Fr. Joseph Ashkar arrived to build a church and a school for the community. He purchased a small church and a rectory situated at 124 Commissioner Str. Johannesburg and later in early 1920 moved to the corner of Diagonal & Kerk Str, Johannesburg. The Patriarch then sent another priest to assist – Fr. Wakim Estphan who stayed for a few years only before he went back home to Lebanon, and Fr. Ashkar continued to serve the community alone until 1928.