





































Ecclesial Futures
2025 – Volume 6 – Issue 2

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a r t I c l E

DOI: 10.54195/ef23037

The Indigenous Provenance of Missio Spiritus 
and the Expansion of African Pentecostalism

Mookgo Solomon Kgatle

abstract
Missio spiritus has been theorized and conceptualized as part of the broader mission of 
the triune God but not emphasized as an indigenous force within the context of African 
Pentecostalism. This article aims to accentuate the indigenous provenance of missio 
spiritus in the growth of African Pentecostalism. This is achieved by highlighting the 
indigenous provenance, defined as accounting for Indigenous people, their culture and 
communities when studying the work of the Holy Spirit, in each aspect of missio spiritus 
such as the Spirit of witness, the Spirit of redemption, the Spirit of life, and the Spirit of 
creation. The accentuation of the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus contributes 
toward the broader understanding of the expansion of African Pentecostalism.

Keywords: Indigenous provenance, Missio spiritus, Holy Spirit, Pentecostalism, Indigenous 
knowledge system, World Christianity, Pentecostal missiology, Creation

1. Introduction
Pentecostalism is the movement that emphasizes the direct relationship with God 
through the work of the Holy Spirit. Hence, Pentecostals across the world believe in 
the baptism of the Holy Spirit with other pneumatic experiences such as speaking 
in tongues, prophecy and healing. The theology of the Holy Spirit has become the 
main hallmark of the Pentecostal movement. It is for the same reasons that Pente-
costals in Africa and elsewhere in the world are known as people of the Spirit. The 
Pentecostal movement continues to grow in the African continent with Pentecostal 
churches in their different strands planted in most African cities, towns and villages. 
It is no longer a debate that Pentecostalism is one of the fastest-growing Christian 
traditions in the world Christianity with a great shift of this growth from the global 
North to the global South, particularly in the last quarter of the twentieth century 
and the beginning of the twenty-first (Bediako 1995; Anderson 2013; Kalu 2013). The 
African continent is playing a major role in this shift within the context of missions 



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and world Christianity. Recent statistics put African Pentecostalism at more than 200 
million believers and followers which is more than 10% of the 1.4 billion popula-
tion in the continent (Wariboko 2017). Predictions indicate that these numbers will 
continue to increase given the rapid growth of the Pentecostal movement in the 
twenty-first century in Africa. All these developments require a proper inquisition 
into the rationale behind the growth of African Pentecostalism. What could be the 
reasons behind this rapid growth of the Pentecostal movement in Africa? How do we 
reflect on these dynamics as missiologists within African Christianity or even world 
Christianity? This is a valid research question that I seek to answer in this article.

In a quest to understand the rationale behind this growth, this article explores 
the significant role of the Spirit in African Pentecostalism through the missio spiritus 
as a theoretical framework. The main contribution is the emphasis on the Indige-
nous forms of missio spiritus as a driving force behind the growth of African Pente-
costalism. The article is divided into five main sections. In the first section, I seek to 
introduce Pentecostalism as the mission of the Spirit since its early inception. The 
second section is a discussion on missio spiritus as a theoretical framework including 
its different aspects such as the witness of the Spirit, the redemptive Spirit, the Spirit 
of life, and the Spirit of creation. In this section, I will demonstrate the research gaps 
in these aspects, particularly the Indigenous provenance of the missio spiritus. In the 
third section, I define the term indigenous provenance in the context the Pentecostal 
movement in Africa, to account for indigenous people, their culture and communities 
in studying the work of the Holy Spirit and point to its connection to missio spiritus. The 
same is used to formulate the framework of the indigenous province of missio spir-
itus. In the fourth section, the significant role of the indigenous provenance of missio 
spiritus in the growth of the Pentecostal movement in Africa will be highlighted. The 
last section explains how this role changes how Pentecostal missiologists understand 
missions and world Christianity. The section also seeks to highlight how the accentua-
tion of the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus contributes to the broader under-
standing of the growth of African Pentecostalism in the present and for the future as 
well. The next section introduces Pentecostalism as the mission of the Spirit.

