On Thursday 17 December 2009 District Apostle Barnes visited the congregation of Genadendal to fulfill a promise made some time ago.

Accompanying him was Apostle W Diedericks, Bishops A November, B Adonis, K Schoeman and Bishop P Thompson, whose grandmother was born in Genadendal in the late 1890’s. It was a special experience for the bishop to return to the place of his ancestry.

The mission of Genadendal was established as the first of its kind in South Africa when, in 1837 the Moravian church in Germany commissioned the spreading of the gospel to the local inhabitants of the area. Many descendants of the first believers baptized during the 1890’s are still found in the town.