The Betzer Family

The Betzer family came to South Africa in 1994 to begin serving as Missionaries. They arrived here with two little girls, Brittany, 8 years old and Brooke 6 years old. They spent their first 4 years in the country working at Southern Africa School of Theology. David and Janis were Administrators and Teachers at the school. Those were days of great blessing working with the students and being a part of their lives as they prepared for ministry.

In 1996 the Betzer family had one more added to their family in the form of a new baby boy named Daniel Philip born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was named after his two Grandfathers. He was truly a blessing from the Lord!

We returned back to the states in 1999 to begin our furlough for one year. This was a time of retrospect and asking the Lord to show us what He wanted us to do further for the kingdom in South Africa. After our furlough we returned back to South Africa and began the ministry of Book of Hope in 2000. This was an exciting ministry of taking the Word of God to the schools across the Southern Africa continent.. During this time we became so aware of the need in the country of children who were being orphaned and abandoned by the great AIDS pandemic.

We contacted a local community project, Neobirth Pregnancy Crisis Center, founded and directed by Marie van Schalkwyk. We quickly learned that many children are given up for adoption or abandoned everyday in South Africa. A great number of these children are born to HIV positive mothers and have a 50 percent chance of contracting the virus. We knew that the Lord wanted us to get involved on a personal level and so our family began the process of becoming a registered Place of Safety and opened our home to provide for an HIV positive or a healthy child in crisis. In November 2000 our family took in a little 2 day old baby girl that needed a home. Hope Jabulile became a part of our family and was soon adopted to be officially Hope Jabulile Betzer!!

From there the burden of caring for the children of South Africa only grew greater!! Seeking to create a safe and loving environment for children in crisis the Betzer family opened their home to provide a place for 6 more babies in need thus the Lighthouse Children’s Shelter was founded. From that time to today we have had over 200 children come through the Lighthouse and find a place of safety and refuge. We thank God for His provision and blessing upon this ministry.

Greetings from the Betzer family in Rustenburg, South Africa!
We are so glad you have come to visit us today and see what we are doing here in South Africa! We hope you will take time to look at all the different areas of the Lighthouse Shelter! There are so many special people who make this place a haven for children in crisis here in South Africa. May the Lord bless you in your life today and thank you for your prayers and support!

The Betzer Family