2. Pentecostalism as the mission of the Spirit
The Pentecostal movement is known as the mission of the Spirit. The theology of the 
Spirit has been at the centre of the Pentecostal movement since its inception (Yong 
2005). In addition, the theology of the Spirit is the fundamental teaching in the Pente-
costal movement. The same theology of the Spirit plays a role in the Pentecostal 
mission in Africa and elsewhere in the world. Both the biblical and the contempo-
rary accounts of the Pentecostal movement are characterized by the works of the 
Spirit. In the biblical account, the Lukan-Acts Pentecost narrative demonstrates the 



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role of the Spirit in mission and its expansion from one region to the other (Menzies 
1989). However, within African Pentecostalism, there is a need to emphasize this role, 
particularly its indigenous provenance. Acts 1.8 and Acts 2.1–4 show that the begin-
ning of the Pentecostal mission was activated by the Holy Spirit when believers were 
baptized and empowered by the same Spirit. The focus here is not just on speaking 
in tongues but on the power to witness to others. This baptism and empowerment of 
the Spirit gave the believers the ability to be witnesses in their locality and to other 
regions of the world. Hence, the early church of the Apostles grew to many thousands 
of believers because the empowerment of the Holy Spirit made it possible for the 
expansion of the mission work. As believers of the early church were filled with the 
Holy Spirit, they saw a need to minister the word to others and reach out to many 
people. Therefore, the Holy Spirit in the early church became the driving force for the 
expansion of the mission. This expansion was mainly because the Apostles of the early 
church were able to minister relevantly to the different contexts through the work of 
the Spirit. In other words, they were able to apply the mission of the Spirit in the local 
contexts. I will later demonstrate that the same work of the Holy Spirit empowers 
believers in Africa for the expansion of the Pentecostal movement on the continent.

In the contemporary Pentecostal movement, particularly looking at the Azusa 
Street revival in Los Angeles, United States of America, the revival was character-
ized by pneumatic experiences such as Spirit baptism, speaking in tongues and other 
miraculous manifestations (Hollenweger & MacRobert 1988; Menzies & Menzies 2000; 
Althouse 2003). The manifestations of the Spirit at Azusa Street resulted in thousands 
of new Christians worldwide between 1906 and 1916 (Hayford & Moore 2006). The 
Azusa Street revival followed the same path of the biblical Pentecost narrative that 
was characterzsed by pneumatic experiences that expanded the Pentecostal mission 
(Robeck 2017). These attracted people from all regions of the world to camp at Azusa 
to experience the revival that grew to become one of the most important and influ-
ential revivals in the history of the Pentecostal movement (Anderson 2006). However, 
with the expansion of this revival, I would still contend that it relied upon the ability 
of Pentecostals from around the world to apply the mission of the Spirit in their local 
contexts. Similarly the ability of African Pentecostals to reach out to people in the 
local context because of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit needs to be emphasized.

In the South African context, the Pentecostal movement has connections with 
the Azusa Street revival in two ways. First, its pioneer, John G. Lake had been part 
of the Azusa Street revival through his meeting with William Seymour (Anderson 
2006: 107). John G. Lake arrived in South Africa together with Thomas Hezmalhalch 
after having experienced the Spirit baptism from Azusa Street revival. The role of 
the Spirit was applied relevantly to the South African context and churches like the 
Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa with more than 1 million members continue 
to grow in the twenty-first century. Second, the same experiences that happened in 



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the Azusa Street revival also happened in South Africa with the likes of John G. Lake 
at the forefront of these experiences. This means that the same pneumatic expe-
riences that occurred in the Azusa Street revival also happened in the Bree Street 
revival in Johannesburg, South Africa (Kgatle 2016). Many people could move from 
different provinces in South Africa to gather at Bree Street Revival for healing, and 
other pneumatic experiences. From Bree Street, the Pentecostal movement began 
to spread to other cities in South Africa attracting many followers and planting many 
churches. Moreover, many other Pentecostal churches were started by African 
pioneers in many provinces of South Africa. But the role of the Holy Spirit has indig-
enous elements in every context where Pentecostalism finds itself. These elements 
need to be highlighted in the context of missions and world Christianity. In the next 
section, I discuss the missio spiritus as the relevant framework in demonstrating the 
role of the Holy Spirit in the expansion of African Pentecostalism. But in doing so, I 
will also demonstrate the gaps in the indigenous elements of this framework.

