In our recent article, we introduced the man behind the KwaSizabantu Mission, the biggest missionary station with several branches across South Africa and abroad. In this article, we put his work under the spotlight. It is impossible to write about all his legacy projects in one article, but we will also provide links to other valuable sources of information about his work.
Given the magnitude and impact of his work, it is no surprise that he received numerous awards during his lifetime for the work he has selflessly done to uplift communities. The Robert W Pierce Award for Christian Service was bestowed upon him for his work among the Zulu nation as a missionary, preacher, educator, and man of compassion. The NWF Chancellor’s medal was presented to him by North-West University in recognition of his outstanding and continued contribution to education development, community upliftment, and outreach in rural and impoverished areas. There were others; however, for the founder of the thriving farming and missionary projects, it was not about him but God’s work and a calling to serve His people. Throughout his lifetime, he was obedient to his calling, and the Mission celebrated 70 years of his ministry shortly before he passed away in 2023.
To list all his work and achievements in a single article is impossible. Pivotal to his work is the auditorium, which can seat between 8000 and 10,000 people; workshops (electrical, wood, etc.); a kitchen which serves workers and co-workers with meals three times daily; a coffee shop for visitors and residents; a bakery; a pasta factory; a yoghurt factory, a shop where locals can buy things for their daily needs and a community radio station. The Mission was a learning centre from the start. Reverend Stegen started with adult education programs, and the parents and workers complained about a lack of proper education for their children in the area. Subsequently, he founded the Domino Servite School on the farm, which works excellently among the community’s children. As an independent English-medium Christian school, it also provides schooling for the workers and co-workers. The school maintained its exemplary 100% matric pass rate record in 2024.
The mission also boasts a private higher education institution, Cedar International Academy NPC, which offers a B.Ed degree.
Reverend Stegen started various agricultural projects that provided the financial means for the mission’s work. These projects include a dairy farm, Emseni farming, and Maqhogo, a few kilometres from KwaSizabantu. Pure spring water was also discovered in the 1970s on the mission station and turned into the very successful aQuellé water bottled project, which now has over three plants.
The impact of his work is immense. All his endeavours are community-based, and one of their core values and focus is the upliftment of rural communities. The projects provide job opportunities to locals. It also financially supports various community outreach projects and programmes over a broad spectrum. It is in this simple voluntary act of mostly the poor and marginalised people who had experienced the unselfish Christ-like compassion and love of Reverend Stegen, his close family, and loyal staff of many years that the legacy unfolded. In most cases, a legacy is often described as a laudable development in the past. This legacy is alive in the present, manifesting in the daily actions of people who took the calling seriously.
(Read more about the work of Revered Erlo Stegen in our sister publication, Devoted, by following the link: https://www.devotedmag.co.za/)
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