THE KIMBERLEY ROAD CHURCH OF CHRIST

The Kimberley Road Church started in Kimberley and just happened to end up owning a building in Kimberley Road, Johannesburg.

At first our work in Kimberley was directed solely toward the African congregations. The mission’s mother church was at Kimberley with a Griqua church in the suburb of Greenpoint. However, the Rees family had started a work among the resident Chinese, and among the missionaries living there, our combined families had a number of children and we all felt that it would be good to have a congregation where they could have an active part as well. It was then that Sunday evening services began to be held in our living room.

Rees’ had conducted their work in the Chinese club building , but this was not altogether satisfactory and it was often left in disarray by Saturday evening affairs also held there and there were often people worshiping at the Chinese altar in the courtyard. When we started having evening services in our home, they and their Chinese converts jointed us. Not much later a building was purchased, the Kimberley Church of Christ was established and we all worshipped together there. We made it a point to stop for those who lived along our route there every Sunday. I continued working with the Training school, with trips out to teach in African churches, and printing and processing my Bible Lessons by mail until it was the decision was made to move the training School to a coastal site hundreds of miles away. I stayed behind with the church, in Kimberley and Al and Annette Hamilton came to minister there later. He and I taught some classes at the church building, particularly for Roland Joseph Sr. and some of the Ho Chung family.

The Chinese, in particular, sent their children all to University and our young people began to move away to Johannesburg to attend the Witwatersrand University there. Thus, they were scattered. James ultimately went to England, Edward stayed at the university as an assistant to a professor there, Maurine married and eventually that couple moved to Australia, and The youngest son, Henry, ended up living in Canada. Other Christians went to Hong Kong, and other destinations.

During the years before they scattered, Al started driving back and forth to conduct services in Johannesburg for those who had gone there, and in time wisely just stayed there and the congregation began to grow. They met in a store-front building in Beit Street. Beit street was in a blighted area very near downtown Johannesburg, but also near but not really in “Chinatown.”

We turned the work in Kimberley over to Roland Joseph leaving him our Commer van and we moved to Johannesburg. We soon started assisting at Beit Street, which work in time bought a site in Kimberley Road nearby and started a building fund. We assisted in every way we could and I more than once led the congregation for long periods of time, including the difficult times when a new building was under construction. The soil was clay requiring steel reinforcement, the building inspector was upset with us when a former minister called him, not knowing who he was, an “idiot” to his face. That delayed us for many months until he went on furlough and Phyllis bravely went in to speak to the inspector and ask what was delaying everything. His only question was, “What happened to….?” When she answered, “He has returned to America”, the inspector walked over to a set of pigeonholes and handed her the approved plans. At that time we built the hall, the kitchen, a classroom and the ladies’ and gentlemen’s rooms. That used up our reserved funds. After a while. We kept adding to the building fund so that we could add the sanctuary and two more classrooms. It all had to be for cash. With another ministering in between a couple of times, I was again the minister when we decided to start again and finish the building. I put up a “thermometer” to indicate how. much funds we had and we hired a builder and started. He later told me that he watched that thermometer and thought we would never make it many times, but thanks with praise to the Lord and our generous members, we worked on until it was finished. I am so very proud of them for their loving sacrifices. That lovely building stands there dedicated to His service as a memorial of their devotion and faith.