by Zukisani Zamela & Babalo Vala
In this month’s edition we cover the ministry of the Koopman family based in George. The ministry is led by Evangelist Hilton and Sister Brenda Koopman. Over the years the family has focused their ministry on reviving churches to do missionary work whilst at the same time working the unentered areas of both the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape. The core activities of their ministry has been medical missionary work, family life education, music evangelism, open air preaching and house to house evangelism. Their ministry started as early as 2011. Before that time the family was doing ministry part time (only on weekends) but due to the demands in the field, the family decided to minister full time. God’s grace has, since that time, empowered the family to do marvellous exploits for the Kingdom.
During the hard lockdowns imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the family continued to hold services in their yard through open air preaching on a weekly basis. When asked why he kept on evangelising during hard lockdowns, Evangelist Hilton responded by saying, “We are on lockdown but not locked up.” Hundreds of people in the community received the Good News through the open air service of the Koopman family. The discouraged and hopeless were vitalised by the echoes of the Good News that came from the Koopman household in George in a time where people's lives were cut short by the raging virus.
In reflection on his lifework, Evangelist Hilton recounted that “reviving churches and getting them to actually do missionary work has been a huge challenge…partly because missionary work is misunderstood and unappreciated by our members.” Notwithstanding these challenges, Evangelist Hilton also recounts how his ministry has been well received by the rest of the Christian community. “We have received the greatest reception, support and love from the extended Christian community than in any other place. As a result, we have realised that there are many good people out there that God has used as an instrument to help our mission.”
The Koopman’s currently do evangelistic campaigns in the small towns and farms of the Klein Karoo plus some areas in the North West Province. The family still does mission trips from time-time to the Afrikaans speaking small towns of Namaqualand.
They believe that the secret to effective and sustainable evangelistic work is true conversion and the use of the method of Christ.
We hope you’ve been inspired by this month’s self supporting ministry. We invite you to share your church approved self supporting ministry, local church testimonies and outreach initiatives with us at WRNews@cc.adventist.org!
