The Garden Route Team
Dave and Julie Rudolph
Dave and Julie and their two sons, Jared and Justin, have been church planting missionaries in South Africa since 1986. After a brief period of orientation in Durban, they moved to Cape Town to survey the northern suburbs with the view to forming a church-planting team of missionaries. That team has started 25 churches, has developed the Paardeberg Mountain Retreat for Christian camping outside the city, and has created the Church Ministries Institute to train couples for ministry. In 2005 the Rudolphs began services in the town of Sedgefield on the Garden Route, five hours east of Cape Town. After four years of commuting to their ministries there, they moved to Wilderness in 2009 to join the other missionaries who were arriving to form the new Garden Route Team. Now Dave and Julie live in Knysna where they concentrate on township ministries and the Lagoonside Baptist Church. A new 15-year strategy for church planting in Knysna--the '2030 Knysna Hope' vision--has been launched. Lord willing, more church planting families and singles will come to assist in reaching this town for Christ.
Phil and Kristen Golson
Wayne and Kirstie Schmidt
Wayne and Kirstie Schmidt are a local South African couple, along with their son Cayden who have been serving in a pastoral role at the Lagoonside Baptist Church since 2013. Wayne was called into ministry in his late teens and ordained into ministry in 1994. Wayne and Kirstie have been involved in church ministry as a couple in the Gauteng region for fourteen years, and in the Garden Route since then. Theirs is a ministry of encouragement and seeking to make more and better disciples for Christ. Kirstie has a desire to encourage Christian ladies, and Wayne would like to see more men equipped to serve the Lord.
2 Tim 2:2 "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."
2 Tim 2:2 "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."
Bryant and Sharan Crane
Bryant and Sharan Crane served as church
planters in Cape Town for seventeen years. Their three boys, Joshua, Daniel and Zachary, grew up in
South Africa and have been an important part of their ministry. In 2008 they began assisting with
church planting efforts along the Garden Route and in January of 2009 they
moved to George to establish the Agape Baptist Church. They are committed to the work of
establishing churches through national leadership training and development “...for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all
come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Eph 4:12-13
Rodney and Tina Poplin
Rodney and Tina Poplin arrived in George in September of 2009 to work alongside the Agape Baptist Church team. Rod serves as associate pastor/youth pastor. Their primary ministries include working with youth, young adults, and evangelistic programs. These include weekly youth meetings, Bible studies, and sports outreaches. They are also involved in Christian media. They have two adult children in the US - Brittany and Drew. Their daughter, Brittany, was recently married to Thomas Palmer. Both children return from time to time to help with specific outreaches.
Julie McFadden
Julie McFadden served in Cape Town for eight years as a Christian school teacher and church planting assistant before coming to the Garden Route. At the beginning of 2009 she relocated to George to help establish the Agape Baptist Church. Julie's main areas of ministry are teaching children, discipling ladies, and organizing the music ministry.
Lee and Janelle Peterson
Lee and Janelle Peterson served in Kitwe, Zambia for 3 years where Lee assisted in training the nationals at CABC college as well as coordinating the classes. In November of 2008, the Lord directed them to the Garden Route to help church plant. As of March 2010, Lee stepped in as pastor of the Sedgefield church. Lee's main ministry is equipping the believers to do the work of the ministry through many Bible studies and counseling. Janelle is involved in ladies and children's ministries. In 2017 they returned to the USA.
Miles and Shirley Schilder - South African Church Planters
In 1994 the Schilder family were sent out by their local church in Macassar, Somerset West to start a church plant work in the Strand as South African missionary church planters. The work was handed over to a South African ordained pastor May 2015. in the interim they then assisted the church plant work in Stellenbosch for a full year before moving to the Garden Route area to start a second church. In 2008 the Schilder family settled in Pacaltsdorp, just outside the city of George to start a second church plant. This work was started in February of 2009. This is a church planting ministry with the goal of establishing a Bible believing and preaching church that is fully organized independent, autonomous, and self-governed. In 2018 they ordained Alfonso Katts and his lovely wife Samantha. Miles and Shirley are now back in Somerset West area seeking ministry opportunities there.