The Structure Built by Slaves and Free-Blacks

In the year 1801, a property on Long Street was acquired to build a new meeting house. This sanctuary was not yet a church, but a gestig where people gathered for prayer meetings, Bible studies, or other religious and literacy classes. Slaves and free-blacks labored to clear the site. They hauled stone from the Vlaeberg quarry and made the bricks that formed the walls. They also painted the walls with lime wash made with slave-labour, while whale oil was used to waterproof the roof.

From early 1813, heathen children, including slave children, were taught to read and write there on Wednesdays and Fridays. From July 1813, adult slaves could come to an evening school at the Sendinggestig after finishing their day's work and if their owners allowed it. The building served as a place where these children and adults could receive instruction outside of the standard church services.

Slave-owners were not keen to have their slaves baptised, as Christian converts could not be sold. This led to the establishment of their own congregation, the SA Gesticht congregation. In 1820, the first baptisms of the enslaved occurred within the building. The congregation included the poor, Khoekhoen, and slaves who converted to Christianity. They even secured a plot of land in Somerset Road to use as a burial ground for converted slaves so that they could receive a dignified burial.

Now, the Sendinggestig Museum stands as a museum housed in the oldest indigenous mission church in the country built by local Christians. Visitors can see the restored interior, which faithfully reproduces the 1830s facade and replicas of wall-paintings discovered during restoration work.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons