A pastor from Turn to Eternal Life Bible Ministries, whose bakkie was stolen while attending a meeting for a good cause in Aureus last week, has described the incident as big loss.
Pastor Edward van Schalkwyk explained to the Herald that he and Iain Batten, co-founder of Turn to Eternal Life Bible Ministries and member of the local Drug Action Committee, had attended a meeting at the Department of Social Services on Thursday, 13 July just before they realised with shock that Van Schalkwyk’s Izuzu bakkie was gone. The bakkie is bottle green with a silver canopy, and carries the registration number CFB 827 GP.
The news of the stolen bakkie was quickly spread on several Whatsapp groups, but unfortunately the bakkie is still nowhere to be found. A case of vehicle theft has since been opened at the Randfontein Police.
According to Van Schalkwyk, the goods inside the bakkie included a tent they used at anti-drug campaigns, two tables, chairs, drug booklets worth approximately R6 000, new banners valued at R4 000, three cameras (one of them valued at R7 000) and a video camera.
Van Schalkwyk added, “Examples of what drug addicts use to either smoke or spike themselves were also in the bakkie. My whole life and ministry was in there. Without all these goods, we can not continue our work.”
Just last month, the Herald reported on how well the ministry was doing in their fight against drugs. Van Schalkwyk and his fiancé, Suné Schutte, started the anti-drug campaign in 2008. Batten joined them in February this year.
Together, they make it their mission to inform communities in Randfontein and Krugersdorp about the dangers of drug abuse. The team is also actively involved in getting prostitutes off the street and counsel them, providing them with shelter, clothes and more.
The team also goes to several bike rallies where they put up their drug awareness tent, educating and illustrating what happens to you when you abuse drugs. Batten, a testicular cancer survivor, also gives residents information on cancer.
The team are also in the process of becoming official mediators in first offence drug cases. Because of this big loss, they are having a “Bring-and-Braai Against Drugs” event. They are inviting residents, bikers and businesses to join and in that way help them to rebuild their ministry so that they can carry on with their community work and their passion. The event will be held on Saturday, 22 July at Grootjie se Kombuis in Homelake.
For more information on this event, and for any help or donations, please contact Pastor van Schalkwyk on 079 127 9054 or Suné Schutte on 079 774 6208.
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