God's Feet

Hans-Martin Milk

Description

The title of this book originates from the self-description of Namibian Evangelists in their own words. African evangelists of the Rhenish Mission Society (RMS) played a crucial but mostly overlooked role in shaping the spiritual and social networks that transformed indigenous communities from the early nineteenth century. The author draws from a wide range of German, Namibian and South African archival sources that have been supplemented with a large number of interviews, to explore the history of the indigenous evangelists of the RMS. African supporters were often the first heralds of the new religion at remote villages and cattle posts before the white strangers made an appearance. The Namibian evangelists� familiarity with the traditional culture and the local vernacular endowed them with a credibility that many of the European newcomers found difficult to acquire. By interweaving mission and church history between 1820 and 1990 with a biographical approach, the author brings a hidden chapter in Namibian history to life. Hans-Martin Milk, born in southern Africa, grew up in Namibia and lived there until he left into Exile in the 1970s. He returned to Namibia after independence to teach in Kavango. During this time he started his historical research on the RMS and the Kavango.

Sujets

• Croyance
• Africa
• History
• West
• Histoire
• African Studies

Informations

• Publié par: Basler Afrika Bibliographien
• Date de parution: 23 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9783906927367
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Hans-Martin Milk God’s Feet or the Mission’s Pack Donkey | Evangelists of Namibia
Basler Afrika Bibliographien | 2022
The translation of the original German book “… der im Sturm steht wie ein Kameldornbaum” into English and this publication have been sponsored by:
Evangelische Kirche in Hessen Nassau (Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau), Darmstadt.
Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland (Protestant Church in the Rhineland), Düsseldorf.
Evangelische Kirche in Westfalen (Evangelical Church of Westphalia), Bielefeld.
Vereinte Evangelische Mission (United in Mission), Wuppertal.





2022 © the author ( www.kavango.info ) © Basler Afrika Bibliographien Namibia Resource Centre — Southern Africa Library Klosterberg 23 PO Box 4001 Basel Switzerland www.baslerafrika.ch

