About us

The Headquarters of the Voice of Prophecy (VOP) is situated in the majestic city of Cape Town, South Africa. It is nestled in the sunny suburb of Claremont, located at Grove Avenue number 19. The Bible School celebrated its 80th year in 2023 and is excited to see what God has in store moving forward. The Bible School has a total of 31 Bible study guides to choose from, with the school catering for a total of 14 languages including French, Chichewa and Portuguese. The Bible study guides are printed in house and are dispatched from the headquarters. Voice of Prophecy has a thriving Media Department. We are excited to showcase what God has done by using our social media pages to convey the evangelistic work. The Voice of Prophecy Bible School serves as the ‘heartbeat’ of evangelism in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The beginning of it All

In the spring of 1929, the Voice of Prophecy was brought onto the scene in sunny California, USA. The brainchild of the late H. M. S. Richards Senior, this ground-breaking organization aimed to connect people with the word of God through the nascent technology of radio broadcasting.

As the nation tuned in to hear the charismatic Richards preach the gospel, his innovative experiment proved to be an astounding success. Soon, letters were pouring in from all corners of the America, including Canada, each one begging for more knowledge of the divine.

With the demand for Biblical insights reaching a crescendo, Richards knew he find a more adequate solution. So he did what any resourceful visionary would do–he set up shop in a humble hencoop in the backyard of a house, where he and a part-time secretary worked tirelessly to craft and distribute personalized Bible lessons to followers near and far.

But as the walls of the hencoop began to close in, Richards knew he had to find new digs if he wanted to keep pace with the rapidly growing ministry of the Voice of Prophecy. And so, with a steely determination, he set out on a mission to secure larger and more fitting premises, ready to take the world by storm one letter and one soul at a time.

Fast forward to 1943 in South Africa, where Pastor E L Cardey led a similar vision and passion for evangelism. Inspired by H M S Richard’s success story, he launched an advertising campaign in Cape Town offering a series of 24 Bible lessons. But with no radio access, Pastor Cardey spread the word through newspapers – and before he knew it, over 35,000 students had enrolled in just the first year! By God’s grace, eighty years have now passed since that humble beginning, and the Voice of Prophecy Bible Correspondence School continues to thrive, transforming souls and reaching the unreachable.

The vibrant beginnings of this Bible School trace back to the humble abode of Pastor Cardey in Bishopley Road, Claremont. Eventually, it found a permanent home within the historic walls of the Roeland Street Seventh-day Adventist Church in the culturally rich Cape Town. However, as the demands grew, the school relocated to a more spacious building opposite the bustling Mowbray station. With the swift shift of the Division Office to Salisbury Rhodesia, the Bible School followed suit to the inviting space of the former Trans African Division offices. Today, this spot is our cherished Head Office, nestled in the heart of Grove Avenue, Claremont.

While the faces of staff have come and gone over the years, every individual has been dedicated to the Lord’s work at the Bible School has served with passion and unwavering commitment. The 12 directors who have skilfully led the school through its different stages include the likes of Pastor E. L. Cardey, Pastor W. H. Hurlow, Pastor A. C. Le Butt, Pastor G. S. Stevenson, Pastor Raymond Zeeman, Pastor Jonathan Julies, and our current director Pastor Patrick Stander.

Although many of our operations were once done manually, modern technology helps us manage the volume of correspondence that we receive every day. We still make use of our old faithful Heidelberg printing press daily. In addition to that, as our student’s spiritual thirst grows ever stronger, we’ve incorporated digital lessons and communication methods through email and our website. To get more information email us at info@vop.co.za.

Ever wondered what a typical day at the VOP entails?

Well, our dispatch team regularly embarks on a journey into town to our well known post box, P O Box 88. When the post makes its way to the VOP, they are eagerly torn open and meticulously arranged into sorting boxes according to language. Then they are sent to our Instructors for marking. It takes many hard-working hours for all the lessons to be marked because our Instructors take a special interest in each student who returns a lesson. Once the lessons are marked, they are then inserted into envelopes and taken back to our dispatch department. This is where they are put into bundles and then taken to the post office ready to be posted back to our students.

This only marks the work done through correspondence via post.

In addition to this, we have the printing and production of lessons, our accounts team who manages our finances, there is also the correspondence with CBS’ and our zealous media team who oversee our graphics and our social media presence.

At the VOP, prayer is our foundation. Staff members are encouraged to start their day with prayer and devotion in their respective workspaces, and Wednesdays are reserved for communal praise, worship, and studying God’s word together. We’ve also created a Prayer-Board where we list the names of everybody in need of special prayer. We’re happy to say, most of these prayers have been answered! 

In the end, we thank our Lord and Saviour for continuing to bless and guide us as the VOP leads countless individuals to Him. None of this would be possible without your support and prayers, either, so we ask you to consider partnering with us as we share the gospel of God’s love with Southern Africa and beyond. Together, we will prepare people for Christ’s Second Coming and help them discover the transformative power of His self-revelation in Scripture.