Prologue
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)
The Assemblies of God in South Africa dates back to 1908, the year when early pioneers from Pentecostal churches overseas first laid the foundation of a new church in what now is called Mpumalanga. But the work they planted then only began to assume the beginnings of its present form 28 years later in about 1936. Significant happenings occurred between 1936 and 1940. Decisions made then could be likened to tiny seedlings being planted to grow later into robust impressive trees bearing significant fruit.
In about 1936 Nicholas Bhengu linked up with Mr HC Phillips
to work in the Emmanuel Mission in Nelspruit. Two years later Mr Phillips
and the Emmanuel Mission, including Nicholas Bhengu, became part of
the Assemblies of God. Nicholas Bhengu was destined to be one of the
most significant church leaders of the period, a Christian of world
stature.
In about 1936 James Mullan came from the Belgian Congo (now Zaire) to work
in the Emmanuel Mission. Like Nicholas Bhengu, he too became part of the
Assemblies of God when the Emmanuel Mission joined in 1938. He is numbered
among our pioneers.
So is his brother Fred. Fred arrived in Durban from Ireland in 1932 but
in 1935 the conference took a decision to admit into the fellowshi---p
of the Assemblies of God ministers and congregations working among whites.
Fred joined. So did four small white congregations. Three years later a
policy was enunciated which proved decisive in forming the unique structure
of the Assemblies of God. It entrenched the concept of a church body consisting
of groups co-operating within a single movement, but not having to sever
ties with their respective mission boards. An article in an American Assembly
of God missionary magazine described it approvingly in the following words:
“ Missionaries working within the organisation are individually
responsible to their mission boards, yet their work is not considered as
that of a
foreign missionary organisation but rather that of the Assemblies of God
in South Africa.”
The policy is radical, unprecedented and it opened the way for missionary
bodies to come under the umbrella of the Assemblies of God in South Africa.
In later years Jim Mullan’s white work and Nicholas Bhengu’s
African work grew phenomenally. Each developed into a group organised essentially
on the same principle as the missionary societies, something separate yet
united, all under the umbrella of a single General Conference, General
Executive and General Constitution as part of the Assemblies of God, but
all administering their own domestic affairs without interference from
the main body. The structure is unique. Because it is different from that
of any other church, it could be hard to fathom. But it works well.
It so happens that in 1936 I was converted and joined the Assemblies of
God. Thus I have lived for over 60 years through the developments that
made the Assemblies of God what it is today. I knew most of the leaders
who influenced the evolution. I was even part of the national leadership
for over 40 years and General Chairman for 28 years. Often I played a decisive
role. From small beginnings I have seen the Assemblies of God spread throughout
Southern Africa to be a denomination with thousands of congregations, embracing
all the races of our rainbow nation.
Now that most of the pioneers have gone on to be with the Lord, numbers
of people have urged me to set down what I remember of the history before
the Lord takes me too and it all slides into oblivion.
Indeed, some others have put pen to paper. Peter Watt wrote a well researched
carefully objective missiological study called, “From Africa’s
Soil”. Charles Enerson, one of our older ministers, recorded in great
detail an account of his own pilgrimage and the many people he ministered
to. But bye and large, little has been written to detail our story and
comment on the personalities who made it. Probably I am in a position to
contribute something nobody else could. It behoves me to try, and try I
will. But how should I proceed? I have kept no careful records. I am forced
to rely largely on my memory, telling things as I have observed them, trying
the while not to be subjective, since everyone sees things from his own
viewpoint as every soldier sees a
battle from his own fox-hole. Apart from the differing perspectives, memory
can trick one into being selective. Yet there is no other way for me to
go. I’ll trust my memory and write with integrity. If others challenge
my facts, let them remember that I was there in the midst of it. I write
what I recall and I record it as truly as I can.
I’ll have to adopt my own method. I can’t write a proper history
but I can attempt a pastiche composed of anecdotes, vignettes and stories
put together loosely without much attention to chronology or plot; a kind
of verbal photograph album of people and events relevant to the Assemblies
of God. One hopes that from it there will emerge an impression of our struggles,
our failures and our progress.
In contemplating this, I find that one person dominates the picture in
a striking way - Nicholas Bhengu. I suppose that is inevitable. His influence
in forming the Assemblies of God has been so dominant, his personality
so charismatic, and his mark so indelible that it cannot be otherwise.
About a third of the book relates directly to aspects of Nicholas Bhengu’s
ministry. Much of it was recounted to me from his own lips.
A certain Brother Mpumelelo Maphange has produced a volume one of the story
of Nicholas Bhengu’s life, and we await the second volume. Apart
from that there is no definitive biography of this great man of God. Perhaps
the sketches I include will give a picture of him until a more complete
portrait is written.
I’m describing the volume as, “Reflections” because what
I write is what emerges from the shadows as I reflect upon the past. I
could even call it “John Bond’s Table Talk on the Assemblies
of God.”