Nicholas Bhengu - Some Faults,Virtues and The Burden of His Heart

Foreword by MICHAEL CASSIDY

Profile by Dr CUTHBERT CHIDOORI

JOHN BOND by Peter Watt

Prologue

Some Personal Notes

My First General Conference of the Assemblies of God

H. C. Phillips

The Congress on Mission and Evangelism held in Durban

W F P Burton and some Congo Missionaries

Nicholas Bekinkosi Hepworth Bhengu
– His Youthful Dreams
– His Preaching

- Bhengu and Education
- Bhengu and Money
- Miraculous Experiences
- Spiritual Happenings
- The Sanctifying Spirit of God
– His Departure

- Mylet Bhengu

Bhengu’s “Isinthunzi”
- Government and Politics
– Some Faults, Virtues and the Burden of His Heart

President Lucas Mangope of Bophuthatswana

Early Days in Durban

The Glad Tidings Assembly

William Frederick Mullan
The Fairview Assembly
Fred Mullan and the Gifts of the Spirit
A Miracle and a Vision
The Revival in Norwood
James E Mullan

Paul O Lange
William Branham in Durban
Oral Roberts in South Africa

Billy Graham in Salisbury and Durban
The American Missionaries from Springfield, Missouri
C. Austin Chawner and the Portuguese Work
August Kast and the Mount Tabor Mission Station

John and Yvonne Stegman

Colin La Foy and the Coloured Leadership
The Work in Zimbabwe
Mauritius and Reunion Island

Special Answers to Prayer – 1
Special Answers to Prayer – 2

A Beautiful Square with Good Vibes
Prayer and the Hippie Revival
The Young Turks
Tensions within the Group
The Split of 1981 – Part One
The Split of 1981 – Part Two

The Beginnings of the Faith Movement in South Africa

The Statement of September 1989
The Charismatic Renewal

The Start of the Pentecostal Revival World Wide and The Swedish Pentecostal Assemblies

Letting Go of the Reins

Epilogue
APPENDIX 1 : How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit

APPENDIX 2 : The National Church by Nicholas Bhengu

APPENDIX 3 : Article from the Argus 5/02/1981

APPENDIX 4 : Pointers to the future of the Assemblies of God in the New South Africa (10/06/94)

In setting out to write these memoirs a chief concern is to avoid being offensive or unfairly derogatory to anyone but at the same time to avoid producing a hagiography. After all one writes about real people with their faults and virtues, people whom God has used to a greater or lesser degree in spite of shortcomings. In the end everyone has to confess they are but unprofitable servants and all the glory must be ascribed to God alone.

With this in view I am including extracts from a few of the many letters that passed between Nicholas Bhengu and myself. They will reveal much better than I can describe aspects of Bhengu's disposition as a human being, faults as well as virtues. They show his immovable toughness in rejecting any hint of an intrusion into the administration of his black Assemblies by well meaning whites. The careful reader might also discern in the vehemence of his declarations a regrettable tendency to react suspiciously and even hurtfully against fumbling attempts to help, and to assume guilt when suspicion was totally uncalled for. Those of us who loved him brushed aside this fault by fondly saying "Bhengu can be a bit of a 'prima donna'".
The first quote is from a letter I wrote to him on the 6th September 1974, here are one or two paragraphs from it,

" Dear Brother Bhengu,
Brother Noel Scheepers has told me something of his discussions with you last Friday, and in particular he stated that the Rhodesian brethren, brother Stegman and I had made J…K… an apostle over the work in Salisbury.
May I ask you most sincerely to accept that nobody has thought (let alone decided) that K… should be an apostle for the work in Salisbury. Your leadership is accepted unequivocally and all anybody in Rhodesia wishes is to see you firmly in control of the whole work there."
Nicholas Bhengu's reply took me by surprise. It was intense, confrontational and explicit. It reiterated the policy we all had worked on for a number of years. As far as I was aware nobody wished to violate it. I print the letter in its entirety, dated the 23rd September 1974

" Dear Brother Bond,
Greetings in His name. It is with a confused mind that I'm writing to answer your letter briefly as I'm on my way to UK.
We have built the African work from nothing and with nothing. We have been highly misunderstood, misconstrued and misrepresented. We've fought until we were emancipated from the quagmire of foreign Missions of different countries and diversified home policies. We remained with you South African white Christians thinking there is now peace and harmony.
Our policy is clear and above board. We do not and have not changed an iota.
1. We are one body/the church, where there is neither black nor white. In Africa as in all other non-white countries, it is the white Christians who built a thick wall around the white community and also around the church. We had to develop our spiritual concept on this ground. These differences and encapsulations or segments were and still are very harmful to the body of Christ/the church. The political outlook and attitudes, ambivalent and dangerous as they are, affected the church world and resulted in resentment and total rejection of the meaningless Christian message. God raised me to present the meaningfulness of the Christian Bible and message to a hostile world. We therefore resolved to preach the Word and condemn all elements which pollute and affect the Gospel of Christ. We admit all saved and sane people irrespective of their colour or attitudes, men of good will and love.

