Category Archives: Accounts of African Religion

The Average Church in Southern Africa

Even though the speaker is using Venda, you can figure out the gist of the message pretty easily. This happened at a village in our district. On the ground at everyone’s feet are South African Rands. The pastrix (Thanks Ken … Continue reading

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Vintage Miracle Crusade

At 8:00 pm darkness quietly steals across the soccer field. But darkness isn’t the only thing stealing. A shouting woman from the raised platform blasts her voice via 10 four-foot-high speakers in English and Tsonga to a waiting crowd of … Continue reading

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A Sampling of Common South African Christianity

In Louis Trichardt on Wednesday 22 August 2012, my bakkie needed some help. I struck up a conversation with a man from Thohoyandou who was also waiting at the workshop. The man had a job and a nice car. Not … Continue reading

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Incriminating Photos

Here are a pair of photos I took near our house. My experience in the rural areas of southern Africa shows that this kind of “Christianity” is by far the predominant strain. So, when 74% of South Africans claim to … Continue reading

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Observations from a Recent Prosperity Gospel Crusade in Our Village

Before the Preaching Before the preaching: An elder in his church had told me the day before (Wed.) that they were most aligned with Benny Hinn and Kenneth Hagin. Before the preaching I asked a lay elder what were the … Continue reading

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