All rights reserved.
Cover photograph: Villagers listening to the words of an Evangelist. Name of the Evangelist, origin and date of foto unknown. Copyright: National Archives Namibia. No 00417.
ISBN 978-3-906927-35-0
ISSN 1660-9638
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prelude
Preface
1 Introduction
The Church
The Actors
The Missionaries
The Evangelists
The Pastors
The Interpreters
The Teachers
The Congregation Elders
The Sources
Archive Material
Bibliographies
2 Evangelists of the Early Years
Little and Great Namaqualand 1820–1850
Jacob Links (c. 1799–1825)
Johannes and Jacob Links (20th Century)
David alias Hendrik Afrikaner (c. 1820)
Piet Vlermuis (1764–1864)
Daniel Cloete (1826–1894)
Samuel Gertse (1805–1889)
The Early Discussions about Ordination
Jan Bam (1811–1856)
Johann Friedrich Hein (1826–1901)
Nikodemus Kido (1861–1936)
3 Evangelists as Sons of the Mighty
Hereroland 1850–1870
Wilhelm Kauaita Maharero (c. 1850–1880)
Elia Kanomeva Kandirikirira (1850–1898)
Manasse Kujatura Harenge (1847–1910)
Paul Mbenovandu and Gottlieb Katimba-Kaerike (c. 1890)
Josaphat Kamatoto (1861–1904)
Christoph Muhongo, Josef Ingula, Lappland Heinrich Tjindimbue, Hendrik Djuella (End of the 19th Century)
Changes from 1870 Until the Turn of the Century: Figures, Reports, Successes
Bartholomäus Kafuritjire (c. 1900)
Job Katire (c. 1890)
Traugott Kauapirura (c. 1904)
4 Evangelists and the Apocalypse
The War 1904
Josaphat Kamatoto, Job Katire, Christian Mupurua, Elifas Karamo, Elifas Kukuri, Johannes Mupurua
Julius Kauraisa
Concentration Camps 1905–1907
Samuel Kariko (c. 1862–1925)
Hendrik Witbooi (1850–1933)
Colonial Retaliation
Paulus Plaatjie (c. 1860–1905)
5 Evangelists as Harbingers of Hope
Appropriation of Christianity 1910–1920
Gottfried Tjiharine (c. 1875–1944)
Gottlieb Murangi (1860–1948)
Andreas Kukuri (1887–1966)
Separation and New Beginnings 1945–1960
Zachäus Thomas (1888–1956) and Petrus Jod (1888–1964)
Hendrik Samuel Isaak (1909-1961)
Hanna Isaak, née Fredrik (1913–2005)
Gideon Thomas (1894–1994)
6 Evangelists as Wanderers Between Worlds
Labour Migration 1920–1960
Justus Vatilifa (1916–2013)
Bernhard Kustaa (1924–2005)
Noa (1839–1936), Sem (1897–1969) and Simon Kaukungwa (1919–2014)
Confessional Boundaries
Gottlieb of Omandumba (c. 1910)
Reinhold Haraseb (c. 1930)
Jakobus G Beukes (c. 1940)
7 Evangelists and their Private Lives
The Woman at His Side
Friedrich /Awaseb (1889–1971)
Children – The Gift Loaded with Expectations
Isak Shitilifa (1914–1990)
Evangelist Families in Three Generations
Gert (1810–1889), Daniel Snr (1850–1930) and Daniel Dâusab Jnr (1880–1960)
8 Evangelists Facing New Challenges
Church Formation 1950–1960
Eliakim //Hoëbeb (1906–1985)
Confronting Apartheid 1960–1980
Paulus Gowaseb (1922–1991)
Political Church 1980–1990
Hendrik Frederik (1935–2021)
Isak Frederik (1899–1972)
Lukas de Vries (1939–2001)
9 Evangelists and the End of their Era
Various Attempts to Redefine Their Role
Franz Arie (1889–1935)
Simon Hamutenja (born 1920)
Susanna Christians (1943–2019)
Mine and Farm Workers: Evangelists as Contacts with the Outside World
Erastus Hadula (1896–1935)
Nameless Helpers (1820–1988): Faithful, Simple and Yet Aware of the Dignity of Their Position
10 Closing Remarks
11 Glossary
12 Nama/Oorlam-Groups in the 19th Century
13 Abbreviations
14 Photograph Acknowledgments
15 Archive Sources
16 Unpublished Sources
17 Periodic Publications
18 Laws and Proclamations
19 Map Sources
20 Interviews
21 Literature
22 Tabularised List of All Evangelists Between 1820 and 1990
23 Tabularised List of Missionaries and Pastors Referred to in the Evangelists List
Index
PRELUDE
For decades mission history in Namibia has been written from a missionary perspective mainly emphasizing the Europeans’ missionary activities and their role alone. However, we have noticed that most of the ground works have been done by the local indigenous people. For European missionaries to reach their local targets, such as local leaders to consents to operate, they always had to go through the medium of local people as interpreters or even as local missionaries and carriers of the missionaries’ message to the local people in a language or languages understood to them. European missionaries stayed mostly at mission centers while local missionaries travelled cress crossing the villages and local terrains spreading the Good News.
Unfortunately, cognizance has been taken that there has been a prevailing gap that the actual role of local missionaries was left unaddressed. It is therefore vital that such a gap need to be filled. Hans-Martin Milk is one of those who are trying to fill this historic gap. In 2004 he traced the fascinating way, how Christianity came to Kavango – mostly through the activity of local missionaries – and published it in the book For the Power and Glory: Makaranga. In 2016 he wrote a book about a debatable if not controversial contemporary topic on The Role of the Rhenish Mission Society during the Erection of Concentration Camps in Namibia 1905 to 1908 (including the actual role of local missionaries). His writings on these two topics are most enlightening.
In this book Milk ventured on the very important and much needed topic of Evangelists of the Rhenish Mission Society . This is a collection of individuals’ life stories of Namibian evangelists, analyzing their day-to-day strategies and describing how they influenced the various historical phases of Namibia church and society between 1820 and 1990. The aim of this book is, amongst others, to help to differentiate the view of the history of Namibia.
I believe this book adds value to the historical annals of the church in Namibia. It is a book worth reading because it entails also other general historical information of the country. This book is strongly recommended to the lovers of history, especially Namibian church historians and theological students and institutions – and last not least the Namibian Christians. This book also invites scholars to discover a wide range of venues for further research.
Bishop Dr S V V Nambala. Okanenge, 14 March 2022
PREFACE
This book is dedicated to the Evangelists of Namibia – the Namibian co-workers of the Rhenish missionaries of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Evangelists were a special breed of people who actively shaped the history of Namibia over the last 200 years. They were previously shrouded in the darkness of history, because their contemporary companions, namely the German missionaries who themselves liked to be in the spotlight, had kept them hidden in their reports. But it is also the result of the low level of interest that scientific research has shown in them so far.
This book collects the individual life stories of Namibian Evangelists, analyses their day-to-day strategies and describes how they influenced the various historical phases of Namibia between 1820 and 1990. The aim of this book is to give the Evangelists of Namibia a profile, to trace their exciting life stories and thus to help to differentiate the view of the history of Namibia.
Certainly, the Evangelists were not hazy figures with no long-term significance as they often appear in the literature. According to that view, they were shown to be in the shadow of the missionaries whom they accompanied or worked with. Many people whom they met may have regarded them as contradictory figures. Were they still part of the African community, were they brothers? Or were they different, had they become European, were they foreign? At the same time, however, this ambiguity opened up to them that social or liminal space in which traditional life and culture met Christian conviction and practice. Many biographies from the most diverse periods show that they had to move skilfully in this space – albeit often with dogmatic irreconcilability – in order to be heard at all. For this reason, their contribution as cultural brokers is unmistakable, despite great differences between individuals. In this role, they have also become important links in Namibian–German history.
Many of the Evangelists presented here were leading figures in the consciousness and life of the Namibian population and were addressed as omuhona or leeraar – both expressions of respect that were otherwise used only for the missionaries. This was common practice long before the missionaries even thought of giving the Evangelists positions of equal stature. They were intellectuals before the German missionaries had given them the right to a sound education, and they saw themselves as advocates of their congregations, even if the idea of the missionaries to form Evangelists into one professional group was never implemented.
Evangelists saw themselves as Christians. By making the Evangelists the protagonists in this book, and by trying to describe events from their perspective, Christianity gains its own momentum. But it is a dynamism that developed under Namibian conditions and was shaped by Namibian protagonists. This book wishes to provide a