3. Framing a missio spiritus approach in the context of 
Pentecostalism

Missio spiritus, which means the mission of the Spirit, is a relevant framework for this 
article in investigating the role of the Spirit in the growth of African Pentecostalism. 
Thinane (2021:4) says that “Missio Spiritus can be described as a Latin theological 
expression referring to the total participation of God the Spirit in the fulfilment of the 
purpose of Missio Dei.” However, I would argue that such participation depends solely 
on the application of the missio spiritus in a specific local context, thus recognizing 
the indigenous provenance of the same. The mission of the Spirit refers to the work 
done by the Spirit within the different roles in the trinitarian mission. In other words, 
as much as there is the mission of God and the mission of Christ, there is also the 
mission of the Spirit. All these missions are important in the mission of the church in 
the twwenty-first century. Bosch (1991) also referred to the role of the Holy Spirit in 
mission. Other scholars such as McQuilkin (1997) walked in his footsteps in demon-
strating the role of the Holy Spirit in mission. However, they have not demonstrated 
the indigenous provenance of this role particularly in the expansion of African Pente-
costalism. By indigenous provenance I refer to taking cognizance of the indigenous 
or even native people, their culture and indigenous communities when studying the 
work of the Holy Spirit (Weaver 2001; Coates & Coates 2004; Sissons 2005). Wonsuk 
Ma (2017) and Julie Ma (2015) have also published extensively on the role of the Holy 
Spirit in mission particularly in the Pentecostal movement. However, I would still 
contend that a gap exists in demonstrating how this role functions in the expan-
sion of African Pentecostalism. In other words, how can the missio spiritus be under-
stood in terms of its Indigenous provenance in the expansion of Pentecostalism is a 
research area that deserves exploration in missions and world Christianity?



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Allan Anderson (2005) does not call this a missio spiritus but uses the concept 
of a pneumatocentric mission as part of the aspects of the Pentecostal mission. 
By a pneumatocentric mission, Anderson refers to conducting a mission as having 
been directed or sent by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit plays an important role in 
instructing the people engaged in missions through dreams or visions. It is only after 
receiving such an instruction that a Pentecostal missionary will begin to conduct 
the mission. This element according to Anderson is what differentiates the mission 
of the Spirit from other missions. The mission of the Spirit is very much focused on 
pneumatology, that is, the work of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that was released 
on the day of the Pentecost as recorded in Luke-Acts as the “missional Spirit” in the 
sense that the Spirit activates the believers to begin the work of missions. Elsewhere 
in his works, Anderson (1991) cf Anderson (2018) has emphasized the role of the Holy 
Spirit in doing a mission that connects to the mission of the Spirit. In these works, 
Anderson also pointed out that Africans are people of the Spirit, hence the mission 
of the Spirit is common among African Pentecostals. Therefore, Anderson comes 
very close to what I want to achieve in this current study. However, since Anderson 
did not speak directly about missio spiritus and its link with the expansion of African 
Pentecostalism, the current study remains worthwhile.

Speaking of missio spiritus and its link to Pentecostalism, Yong (2011) theorized 
missio spiritus in three acts, meaning, the Spirit of creation as the first act, the Spirit 
of redemption as the second act, and the Spirit of the eschaton as the third act. The 
research gap remains in working with each act to illustrate its indigenous prove-
nance in the expansion of African Pentecostalism. Mæland expanded on these by 
listing at least four aspects of the missio spiritus, namely the Spirit of creation, the 
Spirit of life, the Spirit of redemption and the Spirit of witness, pointing out that

As to the Spirit of mission, what is highlighted in the document is namely the Spirit in 
creation, the Creator Spirit, and to a lesser extent the Spiritus of redemption/re-cre-
ation and consummation/eschaton. It is the spirit of life, the breath of life, the Ruach 
Elohim, hovering over the primordial chaos, being the breath of human beings, who 
are placed center stage. (Maeland 2013: 142)

All these four aspects are discussed here within the theoretical framework of a 
missio spiritus. There might be other aspects of the missio spiritus such as the Spirit 
of the eschaton as highlighted by Yong but the focus in this article shall be on the 
four that are highlighted by Mæland. In each aspect of the missio spiritus, I seek to 
demonstrate the gaps to highlight the value of the indigenous provenance of this 
framework.

First, missio spiritus refers to the Spirit of creation, which means that the mission 
involves not only human beings but also the creation and its creatures (Yong 2019). 



