God's Mission in Southern Africa

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2011 in the subject Theology - Practical Theology, , language: English, abstract: This book is the first volume of theological research papers from the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS). The authors are young southern African theologians and practitioners. While they come from different countries and church backgrounds they all share a commitment to Gospel-centred mission and church ministry. Simba Musvamhiri (Zimbabwe) looks at the discipleship process in a fast growing evangelical-charismatic church in Namibiäs capital Windhoek. He argues that attractive services and a strong preaching and teaching ministry, as well as a focus on hospitality are no guarantee that church members are fully committed to follow Jesus Christ in all areas of life and on a daily basis. What is needed is a relational and transferable discipleship process which equips all church members whether they are students, young professionals or other community members, to move towards spiritual maturity. Peter Koona Tefo (Lesotho) demonstrates the importance of pastoral visitation in the southern African context. According to Tefo there is a direct correlation between the frequency and quality of pastoral visits by church leaders and active participation in the life of a local congregation by church members. Abednigo Musona (Zimbabwe) examines the relationship between church leadership and the level of participation of church members in congregational programmes and fluctuations in church membership respectively. He argues that a church leadership which follows Biblical principles is more likely to achieve spiritual and numerical growth. Finally, Zeka Avelino Tjiwana (Namibia) explores the situation of young church members in the north of Namibia. He shows that due to the absence of youth ministry guidelines and a lack of spiritually mature and well trained youth leaders, emotional and spiritual problems of young people are not properly addressed.