Nicholas Bhekinkosi Hepworth Bhengu: A pioneer Ubuntu Pentecostal

Abstract

Background: Nicholas Bhekinkosi Hepworth Bhengu is a child of amakholwa [believers], a term that separated Christian converts from non-converts. Amakholwa were given Christian names, made to change their dress code, as seen in all his photos, to reflect being civilised and being a Christian. His Christian names were Nicholas and Hepworth. Possibly, his parents or missionaries also gave him an isiZulu name, Bhekinkosi – translated ‘look at or to the king’, presumably a supreme being [uMvelinqangi], echoing belief in a divine from an Ubuntu worldview or the Christian God. The former being the possibility because of his parents’ background and the influence of missionaries in their lives. He is a founder and pastor of the Back to God Crusade, a Pentecostal mission organisation that later turned into a southern African denomination, Back to God-Assemblies of God.
Objectives: This article analyses the work and ministry of Nicholas Bhekinkosi Hepworth Bhengu his work through his isiZulu name, Bhekinkosi.
Methods: This article applies the Lekgotla practical theology research method grounded on the framework of Ubuntu Pentecostalism.
Results: This article demonstrates that, true to his name, Bhekinkosi’s vision of drowning people laid the foundation for him to look to or at Jesus instead of ancestors. It is also an echo of Ubuntu Pentecostal practice and concretises it among his followers and among other African Pentecostals.
Conclusion: Nicholas Bhekinkosi’s vision of people drowning in an ocean and Jesus appearing to him and showing him an open Bible laid the necessary foundation for him to look at Jesus, not ancestors, to help people come to God.
Contribution: This vision became central to his preaching and teaching ministry and stablishing the Back to God Crusade that later became a southern African denomination.