All articles in category Namibia

Encouragements in Namibia

By Peter and Lucy Beale

October 2012

Namibia

Encouragements in Namibia

Encouragements in Namibia Imagine one of the tutors at London Theological Seminary being interviewed on prime time BBC breakfast television, sympathetically and at some length. That gives you the idea of what happened on the state-owned Namibia Broadcasting Company’s breakfast programme. One of the lecturers at Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS) in Windhoek was invited to share what was happening at the seminary, which trains men and women from a number of countries in Southern Africa for Christian ministries. Imagine Carol Kirkwood or Helen Willetts finishing the weather forecast with the words ‘God bless our country’ — you can picture the supporters of the National...

Missionary Spotlight – Facts

May 2002

Namibia

Missionary Spotlight – Facts

Area— 318,215 square miles. Neighbours — Angola, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. Environment — Hot desert. The Namib Desert runs along the western coast, the Kalahari Desert runs to the east. The Orange and Zambezi rivers form part of Namibia’s borders. Population — 1.8 million. Urbanisation : 39%. Ethnic groups — Bantu 73%, Khoisan 9%, Damara 6%, European or Afrikaans 5%, mixed race 7%. Languages — English (official), Afrikaans, German, indigenous languages including Bantu. Literacy — 40% approx. Life expectancy — 40 years. AIDS is endemic. Capital — Windhoek (250,000). Economy — Namibia is rich...

Missionary Spotlight – Developments in Ovamboland

By Joachim Rieck

May 2002

Namibia

Missionary Spotlight – Developments in Ovamboland

Radio preaching and open-air evangelistic campaigns among the Oshivambo people have resulted in much blessing. As a result, new village churches have started. The work has proved particularly fruitful in seven villages. This fruitfulness is demonstrated by groups of people now gathering to listen to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word in an ongoing Bible ministry. Where a ‘qualified’ leader has been available to take on responsibility for the group, a viable fellowship has been constituted. These leaders have proved hard-working and zealous. Often the new converts are already HIV/AIDS positive, but they have remained eager to follow Christ, and faithful in the...

Missionary Spotlight – AIM and AEF

By John Brown

May 2002

Namibia

Missionary Spotlight – AIM and AEF

The gospel was first preached in Namibia in the first half of the nineteenth century, when a strong Evangelicalism emerged. However, the influence of liberal theology gradually led to a weakening of the churches, and large numbers of professing Christians mixed their beliefs with ancestor worship. But the Dutch Reformed Church remained evangelical in doctrine. The Africa Evangelical Fellowship (AEF) sent missionaries to Namibia in the late 1960s. In 1986 the Africa Inland Mission (AIM) joined with AEF to form a larger team that currently works in the capital, Windhoek, and among the Herero, Hambukushu and Lozi people groups. There is also a significant...

Missionary Spotlight – Encouragements in Namibia

By Laban Mwashekele

May 2002

Namibia

Missionary Spotlight – Encouragements in Namibia

The South African Baptist Union began missionary work in Namibia in the 1950s. They were followed by Southern Baptists, who caused much harm by their emphasis on baptismal regeneration. As a result many in their churches today have not repented of sin and are not born again. Blessing A few of us in recent years have discovered the Reformed faith. This has been through reading Reformed literature — for example, the Puritans, J. C. Ryle, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and John Blanchard — and through the ministry of Reformed pastors from England. Namibia’s political, religious and ethnic situation remains stable, so that Christians have freedom...

Missionary Spotlight

By Joachim Rieck

May 2002

Namibia

Missionary Spotlight

The gospel in Namibia Namibia was a German colony between 1883 and 1915. Subsequently it was ruled by South Africa until 1990. The first missionaries to arrive in Namibia were Abraham and Christian Albrecht of the London Missionary Society (LMS). They crossed the Orange River and established a mission station in the deep south of Namibia in 1806. This happened some 35 years before David Livingstone set foot on African soil in March 1841. In 1814 Johann Heinrich Schmelen established an LMS mission station at Ui-Gantes (Bethanie) — a strategic base from which other mission stations were planted. Other early missionary endeavours stemmed...