Two of the earliest learners at the St. Mary’s Anglican Mission school at Odibo, northern Namibia, were young men who had been planning to go south to look for work. They stayed at St. Mary’s to learn some English which would be useful to them in their future work, but in the end stayed permanently. These two young men were Gabriel Namueja and Lazarus Haihambo, who were dedicated to their studies. They spent much time with Fr. Tobias, who trained them for full time ministry in the Anglican Church. They became the first Kwanyama men to be ordained as deacons on September 28, 1936 and soon afterwards as priests. (Robson & Luff 1999:6)[1]

Gerhard Buys and Shekutaamba Nambala

Notes:

1. This story is taken from Buys & Nambala 2003, p. 122.

Bibliography

Main source

Buys, G. L. & Nambala, S. V. V. 2003. History of the Church in Namibia 1805 - 1990, an Introduction. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan.

Namibia Research Institute (www.nets.iway.na/research)

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Interviews & questionnaires

Christians, N. C. 2002. Unpublished notes forwarded on request to Buys, on 22 May 2002. Rev. Nicholas Christians was the pastor of the Trinity AME Church in Keetmanshoop for an uninterrupted period of 43 years (1953 - 1997). In 1998, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Wilberforce Institute of the AMEC in USA.

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Witbooi, H. 2002. Interview of Buys with the honourable Dr. Hendrik Witbooi, in Windhoek, on the history of Evangelists Petrus Jod and Marcus Witbooi. Dr. Witbooi is the son of Pastor Marcus Witbooi, who was a founder member of the AMEC in Namibia. At the time of the interview, Dr. Witbooi was Deputy Prime Minister in the Namibian government and leader of the AMEC (African Methodist Episcopal Church) in Namibia.

This article is reproduced, with permission, from History of the Church in Namibia, an Introduction - 1805-1990, Gamsberg Macmillan, Windhoek, Namibia, copyright © November 2003 by Dr. Gerhard Buys and Dr. Shekutaamba Nambala. All rights reserved.