Abstract
In this chapter, Nkomazana discusses the role played by women in the rise of Pentecostal churches in Botswana. Given the patriarchal nature of leadership within both the African cultural and Christian contexts, he argues that this was a radical and historical development. This was complicated by the fact that male-dominated missionary organizations were supported by the protectorate administrators at the expense of independent and Pentecostal Churches, which further marginalized women. Using the concept of “territorial Christianity” as a theoretical framework, the chapter critically outlines the ethnic and territorial dynamics with which colonialists and mainline churches in Botswana attempted to suppress the Pentecostal churches and the emergence of women. Nkomazana critically addresses the role played by the declaration of Botswana’s independence and the introduction of a new constitution in 1966 in encouraging such groups as Pentecostal women to work without interference. Even where women were not founders of churches, they were some of their earliest and most devout followers.
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- 1.
James Amanze, African Traditional Religions & Culture in Botswana (Gaborone: Pula Press, 2002), 62–114; Musa Dube, “‘God Never Opened the Bible to Me’: Women Church Leaders in Botswana,” in Aspects of the History of the Church in Botswana, edited by Fidelis Nkomazana & Laurel Lanner, 210–216 (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publishers, 2007).
- 2.
Musa Dube, “God Never Opened the Bible to Me.”
- 3.
Howard Williams (Palapye) to LMS, August 18, 1898, SOAS: B55; Moffat to LMS, Kudumane, February 10, 1858, SOAS: In-Letters, S/A, B31 F1 JA; Moffat to LMS, Mahalapye, September 5, 1859, SOAS: B31 F3 J.B; Charles Croonenbergs, July 24, 1897 on their journey to Bulawayo quoted in D. Borschman, 1989: 64 (Thesis: Harvard University).
- 4.
David Barrett, Schism & Renewal on Africa (London: Oxford University Press, 1966), 135–136.
- 5.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “London Missionary Society, Church & State in a Colonial Bechuanaland: The Case of Bangwato, 1857–1923,” Scriptura: International Journal of Bible, Religion and Theology in Southern Africa, 71, no 4 (1999): 303–312.
- 6.
James Amanze, African Traditional Religions & Culture in Botswana (Gaborone: Pula Press, 2002), 345–350; Musa Dube, “God Never Opened the Bible to Me.”
- 7.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Profile of Reverend Mrs Rebecca Motsisi of the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Botswana,” Religion & Gender in BOLESWA Occasional Papers in Theology & Religion, 1, no 7 (2000): 44–59.
- 8.
Musa Dube, “God Never Opened the Bible to Me.”
- 9.
Musa Dube, “God Never Opened the Bible to Me.”
- 10.
Musa Dube, “God Never Opened the Bible to Me”
- 11.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Profile of Reverend Mrs Rebecca Motsisi of the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Botswana.”
- 12.
Saroj Parrat, “The Status of Women and Issues in Development in Botswana,” in The Role of Christianity in Development, Peace & Reconciliation, edited by Isabel A. Phiri, Kenneth R. Ross, & J.I. Cox, 140–155 (Nairobi: All Africa Conference of Churches, 1997).
- 13.
John Mackenzie, Ten years North of the Orange River (Edinburgh: Hodder & Stoughton, 1871), 397.
- 14.
John Mackenzie, Ten years North of the Orange River, 380–381.
- 15.
William C. Willoughby, The Soul of the Bantu (London: SCM, 1928), 2.
- 16.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Experiences of Women Within Tswana Cultural History & Its Implications for the History of the Church in Botswana,” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, XXXIV, no 2 (2008): 83–116.
- 17.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Contribution of Missionary Wives in the Planting of the Church in Botswana in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries,” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (SHE), 34, Supplement (2008): 333–358.
- 18.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Contribution of Missionary Wives in the Planting of the Church in Botswana in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries.”
- 19.
Robert Moffat, Missionary Labours in Southern Africa (London: John Shaw, 1842), 66–67.
- 20.
Ibid., 5/1 Serowe, 1913, A. Jennings, 1914.
- 21.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Experiences of Women Within Tswana Cultural History & Its Implications for the History of the Church in Botswana”; Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Contribution of Missionary Wives in the Planting of the Church in Botswana in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries.”
- 22.
