Biography
Nicholas Bhekinkosi Hepworth Bhengu was born on January 10, 1909, in Entumeni, Natal, in South Africa, in a Zulu family. His father, Sam, was a farmer and a lay preacher, and his mother was a devout woman. He grew up in a rural community in the Zulu country, and he went to a mission school. He was a bright and ambitious boy, who was fond of reading. As a young man, he trained as a teacher. He became involved in political activism. He was drawn to the cause of African rights and worked as a journalist. He was a member of the African National Congress and a labor organizer.
In the 1930s, he was converted. He had been in a state of spiritual hunger and was moved by a series of events. He came to the conclusion that the answer to the problems of his people was not found in politics but in the gospel. He gave up his political career and committed himself to Christ. He became a preacher and joined a Pentecostal church, the Full Gospel Church of God. He was a gifted speaker, with a voice of great power. He had a talent for oratory and used it in the service of the gospel.
In 1950, he started a movement called the Back to God Crusade. He held large open-air meetings in the cities and towns of South Africa. They drew crowds of thousands, mostly black South Africans, many of whom were poor and urban. He preached against crime, drunkenness and immorality, and he called the people to repentance. He also prayed for the sick. The crusades were marked by a stress on the sinner's need of a savior and on a life of holiness. He had a great appeal among those who were caught in the violence and the poverty of the townships. Many criminals and gangsters were converted. He also was known for his stress on the education of the converts.
He founded a number of churches. His approach was different from the missionaries. He insisted that the churches be led by Africans and be self-supporting. He did not want to depend on foreign money. He began a program of training for pastors, and he planted churches across the country. The churches that grew out of the crusades joined the Assemblies of God in South Africa, and he became the leader of the black wing of the denomination. He was a figure of great authority. He built up a large church, in Duncan Village, in East London, which became a model of church growth.
He had a strained relationship with the white leadership of the Assemblies of God in South Africa. He was sometimes in conflict with the missionaries over the question of control. He insisted on the independence of the African church. He also was suspicious of the apartheid government and spoke out on a number of occasions. He was not a political activist but held to the view that the gospel could change society. He was misunderstood by the whites. He also was sometimes accused of autocratic leadership.
He was a man of wide influence. He traveled to a number of countries in Africa, to Europe and to America. He had a role in the growth of Pentecostalism in Africa. Among those who were influenced by him was Reinhard Bonnke, the German evangelist, who was inspired by his example. He was a mentor to a number of young leaders. He died on May 27, 1985, in East London, at the age of seventy-six. His life shows the power of a man who gave up politics for the gospel and who led a movement that called a nation to repentance.