African Zionism
Encyclopedia
African Zionism, also known as the "amaZioni" which is a Zulu word meaning the people of Zion. There are between 15-18 million amaZioni throughout Southern Africa making it the largest religious movement in the region. African Zionism is the predominant religion of Swaziland
and forty percent of Swazis consider themselves Zionist. It is also common among Zulus in South Africa
. The amaZioni are found in South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. It is a combination of Christianity and African Traditional Religion.
faith healer. He was a former member of the Dutch Reformed Church
who joined John Alexander Dowie
's Christian Catholic Church
based in Zion, Illinois
. In 1903 Dowie sent a Daniel Bryant to South Africa to work alongside Le Roux. In 1908 Daniel Nkonyane became the leader of the church. By the 1920s the church in Africa was entirely separated from its American version. In the mid-1980s the church in Zion, Illinois (now called Christ Community Church) began reestablishing a connection with the Zion movement in Southern Africa. The church works through an agency called Zion Evangelical Ministries of Africa or ZEMA. www.zema.org. In South Africa churches were established at Wakkerstroom
and Charlestown
on the Transvaal
-Natal
border.
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
and forty percent of Swazis consider themselves Zionist. It is also common among Zulus in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The amaZioni are found in South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. It is a combination of Christianity and African Traditional Religion.
History
The Zionist churches of southern Africa were founded by Petrus Louis Le Roux, an AfrikanerAfrikaner
Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
faith healer. He was a former member of the Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
who joined John Alexander Dowie
John Alexander Dowie
John Alexander Dowie was a Scottish evangelist and faith healer who ministered in Australia and the United States. He founded the city of Zion, Illinois, and the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church...
's Christian Catholic Church
Christian Catholic Church
The term Christian Catholic Church can refer to:* the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church founded in 1896 by John Alexander Dowie, also called Zionites* the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland...
based in Zion, Illinois
Zion, Illinois
Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,866 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 24,303 as of 2005. The city was founded in July 1901 by John Alexander Dowie. He also started the Zion Tabernacle of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, which was the only...
. In 1903 Dowie sent a Daniel Bryant to South Africa to work alongside Le Roux. In 1908 Daniel Nkonyane became the leader of the church. By the 1920s the church in Africa was entirely separated from its American version. In the mid-1980s the church in Zion, Illinois (now called Christ Community Church) began reestablishing a connection with the Zion movement in Southern Africa. The church works through an agency called Zion Evangelical Ministries of Africa or ZEMA. www.zema.org. In South Africa churches were established at Wakkerstroom
Wakkerstroom
Wakkerstroom, , is the second oldest town in Mpumalanga province in South Africa. It was established in 1859 and its name is an Afrikaans translation of the Zulu name for the river that flows near the town, uThaka, ...
and Charlestown
Charlestown, KwaZulu-Natal
Charlestown is a small town situated at the top of Laing's Nek pass in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between Newcastle and Volksrust. It started out as an important railway station and customs post between Natal and Transvaal in 1891 until the Union of South Africa came into being in 1910, and...
on the Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
-Natal
Colony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
border.