This thesis examines the informal sector of the economy in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and the role the church can play in assisting those who are involved. In describing the nature of the informal economic sector the thesis investigates the reasons for the existence of the informal sector, namely the economic structural adjustment programme, unemployment, land and climatic conditions in Bulawayo, post independence political disturbances and easy entry into the industry; the types of the sector, namely, manufacturing and wholesaling, which has the clothing, steel and furniture manufacturing industries; the retail sector, which has the vegetable vending and the flea markets; and the service sector, which has the foreign currency traders and other activities such as television, radio and shoe repairs, prostitution, shebeens and pirate industries. The impact the informal sector has on established business has also been considered, and the role of the funders of the informal sector. Particular attention is drawn to the problems of the informal traders , which are identified as lack of legal protection and freedom of operation, lack of training, lack of access to business and marketing information, lack of credit facilities, lack of quality merchandise, the fact that it is considered illegal business, the problems of foreign currency, fuel shortage and high prices, lack of sanitary conditions, lack of adequate support from the city authorities, lack of equipment and lack of social security. The thesis then presents an argument for the church's involvement in assisting people engaged in the informal economic sector, with a reflection on the Biblical tradition and the concept of humanization. The projects of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa are discussed and attention is drawn to the background history of the activities and administration of the projects, the problems encountered and the way forward. Finally, the thesis proposes eight key strategic initiatives that the church can take. These are the change of attitude of the church in order to meet the needs of the church, advocacy to government, advocacy to banks and financial institutions, by establishing financial support for the informal industry, by supporting organizations such as BUTA and the formation of the National Association of the Informal Sector, by offering training and mentorship , by giving support and counselling and finally by giving of the church's own facilities where necessary and appropriate. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

Mission is a central phenomenon in Christianity and Islam. The presence of the two religions relies heavily on extension of their faith through propagation. Christian and Islam are faiths that claim that their message is universal. Due to this fact they thrive to spread their tenets all over the world. Christianity, especially the Lutheran Church, and Islam have similar understanding and emphasis on the theory of the priesthood of all believers. Nevertheless, they differ in its implementation. Islam is a layperson's religion. Its rapid growth and spread is caused by the participation of the community of the faithful (Umma). On the contrary the Lutheran Church theoretically insists on the priesthood of all believers, while practically it is clergy dominated. Official and traditional church personnel dominate Christian mission and ministry. Christian mission and ministry is an ongoing process. This process accompanies changes according to the context. Transformation is an imperative move in the expansion of Christian community. The first Christian community (i.e. in the first century) witnessed the formation of movement formed by Jesus Christ. This energetic movement facilitated the growth and expansion of Christian faith from its origin in one culture, tribe and nation into a universal religion. The number of Christian missionaries and ministers increased according to the needs. This faith spread from Jerusalem to Africa, Asia Minor, and Europe and to the whole world. Self-supporting Christians carried it out. In Tanzania, Islam was the first foreign faith to be propagated. Businessmen brought their religion with them; it was an unprecedented event. On the other hand, Christianity i.e. the Lutheran Church came through institutional personnel. Its work depended on patronage from the North Atlantic Churches. This nature of missionary strategy has effects on the present Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Iringa Diocese. The lack of practising the theory of the priesthood of all believers makes Christian mission and ministry to be confined to official places. The current socio-economic situation limits the growth and extension of the Lutheran Church. This is a challenge facing this church today. This crisis has to be addressed. One of the reliable and appropriate alternatives is to employ self-supporting ministry. This was the norm of the first Christian community. Muslims also practise it. The application of tentmaking ministry creates ample opportunities. The priesthood of all believers becomes a responsible principle for the proclaiming of faith. This work aims at investigating reasons behind Islamic growth in Tanzania, and challenges facing Christian mission and ministry in the above-mentioned church. The priesthood of all believers is presented to indicate the possibility of transforming and strengthening Christian mission and ministry. This point is based on the belief that tent-making ministry and the priesthood of all believers is a biblical principle. Thus it concurs with the doctrine of the Lutheran Church that prioritises the Word of God. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

