South Africa’s friendship with the INC strengthened in farewell courtesy call of outgoing ambassador to INC Executive Minister

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Outgoing South African ambassador to the Philippines H.E. Martin Slabber makes his farewell courtesy call to Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo on Wednesday morning, March 27, 2019 at the INC Central Office in Quezon City. Philippines. (Photo courtesy INC-Public Information Office)

 

March 27, 2019. Manila, Philippines. — South African Ambassador to the Philippines H.E. Martin Slabber visited the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) Central Office on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, to make his farewell courtesy call to INC Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo.

The first time that Ambassador Slabber went to the INC Central Office was in 2016, after hearing about Brother Eduardo V. Manalo’s pastoral visit to INC members in South Africa in 2014 and the rapid growth of the Church in his country.

This second courtesy call by the outgoing South African Ambassador further strengthened the friendship between South Africa and the Church Of Christ, said INC protocol officer minister Joel San Pedro.

South African ambassador H.E. Martin Slabber is warmly greeted by a crowd of Iglesia Ni Cristo Central Office ministers and other volunteer workers who waved small flags of South Africa and the INC after his courtesy call to INC Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo on Wednesday, March 27, 2019. ((Photo courtesy INC-Public Information Office)

 

He described the outgoing South African ambassador as a “good friend of the Church.”

The Church first established its presence in South Africa in 1981, in King William’s Town.

After Brother Eduardo Manalo’s 2014 visit, the INC’s presence in South Africa expanded further. The Church now has 15 congregations in South Africa, as well as a extension campus in Ladybrand for its School for Ministers, one of 20 that the Church has around the world.

The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) House of Worship, as well as its School For Ministers, can be seen here in this aerial shot in Ladybrand, South Africa where it also has an established eco-farm. (Photo courtesy INC-Public Information Office)
The ecofarm in Petrusburg, South Africa of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) (Photo courtesy INC-Public Information Office)

In its efforts to provide assistance to the less fortunate, the Church also established two eco-farming projects in South Africa: in Ladybrand and in Petrusburg.

During his conversation with the Executive Minister, Ambassador Slabber also asked if there was a house of worship in his hometown of Pretoria, saying he would want to visit an INC House of Worship when he returns to South Africa.

“The Executive Minister hopes that he will have many fruitful years to come,” INC minister San Pedro said.

The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) House of Worship in King William’s Town where the Church first established its presence in South Africa in 1981. (Photo courtesy INC-Public Information Office)
The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) House of Worship in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo courtesy INC-Public Information Office)

After his courtesy call, the South African ambassador was warmly greeted by a crowd of INC Central Office ministers and other volunteer workers who waved small flags of South Africa and the INC.

In September 2016, Ambassador Slabber sent a video message congratulating the Executive Minister’s leadership of the INC which, he said, “has an important role to play not only in the lives of the members of the Church, but in the lives of the Filipino people, and people elsewhere in the world.”

(INC-Public Information Office release