Photo: 30-year-old South African pastor allegedly raped boys and young men in church after telling them they were God's "chosen one"

The pastor from Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, South Africa appeared in magistrate's court on Thursday, to face two counts of rape and one of sexual assault.

The pastor is alleged to have been abusing a group of boys that were attending a ministry school at his church to graduate as pastors themselves.

A now 19-year-old victim said he was 16 years old when the abuse started. He said he had been staying and sleeping at the Hands of God International Ministries for three years to train as a pastor.

"It started in 2015 one night when he woke me up while I was sleeping with other boys in another bedroom that we shared as junior pastors," the teen said. He said the pastor called him to his bedroom and told him that he was the "chosen one".
"He said God had chosen me to be his (pastor) protector. He 'anointed' himself with oil all over his body and started kissing me while I was shocked. He then penetrated me."

The teen said he was scared to tell his parents each morning when he got home because they were also members of the church and loved the pastor very much.
His mother said: "I'm angry at myself because I have missed out on three years of my son's life and [not seeing] the signs that I could have noticed. However, I want justice for all these children that he has been taking advantage of because of our kindness as parents."

Another boy said he did report the abuse to church after he was raped in 2014 but no one believed him.

"I remember the pain I felt when he first raped me, I could not even sit for three days but I kept quiet because he made me believe he was imparting supernatural powers to me as a servant. I am very angry that it's only now that more guys have come out that I'm believed."

He said he was now taking drugs to numb the pain the pastor inflicted on his life.

"This broke me and the past four years have been hell seeing him pass by my house after leaving the church."

The third victim said the pastor demanded him to perform blow jobs on him every night. He said he eventually ran away from the church because it was traumatising him.

The matter was postponed to January 25 for further investigations.