By focussing on literary translation dynamics, and on how the current vernacular Bibles (specifically John 1:1-18 in Southern and Northern Sotho) encourage certain and not other understandings of the Bible (popular theology), this project attempts to achieve three related goals: (a) to reintegrate me as a Mosotho Biblical Studies student into the world and discourse of my people, (b) to bridge the gulf between the world of the Basotho believers and the academic world which has produced copious resources for the study of the Bible, and (c) to explore the implications of, or to assess the value of, the availability of the Bible in the vernacular for the Church and the academy in South Africa. The first goal is rather subjective and difficult to quantify. The second is critical in a complex plural society like South Africa. The third cannot be dealt with conclusively, perhaps the use of this project lies in pointing out various possibilities in this arena. The overarching bias (hypothesis) is that conscious critical work with the Bible in the vernacular is enriching in more ways than one. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

Many women today, irrespective of their colour, race, age or religion, are being raped and some brutally killed by their rapists. The rape crisis increases daily and that shows that women are not even safe in their homes because they live in fear of their lives everyday. In this research paper I will try to examine the issues surrounding rape that contribute to the increasing of this crisis of the women living in Khorixas. There are sociological, economic, psychological and cultural issues that contribute to the rape crisis. The social issues that contribute to the rape of women contributed to the fact that most men abuse alcohol, some of the men are unemployed, and most of the people live in poverty. The economic condition of women is weaker than that of men. Most are unemployed and those who are working are domestic workers who earn a salary wage below the poverty line, and are, therefore, economically dependent on their husbands and boyfriends. Some of the men who live in Khorixas experience psychological problems such as hatred, desolation, loneliness and aggression. These psychological problems contribute to the fact that the rapists can closely identify sex with violence. In most cases, men show their masculinity by raping women. In the Damara culture the man is the head of the family. The woman is a submissive wife who is to take care of the children. Traditional women are unable to attack the power of the customs, therefore, the men keep them in an inferior and subordinate position. That is why the women are not speaking out against the rape that is committed. The purpose of my research is to try and address this rape crisis among the Damara women living in Khorixas. The research is pastoral and it is a challenge to the ELCRN to serve the vulnerable women who are the survivors of rape. The church can launch awareness programmes and also educate its members in moral sexual behaviour. Through pastoral care and counselling the pastor can assist the rape survivor to regain her dignity. Furthermore, the pastor can use the ABCD method of counselling to build up a relationship of trust between him or her and the rape survivor so that the survivor can feel comfortable in telling her story or the experiences of her rape. A further purpose of this research paper is to advise women to seek help and to speak out against rape and not to be silent on this issue. The central focus of this study lies in chapters four, five and six. Chapter four explores what the church can do about the crisis and the responsibility of ELCRN towards its members with regards to the moral sexual behaviour of members. Chapter five discusses the prevention necessary and the precaution any methods women need and the necessity of rape survivors understanding rape as a crime and reporting it to the police. Chapter six explores and validates the use of the ABCD method of crisis counselling by the counsellor to support the rape survivor in coping with the crisis. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

This research deals with Bible translating into Oshikwanyama between 1891 and 1974. Poeple who live in northern Namibia and southern Angola speak Oshikwanyama. The research will focus on stages of translation projects and work done by translators, co-ordinators and the translation committee, as from German missionaries from the Rhenish Missionary Society for Finnish missionaries from Finnish Missionary Society. However, the focus will concentrate more on the agency of African indigenous translators. The German missionaries started the translation of the New Testament into Oshikwanyama with the assistance of the indigenous people when they arrived in Oukwanyama in 1891. The New Testament was printed in 1927 in London. The Finnish missionaries started the translation of the whole Bible into under the auspices of the BFBS Oshikwanyama in late 1958, and it was published by the BSSA in Cape Town in 1974. In line with the focus of this research, little has been documented up t6o now about African missionary identities and their contributions. The present research on Bible translation into Oshikwanyama aims to correct this by giving their biographies in some details. The issue of Bible translation into Oshikwanyama went hand in hand with the development of the language in written form. Therefore at the end the Oshikwanyama were very happy because God now speak to them in their language and at the same time their language has been recignized. In this research you will find out that indigenous people were not only behind the translation of the Bible into Oshikwanyama, but they were involved in that translation, proofreading and the correct appropriation of words. The 1974 Bible in Oshikwanyama is the product of African missionaries. After reading this thesis you will know them by their names and individual contributions. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

