Honouring the legacy of an African evangelist

On behalf of the Department of Practical Theology and Mission Studies at the University of Pretoria, Dr Buhle Mpofu hosted the third annual Bhengu Memorial Lecture, which was held on 1 October 2024 in the Senate Hall of the Administration Building on the UP Hatfield Campus. The event was attended by the Dean of Theology and Religion, Prof Rantoa Letsosa, as well as the Head of the Department, Prof Christo Lombaard and Dr Dan Lephoko, who is a scholar on Nicholas Bhengu.

The Nicholas Herpworth Bhengu lecture series aims to commemorate the life and legacy of Bhengu as one of the significant African evangelists of the 20th century and a bridge for the epistemological gap in African scholarship, by developing resources on African mission and evangelism.

The keynote message was delivered by Prof Mookgo Solomon Kgatle on the topic ‘Post election reflections from Bhengu's teachings’, underscoring the need for leaders to put their differences aside and seek unity as espoused by Bhengu in his teachings and his life of simplicity.  Framing Bhengu's ministry paradigm in the context of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the lecture highlighted the following significant principles which are applicable for nation building in the current South African context:

• Preaching the gospel of love and forgiveness. In order for the nation to move beyond racial polarisation, there is dire need to heed Bhengu's call for love and forgiveness to be practiced and juxtaposed alongside justice.
• A call for churches to seek unity beyond the names of denominations, as this model is also significant for the implications of the GNU. Political parties should put their differences and party names aside and unite behind the constitutional rights of the people, because South Africans share common needs such as clean water, electricity and safety.
• Nation building or the rebuilding of the South African nation, given the nature of challenges that state-owned enterprises have experienced. Bhengu considered the church to be an integral part of nation building and used his apolitical stance to minister to all people and treated them equal in their diversity.
• Support for government leaders, in line with Bhengu's call for Christians to pray for all leaders, support leaders of our nation and present Christ to them by all means – not a call to blind loyalty, but a call for prophetic witness.
• The Church should model peace and unity, as Bhengu himself taught that the Church is the light and salt of the world. This should be modelled by church leaders who should live a life of simplicity as opposed to greed. This principle was embodied by Bhengu, who once said: "I have never taken from the poor. When I want a shirt, I pray for one, if I don't get it, I wash the old one." If the GNU is to learn anything from Bhengu's leadership principles, one of them is that leaders should address corruption and end stealing from the poor masses.

This lecture was profound in that it framed Bhengu's ministry paradigm in the context of current political realities, and the conversations which followed are important for ongoing dialogue on nation building.