Bongani Habile

Khanyisa Community Church | Daveyton, South Africa

Tell us about your family.

My wife’s name is Nomcebo, we have been married for 9 years. We met in College when we were both part of the ministry of Campus Outreach. We have two daughters, Ame (6yo) and Zenokuhle (4yo). We enjoy taking walks as a family and after the kids go to sleep, my wife and I enjoy long chats and catching up on our favorite shows.

How have you seen God working in your family?

Initially, it felt as though God had been especially gracious to us as a family in this area. We genuinely enjoyed being together, spending time with one another came naturally, and there was a sense that healthy rhythms of family life would be easy to cultivate. Time with my wife and kids felt life-giving, unforced, and woven naturally into our everyday routines. Because of that, I didn’t feel an immediate pressure or concern about needing to be overly intentional—it seemed as though those rhythms would simply sustain themselves.

However, stepping into the church planting journey has made it clear how quickly busyness can take over if it goes unchecked. The demands, responsibilities, and weight of ministry can easily crowd out intentional family time if I am not careful. While none of this is intentional or desired, I’ve learned that good intentions alone are not enough to protect what matters most.

As a result, we are learning to be far more intentional about prioritizing family time and rest. This season has highlighted the need to develop healthy, sustainable rhythms that create space for me to love and pursue my wife well and to be present with my children. We want our home to be a place where discipleship happens naturally and joyfully, even in the midst of ministry demands.

How have you seen God working in your church?

I have seen God working in our church plant in many ways, but one of the most impactful things He has been teaching me is that He truly is the one who builds His church. While this is something I’ve always believed theologically, walking through the church planting journey has pressed this truth deeper into my heart. God has repeatedly shown this through the people He brings often in unexpected ways and at unexpected times. Seeing Him draw people to Himself has reminded me that growth and fruit are ultimately His work not the result of our strategies.

This has significantly changed me by growing my trust in God rather than in people or resources. It has exposed how easy it can be to subtly rely on human strength, planning, or finances and treat those things as if they are what truly builds the church. God has been gently reorienting my heart to depend on Him alone and to hold people and resources as gifts rather than foundations.

I’ve also been deeply overwhelmed by God’s provision for His own mission. Time and again, He has provided exactly what we need as a church plant. This consistent provision has strengthened our faith and encouraged us to keep going, especially in seasons when ministry feels difficult or uncertain.

What is your church’s mission/vision?

This church plant exists with a deep conviction that God has not forgotten our community in Daveyton. Our vision is to see real and lasting change through the gospel of Jesus Christ—change that begins in the hearts of individuals and flows into everyday life, families, and the broader community. We believe the gospel is not only about personal transformation but about renewal that touches every part of life. As we follow Jesus together, our desire is to shine His light in practical and tangible ways by loving others, serving our community, and living out our faith daily. Through this, we trust God to form us as His people and to renew our community for His glory.

The people we are especially seeking to reach are young adults and families, the working-class individuals within the township, and those who have become de-churched or disconnected from the church. Many in Daveyton carry deep spiritual hunger alongside real-life challenges, and our hope is to walk with people in a way that is authentic, relational, and rooted in the gospel. We want to be a church that is present, accessible, and invested in the everyday rhythms of our community.

Success for us is not measured primarily by numbers, but by faithfulness and fruit. We long to see people come to know Jesus, grow as disciples, and in turn multiply their lives by serving and impacting others in the community. We hope to see leaders raised up from within the church and the church itself playing a meaningful role in shaping the culture of the township.

Looking five years ahead, we hope to see the fruit of this work through the planting of another church committed to gospel impact. We also envision establishing a community hub or center that serves Daveyton holistically—spiritually, socially, and practically—demonstrating the love of Christ in lasting and life-giving ways.

How can we be praying for you?

1. Pray that God would soften hearts in the community, breaking down distrust toward the Church and opening people to receive this new church plant.

2. Pray for wisdom as I balance ministry responsibilities alongside work, asking God for the capacity to be faithful, effective, and sustainable in both trusting Him to order my time and strength.

3. Pray for my spiritual health—that God would continue to grow and sustain me, helping me to serve from a place of overflow, remaining deeply rooted in prayer and constantly in awe of the gospel.

To send Bongani a note of encouragement, write to HelloCP@spanishriver.com.

How have you seen God working in your life?

God has been at work in my life in a deeply personal and transformative way, and it all begins with how He graciously and miraculously saved me in my last year of high school. During that season, I was relentlessly chasing purpose, meaning, and identity in things that continually failed me. No matter how much I pursued them, they always left me feeling empty and restless. It was in that place of exhaustion and dissatisfaction that the gospel finally captured my heart. The reality of what Christ had done for me on the cross: bearing my sin, offering me grace, and inviting me into new life radically changed everything. My sense of identity was no longer rooted in what I could achieve or how I was perceived, but in who I am because of Jesus and what He has done for me.

Since that moment, God has continued, by His grace, to give me deepening assurance of my identity in Him. One of the most significant ways He has been changing me through the gospel is teaching me that I now live life from a place of being fully loved and accepted by Him. Instead of striving to earn worth, approval, or significance, I am learning to rest in what is already true because of Christ. This shift from working for love to living from love has been slowly but powerfully reshaping my heart, my motivations, and the way I view myself. The gospel continues to remind me that my value is secure, not fragile, because it is anchored in God’s unchanging grace.

This assurance has also brought real freedom into my daily life. It has freed me to genuinely do the work that God has called me into with joy rather than pressure or fear. I am learning to serve not out of obligation or a need to prove myself, but out of gratitude and delight. In the same way, God has been changing how I relate to others. The gospel is loosening my desire to seek approval, win arguments, or prove a point. Instead, I find myself growing in a sincere love for people, loving them not as a means to validate myself, but as an overflow of the love I have already received from God.

In my current season, one of the clearest areas where I sense God actively working is in my prayer life. Prayer has often been a difficult area for me marked by inconsistency and struggle. Yet by His grace, God has been gently drawing me into a deeper enjoyment of communion with Him. Rather than prayer feeling like a duty or task, there is a growing sense of invitation to simply be with Him, to listen, to speak honestly, and to rest in His presence. Through this I have been experiencing moments of awe and intimacy.