WELKOM – On the weekend of 26 September, the Rovers Rugby Club was a sea of blue and white as the Twelve Apostles Church in Trinity held its regional Thanksgiving Day, graced by the leadership of the Matjhabeng Local Municipality.

Region 5 of the Free State hosted West Rand 1 and West Rand 2 from Gauteng for a joint Thanksgiving Day in Welkom. On the same weekend, congregations in other regions of South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini held Thanksgiving celebrations of their own, making it a moment of shared gratitude across the church’s footprint in Southern Africa.

The weekend drew its spirit from the annual greeting of the church’s president and Chief Apostle, S.D. Ndlovu, sent to all congregations for the 2026-’27 year. In it, the Chief Apostle reminds members that faith is seen in how believers live. “People will come to know God, our Creator, through the good deeds others speak of,” he writes. “You must bear good fruit.” His words echo Jesus in Matthew 5:16: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

The letter calls for that light to begin at home. “God lives within a person, for a person is the temple of God,” the Chief Apostle writes. “Let each one see God in the one beside him. Let there be love and peace in your homes.”

That message rang out on the field on Sunday, when Father Apostle S.S. Magano used his address to strongly denounce gender-based violence (GBV). In the wake of a recent attack that has shaken the community, he rebuked violence against women and children in plain terms, reminding the thousands gathered that no one can claim to carry the light of God while bringing fear into their own home. His words drew a long and solemn response from the congregation.

On Sunday morning, the Apostle’s entourage led the procession onto the field. Magano, Mother Apostle Magano, and Mother Apostle Lubuzo were received by members standing in long, ordered lines across the pitch. The service was followed by an afternoon of regional youth choirs, testimonies from the sisters, and the words of evangelists from each region.

The executive mayor of Matjhabeng, Cllr Thanduxolo Khalipha, addressed the gathering and drew on Jesus’ prayer for His disciples in John 17: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Believers, the mayor said, may not be of the world, but they are still in it, and they must stay mindful of what happens around them. He encouraged the congregants to let their faith be seen in their communities by registering and casting their votes.

For the chairman of the local organising committee (LOC), Overseer Mshuta, the weekend was Ndlovu’s message come to life. “A candle does not light itself for its own sake. It burns so that others can see,” he said. “This weekend, three regions became one flame. People travelled through the night, carried their children, and stood in the rain to say thank you to God. Now we go home to be that light in our streets, in our homes and in our towns. That is what thanksgiving truly means. Not only the words we sing on Sunday, but the good we do on Monday.”

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