Sonatur Healing Balm – Born from Faith, Farmed with Purpose
Background to the Development of Sonatur Skin Care Products
Sonatur Skin Care was born through Walk in the Light, a Christian ministry based in Haniville, a township outside Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Founded by Bruce Taylor in 2005, the farm was acquired to support the ministry and to create sustainable employment for the local community.
Expropriation and Challenges
In 2010, the South African government expropriated 20 acres of prime farmland to construct a major fuel pump station connecting Durban and Johannesburg. The construction led to flooding and damage of an additional 15 acres, wiping out more than 50% of the farm’s productive land. This was financially devastating. Sadly the ministry closed in 2019 after a home invasion followed by a land invasion during Covid lockdown in 2020.
The Fire and Rose Geranium
On 17 July 2014, a runaway fire destroyed 93% of the remaining cropland. Yet, one field survived—the rose geranium field. Bruce Taylor saw this as a divine sign and chose to focus on growing this crop for healing purposes.
A Prophetic Vision
Later that year, Bruce met a missionary from Pakistan who knew nothing of the ministry but prophesied that Bruce would create a healing balm like the balm of Gilead. This balm, he said, would heal skin from head to toe and reach people across South Africa and the world.
Product Development
From that moment, Bruce committed to perfecting the balm. Through careful research and development, Sonatur Healing Balm that is made with organically farmed rose geranium was created. Today, it brings relief to both humans and animals with skin issues like psoriasis, eczema, acne, skin inflammation and irritation.
Giving Back – Purpose Beyond Products
All profits from Sonatur Skin Care (originally marketed as Scent of Nature) go directly to sustaining Walk in the Light and its team which enabled continued outreach in Haniville.
Our Ministry Mission
“We do the small things, God does the big things.”
Inspired by James 2:14–17, the ministry served over 10,000 residents in Haniville where over 60% live with HIV and nearly 40% are unemployed. Our goal was to uplift the community through employment, access to health services and faith-centered support which we did successfully for 18 years despite the challenges .
Our Vision for the Future
We aimed to expand our essential oil crops which would have created more jobs and training opportunities. Our dream was to build a conference and development center overlooking Haniville which would have been equipped with a medical clinic, preschool and community hall but the land invasion happened which closed that chapter in our lives.
Sonatur is at the point now of finding an alternate way of making an impact in communities and is possibly looking at assisting ECD centres
These are the six areas where we had an impact in the community:
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Transportation – We provided free transport to clinics and government offices which ensured that people had access medical care and services.
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Faith Building – We provided a facility for local church services, counselling and youth programs to share the love of Jesus.
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Donations – We distributed food, clothing and essentials to families in need.
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Teaching Sustainability – Families learnt how to grow their own vegetables in ministry gardens.
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Employment & Community Engagement – Local Zulu residents were employed, trained and empowered.
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Service Projects – We helped to rebuild homes, care for the sick and create safe recreational spaces for children.
The pump station was built and as it has a 20 acre concrete footprint, storm water was accumulated on site and has been discharged onto our crop lands damaging a further 15 acres of land.
The fire on the 17th July 2014
