Ockert Potgieter


Ockert Potgieter is a South African missionary in the Ukraine and a film director. His name in Russian is Окерт Потхитер.

Education

Potgieter completed his school years on Potchefstroom Gimnasium. He studied further in Law at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and after finishing his undergraduate studies he did a PhD in Law. He was awarded the honor of being the best Law student in South Africa, He finished a diploma in Social Law at “Rijkuniversisteit” Gent, Belgium in conjunction with Stellenbosch University.

Missionary work

After Potgieter guided a student group through the Ukraine, he and his wife decided to establish a church in Reni, Ukraine. Reni is a town in the Odessa Oblast Province. It is a South West Ukrainian town close to the Romania border next to the Danube River.
He and his wife Michelle established a church called the “Light of the World” in 1990. They have been running community uplifting programmes since then. They focussed on the part of Reni that is poor and have unmaintained infrastructure. In the area they worked, most houses did not have electricity, or a toilet in the house. Most houses toilets were outside. Proper water access was limited, and electricity were only available 6 hours a day. Potgieter started a campaign called “I Love Reni”. It is a project that maintain and repair infrastructure, clean the city, provided water, upgrade roads and do paint work. Voluntary socials workers from the UK are helping once a year. For these project he has partnered up with Jubilee Church Maidstone, UK and the Mayor of Reni, Igor Plegov. A kindergarten school was established as well as a programme to enriched children's life by exposing them to different countries and culture. The Potgieters have been attacked in the past by armed men but survived it. They still work there today.

Film director

Potgieter was the director and writer of the Movie “Хватит - новый русский фильм” a Russian film released in 2013. It is a film made by New Day Films. The slogan is: In every life there comes a time to let go” The film is a story of hate, war and betrayal, with love the only way to overcome it. It takes places in Russia in 1917. Two children escaped the war and had to survive on their own. Years later one of the survivors retraced his steps to find peace. It was film in the Ukraine.