SKZN Easter Convention 2023
The eDwaleni Conference Centre hall was full to capacity by the members of SKZN from all the 10 Circuits. It is estimated that the convention was attended by more than 450 people. The Conference Centre was able to accommodate all the people with a special room for each circuit and for each church department.
The organizers were faced with challenges at the start of their preparations as none of their circuits have the capacity to host big numbers. The second problem was that the eDwaleni Conference had not been used since before Covid-19 in 2019. The conference Centre was in a dilapidating state with buildings unusable, a lot of bushes had grown and the road itself was in an unusable state. The preparation for the convention had to include renovation in some of the buildings, clearing of the bushes in the yard, repairing the road, and repainting the main chapel.
The eDwaleni is in Ezinqoleni local municipality, within the Ugu District. The buildings are in a 6-hectare space while the total farm is estimated at 206 hectares of land. It is at the border of KZN and the Eastern Cape. It was used as the industrial college that produced the former leaders of the Church like Bishop Emeritus TR. Nxumalo, Superintendent Rev. WF. Mdubeki, Superintendent Rev.SI Msweli, Rev. BP Mqadi, some of the lecturers were Rev IL. Shembe, Rev DZ Mthembu and many others. The College used to offer skills in carpentry, tailoring, Brick laying, leather works, upholstery, Mechanical engineering, welding, sewing, car repairs, and shoe manufacturing. It was also used also as an agricultural Centre.
Superintendent Ndlovu said regarding using this Centre for their conventions, “It pains us to see our Centre dilapidating while it has a lot of potentials. In the past, it had contributed to producing a lot of our leaders and making us who we are today. We cannot talk about the history of our church without mentioning this Centre. It is one of our heritage sites. It is our dream to see the Centre revived back to its former glory. We wish the Centre to be used to host our big events as well as to create jobs. Currently, the Centre have three permanent employees (Centre Manager and two Security Guards), we also employ 12 women whenever there is an event. With good plans, we the Centre can create more job opportunities for the surrounding community. We thank God for the great success we had during the convention. Even people from other churches joined us.” One of the great highlights of the convention was the offering time which was done during the seven sayings of Jesus. The request for people to offer R100 each led to the raising of R45 000 at go. The big attendance and the renovation of the Centre were among the great highlights of the 2023 Easter Convention.
