BISA is in a breathtaking location

Kalk Bay Village

The Bible Institute of South Africa is situated in the fishing village of Kalk Bay.
Kalk Bay is one of Cape Town’s most interesting and colourful seaside suburbs. There’s a pretty harbour utilized by the local fishing community who are hugely protective of their heritage. Their traditional fishing boats cast off before sunrise and are usually back by midday with their catch of snoek, yellowtail, red roman or calamari.

Away from the harbour, quaint cobbled streets and Georgian-style buildings fuse with a quirky jumble of stores. The main street is lined with trendy bistros, cafes, bars and restaurants, and funky clothing, bookstores, art galleries, bric-a-brac, jewellery and antique shops. A number of hillside guesthouses and self-catering homes offer amazing views of the bay and distant Hottentots Holland Mountain range.

Taken from www.safarinow.com by Samantha Black.

More about Kalk Bay

Kalk Bay is approx 25 km from the Cape Town city centre. The Main Road linking Cape Town to Simonstown is our lower boundary; just below the Main Road the railway line follows the spectacular False Bay coast from Muizenberg to Fish Hoek. Cape Town’s longest running fish market is right here on the water’s edge and you can buy fresh fish straight off the wooden boats. Large Cape fur seals loll about waiting for tidbits and seagulls circle in the breeze. There are a few lovely seafood restaurants where big waves crash dramatically against the windows during winter storms. If you prefer your fish and chips in paper rather than plated, grab a meal from one of the popular take out joints and munch it on the pier – the views are stunning.

Fish Hoek

Two kilometers along the coast from Kalk Bay is the town of Fish Hoek on the False Bay Coast where banks, Fish Hoek High School, health services, False Bay Govt Hospital and a wide variety of shops, including supermarkets and Longbeach Mall, may be found. Fish Hoek has a wide sandy beach.

Cape Town

Colloquially named the Mother City, it is the largest city of the Western Cape province and forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. … The city is known for its harbour, for its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is a port city on South Africa’s southwest coast, on a peninsula beneath the imposing Table Mountain. Slowly rotating cable cars climb to the mountain’s flat top, from which there are sweeping views of the city, the busy harbor and boats heading for Robben Island, the notorious prison that once held Nelson Mandela, which is now a living museum. source: Wiki

South Africa

South Africa is located at the southernmost region of Africa, with a long coastline that stretches more than 2,500 km (1,553 miles) and along two oceans (South Atlantic and the Indian). At 1,219,912 km2 (471,011 sq miles), according to the UN Demographic Yearbook, South Africa is the 24th-largest country in the world.

Who named Africa? Some believe that the word “Africa” came from the Romans, who named the land they discovered on the opposite side of the Mediterranean after a Berber tribe living in the Carthage area (now modern-day Tunisia). Different sources give different versions of the tribe’s name, but the most popular is Afri.

source: Wiki

Transport

The BISA campus is flanked by mountain and sea with a 5 -minute walk to the Kalk Bay railway station and a 2-minute walk to Kalk Bay Harbour. Foot travel is popular because Fish Hoek shopping is a 20 min walk from College.

Whale watching

False Bay is home to the Southern Right Whale, seals, penguins and the occasional pod of dolphins and Orcas.

False Bay is home not only to the Bible Institute of South Africa but to the Great White Shark, Carcharadon carcharias (see this on youtube on NatGeo’s Ocean Channels).

Campus grounds and facilities

The Grounds

BISA is a 2-hectare campus comprising one single storey and five double storey buildings for teaching, admin and residential use. The campus is built in a Quad style and has sea front views as well as a mountain aspect and a large grassed recreation area. Two gated entrances lead into two carparking sites. The entire property is perimeter fenced with cc cameras installed in the grounds.

The college has two fairly large stretches of lawn for volley-ball, while table tennis is another popular activity. The mountain and beaches on the doorstep might entice you to try: Trail Running, Hiking, Cycling, Swimming and Surfing.

Accommodation

Student rooms are available at the Bible Institute of South Africa in separate residences for male and female students. We need to say it upfront – student rooms are just that – student rooms. They are clean but without frills and you will share a bathroom & shower. Most rooms are shared, but single rooms may be available, subject to student numbers. Each room has either a sea or a mountain aspect. There is a girl-guy common room with wide screen TV and space to work when the library closes at night. BISA has a few flats (apartments) on campus and preference is given to married students.

The Principal and his family as well as several lecturers and staff live on the premises with their families – BISA is your home away from home, especially for students from overseas.

Meals and Food

BISA has a wonderful Cook who serves the staff and students a cooked meal (generous portions) each weekday during the term at 13:00. We eat together in the Dining Room.

Students self-cater for breakfast and other meals and often club together and share shopping & cooking their evening and weekend meals.

No food preparation or storage is allowed in the Residences but the kitchen has ample fridge and food storage space. The kitchen with cookers, fridges, crockery and utensils is available for students for their own food prep. We have to mention the washing-up facilities.

The rule is ‘If you use it, you wash it.’

WiFi

Wi Fi (campus-wide) is also offered for students who bring their own laptops or other electronic devices to college. The library, as well as the main lecture theatre (Williams Hall), has multiple desk-accessible power points for electronic devices. The Logos Remote Research Library can be accessed via the computer room or from the internet on the student’s own device.

