When the Black settlements were shifted from Westdene to Tseiblaagte, a small number of Catholics, who were the part of the present St. Stanislaus parish, moved to Tesiblaagte. Along with these people, Fr. Rehor also moved to this place in 1928. It was done because it was difficult for the priests from long distance to come here and celebrate the Holy Mass.

 

The land of the OLPH Mission was bought by Fr. Rehor for £ 290 . 6 Shillings and 10 pennies. Mrs. Theresisa Apollus was the first person to be baptized here on 15th September 1929 in the Parish. With the arrival of Fr. L. Wolf on 15th December 1929, the works of the Mission sped up. After the death of Fr. L. Wolf , Fr. Martin Forster became Parish priest here.  Fr. Jansen in 1950 took up the responsibility of the Mission. He built the presbytery, the hostel and St. Matthias School. He served the OLPH Mission for a long period of time. During the course of time, the Catholic population grew up both in Tesiblaagte and Krőnlein, the Coloured area of Keetmanshoop. The corner stone of the present Church was laid on 1st May 1955 at the time of Fr. Jansen.

 

The Parish of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help has grown substantially in faith and numerically in strength due to the hard work of the Fathers belonging to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. The Parish has at present nearly 5000 Catholics and it is one of the biggest parishes in the diocese.

 

The faithful in the parish comprises of people belonging to different ethnic groups. The Church looks after the spiritual needs of the people in Tseiblaagte, Krölein, Noordhoek and Westedene. The majority of the faithful belong to the tribe of the Namas. There is also good number of the Coloureds, Owambos and Damaras in the Parish. The medium of communication is Afrikaans but the faithful sing different types of hymns from the various language groups to make the liturgy very active and alive.

 

The Parish Administration

 

At present the Parish is looked after by the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales and there are two priests involved the ministry. Fr. Joseph Kunjaparambil MSFS is the Parish Priest and Fr. Mathew Maliyil MSFS is the associate pastor. The Parish Council, comprising of thirteen members, looks into the pastoral needs of the Parish.

 

The Parish is divided into 14 blocks with block leaders and a parish council member as over seer for each block. The block has got a lot of responsibilities. Each block comes together for prayer sessions, rosaries and also help the Parish in its financial endeavours.

 

There is also a financial committee which looks into the financial aspects of the parish and the all the developmental activities of the Parish. There is a group of lay ministers who help the priests in carrying out the pastoral works in the Parish.

 

The catechism teachers help in the formation of faith in the young ones. There are classes conducted for the First Holy Communion Candidates and the Confirmation Students.

 

The Catholic schools

 

The Mission of OLPH has two well-renowned schools in Keetmanshoop, Don Bosco Primary School and St. Matthias Primary School. Both the schools cater to the needs of the poor children in the area but they maintain excellent academic performance every year. The Schools try to impart education with Christian values and ideals of life.