From the United Kingdom to Ballito, by way of Kenya, Calvary Chapel Dolphin Coast has been a decade in the making.
Founded two years ago by pastor Storm Lindenberg and his wife Sophie, the church is currently based in their Ballito home.
While still on the smaller side in terms of congregation size, the numbers allow for more direct communication which suits the church’s expository teaching style.
Expository teaching in a church context refers to a focus on the words of the Bible in order, which means they work verse-by-verse, book-by-book to try and gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word.
“Sophie and I met while attending a church in England which was very friendly and nice, but we did not feel like we were being ‘fed’ to the level we wanted,” said Storm.
An opportunity soon arose to change their lives entirely and they moved to Eldoret in western Kenya to start an NGO called New Routes Foundation.
“I have an adopted sister and Sophie’s mom had a charity in Kenya and we both wanted to try and help orphaned children, which is what New Routes did,” he said.
“We went there with no idea of starting a church but discovered a Calvary Chapel in Eldoret which we loved. It showed us that God still wanted to communicate with us.”
Three years later, they decided to move to Ballito and plant a Calvary Chapel of their own. It was a full-circle moment for Storm, who lived in Umhlanga until emigrating at 13, while Sophie took the leap of faith of moving to a new country. Their family has since grown to five and the congregation continues to grow too.
“We have a wide-ranging church which spans from young children to the older generation. We offer a kids ministry during service too.”
“Services start with worship, before we work through a portion of the Bible in close detail. Everyone is welcome to stay after and we enjoy being able to have a time for questions and answers too.”
Services are held on Sunday and start at 9am. Find out more at calvarychapeldolphincoast.org
The church is part of the international Calvary Chapel Association, which includes over 1 800 churches across the globe. Each church is independent but there are conferences held at the main Calvary Chapel in South Africa, in Somerset West.
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