A royal treatment for KwaSizabantu Mission

The reigning King of the Zulu Nation, King Misuzulu Zulu, attended a church service at the KwaSizabantu Mission. The royal household attended the Sunday church service on 16 April along with various other dignitaries. The king wanted to rekindle his relationship with the Mission and its founder, Rev Erlo Stegen. As a young child, King Misuzulu regularly visited the Mission during its bi-annual youth conferences and wanted to renew the strong bonds between them.

King Misuzulu is the third oldest surviving son of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini. His coronation took place in August last year. The king highlighted how Rev Erlo and KwaSizabantu have left their mark on the communities in South Africa, especially the Zulu community. Ms Lidia Dube, a respected community leader and one of the directors of the Mission, welcomed the royal house. She said previously, “Others can say anything they like, whether good or bad about Baba Mfundisi (Rev Erlo) but the testimony of his life before our very eyes has spoken volumes to our Zulu Nation.”

The king paid tribute to the countless contributions Rev Erlo made to the Zulu nation since he started his ministry among them over seventy years ago. He made special mention of the restoration programme KwaSizabantu runs for young people with addictions and mentioned the many life-changing events that resulted from this programme. He said, “You have planted the good seed of being thankful amongst the Zulu nation. I will never stop thanking you for that because I see the results of that seed. I also want to refer to the seed of righteousness. Here at the Mission, there is mentoring and a restoration centre. I am very thankful for that because in that you as a congregation are helping me, by helping my nation, just as you also did for my father the late king. You are helping the nation to be made well and to go forward. Thank you, very much. That testifies to the fact that we are holding hands in this work.”

Many royals from different nations have visited KwaSizabantu over the years to celebrate his outstanding and diligent contribution to rural communities. The late King Goodwill Zwelithini regularly visited Rev Stegen, many times on short notice as he felt at home at the Mission. Prince Mangosotho Buthelezi, the traditional prime minister of the AmaZulu nation and monarch, is also a regular visitor to KwaSizabantu.  Prince Buthelezi attended in person the 70th anniversary of the ministry of Rev Erlo at KwaSizabantu last year. The grand occasion in December 2022 was attended by thousands of people from across the world to honour Rev Erlo’s contribution to the upliftment of the communities; and for focusing his life’s work to help them as a preacher, mentor, friend and for providing endless job opportunities through the numerous agricultural and other projects he established for their benefit.

(Article supplied by Devoted magazine. Read Devoted online: https://www.devinepublishers.com/devoted-magazine. For more such stories, follow Devoted on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/devinepublishers/