The Road to success in KZN - by Johan Obbes

The Kwa Zulu - Natal branch of the Philippi Trust SA has a sixteen year history of providing specialised counselling and training, dating back to a lunch date with Malcolm Worsley (picture right) in 1995.

In July 1995, Nick and Barbara Kerr along with the couple’s two children took leave from their parish in Hillcrest, KZN to spend 6 months in Warwick, England, while Nick served as an assistant in the Parish of Warwick. 

The couple befriended an Anglican priest named Guy Cornwall - Jones who told them about this friend he had who visited South Africa regularly. Guy hoped that his friend would contact them during his next visit to the country. 

Nick and Barbara Kerr returned home early January 1996 and waited for over a year to hear from the friend that Guy told them about.

In March 1997, Nick received a call from a man saying that he was "Guy's friend", and that he'd like to meet the couple.  Nick invited him to lunch the next day, but when Nick put down the phone, he couldn't remember the man's name.

The next day Barbara (picture left) went to the school where she was then teaching, and was introduced to a visiting clergyman called Malcolm Worsley, who was about to take a chapel service for the boys of the school. During the course of conversation Barbara’s Head of Department said to Malcolm "This is Barbara Kerr, who is married to our local Anglican priest."  The look on Malcolm's face was one of utter disbelief and astonishment. Barbara said to him "Are you the man who is coming to our home for lunch today?" 

Malcolm came for lunch and he spent hours telling them about himself and his life as well as Christian counselling. In July of that year, Malcolm returned to KZN first running a Level 1 course in Pinetown, near Hillcrest.  Barbara enrolled for the course and according to her, the course felt like “coming home”.

From March 1998 Barbara set up courses in Hillcrest and Malcolm came regularly from the UK to do the training.  By 2001 Barbara had completed her Level 2 training and Malcolm asked both Barbara and Sally van Minnen to train others in counselling.  They trained their first Level 1 course in 2000 in Westville.  Not long afterwards, Jill Lawton joined them as a trainer.  Both Sally and Jill have moved on to expand the horizons of this branch, and Don Peddie (picture right) joined them as a trainer. Today Don is heading this branch of the Philippi Trust and leading it to go from strength to strength.

Nick and Barbara is currently running a site in Mooirivier while serving in the Anglican church. Together they have been instrumental in establishing this branch in Kwa Zulu Natal, while staying connected to the Philippi Trust  office in Cape Town and gratefully having Nick Kerr serve as a member of the board of trustees for the national Philippi Trust SA.

The KZN branch of the PTSA has been truly a diamond in the rough, having expanded to reach out with teaching in various areas including Mauritius. Today we would like to honour every person who is involved in making this branch so successful.