About The Author by Dr Cuthbert Chidoori
Profile by Dr CUTHBERT CHIDOORI
My First General Conference of the Assemblies of God
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
Bhengu’s “Isinthunzi”
- Government and Politics
– Some Faults, Virtues and the Burden of
His Heart
President Lucas Mangope of Bophuthatswana
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
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
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)
Not many people have had the unique opportunity to live and witness the power of God through almost seven decades and also be blessed with the time to capture these inspiring experiences within the African context in such a clear narrative. The African continent with many of its unending wars and struggles for political and economical emancipation has received its fair share of blessing from God during the last century. God has been and is still raising men and women who have given spiritual leadership and vision for the church in Africa. One man who comes to mind is non-other than the late Rev. Nicholas Bhengu, a man whom I learnt to love and admire for his dedication to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rev. Bhengu was a native of South Africa, a country that was once known the world over for its worst form of institutionalized racial segregation. He had a ministry that transcended the racial divide of his day, leading to a remarkable growth of the Assemblies of God, as an indigenous church in the southern African subcontinent. It is through Rev. Bhengu’s ministry that I got to know Rev. John Bond and the pivotal role that Rev. Bond has played in the building of the church in South Africa, and indeed in the sub-continent.
I have known Rev. John Bond for more than fifteen years, a time during
which I have on many occasions been blessed by his ministry. His is a ministry
I have come to acknowledge as quite unique and desperately necessary for
our time. Rev. John Bond has been blessed with the ability to articulate
the Christian faith, with a clear understanding of the social prejudices
and racial bigotry that so often divide Gods people. He is one leader in
the Assemblies of God who has made a tremendous contribution to the bridging
of the conspicuous racial divisions in the region and enabled the church
to speak with one united voice. Schism and dissentions among Christians
have often caused untold damage to the testimony of the church, particularly
in environments where racial tensions and tribalism, are rife and have
to be confronted with the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. God is
indeed good and in His love and grace He gives to His church men of wisdom
and integrity who can bring peace and understanding in the body of the
Lord Jesus. Such has been the ministry of Rev. John Bond. In these his
memoirs, Rev. John Bond narrates not only his experience but also a story
of the journey of the church in southern Africa and provides a mine of
wealth which very few people in the Assemblies of God can.
Rev. John Bond’s association with the Assemblies of God church
in Zimbabwe goes a long way back to the late fifties, when operating
then under the leadership of the General Executive of the Assemblies
of God in South Africa; he was minister in Harare at the McChlery Avenue
assembly. Amongst the leadership and the general membership of the AOG
church in Zimbabwe, Rev. Bond is highly respected and indeed many acknowledge
the sacrificial role that he has played in the establishment of the Back
to God crusade in the country. Soon after settling in the then Southern
Rhodesia in 1958, he began the awesome task of organizing the launching
of the Back to God crusades in Zimbabwe. This was by no means an easy
task at the time because of the prevailing political tensions. It eventually
took a visit to the then British appointed Prime Minister of Southern
Rhodesia, Sir Edgar Whitehead, to secure all the necessary permits and
authorization for the crusades. With the red tape out of the way, Rev.
Bhengu and the Back to God Crusade team were able to enter Zimbabwe with
tents, lorries and equipment, to launch, what many elderly members of
the Assemblies of God fondly remember as the most powerful evangelistic
campaigns that Zimbabwe has ever experienced.
During the many years as a leader in the body of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Rev. John Bond has given a fine example of Christian leadership. On the
many occasions that I have had the opportunity to hear him minister,
I have been blessed by his thorough bible teaching that comes with such
a strong emphasis on the finer details of Christian living. I recall
one leadership meeting in the late eighties held in the Highfield Assembly
Church in Harare when he was teaching on the Holy Spirit-filled leadership.
I vividly recall the anointed exposition and the meticulous details of
this message on healthy spirit-filled Christian living, together with
encouragement for leaders to live above reproach (just the kind of detail
one could expect from an ex-health inspector!). On a one-to-one chat,
I have always enjoyed his company; this is one “old man” who
seems always to have contemporary examples and illustrations drawn from
his broad experience for his teaching on biblical truths.
These memoirs will most certainly enlighten the reader on the dramatic
events and charismatic characters that God has used to establish his
church in the Southern African subcontinent. From the early days of the
Assemblies of God in South Africa during the 1930s, the missionary effort
and the pioneer work in church planting, to the turbulent period of the
sixties when trying to maintain a truly biblical identity in a sub-region
that was alight with racial storms, Rev. Bond in these pages, pre-empts
his own dreams and aspirations in trying to humbly obey the leading of
God. And it could very well be that somewhere in this book, lies buried
the inspiration that we all need for a dynamic vision even for this our
post-modern, pluralistic, digital global village.