BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE – It’s true what they say about a prophet who gets more appreciated and celebrated elsewhere. This best describes Pastor Bakhe Dlamini’s story, who has made strides in South Africa, from publishing over five books and selling out marriage seminars in Cape Town, KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng with his wife Nokwanda to opening his branch in South Africa in Midrand.
Pastor Bakhe is also a community psychologist, marriage therapist, author, and speaker. He boasts over 640 000 followers on Facebook and 147 000 followers on Instagram.
Last Sunday, his church, The Yonder Church, celebrated a milestone and turned one year old. I had the pleasure of meeting the trendsetter and took a page from his book on how to become a success and what we can all take home. His story proves that no matter where you start, how you finish is entirely up to you. From humble beginnings to being acknowledged and recognised globally, all because of your gift. As the good book also quotes, your gift will make room for you; it will put you in the presence of a great man.
We reached out to the man of God, and this is what he had to say:
What is the history behind the new church, and how did it start?
I found myself in SA through business. During the COVID-19 period, I had increasing demand globally for my services. I opened my private practice in Sandton. We have our church in Eswatini, but after receiving prophetic words that we’d open a branch in Johannesburg, we prayed, and then felt the release to do that. It made sense because I was already established in SA. We are in Midrand, which is right at the heart of Gauteng.
What have been the challenges of starting a church in a new territory?
Starting a church is not a joke. You have to be really called by God to do it, or you’d end up in the ICU with drips hanging all over. Before I could identify a local pastor to continue pastoring our church in Eswatini, I had to drive between the two churches. I’d start preaching at our 8:30 a.m. church in Eswatini and immediately, once done at around 10:00 a.m., drive to Midrand Church, which started at 2:00 p.m. We had no congregant when we started, so we had to believe God for the church rent, which was about R13 000 at that time. South Africa is more costly when it comes to rent. Our current rent is R38,000. It is not a joke to preach the gospel. It was tough, but we saw God bring people, one by one, into our congregation.
Have you spotted emaSwati in your church?
We have a lot of emaSwati; however, the church predominantly has indigenous people of South Africa, and that is what is called “missions.” Going to a foreign land and reaching out to the purely indigenous.
What advice would you give someone who wants to start a church?
You have to be called; if not, you’ll die.
Do you have a branch in Eswatini?
Our church in Eswatini is at the Sibane Hotel. We got land at Lobamba and are about to embark on building.
