The Tribune

SPREADING a message of positivity, the Bahamas’ Pastor Dr Dave Burrows – also known as the “The Ruffneck Pastor” – last month travelled to South Africa for his second tour of that country to attend special meetings, prayer and commemration events.

Dr Burrows’ visit included familiar stops from his previous trip plus additional new venues.

Setting out on June 12, Dr Burrows – who travels locally and internationally as a conference speaker to motivate youth ministries and school groups to reach another level in Christ – left Nassau to travel to Atlanta, Georgia.

After flying 15 hours from Atlanta, his first stop was the city of Rustenburg, situated in the North West Province of South Africa, where he was special guest speaker for the June 16 commemoration service of the 1976 Soweto Uprising. This service brought together adults and youth. The event was hosted by Apostle Treasure Kgobokwe and the Excellence Christian Center Church. The powerful service culminated with a special prayer and dedication for the youth of Rustenburg.

After a few days rest, Dr Burrows appeared as guest speaker at the Kingdom Embassy special service for all ages, where he spoke about the ‘Laws of Good Success’. The reports were excellent from his time of ministry and Dr Burrows once again prayed for the youth in recognition of the South African designation of June as Youth Month.

Next stop was the Highlands North Boys High School, where he addressed the student body on the importance of making right choices. He used his life as an example of both good and bad choices and showed the young men how he recovered from his bad choices and is now a mentor to many young men and women who have been the victim of poor choices.

The entire student body reacted to his statement that he turned from being a young “dope dealer” to a new calling as a “hope dealer”, bringing inspiration to the masses in his travels around the world.

Dr Burrows next was the guest speaker for a special meeting called for a group of parents just outside Johannesburg. The meeting was a tremendous success, said Dr Burrows. He shared his experiences as a parent and from his book “Kingdom Parenting” and the series “Parenting in Perilous Times”. The breakfast meeting concluded with Dr Burrows fielding questions from anxious parents for over an hour. He said the parents were greatly impacted and asked him to return next year to an expanded group of parents and also to the staff of two local corporations.

On Sunday, June 22, at Hope Restoration Centre in Chloorkop, Dr Burrows closed out their annual Youth Conference speaking in three morning services to over 7,000 members and conference attenders. He was warmly welcomed by hosts Dr Siphiwe and Phindile Mathebula and prayed for the youth as they faced the challenges of a modern society filled with negative media and influences. The youngsters, he said, were especially encouraged by the message of “Living in Two Worlds” and cheered as Dr Burrows did a special spoken word remix of the song “All I Do is Win”.

The 2014 tour ended for Dr Burrows at a special breakfast hosted by the South African Ministry of Energy and co-sponsored by several South African corporations. The meeting brought together business leaders for a time of discussion and a live television interview with Minister of Energy Tina Jomat Pettersson and other energy consultants.

For the second time, Dr Burrows was once again hosted by Charlie Masala and the Myles Munroe International South Africa office.

Plans are already in place for a third tour in June of 2015 with a more expanded itinerary.