History was made at the Uitenhage Baptist Church when one of their longest-standing members turned 100 years old on 4th April this year.
A service was held on Sunday, 3 April celebrating the extraordinary life of Daphne Mitchell (néé Carlin) who was born on 4 April 1922 on a farm in the Stutterheim area. She was the only girl with three brothers and had to walk three miles to school every day.
During the years of World War II, she secured a job in East London and had the experience of attending church on which occasion she heard the gospel preached for the first time and immediately surrendered her life to Christ as her Saviour. There she also met her future husband, Ronnie Mitchell. After a period of courtship, they were married in September 1944 and shortly thereafter relocated to Port Elizabeth where they worshipped at Victoria Park Baptist Church.
In 1946 Ronnie was appointed to oversee the construction of the Goodyear plant in Uitenhage. This required their move to Uitenhage where they became members of the newly constituted local Baptist Church. They both became woven into the fabric of the church, serving faithfully in various ministries for many years. In 1976 they accepted the call to the Gospel Recording Mission in Cape Town. They fully devoted themselves to this work for 12 dedicated years after which they retired and returned to Uitenhage.
Sadly, Ronnie died just one month short of their 50th wedding anniversary on 29 August 1994.
Daphne continues to serve the church faithfully in many ways, was a prayer warrior of note and had a heart for missions. She spent many years making marmalade which was in great demand, the proceeds of which went entirely to missions.
Both her children Malcolm, now living in America and Jean who lives in New Zealand, flew to South Africa to be with their mother on this memorable occasion. Daphne is a valued and much-loved member of the church and a wonderful example to all.
