The distance from Jerusalem to Pretoria is about 8000 km and it will take about 150 hours to cover it by car. It took the Gospel almost 1900 years to reach Pretoria.

In ancient times, the church was a persecuted community and was considered a subculture. Initially, the Gospel was preached in the Roman Empire as well as in Armenia (outside the Roman Empire).

After almost 400 years, the church in Rome slowly became formalised and after the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great, persecution stopped; after his death the Christian Church was declared the only church. At some point there was a split between Rome and the Eastern Orthodox Churches with Constantinople as their seat.

After the Renaissance, the reformers emerged with Maarten Luther and Calvin the most prominent. Churches splintered into, for example, Lutheran, Calvinist, Presbyterian and Anglican churches as well as sectarian groups.

With colonialisation, missionaries spread the Gospel in the colonies among the indigenous peoples and churches were founded. The history of these in South Africa was briefly discussed and the talk ended with the ecumenical ideal that gained ground after the First World War.

The talk was well illustrated.