Young Woman Crosses South Africa for Baptism in Johannesburg

After hearing the gospel through the online series Prophecies of Hope, Asemahle Nkume traveled from her home city of Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, to Johannesburg to be baptized. At a church in Sandton, on the closing day of the broadcast event, she publicly affirmed her commitment to follow Jesus. “I traveled a very long way just to get baptized today,” she said.

Noel Sibanda, who filmed Nkume’s interview and baptism for SIDmedia, explained the baptisms took place on the final Sabbath of a two-week event, as its culmination. The Christian production house partnered with the Sandton congregation to produce the broadcasts for Hope Channel Africa’s television and online audiences.

The Prophecies of Hope presenter, Pastor Oetla Simankane, described its purpose as helping people find hope for their present lives and for eternity through a relationship with God. “There is a hope that is certain, and it is found in the person of Jesus Christ,” he said.

Simankane also described a call center in pre-planning for the event, set up for prayer requests and further Bible study. Organizers planned to connect viewers with someone who could continue supporting them after the series.

Nkume said she learned about Jesus through “the online videos and the streaming.” Gqeberha, her home city, sits on the southeastern coast, roughly 900 kilometers (560 miles) from Johannesburg in a straight line.

In the closing message of the series, titled A New Life, Simankane drew on Revelation 21’s promise of renewal. He presented baptism as a public commitment to follow Christ into a new life of faith, inviting listeners to take that step following the message.

Pastor Oetla Simankane prays over Nkume before baptizing her. Through Prophecies of Hope, a two-week series broadcast online by Hope Channel Africa, she learned about Jesus. Photo: Gundo Ravhengani, SIDmedia.

“You’ve traveled a long way to come for this baptism, and I pray that God will go the distance with you,” Simankane told her as he baptized her on April 12, 2025. “I’m so happy,” she said afterward.

“I’m so happy,” Nkume said after her baptism in Sandton. The ceremony marked her public commitment to follow Jesus. Photo: Gundo Ravhengani, SIDmedia.

SIDmedia calls the format a NetEvent, a live evangelistic series carried on Hope Channel Africa and the network’s other channels across southern Africa, Sibanda said. A new NetEvent has been on the air since October 18 and runs through October 31, and the recordings from Prophecies of Hope, the series Nkume had followed online, remain available on SIDmedia’s YouTube channel.