Well-known Limpopo church leader Rev Dr Jean Francois Bill (70) died in Polokwane recently, after suffering a heart attack.

The son of a Swiss missionary, he was born at Elim Hospital and received his initial education at a mission school, before completing his schooling at leading high schools in Polokwane (then Pietersburg) and Pretoria. During his youth, he became an outstanding linguist, eventually speaking Tsonga, Venda and Northern Sotho fluently, apart from French, English, Afrikaans and German.

After answering the call of God to enter the ministry, he studied at the Theological Seminary at Rhodes University, and soon became active in the Swiss Mission, which later became known as the Tsonga Church, and finally as the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (EPCSA). Among others, he served as minister to the Shiluvane congregation near Tzaneen.

Rev Bill later became the Moderator of the EPCSA, but his term in this position was cut short when he was arrested and held in custody by the government of the day for nine months, as a result of his outspoken views on human rights and the evils of apartheid.

During the 1970's and 80's, he lectured at various theological training institutions, mentoring many young men who later became leading ministers of the EPCSA. Rev Bill was recruited by Bishop Desmond Tutu to become the main administrator of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) in Johannesburg, and narrowly escaped death when Kgotso House, the SACC's headquarters, was blown up by a bomb, suspectedly planted by agents of the apartheid system.

He later designed and supervised the building of the new Kgotso House, which remained the home of the SACC.

Rev Bill was also a noted author and educationist. His thesis on the future task of the church in a new South Africa, written in 1966, is regarded as a prophetic masterpiece, containing guidelines for church growth and unity which are still ap-plicable today.

During the 1990's, Rev Bill was actively involved in setting up structures for the establishment of the Independent Electoral Commission in Limpopo. After his retirement, he remained active in small business and community projects.