IT room

BISA has a designated computer room, adjacent to the main library, comprising eight computer work stations. Each PC runs Windows 10 with a high speed internet connection and printing & scanning facilities. Office applications required by the student for preparing assignments are installed on each PC. The student has access using an individually assigned code linked to their account.

Lecture rooms

Roxton, the college’s academic and administrative centre, has four classrooms seating between 15 and 92 students. These are fully equipped with whiteboards, television and VCR usage, as well as video and overhead projectors. Williams Hall, the largest lecture room is also used for the college’s bi-weekly chapel services and for seminars and conferences for students and the public.

CANVAS online LMS

BISA subscribes to CANVAS, an online Learning Management System that allows for seamless tuition, on or off campus, enabling the student to receive and submit work, keep on top of of study schedules and interact with the lecturers. This has been fully utilised during the 2020 lockdown period in South Africa.

For a video explanation on this system click here

Library

The Bible Institute’s library contains an excellent, broad-based collection with more than 27,000 volumes, to which a large number of books are added annually. We also receive about 53 periodical titles regularly. Computers are loaded with various reference library databases and Bible programmes.

To keep current in the field BISA library has subscribed to the Logos Remote Research Library. This is a platform for academic research, sermon preparation and personal Bible study that offers students more than 2762 electronic resources, including books and journals.

For a description of library facilities click here

Library Reserve

The Reserve Section of the library (also known as the Short Loan section) is found in the Reference room. There, the student will find a specialised Bible section housing multiple versions and editions of the Bible (some in African languages) as well as the Languages book section (Biblical language grammars, Classical languages grammars and modern day grammars for many languages).

Reference Room

The Reference room is adjacent to the main library and this high ceilinged, well-lit space is reminiscent of an old- world reading room. It offers seating for around 23 students at large tables with space for books, journals and laptops. The shelves carry bound and unbound periodical journals which supplement our large electronic database. The area carries multiple power points as well as Wi-Fi access and many students choose to work there as silence is a prerequisite.

Kalk Bay Community Church

Formerly known as ‘BI Chapel’, the Kalk Bay Community Church is situated on the Main Road, adjacent to the campus entrance. This interdenominational church is pastored by Marvin Petersen and his wife Veronika (a past BISA student) and is attended by residents in the area as well as several BISA staff. KBCC provides a spiritual home for students from outside of Cape town as well as providing opportunites to serve the Kalk Bay village community, especially in children’s ministry.

Christmas Holiday accommodation

Student rooms in the BISA residences are available for rental to holidaymakers during the Christmas period. The rooms are not ensuite. Kitchen facilities are available. Call Brett Saunders on (021) 788-4116.

Cape Town Calling You

Bible Institute of South Africa

Kalk Bay from the Water

Kalk Bay from the Sky

"I find BI to be a community of humble, loving and caring students, together with their lecturers. I come back to BI whenever I can - God is at work there in practical ways".

Katleho Meslane
Katleho graduated in 2010, He is the Children’s pastor at Somlandlela Church, Strand, Cape.

"These two terms in the Christian Leadership Programme have taught me much regarding my faith. My studies have shaped my Christian life as well as my understanding of the Scriptures and ability to handle them correctly. It has been an enriching experience thus far. I encourage my fellow students to persevere in our training as it is preparing us to be faithful servants of the Lord.".

Cohen Julies Cohen is studying in the Christian leadership Programme at BISA. He leads anindependent church in Sarepta.

"I studied at BI 95-98 .What an awesome experience it was and still enjoying the benefits and fruit of those years. Go see for yourself, you will love it. Blessings!"

Frankquit Jooste Frankquit graduated in 1998

Viv met Margie Campbell whilst studying at the Bible Institute. They married some time later and this is what he says…” Everything Margie and I do now, every decision we make, is rooted in our worldview that we received at BI.”

Vivian Potgieter Vivian has been in student ministry since leaving college. He now serves as the Faith Based Youth Pastor at Brackenfell Community Church

"Val and I were given a bit of the 'too heavenly minded to be of earthly use', treatment by some close to us, but the call to study theology was too clear and strong, albeit we were young and idealistic dreamers! We were ready to go to BI, ready to go and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. It was the right decision and it is the finest of colleges''.

Craig Hounsom Craig graduated four decades ago. He is the Minister of St John’s United Church in KZN.

"BI to me is one big family where you can be yourself and grow in the knowledge of God's word. I matured as a young woman who had just left home for the first time. I was at BI for just a year but that year changed my life. I would not trade my time at BI for anything on earth''.

Caitlin Coetzee Caitlin graduated in 2011. She teaches at an ECD development school in Cape Town.

"Studying at B.I. made a positive, lasting change in our lives. The teaching gave a strong foundation, and helped to keep us focused and steady in good & hard times whilst serving the Lord. We had happy times and fun with fellow students - even gardening!!

Dawn du Plessis Dawn graduated in 1964. She is retired (actively) and lives in the UK.

"What an amazing journey I have had at BI. I don’t think I would have made it but for the warm welcome and support I received from students in my year group as well as the many lecturers who helped me sharpen my sword at both ends. All that’s left to say is THANK YOU. I am richer for being at the Bible Institute".

Aldine Marcus Aldine graduated in 2012