J. Mackenzie, Ten Years Beyond the Orange River (1871), chap. 18: A Chapter of Bamangwato History. It traces the Ngwato tradition which simply preserves the names of prominent kings and their ideas. There is not a single mention of the role of women.
- 23.
James D. Hepburn, Twenty Years in Khama’s Country and Pioneering Among the Batauan of Lake Ngami (London: Frank Cass,1895); John Mackenzie, Ten Years Beyond the Orange River; Robert Moffat, Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa (London: John Snow, 1842); David Livingstone, Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857); Edwin Lloyd, Three Great African Chiefs (London: T. Fisher Inwin, 1895); Richard Lovett, The History of the London Missionary Society, 1795–1895, Volume 1 (London: Henry Fowler, 1895); John du Plessis, A History of Christian Missions in South Africa (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1911).
- 24.
John Mackenzie, Ten Years Beyond the Orange River (1871), p. 348 says: “Soon after my arrival (at Shoshong) … I availed myself of the custom of the natives, and asked the chief to point out where I might build, which he was very willing to do.” The allocation of land and its legislation was a sole responsibility of men. On p. 369, when referring to hunters and cattle herdsmen, he uses the word “natives” over and over again.
- 25.
Mutero J. Chirenje, A History of Northern Botswana: 1850–1910 (London: Associated University Press, 1977); Anthony J. Dachs, Kgama of Botswana: African Historical Background (London: Cox & Wyman Ltd, 1971).
- 26.
William C. Willoughby, The Soul of the Bantu (Edinburgh: SCM, 1928), 179.
- 27.
Mutero Chirenje, A History of Northern Botswana, 1850–1910, 181; Thomas Tlou, & Alec Campbell, History of Botswana (Macmillan: Gaborone, 1984), 141.
- 28.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Contribution of Missionary Wives in the Planting of the Church in Botswana in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries,” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (SHE), 34, Supplement (2008): 333–358.
- 29.
Onulf Gulbrandsen, “Missionaries and Northern Tswana Rulers: Who used whom?,” Journal of Religion in Africa, 23 (1993): 44; Berthold A. Pauw, Religion in a Tswana Chiefdom (London: Oxford University Press, 1960), 117.
- 30.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “London Missionary Society, Church & State in a Colonial Bechuanaland: The Case of Bangwato, 1857–1923,” Scriptura: International Journal of Bible, Religion and Theology in Southern Africa, 4, no 71 (1999): 303–312; Fidelis Nkomazana, “Gender Analysis of Bojale and Bogwera Initiation Among Batswana,” BOLESWA Journal of Theology, Religion & Philosophy, 1, no 1 (2005): 26–59.
- 31.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “Livingstone’s Ideas of Christianity, Commerce and Civilization,” Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies, 12, no 1 & 2 (1998): 44–57.
- 32.
In 1880, the Catholic Church missionaries were denied entry to the Ngwato territory by Khama III, arguing that Ngwato already had missionaries and that he did not want conflict between two societies in his town.
- 33.
Jane Sales, The Planting of Churches in Southern Africa (Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Company, 1971), 79–90.
- 34.
Constitution of Botswana, “Protection of Freedom of Conscience, Protection of Freedom of Expression & Protection of Freedom of Expression & Protection of Assembly and Association,” Gaborone: Government Printers, chap. 2: Sections 11, 12 & 13.
- 35.
There is no indication that a religious organization has been denied registration, with the exception of the Unification Church in 1984. This was because its members isolated themselves from society and practiced a community lifestyle, sharing property, accommodation, and meals. They also contributed a large portion of their monthly income to a common pool to support their activities and conducted marriages without involving their families.
- 36.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Growth of Pentecostalism and Christian Umbrella Organizations in Botswana,” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae, XL (2014): 153–173.
- 37.
James Amanze, Botswana Handbook of Churches (Gaborone: Pula Press, 1994), 192, 221.
- 38.
African Independent churches are sometimes referred to as African Initiated or African Indigenous churches.
- 39.
James Amanze, Botswana Handbook of Churches, 192, 221.
- 40.
Interview with Sam Makgaola of the Assemblies of God, August 22, 2006; Interview with Prophet Dr. Gaolekwi Ndwapi, February 28, 2017 at the University of Botswana; also see Smith, 1997:13, 25.
- 41.
