Christians @ Rhodes holds a mission on campus once every three years. This year's mission has the theme Break the Mould, and aims to challenge university staff and students to break out of the moulds that society tries to cast us into and be transformed by God.
Christians @ Rhodes holds a mission on campus once every three years. This year's mission has the theme Break the Mould, and aims to challenge university staff and students to break out of the moulds that society tries to cast us into and be transformed by God.
The mission events are intended to engage with and offer an alternative perspective on many issues we are facing as a university and as a nation, through the lens of the Christian world view.
A tent will be set up on Drostdy Lawns for the duration of the mission as a place where people can stop, have a cup of tea or coffee and find out more about Christianity and the mission events.
A variety of speakers will be taking part in the programme. They are:
Simon Brace
Simon Brace is the South African Regional Director of Ratio Christi, a global movement that equips university students and staff to give historical, philosophical, and scientific reasons for following Jesus Christ. He was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in South Africa. He holds a BA in Religious Studies and an MA in Theology and MA in Philosophy from Southern Evangelical Seminary in the US. He met his wife, Nel Brace, while engaging in dialogue with Muslims in London. He is currently based at North West University in Potchefstroom, where he and Nel have established a chapter of Ratio Christi.
Nel Brace
Nel Brace holds a BA and Diploma in Higher Education from Stellenbosch University and an MA in Philosophy from Southern Evangelical Seminary. Nel’s interest in the role of Christianity in the intellectual life was prompted by her interaction with Muslims and those of other world views at Speaker’s Corner in London. She specialises in speaking on the relationship between Christianity and Islam, on religious pluralism and on rational arguments for the Christian faith. She works with her husband Simon in running the chapter of Ratio Christi at North West University in Potchefstroom.
Carol Mkize
Mkize currently serves as a campus pastor at Wits University with His People Church. She was very involved in pastoral work with students at the university during the #FeesMustFall protests of October 2015. She serves as a trustee of the Inhlakanipho Education and Development Trust (IEDT), an educational trust which provides bursaries and mentorship to school learners and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is also a trustee of the Umholi Trust, which provides university scholarships to candidates demonstrating excellence and leadership potential, and funds the‘Leaders in Transformation (LIT) Institute, which works to develop students as leaders for all spheres of society.
Afrika Mhlophe
Mhlophe is a pastor at Good News Community Church in KwaZakhele, Port Elizabeth. He has written two books, Christianity and the Veneration of Ancestors, and Freed by God but Imprisoned by Culture. He regularly contributes to the country’s public discourse through opinion pieces published in a variety of South African newspapers, including the Daily Dispatch. Mhlophe has become well-known for speaking across South Africa and abroad on the relationship between Christianity and culture.
Mahlatse Mashua
Mashua is the South African Director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, an organisation which exists to challenge those who shape the ideas of a culture with the credibility of Jesus Christ’s message. He grew up in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, and has studied Biochemistry at the University of KwaZulu/Natal, and Theology at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics in the UK. Mahlatse is passionate about discussing society’s hard questions, especially in the African context. He regularly speaks in many different contexts including rural villages, townships and university campuses, and has written opinion pieces for the Mail & Guardian and The Star. He currently lives in Cape Town.
Arno van Niekerk
Van Niekerk is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of the Free State. He has a BCom in Financial Management, BCom (Hons) in Investment Management, MCom in Money and Banking and a PhD in Economics from the University of the Free State. He also teaches on the Master’s programme at Fachhochshule University in Salzburg, Austria. He has written a popular book entitled Enough! What is the Plan? which outlines a way forward for spiritual transformation in South Africa.
Stephen Lungu
Lungu was born in Harare, Zimbabwe to a teenage Zambian mother and an over-40 year old Malawian father. Abandoned in the streets at age six, Stephen moved between abuse in orphanages to abuse among relatives until at the age of 10 he ran away. He started his own gang called The Black Shadows. He hated God for what had happened to him and he hated white people who had everything while black people starved and were unemployed. At age 18 when the Rhodesia-Zimbabwe liberation struggle began, he was ready to use his gang to fight for justice and freedom. In the midst of this time of national revolution he underwent a dramatic conversion to Christianity. He learned to read and write at the age of 21, and later told his story in the book Out of the Black Shadows, co-authored with Anne Coomes. Lungu joined African Enterprise, a Christian missionary organisation, in 1982, as its leader in Malawi, and later served as the international CEO of the organisation. He is very active as an international speaker, coming to Rhodes University hot on the heels of speaking engagements in four countries. He is currently based in Pietermaritzburg.
The programme is:
Sunday 25 September
Combined Service: Dr Sizwe Mabizela and Simon Brace to speak
This will be a combined closing service for the Seven Days on the Wall week of prayer and an opening service for the mission; 3-4.30pm Cathedral
Monday 26 September
#BreakTheTraditionalMould: Transforming Protest – Carol Mkize; 7-8pm Eden Grove Blue
Tuesday 27 September
#BreakTheCultureMould – Afrika Mhlophe;1.15-2pm Eden Grove Red
#BreakTheReligionMould
Panel Discussion: Carol Mkize, Afrika Mhlophe, Simon Brace, Mahlatse Mashua; 7-8.30pm Eden Grove Red
Wednesday 28 September
#BreakTheColonialMould – Mahlatse Mashua; 1.15-2pm Eden Grove Red
Artists' Night: Local artists performing and exhibiting their work; 7-8.30pm TBA
Thursday 29 September
#BreakTheInjusticeMould – Nel Brace; 1.15-2pm Eden Grove Red
Res Talks: Local speakers on a variety of topics; 7-7:45pm various residences (programme to be released soon)
Friday 30 September
Blaque Nubon (hip hop artist); 1.15-2pm Kaif
#BreakTheApathyMould – Arno van Niekerk; 7-8pm Eden Grove Red
Blaque Nubon – hip hop performance; 8.30-9.30pm Drostdy Lawns
Saturday 1 October
#BeTransformed – Stephen Lungu; 6.30-8:30pm Great Hall
For more information contact Cathryn Moodley, the Christians @ Rhodes Media Team Leader, at cathrynmoodley@gmail.com/074 797 2576.
* Christians @ Rhodes is an interdenominational network of Christian societies and staff members at Rhodes University.
