South Africa finds itself at a precipice. The Rainbow Nation is engulfed in a tumultuous valley of despair and despondency.

Scarcity of leadership at all levels of society is at an all-time high with crime, violence and immorality on the increase and very much the order of the day.

May 26 marked 40 years since the passing of Reverend Dr Isaac David Morkel, founder of the Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa and Namibia.

The church remembers with fondness the brave and courageous leadership of a preacher, a prophet and a prayer warrior. A leader who was not afraid to speak truth to power in the darkest moments of apartheid South Africa.

Reverend Morkel spoke out against discrimination and the evils of the day with tenacity and fearlessness. In prophetic witness and radical faith, he would not accept that he and his people were inferior and therefore were subjugated to separate services because of the colour of their skin.

In September of 1950, history records how Reverend Morkel and 26 members of the Rondebosch congregation, a few days before the synod of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, announced they were leaving to start an independent, indigenous church in protest against injustice, discrimination and racism.

Reverend Morkel with great passion, charisma, zeal and fortitude planted and established the then Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa without any financial backing, help and support from the state or any other institution.

With the help of God, Reverend Morkel and his team planted four churches in four weeks with many other churches planted later, affirming the courageous faith steps against a system of tyranny and victimisation.

The Western Cape government honoured the Reverent Morkel in 2007 for his contribution by awarding him the Order of the Disa.

In 2023, the Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa and Namibia will be 73 years old, having just a few weeks ago planted another church in Wesbank, Kuils River.

The courageous, audacious, prayerful leadership of the late Reverend Morkel must be celebrated and commemorated.

Every church established remains a beacon of hope which to this day carries a message to South Africa that evil will not overcome good, that faith in Almighty God will always triumph and that all people are equal and created in the image of God.

The Calvyn Protestant Church continues to stand up against injustices and immorality. The church stands alongside the poor and the downtrodden and advocates for a better life for all.

South Africa in 2023 is desperately crying out for courageous, fearless, prophetic and prayerful leadership in all spheres of society.

The Calvyn Protestant Church of South Africa and Namibia continues to remember the faith journey and leadership contribution that the late Reverend Dr Isaac David Morkel made to the freedom of South Africa and all its people.

Soli deo gloria! To God and God alone be all the glory!

* Reverend Steven-John Bam, Southfield.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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