NEGST Theological Studies lecturer Dr. James Nkansah-Obrempong recently published Visual Theology: Some Akan Cultural Symbols, Metaphors, Proverbs, Myths and Symbols and their Implications for Doing Christian Theology. In his book, Nkansah explores the relevance of this rich religio-cultural heritage for Christian theology, discussing its impact on African Christian thought.

For centuries, the Akan people dominated gold mining and the gold trade in regions of West Africa. Long the most powerful group in West Africa, they fought against the colonists for their autonomy. Yet, by the early 1900′s all Akan Lands were colonized by the French and English, until they were liberated on the 6th of March 1957 by Kwame Nkrumah, and joined with other lands to form the state of Ghana. Akan Lands in the Ivory Coast were liberated three years later. Today, more than 20 million Akan people reside in West Africa and beyond.

In his examination of the cultural and religious contexts of the Akan people, Dr. Nkansah follows the Akan ontology Read the full story »

Mutheu Elizabeth Talitwala is a student at NEGST who has written two books When Death Strikes, What Next? and Counseling in Conflict.

Elizabeth was inspired to write When Death Strikes, What Next? when she was a nurse. One day, ten children were admitted to the hospital, and by six o’clock, eight of the children had died. She felt like walking out of nursing, but instead decided to search for the answers to many questions about death. The deaths of these children could have been prevented by simple immunization. In 1995, Elizabeth attended a course in loss and grief management that gave her answers about death, to the extent that she was able to the book.

Uzima Publishing Press asked Elizabeth to write her second book Counseling in Conflict. The book focuses Read the full story »

NEGST Master of Divinity in Christian Education student Bernard Kariuki Kimani recently published a book,  Success Boosters:Reflections on the life of Samson. The thesis of the book is that success in life is just not an accumulation of wealth, achievement of personal ambitions, or the attainment of personal success. Real success is having a relationship with God that changes one’s outlook in life.

Bernard’s inspiration to write this book was pegged on two grounds; first, it was sparked by the challenge to speak on the life and times of Samson in his church’s annual regional camp in 2007. As Kariuki reflected on the portion of scripture in the book of Judges that deals with Samson, he was thrilled to discover that real success goes beyond personal aggrandizement and having all that a person would desire. Second, the books Read the full story »

Our own Dr Samuel Ngewa, academic dean and NT lecturer at NEGST, has written the first volume in the Africa Bible Commentary Series, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, which has now been published.

Dr Ngewa highlights the relevance of biblical concepts on the life of the church by presenting the book in sermon preparation units. I Timothy is broken down into 19 units, 2 Timothy into 15 units and Titus into 7 units. The commentary on each book also includes case studies.

The church today struggles with weak leadership, and Dr Ngewa’s work walks pastors through Paul’s advice on becoming rooted and flourishing.

Christopher Wright, of John Stott Ministries, notes in a blog post about the book, “Sam Ngewa is also one of the editors of the Africa Bible Commentary – which has sold over 80,000 in English in Afria, and is available also in French, Portuguese, and Swahili, with translations in Hausa, Amharic and Malagasi on the way.  This too is entirely written by African evangelical scholars, some of whom got their doctorates through Langham – JSM.  Check out Read the full story »

African Missiology: Contributions from Contemporary Thought is now available. Edited by our own Dr Caleb Kim, and with contributions from NEGST faculty Drs Stephen Sesi, Josephine Sesi, Alemayehu Mekonnen, Henry Mutua, Steven Rasmussen, and Prof Mark Shaw, and with a foreword by our Vice Chancellor Dr Douglas Carew, the book contributes valuable anthropological and missiological information about African peoples.

Offering academic insights as well as suggestions for how the African church can address the issues presented, African Missiology is suitable for educational use in schools, churches, and personal study.

Readers will enjoy both parts of the book, the first delving Read the full story »

NEGST New Testament lecturer Dr. Peter Nyende recently published A Handbook for Leading Sunday Worship Services. In his handbook, Nyende offers principles for effectively planning and leading Sunday worship services. Given the current liberty our Anglican churches experience in worship, these are much-needed skills.

The Handbook is specifically written to the lay leaders, youth leaders and clergy who primarily plan worship in the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK). The author says, “I have written this booklet to help Read the full story »

Mr. Samuel Muraguri Mwangi, who graduated from NEGST in 2007, has recently published his first book, The Pygmy World: the Endangered Bambuti of Congo as a result of his master’s thesis at NEGST.

The book comes to us at a critical moment, when civil strife is rampant in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The pygmies of DRC, who are the shortest people on earth, are now an endangered species. Totally marginalized, they lack the basics of food, schools, health and medical care, clean water and clothing. Though they desire to settle and grow their own crops, they lack their own land, farming tools, seeds and basic farming skills. The book addresses the plight of these little-known pygmies in the troubled, vast Read the full story »

The PhD cohort recently spent six weeks in England to benefit from the Tyndale House library, attend the British New Testament Conference, and gain exposure to European biblical scholars.

Back home at NEGST, one day the spouses and friends of the PhDs started receiving text messages on their phones telling them to quickly Read the full story »

Dr. Mark Shaw, dean of doctoral studies at NEGST, is in Ethiopia for two weeks speaking to two pastors’ conferences, with total attendance of more than 300 pastors from more than ten denominations. SIM Ethiopia called Dr. Shaw to speak because of the impact of his recently re-published book entitled The Kingdom of God in Africa.

Originally published by Baker in 1996, the book was re-published two years ago in Africa by an SIM project which distributes—free of charge—books critically needed by African pastors. The English version of The Kingdom of God in Africa became so well-known by African pastors that it was translated into Amharic—Ethiopia’s national language.

In his talks based on his book, Dr. Shaw refers to ten of the African heroes of the faith who partnered with God in his mission to Africa, calling them “African Abrahams”. Dr. Shaw recalls to mind that Christianity did not go to the West and then to Africa. Rather, Christianity is one of the oldest forms of Christian faith in the world, far older than any of its western expressions.

The African Abrahams concept forms the basis for the Dr. Shaw’s six talks in Ethiopia. Last month, Dr. Shaw also gave a series of sermons at the 50-year-old, well-established Nairobi Baptist Church on the Mission of God as seen in the lives of Abraham, David and Luke.