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In the creation narrative in Genesis, there is already evidence of the Spirit hovering 
upon the face of the waters. This demonstrates that the Spirit was always involved 
in the creation and environmental experience from the beginning (Yong 2015). This 
aspect of the Spirit of creation reminds us that God himself is not only the God of 
heaven but also the God of nature and the environment. Padilla (2016) explains that 
this is one aspect of the mission and world of Christianity that we cannot ignore, that 
is, the role of the Holy Spirit in giving power to life and the environment. Therefore, a 
call to embrace the Spirit of creation is a call to embrace care for God’s creation and 
people. The Pentecost narrative gives evidence of the Spirit taking part in the affairs 
of the people and also how people began to relate with one another after receiving 
the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is calling all 
creation to himself for the redemption and restoration of all. Even in this aspect, it is 
still very important to demonstrate the Indigenous value of the Spirit of creation and 
the elements of indigenous knowledge in the missio spiritus help us understand the 
Spirit of creation. Many African Pentecostal churches have begun a journey of not 
only evangelizing to non-believers but also taking part in the development of their 
nations, as in the building of schools, universities and clinics in countries like Nigeria 
and Ghana, which I suggest is the reason for the expansion of the Pentecostal move-
ment in the continent.

The second aspect of missio spiritus is the Spirit of life whereby the Holy Spirit is 
defined as the one who gives life to the believer. Right from Genesis, it was the Spirit 
that gave life to the human being when the same was just the dust of the earth. God 
breathed into the human and the human became a living soul. The Pentecost narra-
tive also demonstrates that the Spirit’s baptism brings life into the believer through 
the Holy Spirit. According to Kaunda (2017), the mission of the Spirit is a relevant 
approach to the transformation of lives. God sent his son Jesus Christ into the world 
for the transformation of the lives of the people. Similarly, God sends his Spirit into 
the believer so that they might receive life and transformation. In John 6.63 Jesus told 
his disciples “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I 
speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” This means that when the Spirit of God is 
upon the life of the disciple, they can receive life and transformation as opposed to 
life in the flesh (Gal. 5). The contribution I seek to make in this current study is the 
role of the Spirit of life in transforming lives in different contexts. Life transforma-
tion as emanating from the Spirit of life cannot be generalized but rather applied 
to a specific context. By life transformation here one refers to the changes that can 
be seen in the life of the believer through the same Spirit empowerment. In addi-
tion, the Spirit of life refers to how believers through the Holy Spirit play a role in 
socio-economic issues and socio-political issues. Thus, in framing the missio spiritus, 
there is a great need to contextualize the transformation of believers in missions and 
world Christianity. Again, this is the strength of the Pentecostal movement in Africa 



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where spiritual service including the songs and sermons are meant to bring trans-
formation to both believers and unbelievers in attendance, thus, contributing to the 
growth of Pentecostalism.

The third aspect of the missio spiritus is the Spirit of redemption, which means that 
the Holy Spirit plays a major role in the redemption of the people of the world. The 
Spirit has a role to play in the salvation of the lost people in the world. Redemption is 
not only defined as the work of Christ but also as the work of the Holy Spirit. As much 
as it is Christ who died on the cross of Calvary, the Holy Spirit has a role to play in the 
fulfilment of the same redemption. In addition, the Holy Spirit plays an important 
role in redemption because as much as the Spirit of God hovered upon the waters, 
humanity lost that connection with God with the fall of humanity. Yong (2011: 358) 
showed how the redemption of humanity does not only involve the salvation of the 
soul but the connection with God through the work of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, 
the Spirit plays an important role in the reconciliation between humanity and their 
God as much as the mission of Christ does. Similarly, the Pentecost narrative should 
be understood in the same way as an event that happened in the quest to connect 
humanity back to God through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jennings (2017) discusses 
the same point of how the Holy Spirit forms intimacy or communion between God 
and humanity and amongst humanity. However, there is a need to expand knowl-
edge in understanding the role of the Spirit of redemption in helping people in 
different contexts. This expansion includes exploring how the Spirit of redemption 
functions not only for the salvation of the soul but also in healing and deliverance in 
the African context. This is similar to Green’s (2014) holistic salvation which includes 
biblical liberative paradigms. For me, this is the indigenous provenance of the Spirit 
of redemption within the framework of missio spiritus. In other words, African Pente-
costals do not define redemption as a process of being free from sin alone. Rather, 
redemption brings healing and deliverance, becoming very practical in the daily chal-
lenges that Africans face in their lives.

