I was born in Kimberley, South Africa on December 20^th, 1986 to Gareth and Mymoena Graaff and was raised to be a Muslim.  My grandfather was Jewish and my father had been a Christian before marrying my Muslim mother.

After my mother divorced and remarried, I spent most of my childhood with my grandmother and attended Muslim schools.  As my family was not actively involved in the Muslim religion, I was the only practicing Muslim in my household, which made it very difficult.  Most of my friends were professing Christians, but never told me about Jesus or invited me to their church.  It was me who invited them to the mosque instead.

I was encouraged by my grandmother to follow Islam and to study and practice it daily.  I respected her wish, but I was never quite happy.  I always had questions about Jesus which neither my family nor my religious teachers were able to answer nor were they able to satisfy my desire for truth.  I spent many days attempting to read the Quran in Arabic without ever really understanding what I was reading even though in my Islamic school I was taught only to read in Arabic.

It was then that I started doing my own research into Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.  I discovered that all three religions had a different view as to the true identity of Jesus.  The more I investigated, the more confused I became and didn’t really know who or what to believe anymore.  It didn’t help that my Christian friends were not living up to the “standards” of their faith as found in the Bible.  I did not doubt or question the existence of one God, but who was He?  What was His name?  What was my purpose?

In 2011, I met and started dating Ria Kilian, a wonderful young lady who is now my wife.  Because she had been raised in a Christian home, I did not tell her I was Muslim for fear that she would break off our relationship.  As we became more serious and began making plans for the future, I told her of my religion and, at the time, she was fine with it.  When we made plans to marry in 2016, we agreed that she would remain Christian and I would remain Muslim.  But God had a different plan for us!

As Ria desired to have a “Christian” wedding, I began searching for a minister to marry us.  I managed to contact a few pastors but was unable to afford their “fee.”  As we visited the jeweler to plan for our rings, I asked him if he knew of a minister who would marry us without making us renounce our religious beliefs.  He responded that he might be able to help us as he was a licensed minister.  When I asked him how much he would charge, he responded, “I make no charge for the Lord’s work.”  I was overjoyed to hear this.  He did make one request, however.  Before he would agree to perform any marriage ceremony, he insisted on sitting down with the couple for pre-marital counseling.  We happily agreed and arranged to meet with him.  During the counseling session Pastor Joseph showed us from the Bible who Jesus really is.  I felt God working in my heart, but I still could not decide to trust Jesus as my Savior.  Pastor Joseph told me “get on your knees and pray to God to show you and lead you.”  In the meantime, we began attending worship services in his house.  A week later, as God dealt with our hearts in conviction, Ria and I prayed together to repent of our sin and believe on Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.  We informed Pastor Joseph of our decision and were baptized soon after.  Ria and I continued attending Pastor Joseph’s “house” church regularly, learning more about the Bible.

In 2018, God led Pastor Joseph away from Kimberley to another city.  We wanted to find another good church to attend, but had no idea where to look.  Soon after, a lady named Aletta Nel, who we had met through Ria’s sister, invited us to the Truth Baptist Church pastored by an American missionary, Pastor Chad Branch.  As we attended, we felt at home in this church and soon joined the growing congregation.

Soon after, God began to deal with me about preaching.  As I prayed and thought about this, I could remember Pastor Joseph telling me to “wait on the Lord’s calling and be patient.”  When I expressed my desire to Pastor Branch, I got the same response from him as well.  In 2019, God opened a door for me to minister in the Sally Aucamp home for the disabled.  I went every other Sunday to conduct worship services with the residents.  As I did this, I felt even more strongly about God’s call on my life to preach and told Pastor Branch.  His words of advice to me were, “Son, when it’s ‘preach of die’ you’ll know it.”  A few weeks later, I stood in front of the church congregation at Truth Baptist Church and announced that indeed God was calling me to preach.

I immediately enrolled in the Truth Baptist Institute, and began to be taught and trained for the ministry one-on-one by Pastor Branch.  As I attended classes and grew in my knowledge and understanding of the ministry, I had the desire to pastor a church, but had no idea where God would send me.  I had a strong burden for the people of Kimberley, but I prayed for God only to lead me and my family to the right place at the right time and I would follow Him.

In October, 2020, during my last semester of Bible institute, Pastor Branch met with me and informed me that God was leading his family back to the U.S. and believed God wanted me to be the next pastor of Truth Baptist Church.  I was thrilled at this opportunity and readily accepted his recommendation.  And on February 14^th, 2021, the congregation of the Truth Baptist Church voted unanimously to call me to be their pastor.

I can only give all glory to God in Christ Jesus for guiding me through His word and by the Holy Spirit.  My dear wife has fully supported me every step of the way, and together with our two sons, Ethan and Luke, we are excited about all that God has for us and for the people of Truth Baptist Church.  Our desire is to see many souls saved, baptized, and taught in the word of God.

Proverbs 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”