the South African province of Mpumalanga, around 330 kilometres east of Johannesburg. The New Apostolic congregation there was delighted to host an important visitor, namely Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber, the international leader of the New Apostolic Church, who conducted the Sunday service on 16 July 2006.

The Chief Apostle served the congregation with a passage taken from 1 Timothy 6: 12: “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called…”. In this divine service he ordained eight Bishops and two Apostles.

The New Apostolic District Churches in both the Cape and South East Africa were happy to receive new Bishops. In future these men will take care of the work of the New Apostolic Church in the countries of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.  The Chief Apostle also ordained two Apostles and three Bishops for the District Church of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Daniel Mulemba (40), Simeon Musowoya (47), and Vernon Rudolph (47) received the Bishop ministry for the District Church of South East Africa. Ivor Adams (48) and Colin Isaacs (56) will in future work as Bishops in the region of the District Church of the Cape. Gilbert Mbayi Bulaba (61) and Di-Bilufuene Matita (54) were ordained Apostles for the District Church of the Congo, while Baul'ankoy Iyafo (50), Mia-Lele Minengu (42), and Kalala Nsumbu (52) received the Bishop ministry for the same region.

The District Church of South East Africa counts approximately 270,000 members. Some 300,000 believers profess the New Apostolic faith in the District Church of the Cape, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo there are nearly 1.1 million New Apostolic Christians.