Mission

Pinelands Baptist Church supports several career missionaries who live and work in various places from Panama to Thailand; involved in activities such as Bible translation with Wycliffe Bible Institute, flying planes for MAF, working for Healthcare Christian Fellowship, etc.

PBC facilitates short-term trips where we partner with missionaries and local churches to support them in their ministry. We also use these as opportunities to disciple team members who participate in the trips. Places we’ve sent teams to in the last 6 years include:

Colleen Dechaboon

Home Of The Open Heart – Thailand

Colleen has worked at Home of the Open Heart – HOTOH (In Thai = Baan Namjai) – for the last 15 years. Prior to missions Colleen worked as a registered nurse and midwife at Vincent Pallotti Hospital for 16 years and 2 years at Beautiful Gate in Lower Crossroads. Her current capacity is primarily House Mother to the twins – Mercy and Faith – who have health challenges.

Colleen is the children’s healthcare advisor at HOTOH and also functions in this role with the local Thai staff and our long- and short-term foreign volunteers, too. She also assists with home visits in the community where she utilizes her nursing skills.

Colleen has a married daughter, Roseanne (Rosie and Marcus), who lives in Berlin, Germany, with her grandsons, Caleb aged 7, Micah aged 5 and Josiah aged 2 months.

Vaughan And Corné Stannard

Beautiful Gate – Cape Town

Vaughan & Corné Stannard serve at Beautiful Gate in Lower Crossroads township outside Cape Town where Vaughan is the director of Collaboration. Having stepped down from leading the organisation, Vaughan now seeks to bring the Kingdom of God by coming alongside local township churches, sports clubs, children’s organisations, community kitchens and gardens and helps to develop and strengthen their response to the challenges faced by communities on the fringes of the city. He also liaises with local government, community leadership structures, other non-profit services and the City of Cape Town.

In their Child and Family Centre in Lower Crossroads, Beautiful Gate offers Family Strengthening Services, Parenting Training & Support, Community and Family-based care and placement for abandoned and orphaned children, an HIV Child and Adolescent clinic, After School Education Support for learners in local Primary and Secondary Schools. They have also created a “Social Service Hub” hosting organisations such as Dept of Social Development, SA Social Services Association & other organisations in the area providing child & family services.

Adrian & Helen Harrod

Operation Mobilization – Cape Town

Adrian (Durban) and Helen (UK) met and married in the UK after graduating from Missions Bible School. They served as a family on board the OM ship, Doulos, then lived in Manila, Philippines, before coming to Cape Town in 2013. They have 2 children at a local high school.

Adrian and Helen work with OM. They enjoy facilitating people who want to serve God locally and especially those who have a desire to serve globally amongst the least reached. They want to see vibrant communities of Jesus followers among all nations.

Mark & Lorraine Liprini

Mission Aviation Fellowship

Mark and Lorraine have been with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) for over 23 years (since 2001). Mark is a pilot who has combined his desire to serve God and his passion for aviation through MAF – helping share the gospel in hard-to-reach areas, and assisting missionaries and NGOs meet the needs of people living in remote areas. The vision of MAF is ‘To see isolated people changed by the love of Christ, by bringing hope, help and healing.’

Mark spent his first few years with MAF serving in Southern Africa, and then also started flying as a relief pilot for MAF International. He spent many months working in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Chad, and Tanzania. In 2021, Mark and Lorraine moved up to East Africa together, serving first in Uganda for 18 months, and then across to Tanzania in Aug 2022, where they are currently still working. It has been their great joy to see this programme grow in its capacity to serve the people of Tanzania.

Joan Kotze

Mercy Ships – Africa

Mercy Ships operates hospital ships that deliver free surgeries and other healthcare services to those with little access to safe medical care. An international faith-based organization, Mercy Ships has focused entirely on partnering with African nations for the past three decades. Working with in-country partners, Mercy Ships also provides training to local healthcare professionals and supports the construction of in-country medical infrastructure to leave a lasting impact.

Joan works as Operations Director at the Mercy Ships office in Freetown and oversees off-ship projects and in-country staff.  She also works closely with the Country Director to support ship programs and operations, facilitating collaboration between local vendors and ship leadership.

Each year, more than 3,000 volunteer professionals from over 60 countries serve on board the world’s two largest non-governmental hospital ships, the Africa Mercy® and the Global Mercy™. Professionals such as surgeons, dentists, nurses, health trainers, cooks, and engineers dedicate their time and skills to accelerate access to safe surgical, obstetric and anaesthetic care. Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 and has offices in 16 countries as well as an Africa Service Center in Dakar, Senegal. The Global Mercy is currently docked in Freetown and will be serving the people of Sierra Leone until June 2025.

Sydney & Andrea Witbooi

Overseas Mission Fellowship

Sydney and Andrea were sent out from PBC over 38 years ago. They joined OMF International in 1984 and have lived and served the Lord in five countries over the years. In April 2020, Sydney and Andrea relocated to Germany from East Asia, where they live in the city of Cologne. The couple have three married daughters, one in the UK and the other two in Germany (Cologne and Frankfurt) and enjoy their four grandchildren.

Andrea, as TCK (third-culture kid) advisor, mentors and advises families who have children. Sydney coaches and facilitates the team involved in ministry among East Asians in Germany. He is also active in mentoring younger leaders (and potential leaders) throughout OMF International.

Bernadette White-Philips

Capricorn Community Church

Bernadette is pastor at Capricorn Community Church (CCC), in the township of Vrygrond (near Muizenberg). The church serves to shine the light of Christ in a very challenging and impoverished community. There are many opportunities to proclaim the Kingdom of God through the different ministries of this ‘Jerusalem’ mission, for example: addiction support, trauma and grief counselling; the Alpha Course; children and youth ministry; soccer ministry; teen pregnancy support; job searching; family strengthening; soup kitchen, kids’ reading program and disaster relief. Church partnership and networking with godly institutions strengthens CCC to meet the ongoing needs of people in desperate circumstances.

Sunday & Sophia Sinyinza

Precept Ministries, Zambia

Sunday and Sophia Sinyinza have been married since 2000 and have two sons, Suwillanji Sunday Sinyinza (Suwi) and Salifyanji Somo Sinyinza (Sali). The S Family (seeing that their names all start ‘S’) are based in Lusaka, Zambia the real AFRICA, Home to the MIGHTY VICTORIA FALLS, where they are both serving with Precept Africa. As pioneer missionaries of Precept Zambia, their primary role and responsibility is the promotion, expansion, and development of Precept AFRICA (Ministries) in Zambia.

Their mission is to engage people in a relationship with God through knowing His word, and their vision is that every believer in Christ will live out God’s word every day. They strive to achieve this through the Precept Method which is based on the Inductive Bible Study Method. They use the method with a range of different resources depending on the time one has available. The Sinyinza’s deeply appreciate your prayers as they engage in building and nurturing relationships with various stakeholders in Zambia.