The last aspect of missio spiritus is the Spirit of witness, also known as the Spirit 
of evangelization, which means that the Holy Spirit plays a role in witnessing or evan-
gelizing those who need the gospel. Although Lesslie Newbigin (1995) demonstrated 
how the Holy Spirit takes part in the mission activity of announcing the good news 
to the people about the work that Christ has done on the cross of Calvary, he does 
not demonstrate how that is achieved in local contexts. In Acts 1.8, the purpose of 
the power that believers receive from the Holy Spirit is for the believers to become 
witnesses. In addition, in becoming witnesses to others, believers need the inspira-
tion of the Holy Spirit. Believers are involved in the praxis of evangelisation through 
the power of the Holy Spirit. This is possible when the Holy Spirit works relevantly 
in the specific local context in which the gospel is witnessed. In Acts 10.38, “God 
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and … he went around 



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doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was 
with him.” This means that even the work of evangelization that Christ did was also 
possible because the Holy Spirit was upon him. It follows that whenever the Holy 
Spirit is upon the believers, they can do the work of mission. But even here the work 
of the Spirit of witness is relevant to the situational needs of the people that Jesus 
ministered to and healed. It is important to point out that in African Pentecostalism, 
the Spirit-empowered and the anointed does not refer only to the clergy. Anyone 
who is filled with the Holy Spirit can become a witness, including women and chil-
dren. This contributes toward the expansion of African Pentecostalism, turning any 
believer into a witness because of spirit empowerment.

4. Indigenous provenance of missio spiritus
African Pentecostalism has deep foundational roots in the African Christian expe-
rience. This is seen in the ability of African Pentecostalism to incorporate African 
cultural practices into their African Christian experience (Kalu 2008). In its practices, 
Pentecostalism does not always borrow from the Western forms of Christianity but 
from the African cultural heritage (Meyer 2004). Bediako (1995) spoke of Pentecos-
tals in Africa who do not even know about the Azusa Street revival but embrace the 
fundamental teachings of Pentecostalism such as Spirit baptism. Asamoah-Gyadu 
(2002) explained that this indigenous provenance is what made African Pentecos-
talism able to bring transformation in people’s lives. Anderson (2011) adds that this 
is possible through the working of the Holy Spirit among believers in African Pente-
costalism. Therefore, in Africa, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit are what 
bring transformation in the lives of the people (Asamoah-Gyadu 2014). In addition, 
African Pentecostalism can familiarise itself with the local context in which it finds 
itself. Therefore, African Pentecostalism has been able to express itself relevantly in 
many African local contexts as opposed to Western forms of Christianity. Anderson 
and Tang (2005: 588) point out that “one of the main reasons for the phenomenal 
growth of Pentecostalism in the past century has been its remarkable ability to adapt 
itself to different cultural contexts and give authentically contextualized expressions 
to Christianity.” While Western forms of Christianity have failed to acknowledge the 
indigenous knowledge including cultural practices, African Pentecostalism has been 
able to acknowledge the same without compromising the Christian message.

The indigenous provenance of Pentecostalism is used in this study to formu-
late what I call an indigenous provenance of missio spiritus. This framework is 
developed here to specifically explore the role of the Holy Spirit in the expansion 
of African Pentecostalism. This means that the four aspects of the missio spiritus 
as discussed above should be understood in the context of the indigenous force 
of African Pentecostalism. This opens up a possibility of understanding firstly the 



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indigenous provenance of missio spiritus is relevant in the understanding of the use 
of the indigenous knowledge system on creation to propagate the gospel. Secondly, 
the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus is a framework for the life-giving Spirit 
whereby, as Asamoah-Gyadu and Anderson pointed out earlier, the lives of African 
people are transformed and restored through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, 
the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus affords us an opportunity to the able to 
understand the Spirit of redemption beyond the confessional salvation to the salva-
tion that touches the various aspects of life in African contexts. Lastly, the Spirit of 
witness informs the presenting of the gospel in forms relevant to the African people. 
This means that the Spirit of witness in the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus 
is the Spirit that enables gospel ministers or even missionaries in Africa to minister 
a contextualized gospel rather than Westernized forms of the gospel. Through the 
same Holy Spirit, the gospel minister in Africa can express the gospel in an indige-
nized way. The next section explains how the indigenous provenance of missio spir-
itus is relevant for understanding the expansion of African Pentecostalism.

