African Pentecostalism

The doctrines and practices of modern Pentecostalism placed a high priority on international evangelization. The movement spread to Africa soon after the 1906 Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles.[1]

Currently, there are many self-governing, self-propagating, and self-supporting Pentecostal churches in Africa.[1] They utilize the same means to evangelize that early Pentecostal churches used such as door-to-door evangelism, meetings held in homes of interested inquirers, preaching in trains, buses, on street corners and at places of public concourse, and ‘tent crusades’ held all over the continent.[1] The Charismatic resurgence in the 1970s had a large impact on the growth of the church today.[2] The faith is becoming one of the most substantial denominations of Christianity in Africa. However, the Roman Catholic Church remains the largest Christian body of Africa.[3]

South Africa

In 1908, South Africa became one of the first African countries to receive Pentecostalism.[4] A major reason for the spread of the Pentecostal faith in South Africa was due to the Apostolic Faith Newspaper written by Seymour. The Apostolic Faith newspaper began circulating in Cape Town, South Africa and eventually resulted in the establishment of the Assemblies of God (AG) in Cape Town and Johannesburg.[5] Azusa Street missionaries Thomas Hezmalhalch and John Lake carried Seymour’s Pentecostal message to South Africa in 1908. They moved throughout South Africa and in 1913 Lake establish the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFMSA).[5] In 1908 Pieter Louis Le Roux established the Pentecostal Zionist movement in South Africa.[5] The Zionist movement and other African Instituted Churches (AICs) helped spread Seymour’s message even further although it is questioned if the term Pentecostalism can be applied to them.[3] At the beginning of the twenty-first century somewhere between 10-40% of South Africa’s population could be called Pentecostal but this classification varies depending on how the religion is defined.[4] The three largest Pentecostal denominations that are present in South Africa include the Apostolic Faith Mission, the South African Assemblies of God, and the Full Gospel Church of God.[4]

West Africa

Pentecostalism was also carried to West Africa. In 1914 William Wadé Harris carried the message of Pentecostalism with him throughout the Ivory Coast to Ghana.[1] His message converted tens of thousands of people to Christianity.[1] In the 1970s, independent charismatic churches began to surface in West Africa at a fast pace.[1] These churches were influenced by missions from the United States, but have an African foundation.[1]

Ghana

Missionary Pentecostalism was introduced to Ghana during the first three decades of the 20th century.[2] The foundation of the church was derived from the Assemblies of God and Apostolic Church in the United States and England.[2] Over the last 20 years, Pentecostalism has become one of the most popular forms of Christianity in Ghana. Between the years of 1987 and 1992 the church grew by about 42% as rural and urban people joined different movements of Pentecostalism.[2] The Ghana Pentecostal Council serves the needs of 120 churches in Ghana.[2]

Liberia

In August, 1906, Lucy Farrow, Julia Hutchins, and others arrived in Liberia, the first location in Africa to receive Pentecostal missionaries.[5] Farrow wrote to William J. Seymour saying that God had given her the ability to speak in the Kru language and that she could therefore baptize and heal many natives.[5] Shortly after, other missionaries from the United States joined Farrow in Africa to Pentecostal faith. Revivals were held and eventually the first permanent Azusa-influenced Pentecostal mission in Africa was founded.[5] However, some American missionaries reported that some areas of Africa already developed manifestations of the Holy Spirit prior to 1906.[3] Many indigenous churches were established prior to foreign missionaries on the foundation of the power of the Holy Spirit.[1] In Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, and Nigeria movements that could be classified as Pentecostal had all taken on different African names.[3]

Ethiopia

Anna-Liisa and Sanfrid Mattson, Pentecostal missionaries from Finland, brought Pentecostalism to Ethiopia in 1951. Pentecostalism in Ethiopia continued to develop and eventually the Full Gospel Believer’s Church (FBGC) was created in 1967. Approximately 2 million people claim to be Pentecostal in Ethiopia today.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Anderson, Allan. Evangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism in Africa. University of Birmingham, 2000.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Corten, André, and Ruth Marshall. Between Babel and Pentecost. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2001. 216-30. Print.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kalu, Ogbu. African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.
  4. 1 2 3 Anderson, Allan. New African Initiated Pentecostalism and Charismatics in South Africa. Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 35. 2005.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Espinosa, Gastón. William J. Seymour and the Origins of Global Pentecostalism: A Biography and Documentary History. Duke UP, 2014. Print.
  6. ↑ "Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements in Ethiopia — European Research Network on Global Pentecostalism". www.glopent.net. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
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