A new sort of congregation in Kampersrus

Kampersrus resident and founder of Care Buddies Hoedspruit, Priscilla Eva, has carefully restored and renovated a church in the village that had been left empty for some six to seven years.
The land on which the church stands was bought by the Maré family in the 1930s and was given to the community for a hall to be built.

The church became registered with the Dutch Reformed Church and a gentleman called Jopie Erasmus built the first structure with a thatched roof.

However, some time in the 1950s, the roof blew off during a storm and so the building as seen today was constructed in 1954.

The church remained an integral part of the community until some time after the turn of the millennium, when some of the congregation moved to a church in Hoedspruit and the Kampersrus site became almost abandoned.

When Priscilla heard that the building was for sale, she had a vision for Care Buddies. She knew that the large open space that the inside of the church provides would be a fantastic place to get all the senior citizens together for regular functions, arts and crafts sessions and general social gatherings.

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What she has achieved in only the space of a year is quite staggering. The old church has been completely renovated inside, turning the space into a functional living area. Priscilla has respected the history of the church at every turn, re-using and re-purposing much of the original features. An old wooden window frame that was removed to make way for a doorway, was re-purposed into a set of shelves that have been sunk beautifully into a partition wall.

An arched window of small frosted panes that was removed from another area now also serves as a partial partition in the main hall, and acts as a screen to the entrance of the new kitchen area.

Here, all the cupboards from the old kitchen have been restored and the large area serves as a great space for Priscilla and the Care Buddies team to prepare meals and snacks for events – one way that they raise funds for the Care Buddies program.

The floor of the main hall is original, with holes in the concrete still visible from where the pews used to stand.

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The main hall has been segmented by newly built partition walls that extend half way into the centre of the room and only extend a couple of metres up. This allows the space to be divided into workable, livable areas but does not detract one’s eye from the vastness of the space and you can still perfectly imagine walking down the aisle.

Priscilla honours the building’s past at every turn, even placing her organ where the church organ once stood. Now her congregation, the senior citizens, can gather in the space and have a good old sing-song.

Full of furniture that has been handed down to Priscilla from her family, there is a real sense of nostalgia as you enter the building. This certainly gives some good talking points to the pensioners and allows them to step back into times of old and reminisce of days gone by.

The church that once was now has a new purpose and offers a wonderful home to Priscilla as well as a great space to hold social gatherings for the elderly folk of the Hoedspruit area.