The Mission House

Bertus and Carna van Zyl are today the proud owners of the Mission House.The property was bought by them in October 2001 with the vision to restore not only the building but also to continue the work that the Lord had begun.

The following is quoted from the book " Off they went " by O.Fast .:

" It is obvious that the first missionaries realised the great responsibility in finding the most suitable area and site for their activities.....

In 1905 , when Rev.K.A.Hjelm had spent some four years at Ekukhanyeni, he felt led to search for a more central and permanent site. He therefore found a house in Piet Retief with enough ground for certain developments, wich he purchased on behalf of the Swedish Alliance Mission.

A large two-story church building was erected on the mission ground in Piet Retief and dedicated to God in 1912. School classes were accommodated on the ground floor, and other buildings were erected as activities expanded. Bedrooms were prepared for co-workers and people travelling to or from Swaziland and other mission areas  - and their horses needed hay and stables !

A mission station had thus come into being , and this metod of providing spiritual and physical assistance to people in need proved its effectiveness for decades to come."

The Swedish Alliance Mission missionaries , therefore , concentrated their activities toward the east across the border into Swaziland, and notheastward beyond Amsterdam down to Barberton, and from there up to White River. From Piet Retief the work also spread towards the north and northwest to the Highveld industrial region and the Rand mining area. Later the Gospel was carried into the Northern Transvaal and Zimbabwe.