When Avuyile arrived in Umhlanga, she had no family, no friends, and no idea where she belonged. She had just started her first job, far from home, and the loneliness was overwhelming.

She was searching—not just for a church, but also for a place where she truly felt seen.

Then, she visited Lighthouse Adventist Church—and everything changed.

When I came here, it really just felt like home. Like, I really felt seen. And there was just a warmth in this place that I had never experienced before, and I just kept on coming back.

Avuyile first heard about the Seventh-day Adventist Church back in university, through someone close to her. Curious, she began attending, but when she moved to Umhlanga, she had to find a new church family on her own.

Normally, I’m someone that just comes to church and disappears soon after. But they wouldn’t let me go. They are really interested in who you are as a person, so that’s what I experienced. And that really touched me.

In Lighthouse, Avuyile found what she was looking for—a place to belong. She kept coming back, and her faith deepened.

I really grew in my knowledge of the Word of God, and I felt like this is the right place for me to grow personally.

One of the first people who welcomed Avuyile was Thabo, who lives in Umhlanga and understands the needs of this city.

Umhlanga is a city of contrasts. It’s home to wealthy individuals and young professionals, but also to families struggling behind closed doors. Broken relationships, addiction, and loneliness are hidden beneath the surface.

Some of the social problems we found as we’re researching are all family related. It’s broken marriages, domestic-related violence, there’s an upsurge of drug use in the area. But because it’s an affluent society, people are able to hide those things. But they all have an impact on family life.

That’s why the Adventist Church here plans to create an urban center of influence—a safe place where people can find counseling, family support, and a true sense of belonging, just like Avuyile did at the church.

For us to be able to do what we need to do, we need to understand the needs of the society. We need to know what the people need. They need counseling. That, I think, is where the opportunity is for us, and that's what we'd like to do.

This center will be a place of hope, healing, and transformation—where anyone, from any background, can find answers to life’s challenges.

The truth is, everybody needs Jesus. Jesus is the answer. With all these problems in society, there’s only one permanent solution, and I think that’s when people understand their Lord Jesus.

This quarter’s 13th Sabbath Offering will help make this vision a reality.

We believe that Christ’s method is one that works. That’s what’s going to work for us here. You've got to mingle. We live among these people. These are our neighbors and some of them are friends. And we've got to then make sure that we can relate to them as friends first.

Please pray as church members such as Thabo, establish a center of influence in Umhlanga. Thank you for supporting the 13th Sabbath Offering.