4.6 The RMS and the Nama Leaders: May - July 1946
4.6.2 June 1946
in the central part of Namibia, with his headquarters in Windhoek, was Rev. M.M. Sephula.
Many people joined the AME as a result of his efforts.
Most Herero members, however, left the AME church when the Oruaano church was established later.
Alfred Moleah observed: Christian churches complicity in colonial policy and practices and white paternalism and racist arrogance towards Africans, caused resentment, which at times flared into revolt and rejection.
Continued refusal by the Rhenish Mission Society to train black pastors led, in 1946, to a breakaway and the formation in South of the Nama Onderwysers en Evangelistebond (Nama teachers and Evangelists Union) at Maltahohe. The Herero identified the RMS with German colonialism, and after. The German loss in the First World War, its influence among them simply melted away. RMS was later able to make a partial recovery among the Herero, but without significantly mending its ways.48
The missionaries bemoaned the failure of the Evangelists to trust them and come back to them for enlightenment, the authors of the agitasie felt that the alleged plans amounted to selling us behind our backs like slaughter cattle. Kossler observed: An examination of the record shows that the break of trust was indeed one-sided. The correspondence between the RMS directorate in Namibia and their headquarters in Wuppertal, Barmen, Germany as well as that with representatives of the DRC reveal without the shadow of doubt that the transfer of the RMS stations to the DRC was a strategy that had been developed over many years. A central figure in the plan was Dr. Heinrich Vedder who officiated as Prases from 1937.
Whilst the transfer may not have been the missionaries preferred option, given financial constraints it was treated as realistic possibility. The possibility of independence for (or even consultation with) the Namibian congregations apparently did not even enter the minds of the missionaries. This attitude is connected closely to a line of thinking that seems to have been self-evident to the missionaries.
48 Alfred. T. Moleah. 1983. p. 103-104.
They situated their work quite naturally and unquestioningly within the framework of a German cultural calling, set in nationalist and colonial terms.49
Missionary Spellmeyer understood the problems of the Nama leaders very well. He often came up with original views, he looked beyond the conventional, and he was original in his thinking and reacted in that way to many problems. One of his greatest advantages is that it was very easy for him to live in two different cultures that is the African culture and the culture of the Europeans. He appreciated the two cultures. Spellmeyer was very much interested in the Nama culture and was very enthusiastic. The Western culture was appreciated by him, he would give Western views. This made him to be able to bring the two cultures together in his mind and this played a major role in this comprehension and communication. On this point Pauly said: The 1946 AMEC schism among the leaders could be avoided, if Dr. Vedder seriously listened to the advice of Missionary Spellmeyer who work most of his ministry among the Namas. In short Spellmeyer's wish was to ordain the Nama leaders. 50
There was also another missionary F. Ponninghaus who favoured integration; he stated in 1937:
Why are not indigenous pastors in SW A, or is there only indignation in South West, for I had spoken for that aim, that we should allow the natives in South West Africa to become pastors.S1
Missionary Ponninghaus ministered for 30 years as spiritual leader of the RMS. In 1921 he joined the RMS and came to Namibia. He committed one full year to language studies in Karibib, before taking up the pastorate in the Nama speaking congregation of Windhoek (1922-1933).
49 R. Kossler. 1999. p. 23. and Archival Material. Berlin. Memorandum dated 20-11-
1946. Missionary C. Spellmeyer. 0042-0044. The memorandum is addressed to Petrus Jod
Jacobus and Markus Witbooi. '
501 ntervlew Wit . 'hP astor. P. Pauly, 20 November 2002, Windhoek. (Pastor Pauly is a retired minister of the RMS.)
51 Theo Sundermeier. Wir aber suchten Gemeinschaft. Witten: Luther-Verlag. 1973.
p.18.
In 1934 he was established in the Okahandja congregation for 4 years until 1938, before the mission's executive to start the training of Evangelist at Paulinum in 1938 called him. He was therefore the founder and first principal of the Paulinum Theological Seminary at Karibib in 1938.
The training of the first class of evangelist candidates at Paulinum had barely finished, when WW -11 broke out, with Germany as the main offender. As a German citizen the South African military forces interned missionary ponninghaus. While in the internment camp, he utilized his time by publishing series of sermons for every Sunday of the year, as well as catechism handbook for use in Christian Education and Sunday Schools.52
After his release from the intern camp in 1947, missionary Ponninghaus continued with theological training. He completed the second class of evangelist candidates. Two years later (1949) he started with the first class of pastoral candidates for the Evangelical Lutheran church. Until 1953, when he returned at the age of 68, he was the sole lecturer at Paulinum.
In 1953 Ponninghaus returned to Germany, but continued his ministry by preparing a new translation of the Bible into the Nama language.
This task lasted for a period of 14 years (1953-1967). It was completed in 1967, when it was published and inaugurated festively by the Bible Society at Berseba.
The University of Bonn awarded missionary Ponninghaus an honorary doctorate for his gigantic work. In 1975 he died at the age of 90 and was buried at Otjiwarongo.53