I do not understand what is happening in the minds of our white brethren. I reiterate that: -

1. We work in the framework agreed upon long ago that we lead our people to evangelise Africa's hostile millions.
2. We welcome financial assistance from our white brethren but no strings or conditions attached.
3. We welcome all our white brethren's ministry whole heartedly but reject their interference in administration and leadership. This is decisive and important.
4. In Salisbury and Bulawayo I did just that, but the trouble may have come from two sources : -
i. African “would be” leaders who carry distorted reports from here to there
ii. A desire (presumably by the whites J.B.) for involvement in all aspects of the African work.

This latter we flatly reject. We have valid reasons for anything we say or do. In the first place the developed race gap can only start to be healed by converting the white Christians who have for generations practised segregation in the church life – this is going to be a very slow process and a long range one.
Secondly we are trying to reach a very hostile society which can be better reached by their own leaders (the unbelievers). The imposition of white brethren can only lead to the end of our effectiveness in the Black Society. We, therefore want your help in these categories : -

1. financial assistance to help us speed the gospel of Christ
2. ministry of the Word
3. fellowship (spiritual)
4. liaison between the African church and the white authorities and also between our white assemblies and our churches.

Finally, I say, if this does not appeal to our white brethren – then leave us alone to go it alone in all aspects! We are struggling to reach the hostile masses threatened by the hordes of foreign ideologies at our doorsteps. We are on the verge of the collapse of our spiritual liberties, as events seem to indicate. We absolutely have neither animosity nor bone to pick or axe to grind with our white counterparts – what is the panic for? What is it all about?
The fact that Matabeleland became a different district from Mashonaland is a clear indication that white administration is faulty.
The fact that a war between K… and M… was entered into the ranks of our white leaders is another proof of this.
The fact that the whites helped financially that I launch a campaign (he is referring to a second campaign he held in Zimbabwe J.B.) in Rhodesia and finally took administration into my hands which has produced peace, harmony and fellowship between K... and M… there is now such fragrance in Rhodesia. Let us do the work God has given to us with neither friction nor interference from anybody.
I hope this will explain everything to you.

Yours sincerely in Christ
Nicholas B. H. Bhengu"

In replying I thought it best not to attempt to correct any misstatements or illogicalities. My reply was as tactful and placatory as possible. The matter dropped into the background.

There were other more serious matters upsetting Nicholas Bhengu at about this time. I'm glad to say I was not directly involved in them. It was a rift between Bhengu and other leaders of the Group, but it fell to me to mediate in what threatened to be an ugly and destructive situation. Blunders had been made by some white leaders. Bhengu's reaction was severe to the point of acrimony. Even the ever placatory James Mullan was so offended that he wanted to sever relations with Bhengu. In a very heated situation God gave me grace to plead with Bhengu for tolerance and brotherly forbearance. The result was an interchange of letters which showed a willingness in Bhengu to be entreated and a gracious humbling of himself. Good relations between the Back to God Crusade (Bhengu's evangelistic organisation) and the ministers of the Group were restored. A very gracious letter followed from Brother Bhengu. Here it is

" My very dear brother in the Lord,
Your letter came to me last Saturday for which I thank you very much. God bless you.
I must confess I have not in my life been so overjoyed over any situation as I was when reading your letter. You have surely healed my soul once and for all. I do not get upset and concerned by anything that concerns me personally; but when it is something that is going to harm the work so dear, so precious and so close to my heart, the only thing I have for my Lord and for posterity of the African peoples, the work I have lived for, the work that I died for, the work that is everything to me / I get terribly upset. I could see the coming of a very painful rift, not only between us but between black and white and it grieved me very much.
Some things appear very painful at first sight but afterwards we find that God was in them using them for the benefit of His work. Age is catching up with me very fast and there are grave and serious mistakes I had involved Gods work in. These have been rectified.
One other most important facet of this temporary ordeal is THE WELDING OF OUR LOVE, REINFORCEMENT OF OUR MUTUAL TRUST for each other, and the unshakable brotherhood generated by, first THE RIFT, which was the fire, then THIS TRUST WHICH CANNOT BE DOUBTED EVEN BY A FOOL that is it not genuine and permanent. To me and with your letter has generated much greater love and trust, even than ever before. All the past melted away like snow when summer comes. I ask you to forgive my misgivings, hasty judgements and all my unwarranted feelings. I will love and trust you more than ever before. Now I will have prefect peace and rest and complete confidence in you. You need not fear anymore repercussions or misunderstandings of any sort. Just speed ahead as before even more than before.
I believe I have said everything I wanted to say. I have no words with which to express myself fully to you how happy you have made me today. I feel so relieved, so uplifted and so peaceful.
May the Lord bless and encourage you. I am always at your service anywhere anytime.
Yours in His fellowship and service.

Nicholas B. H. Bhengu"

At about the same time he wrote another letter expressing fears for Africa. It is worth quoting a few sentences from it in the light of the current emphasis on African culture and the African renaissance.

