Lord willing, Living Hope will send out Akani and Lerato Hlungwane as church-planting missionaries to Ka-Bungeni village, Limpopo Province, in about 2022.
Ka-Bungeni is a village not far from Makhado / Louis Trichardt in Limpopo Province. Like many parts of Africa, the Prosperity Gospel and syncretism between Christianity and African Traditional Religion are both very widespread in the area. Many people will identify themselves as Christian, but few know and believe the biblical gospel.
There are very few Bible-teaching churches in the area. There is massive need! However, there are also exciting opportunities for gospel partnership: Akani has developed friendships with a small group of solid churches who are working together to reach all the Xitsonga speaking villages in the region.
Akani and Lerato have been married since 2013 and they have one daughter.
The Hlungwanes have a burden for seeing healthy, Bible-teaching churches established in the villages and rural areas of South Africa.
Akani was born and raised in Ka-Bungeni, and he has a lot of family in the village and surrounding area. Xitsonga is his first language, and he is fluent in Tshivenda, the next most common first-language in the area, too. Lerato also grew up in a village (North of Rustenburg, North-West Province). She understands Xitsonga and is growing in her fluency :).
Akani worked in full-time campus outreach & discipleship ministry at the University of Johannesburg for 2 years. He has been a part of Living Hope Church since he moved to Pretoria in 2012, and Lerato has been a part of the church since they were married in 2013. The Hlungwanes have been a huge blessing to Living Hope! They have served and ministered in a wide variety of ways, and we have seen God very evidently at work in them and through them! We are confident of Akani’s calling to pastoral ministry, and are excited to continue investing in his development for pastoral ministry.
We would like Akani to begin formal Theological studies soon, and hopefully also a full-time pastoral internship at Living Hope should sufficient funding become available. Lord willing, we would like Akani and Lerato to move to Ka-Bungeni to church plant in about 2022.
Any donations towards Akani’s preparation for church-planting, whether one-time or monthly, would be much appreciated. Thank-you!