Introducing Themba

Serving rural poor in

South Africa since 1983

About Themba

"Themba" means "Hope" in many African languages. The Themba Trust is an independent, registered non-profit organisation, founded in 1983 with the objective to share God's Word and to establish educational and charitable institutions. The registration number of the Themba Trust is IT 6787/1983.

Location

Themba is located in the small village of Dirkiesdorp, on two farms, a smallholding and in the village itself. Dirkiesdorp (known by locals as 'Mabola' and also having the nickname of 'Diskidorp', which means 'Soccer Town) is in the province of Mpumalanga, South Africa, half-way between the towns of Piet Retief and Wakkerstroom. It is about 60km west of the border of Swaziland.

Governance

The Trustees of the Themba Trust are Mr Dumisani Kunene, Mr Jabulani Mdluli, Mrs Reinhild Niebuhr (Chairperson), Rev. Dieter Schnackenberg and Bishop Emeritus David Tswaedi.

While it serves people from all religions and denominations, the Themba Trust shares the Gospel according to Lutheran conviction and partners with the Lutheran Church of Southern Africa (LCSA), the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA), the Selbständige Evangelische Lutherische Kirche in Germany (SELK) and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in the United States of America (LCMS) in this regard.

To download copies of our audited Annual Financial Statements, please click on the relevant year below:

2003  2004  2005   2006   2007   2008   2009

History

The Themba Trust was started by a Missionary of the Lutheran Church (Bleckmar Mission), in Germany, Missionary Stillfried Niebuhr. While sharing the Gospel of Love, he saw the physical need of the poor, rural communities that he was serving. The Bleckmar Mission, now known as the 'Lutherische Kirchenmission' (Mission of Lutheran Churches), had been working in the area of Dirkiesdorp since the 1850's and during the time of 1960-1980 over 20 schools had been started in this region through the efforts of the missionaries working here. Themba's education ministry always went hand-in-hand with the building of leadership skills and many former students of the two secondary Boarding Schools started by the Themba Trust during the past 25 years are now playing leading roles in their communities.

Photos showing the history of Themba may be found on www.thembatrust.net

Key Donors

The Themba Trust is supported by many individuals and organizations across the world. Ongoing international efforts are from:

• Themba Support Group in Germany - www.themba.de
• Lutheran Church Missouri Synod - www.lcms.org
• Otto Hahn Gymnasium, Germany - www.ohg-bensberg.info/cms/
• The Erin Bode Group in the USA - www.erinbode.com

Other important donors that have helped Themba through the past more than 25 years are:

• Brot für die Welt - www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de
• Futura Foundation - www.futura-stiftung.de
• Kinderhothilfe - www.kindernothilfe.de
• W. K. Kellogg Foundation - www.wkkf.org

"Our HOPE is in you, for you are the one who does all this." - Jeremiah 14.22