The Holy Spirit and the Contemporary Pentecostal Churches in Tanzania And Kenya
Date
1998-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
As the people of God, we strive for renewal in Christ, to be the community
Christ wanted and to show forth Christ effectively in the modern world.
Pentecostalism is seen as a genuine movement of Christ in His Church renewing
His mystical Body. It is essentially a movement of faith and prayer which moves
the Christian to experience the closeness of God in their daily walks of life. My
present essay will address the Pentecostal Movement, which is a great force of
renewal in our contemporary Christian world.
My first encounter with the Pentecostal Christian goes back as far as 1974
As a small boy, I used to see some people coming to our home and they would
read the Bible and explain some things to my parents, brothers and sisters. As time
went on, Pentecostalism took root in my home town area of Moshi in the
Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania.
Today, as you go through the streets of big towns like Kilimanjaro,
Dodoma, Dar Es- Salaam in Tanzania etc., this is what you will hear from the loud
speakers: "Bwana Asifiwe Alleluya... (Praise the Lord Alleluia...). Likewise, when
you come to the streets of Nairobi in Kenya you will hear the same thing; "Praise
the Lord Alleluia...." If you simply, take time to approach or to go near the group
which is listening to the preacher and experience the way the Spirit of God is
moving the people you will be moved. It is the aim of my essay to show the way
the Spirit is so strongly experienced in the present century. As we are going to see
in this paper. the Spirit is steering so many people and as a matter of fact, the
Catholic Church has dedicated the year 1998 to the Holy Spirit, so as to create an
awareness of the importance of this Third Person of the Trinity in our daily
Christian lives.
Description
Keywords
Pentecostalism, Baptism in, Speaking in Tongues, God the Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit, Liturgical, Montanism, Catholic Church, Pseudo-Macarius, Messalianism, Euchism