This study explores the dynamics at play in the nineteenth century interaction between European mission Christianity and the peoples and cultures of West Africa with Akan (Gold Coast) and Yoruba (Nigeria) lands serving as the model theatres of the interaction. It appreciates the fact that in a context such as West Africa, where religious consciousness permeates every aspect of life, the coming of the Gospel to its peoples impacted every aspect of the social and religious lives of the people. Chapter one sets the agenda for the study by exploring the dynamics involved in the transmission of the Gospel as it spread from Palestine to the Graeco-Roman world, medieval Europe, Enlightenment Europe and, later, Africa in the nineteenth century. It also defines the limits of the study to the period 1820-1892. Chapter two explores the religious and the cultural environments that gave shape to the modem European missionary movement. It highlights the features of the European Reformation that were factors in defining missionary methods in West Africa. It also emphasizes the subtle infiltration of Enlightenment ideals-the primacy of Reason, the way of Nature, and the idea of Progress-into missionary consciousness about Africa and its peoples. Chapter three delineates the religious and the cultural milieus of West Africans in contrast to that of European missionaries. It underscores the integral nature of religion to the totality of life among West Africans. It also contrasts the socio-political conditions of Akan land and Yoruba land in the nineteenth century while appreciating the rapid changes impinging on their peoples. Chapter four explores how the prevailing realities in Akan and Yoruba lands defined the fortunes and the prospects of the missionary message among the people. In doing this, it draws from four model encounters of mission Christianity with West African peoples and cultures. In Mankessim, the deception associated with a traditional cult was exposed. At Akyem Abuakwa, the contention between missionaries and the royalty for authority over the people led to social disruption. The resistance of the guild of Ifa priests to Christian conversion and the assuring presence of missionaries to the warrior class created ambivalence at Abeokuta. Ibadan offers us an irenic model of interaction between mission Christianity and West African religions as Ifa, the Yoruba cult of divination, sanctioned the presence of missionaries in the city. Chapter five reflects on the issues that are significant in the interaction of the Gospel with West African cultures. It appreciates the congruence between the Gospel and West African religious worldview. It assesses the impact of missionary methods on the traditional values of West Africans, appreciating the strength and the weaknesses of the school system, the value of Bible translation into mother-tongues, and the contextual relevance of the mission station method of evangelization. It also explores the meaning of Christian conversion in West Africa using the models of A.D. Nock, John V. Taylor and Andrew F. Walls. Chapter six concludes with Andrew Walls' three tests of the expansion of Christianity. The conclusion is that in spite of the failures and weaknesses of some of the methods adopted by European missionaries in evangelizing West Africa, their converts understood their message, domesticated it according to their understanding and appropriated its benefits to the life of their societies. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

The absence of an Evangelical African theology of Development has highly motivated me to embark on this study. Through this study, one hopes that more writings from many evangelicals who are committed to the church's involvement in the process of community empowerment, will come forth. The study reflects an underlying philosophy which is fundamental to the work of ministry that I have been involved with for more than twenty years. The thesis has focussed on the most effective form of development, the empowerment of people rather than technological advancement and economic growth. The thesis advocates that those who are beneficiaries must be involved in all stages and aspects of their empowerment activity, both as individuals and communities. This enables them to own and contribute greatly to their own community's development. Too often development programmes have been designed on the basis of planning and management carried out by professionals without the beneficiaries' participation. Here the Thesis is trying to look for empowerment principles in John Mbiti's Theology, which could involve the poor and marginalized in the process of their empowerment. Finally it also looks at how African theology can empower people within their cultural situation, using their known values as valuable means of empowerment. Therefore, what is reflected in this thesis is an African Theological contribution to the empowerment of the people within their African experience. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