" I feel we should get two young Africans, first through a bible school and then to theology. We need men to counteract two subtle errors : -
a) Liberal theology which is creeping to Africa through liberal scholarship given to educated Africans neither saved nor equipped with bible doctrine. These fall an easy prey and will saturate the African people with heresy and error.
b) A very strong wind blowing in the third world (Africa) for resuscitation of the African glorious past (falsely so called). You should help some of the youth towards theological degrees (UNISA)."

Reading the foregoing glimpses into Nicholas Bhengu's personality one is aware that in them one is seeing the earthen vessel with its cracks as well as its beauties. The treasure contained in the vessel is undiminished in the splendour of God's gift. Bhengu could soar high above his human frailties. Before he died he poured out the burden of his heart in an encyclical letter to his people. I cull from it certain statements sounding forth a message that even now stirs the heart like the word of an old testament prophet.

He writes
" Money is the cause of all church splits and fights. Our principles and methods are unique. Those who go against them desire to spend and abuse God's money from the people who are so poor and needy. Raise money and bank it according to procedure and do not spend that money it is God's money and not yours. Let us not be hasty, let us do things orderly and decently in all honesty and love. I'm writing these to remain as guidelines for your future after my departure.
I have taken no money from you for myself apart from what I take for the work of God in other poorer countries. I have spent hundreds or thousands of rands or dollars, which were mine by right, in helping church buildings and workers, whether or not they say thank you I do not mind for what I have done I have done for God and not for men. I owe you no money but instead the churches owe me a lot of what was my money which I put into buildings.
There shall arise men from among you who desire to live a high life like white people, who will have properties, expensive furnitures (sic). Others will even wear distinctive uniforms of identification. The spiritual life will go down – very low and men shall be glorified and preaching will be mentally devised to replace the Holy Ghost and inspirational messages. But God will from time to time raise men who will denounce these things and call people back to God as I did. These will be greatly opposed and persecuted in the very movement I had established. Watch for these things and remember I warned you beforehand.
In all money affairs there will be endless troubles.
a. There will be those who use money for their own agrandisment.
b. Some will overspend and place the church into endless debts.
c. Some will see an opportunity to get rich.
The church leaders and the church itself are both capitalistic and scorn all social concern for the people. That is why people hate churches and their creeds. This is where the modern church differs from the early church. The Christians and the church institutions cannot remain immune and unconcerned with the physical needs of society and hope to survive the challenges, condemnations and criticisms. See that money is not abused by one person or a clique. The whole assembly should be aware of what happens to the funds. This is exactly what I have taught throughout my ministry. Are there men among you who dare to live as I have and teach as I have taught and walk as I have walked in the church of the living God? Faithfulness to God and honesty to men are a good maxim.
I have lived misunderstood, misinterpreted, misconstrued and abused by reckless men from all sections and sides. These are all very good for my moulding up as well as humiliation. They were practical lessons to prove theories. They helped to keep me low, selfless and self-effaced. I could not ride a high horse after all my success for they were all His. I was glad when no street, road or avenue in all the townships was named after me. My life was buried with Christ and although I received great honours from the leaders of various countries yet I was never elated to feel that I was above my fellow men in the street. I am going to lay myself down in death in real equality will all men of low estate. Men who never went to school, never preached to thousands in Africa and overseas. I feel I am worthless, I feel I am nothing, I feel I am nobody but God took my life and used it for His own pleasure as useless as it was. It was all for His honour and glory. I was stripped naked.
My dear wife died and I was left forlorn and destitute." He goes on then to discuss his family, including these remarks. "My eldest daughter never departed from the way of the Lord inspite of all her problems. My youngest daughter is also rejoicing in the Lord and is a comfort in my old life. So there was nothing in my life to be proud of. I spent money to educate people's children and most of them never said 'thank you' after completion and until now. Thank God for two or three who are very much grateful, devoted and helpful to me. If things go against you do not despair or react. They all help to keep you low and humble. Be a man of prayer, fasting and bible reading. Pray always and present yourself to God in secret and seek His face. His glory will come over you and this is the only way to be effective in God's work. Never pretend to be an academic when you are not one and if you are one, never be ostentatious about it. Desire no titles unless those you can earn. Do not be sidetracked by any temporal life but be wholly surrendered to God.
Speak well of all people and their ministers although they belong to other denominations. Praise those who are good and have rendered good deeds to the church and nation – build the church of God and remember yours is a mini church and there is a Universal Unnamed Church of which yours is a member. That church is composed of those who are John 1 11-13. All who have received Jesus as their saviour, substitute and Lord are your brothers and sisters irrespective of their church affiliation. The names of our churches are our own inventions and not God's! Let the Christians come together as God's children. Build the nation where you are remembering that you are part of that nation and you are in it for a specific purpose for God. Pray for all leaders in Africa, support leaders of your nation and present Christ to them by all means. The church is the light of the world. The church is the salt of the earth and the Church should lead the Nation to Peace, Unity and Prosperity."

My heart is stirred by these vehement words so full of the rough-hewn eloquence of a preacher rather than a writer, too replete and impetuous to polish his phrases or fill up the gaps in logic, but desperate in the call to Godly manhood, service and sacrifice. The words of an African gripped by the vision to bring Africa to blessing by preaching to his people the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.