Amanze, Botswana Handbook of Churches, Gaborone, 60–62, 306–307; Leny Lagerwerf, “They Pray for you”: Independent Churches and Women in Botswana (Leiden/Utrecht: Interuniversitair, 1982), 90.
- 42.
Aglow International Web Site: http://www.glow.org/.
- 43.
Aglow International Web Site: http://www.glow.org/.
- 44.
Aglow International Web Site: http://www.glow.org/.
- 45.
Aglow International Website: http://www.glow.org/.
- 46.
- 47.
Email Interview with Jana Lackey, May 5, 2003 led to other contacts with other members of Board such as Thandie Setlhare, May 2017.
- 48.
Interview with Lana Lackey, August 2002.
- 49.
- 50.
James Amanze, Botswana Handbook of Churches, 265–266.
- 51.
Leny Lagerwerf, “They Pray for you”: Independent Churches and Women in Botswana, 76.
- 52.
Classical Pentecostal refers to a group that arose around the turn of the century originating in the teachings of Charles Parham and William Seymour. These movements hold that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and tends to be institutionalized in their own denominations.
- 53.
List compiled by Gaolekwi Ndwapi, The Secretary General of the Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana, Rizka Building, Floor 2, office 6, African Mall, Gaborone, 6 March 2017.
- 54.
Kingsley E. Larbi, Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity (Accra, Ghana: Centre for Pentecostal & Charismatic Studies, SAPC, 2001), 68–89.
- 55.
Larbi, 2001: 57–89; Nkomazana & Tabalaka, “Aspects of Healing Practices and Methods Among Pentecostals in Botswana, Part 1,” BOLESWA Journal of Theology, Religion & Philosophy, 2, no 3 (2009): 137–159; Abel Tabalaka & Fidelis Nkomazana, “Faith Healing and Reasoning: The Aspects of Healing Practices and Methods Among Pentecostals in Botswana—Part 2,” BOLESWA Journal of Theology, Religion & Philosophy, 2, no 3 (2009): 160–169.
- 56.
Seminar Paper presented by Abraham Nyoni in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Botswana on March 26, 1998.
- 57.
Seminar Paper presented by Abraham Nyoni in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Botswana on March 26, 1998. Developments in 2017 show that the church continues to grow, with new branches in other parts of the country. In terms of leadership, Dr. M. Ditlhogo and Professor Joseph Allottey, pastor and senior pastor respectively, have now come in as key national leaders, while Pastor Christiana Allottey is now the overseer (Contacts with Dr. Ditlhogo and Professor Joseph Allottey, University of Botswana, Gaborone, 24 May 2017).
- 58.
Personal Observation/Visit, PCM Church Service, Gaborone West Mall, 22 May 2005.
- 59.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Development and Role of Pentecostal Theology in Botswana,” in A Handbook of Theological Education in Africa, edited by Isabel Apawo Phiri & Dietrich Werner, 402–410 (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2013).
- 60.
I collected this information from people such as George Curtin and Samson Makwati, who were interviewed by the author in August 1980 before their deaths. The collection of this information from eyewitnesses was part of an effort to preserve the unrecorded history of Pentecostal churches in Botswana, which has no other sources.
- 61.
Fidelis Nkomazana, “The Development and Role of Pentecostal Theology in Botswana,” in Handbook of Theological Education in Africa, edited by Isabel Apawo Phiri & Dietrich Werner, 402–410 (Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publishers, 2013).
- 62.
David Seithamo, an ordained minister of the AFM and who is pursuing a master of divinity (in 2014), and Phodiso, the principal of ABC and pursuing a PhD, see it differently.
- 63.
David Maxwell, African Gifts of the Spirit: Pentecostalism & the Rise of Zimbabwean Transnational Religious Movement (Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2006), 151–155.
- 64.
David Maxwell, African Gifts of the Spirit, 187.
- 65.
The first phase of the rapid growth of Pentecostalism was marked by Reinhard Bonnke’s Christ for All Nations Tent Crusades in 1980.
- 66.
David Maxwell, African Gifts of the Spirit, 191.
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Nkomazana, F. (2018). The Role of Women, Theology, and Ecumenical Organizations in the Rise of Pentecostal Churches in Botswana. In: Afolayan, A., Yacob-Haliso, O., Falola, T. (eds) Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa. African Histories and Modernities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74911-2_10
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