The life and works of Gideon Bomba and his contributions to the development of Malawi Assemblies of God and other churches

Abstract

This work is a Biography of Rev. Gideon Bomba. It is intended to evaluate his life, work, and his contribution to the development Malawi Assemblies of God and Christian church respectively. I have used a biographical approach from a church history. Biography is part of a way to keep history alive by allowing people in the present learn about those who lived in the past. The function of this writing biography of Gideon Bomba is to provide details regarding the life of a person in an amusing but informative manner. Data collection strategies were life histories, in-depth interview studies, field studies, participant observation, non-participant observation and relevant church documents. At times, a tape recorder and a camera were a data collection tool. Respondents and informants were the family members of Gideon Bomba, church members and leadership of Malawi Assemblies of God and other selected Christian churches. I have also used both primary and secondary sources to collect information for this dissertation. My major findings: Firstly, I have discovered that Gideon Bomba had huge influence in Assemblies of God and beyond. This revealed upon counting the churches that he planted. Gideon Bomba planted more than 30 churches and assisted church planting with others. Secondly, I have discovered that his work is in fragment that lacks synthesis, despite Gideon Bomba was among of the pioneers who were there from its inauguration of MAG in Malawi until his death. In addition, his work is not well acknowledged and leaders who focus on maintain their leadership position do have little interest in acknowledging the work of Pioneers. This work also has appreciated how Bomba improved his relationship with other non-Assemblies of God denominations. Chapter one contains the general introduction to the dissertation. This includes the statement of the problem, the objectives of the research, the review of relevant literature, and methodological considerations. Chapter two provides a conceptualization of biography and what a biography is. In chapter three, I have explained the Background of Malawi Assemblies of God from its root in America Azusa Street via Tanzania to Malawi. This is a chapter where Gideon Bomba exercised his ministry. Chapter four contains his family background. In this discussion I have discussed that Gideon Bomba was not a Malawian by birth but later he became a patriotic Malawian because of his integrity and enthusiasm in promoting Christian faith. Chapter five studies Bomba’s conversion, and this chapter describes how he became a Christian. It is a discussion on how he embraced his faith and how it developed to the point of becoming a reliable Christian that some followers could assimilate his life. Chapter six is the part of the main study of this dissertation. It has discussed the contributions that Bomba made to the development of the movement of Assemblies of God. In this study, I argue that Bomba has significantly contributed to the development of this movement other Christian churches and church organizations. The dissertation concludes with his death and how different people celebrated his life. This work proves the hypothesis that though the life of Gideon Bomba was not put in its appropriate context and it is hard to synthesize but his work and contribution is apparent to this generation. Gideon’s life has influenced several ministers and members. Although not alive, but his work and life are still referred to different quarters among Assemblies of God members and other Christian faith.