The cross-cultural transmission of the Christian faith sustains its growth and expansion. Indeed the reception of the Christian faith is from one cultural framework to another different cultural framework. However, this largely depends on the translation and the interpretation of the Bible, which has certainly been in agreement to the way the recipient cultures conceive reality. From the time Christianity came into existence, the introduction of biblical concepts on which Christianity stands in terms agreeable to the way the recipients conceive reality continues to offer a clear understanding of the same. Indeed, this has been from the perspective of the primal worldview. However, this was not the case in Africa, where the primal worldview was demonised, degraded and anathematised by the missionary enterprises. This indeed denied the Africa converts a chance to engage with the Bible in ways they would call their own, for they conceive reality in terms shaped by their primal worldview. This study has the Glkilyfi primal worldview as its particular reference, to whom the missionaries transmitted the biblical knowledge selectively with the hermeneutical method they used. Now there is indisputable evidence that Christianity is growing fast in places where people conceive reality from the perspective of the primal worldview. To sustain and maintain this growth, the Bible ought to be interpreted and translated from the perspective of the primal worldview. This is necessary because the growth of Christianity depends on the right understanding of biblical concepts. Yet they are incomprehensible unless they receive an interpretation that is compatible to the way people conceive reality. In that case, there is need to investigate whether the former methods of interpreting and translating the Bible have adequately communicated the Gospel to African Christians. It is also necessary to investigate whether there is need for a hermeneutical method shaped by the primal worldview. This study contends that the former hermeneutical methods have not adequately communicated the complete Gospel to the African Christians. In that case, there is need for a hermeneutical method shaped by the primal worldview. Evidence that leads to the quest of a hermeneutical method generated by the primal worldview is from the history of the expansion of Christianity and from the phenomenology of religion. The primal worldview has tools on which hermeneutics can depend on, hence gaining valid operating principles. On the other hand, there is evidence from the Scripture that the interpretation of the new from the perspective of the old is possible. In that case, the old facilitates and enables the understanding of the new. The Epistle to the Hebrews is a perfect example, showing that the interpretation and translation of Scripture from the perspective of the primal worldview are possible. This will safeguard spirituality and the spiritual view of life, which hermeneutics need, and which the former hermeneutical methods seem to have jettisoned. However, the former hermeneutical methods are not all useless in the hermeneutical discourse. The hermeneutical method generated by the primal worldview can use them as servants but not as masters. Besides, the hermeneutical method generated by the primal worldview ought to have a future and significance, without which it can sink to oblivion. Two complementary aspects guarantee its future and significance. Firstly, it is its engagement with the ordinary readers of the Bible in their context. Secondly, it is in the use of the mother tongue, so that hermeneutics can be appreciable to both the ordinary and trained readers of the Bible. This is the hermeneutical method, which African Christianity must turn to with urgency to ascertain its growth. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

The following work is a humble probe into the background and history of the Dalit Pentecostal churches and critically evaluates the mission methods of Robert F. Cook. The word Dalit means the oppressed or broken victims and refers to people who are deprived and dehumanized. In India the so-called outcastes or untouchables have recently taken the name Dalit. The modern usage of Dalit began in nineteenth century with Mahatma Jyotirao Phule (1825-1890), a Marathi social reformer who worked for the upliftment of oppressed class. The Harijans, Backward classes, Scheduled castes, Outcastes, Untouchables, Panchamas and Chandalas were known by the common name Dalilt. Since the inception of the Pentecostal movement, the Dalits have formed an integral part of the Pentecostal churches. From the very beginning the Pentecostal church in Kerala attracted members from the Dalit communities. This was from the time of Robert. F. Cook (1914). Through Robert F. Cook's ministry the Dalits accepted Pentecostalism and gained liberation from their oppression. This is the first attempt to trace the history of Dalit Pentecostals in Kerala. However the readers will find a description of the beginnings and the characteristics of Pentecostalism that attracted the marginalized to Pentecostalism, and provided them with a liberative force. An evaluation of the origin and development of the Dalit Pentecostal churches is essential for the self-understanding of the community of believers and for the articulation of its mission in the world. I hope that the reading of this thesis will open the present day Pentecostals to restore the early characteristics of the movement so that it will challenge social evils that Pentecostalism once did so ably. / Thesis (M.Th.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Differences in psychological attitudes, functions, types and temperaments have been shown to have significant effects on the functioning of Christian ministers and their congregations. Knowledge of the distribution of these differences could facilitate more specifically targeted education, training and development programmes for ministers. In Post Academic Training programmes for ministers of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (PCSA), the assumption is made that the distribution of attitudes, functions, types and temperaments among ministers of the PCSA is similar to that among clergy from various denominations in the USA and Presbyterian ministers in the USA. These results differed from the distribution of the general population represented by those tested on the World-Wide-Web. In order to investigate this assumption, a survey was conducted of the 310 ministers and licensed probationers of the PCSA in South Africa using the Keirsey Temperaments Sorter 11. There were 90 responses giving a response rate of 28.9%. As expected, the distribution of psychological attitudes, functions, types and temperaments among ministers of PCSA was different from the general population. Contrary to expectations, it was also significantly different from clergy from various denominations in the USA and Presbyterian ministers in the USA. The most notable difference was with the Sensing-Judging (SJ) temperament, which was preferred almost twice as much by PCSA ministers (58%) than either of the other clergy groups (34% and 29%). The temperament next most strongly preferred by PCSA ministers was Intuitive-Feeling (NF), although at 33% the distribution was similar to the other clergy groups (41 % and 44%). The implications of these, and other, findings for ministers, congregations and the education, training and development of ministers is discussed in detail. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.