A Brief History - from South Africa

Bishop Stephen Bradley had been visiting the Churches of Ovamboland during the 1970’S and 1980’s and had spent much time with them. Bishop Bradley went to be with the Lord in 2003 and since then there was no longer any work being done in Namibia. The Church of England in South Africa (CESA - now known as Reach SA) had set up an agreement with SIM (Serving in Mission) to reach into Ovamboland but little had happened. Colin Banfield and Quentin van Rooyen had been visiting Mozambique and in discussions over Ovamboland, decided to visit the area to see what they could do to help.

The Cape Area Bishop was responsible for the Ovamboland Churches, so Colin thought to use this as a motivation to connect the Cape Churches with their brothers and sister in Namibia. Colin then planned to see what they could do to help these churches so in 2000 they took the first trip to Namibia. At this time, according to the CESA Lectionary, there were 13 churches in Namibia with thousands of members. This first trip to Namibia, during December 2000, consisted of Colin & Alison Banfield & family, Attie & Niki Louw & family and Lormarcia & her daughter, Kelly. The team arrived in Namibia and toured the churches. In Swakopmund they spent time with Rev. George van der Westhuizen, pastor of St Matthews church. He also ran a Guest House and Coffee shop, both of which were doing very well.