2013-11-08Staff Report 2 "WINDHOEK – Just five days after being consecrated as the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN), Reverend Ernst //Gamxamub already started working on his vision of a church that loves reformation and a continuous spiritual analysis. ""We should be subjected to the influence of this word reformation because God wants to change us in order to change the world,"" the soft spoken Bishop said behind his desk at the ELCRN head office building in Ausspannplatz, Windhoek. He moved into the office this week Monday, and is yet to bid farewell to his Martin Luther congregation in Khomasdal that he has been shepherding since 2008. He will deliver his last sermon at the congregation by the end of this year when his term ends. The 57-year-old //Gamxamub said the church should live in unity, walk in love and do acts of love by taking care of the less privileged. ""I see the calling of the church in Matthew 25, verses 35 to 36. That the church takes care of the sick, of the hungry, of the thirsty, strangers, those imprisoned and those naked. That is my vision,"" he says. //Gamxamub also wants to see the unification of the Lutheran Church in the country, combining the sourthern based ELCRN, the northern Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) and the German Evangelical Lutheran Church (GELC/DELK). ""We are in the process of unifying the church so that we have only one Lutheran Church in Namibia,"" said //Gamxamub. //Gamxamub was born and grew up in Windhoek. He is married to Ursula for 30 years and they are blessed with four daughters – Faye, Daisy, Yasmin, and Charmaine. The Bishop descrbes himself as a jovial person, loyal, a man of integrity and a peace-loving man who chooses good over bad. ""I love singing, it is one of my hobbies,"" he says as his face lightens up. He is also fond of jesting but maintains that he ensures that the contents of his jokes are clean. //Gamxamub says his pastoral journey is a “calling” that started in his childhood when he loved reading the Bible to other children. ""I did not know it was preparation for being a pastor, it was just a wonderful thing [reading the Bible],"" he reminisces. He did however have a stint in the teaching profession in 1977, before going off to the Paulinum Theological Seminary in 1978 and 1981 after which he graduated with a Diploma in Theology. //Gamxamub was ordained a pastor in 1983 at the Ephesians congregation in Clemence Kapuuo Street, Katutura. And so began the vocation that saw him being elected as deputy bishop of the ELCRN church by the senate at Aranos in August 2003. //Gamxamub speaks of ethics that he envisions in pastors that he would work with. ""Our image should reflect God, His love, His grace, His forgiveness, then we are true ambassadors or mirrors of His coming to the earth,"" he said. He contextualises the statement in a contemporary Namibia by explaining that the church has a role to play in assisting people infected and affected by HIV, those eating from dumpsites and suffering other social ills. ""As a church if we see these signs in our people so is the body of Christ. The body of Christ is hungry, thirsty, naked estranged, imprisoned and sick. If we take the HIV pandemic, who are those people? Those people are Christians not just from one denomination, but from every church. Who are those who are jobless, who are the people who are going to the dumpsite and eating from there? That is the church of Christ. Who are the people that are continuously raped by men, and children endangered by men – those things are explained in the scripture."" His appeal for unity goes beyond the ELCRN saying unity should reign within the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) as well as among churches not belonging to the CCN. “We must work together with other churches that do not belong to the CCN umbrella body. Let every Christian be a peace-making force,"" he stressed. //Gamxamub described his leadership style as being centred on God and people. ""It should involve people. We must acknowledge that this is God's church, we must ask what does He want and how does He want it. So leadership style must be God and man directed,"" he stressed. By Alvine Kapitako" 2013-11-08Staff Report 2