5. Indigenous provenance of missio spiritus and the 
growth of African Pentecostalism

Most African Pentecostal churches have not yet pronounced on issues related to the 
creation and the environment. Scholars such as Golo (2014) and Maseno (2017) indi-
cate that Pentecostals in Africa have shown little concern for the environmental crisis 
and issues related to climate change in the twenty-first century. Werner (2020: 51) 
adds that in ”many African (as well as other) churches the seriousness of the envi-
ronmental challenges has not yet received attention.” In the South African context, 
churches such as the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, the Full Gospel Church, 
and Assemblies of God have not yet pronounced on issues related to the creation and 
the environment. In Western Africa, churches such as the Redeemed Christian Church 
of God and Church of Pentecost and many others are involved in various projects 
concerning development but not directly spoken about issues of environmental 
crisis and global warming. This is surprising since Pentecostals in Africa believe in the 
Spirit of witness, the Spirit of redemption and the Spirit of life. What about the Spirit 
of creation? Some of the reasons for lack of engagement in environmental issues 
could include the influence of early classical Pentecostalism in anthropocentric salva-
tion rather than the salvation that includes both humans and non-humans. Another 
reason could be the influence of classical Pentecostalism focusing more on the immi-
nent second coming of Christ and evangelism than taking care of the environment. 
The Pentecostal movement in Africa can grow further if the issues related to the crea-
tion and the role of the Spirit of creation in the same can be taken seriously. In this 



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way, the Spirit of creation within the framework of indigenous provenance of missio 
spiritus can also add value to the growth of the Pentecostal churches in Africa.

The African Pentecostals are also strong on preaching that the Holy Spirit is the 
one that gives life to the believer. African Pentecostal preachers emphasize social 
transformation and development, particularly in presenting the Spirit as life-giving 
(Freeman 2012). The Holy Spirit is not only introduced as the part of the Trinity and 
divine but also as the life-giving Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not only the supernatural 
power of God but also the one who transforms human beings. Transformation here 
is defined as Spirit empowerment able to change attitudes, behaviours, spiritual and 
other circumstances. In addition, African Pentecostals preach personal and social 
development because they believe that Spirit empowerment is able to bring Spirit’s 
work into one’s financial circumstances. Hence, African Pentecostals emphasise the 
message of transformation. When the believer is transformed, they can transform 
the next person in their church or community. Consequently, this transformation 
moves into the whole society which explains the impact of the African Pentecostal 
mission. This means that the work of the Holy Spirit translates into the social aspects 
of the life of the believer. They believe that any Spirit baptised person should see 
change in their lives after receiving the Holy Spirit. This message of the transforma-
tion through the Holy Spirit also plays a role in popularizing the Pentecostal churches 
in Africa. People believe that once they join such churches, their lives will change for 
the better because of being Spirit-filled. Therefore, the indigenous provenance of 
missio spiritus is relevant in understanding the role of the Spirit of life as being able to 
transform the lives of Africans in many African contexts. In African Pentecostalism, 
the church is not only a place for fellowship but also a place of social transformation 
based on the work of the Holy Spirit.

African Pentecostals are also strong on the aspect of redemption which also 
includes the ministry of healing and deliverance. The evil spirits in African Pentecos-
talism are confronted by the same Spirit of redemption (Onyinah 2002). This affords 
African Pentecostalism the ability to respond to various challenges in life like misfor-
tune, barrenness, witchcraft, bad luck, spells and others. They believe that these 
problems are caused by some spirits in the spirit realm and therefore the Holy Spirit 
becomes that force that is used to confront the same powers of evil in the spirit 
realm (Anderson 2018). Hence, Anderson says that the Pentecostal movement in 
Africa should not only be seen in the continuity of the popular religion but in the 
confrontation of the same through the Spirit of redemption. Among many African 
Pentecostals, it is believed that the Spirit of redemption carries divine power to 
confront sickness, diseases and other problems. Consequently, there is an emphasis 
on the ministry of healing and deliverance as part of redemption to confront the 
same problems being caused by evil spirits in the spirit realm. Many Africans do not 
have medical aid because of the failure of public health care in many African states. 



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So the Pentecostal churches have become an alternative to the government’s fail-
ures. It is for this reason that Pentecostal churches are growing to larger numbers 
and bigger churches in many African cities. For example in many African countries, 
rather than queuing at hospitals, they would go to a deliverance minister in pursuit 
of healing and deliverance. Some do not go because they are sick but believe that the 
Pentecostal message of healing can keep them healthy or give longevity.

African Pentecostals are very strong on expressing the gospel relevantly to the 
African people as inspired by the Spirit of witness. African Pentecostalism is known 
for its focus on reaching out to lost souls in every corner of their cities to preach 
the gospel to those who need it. The main aim of Pentecostal evangelism is to plant 
churches around and in cities as inspired by the Spirit of witness. One of the classical 
Pentecostal churches, the Apostolic Faith Mission in South Africa, has adopted this 
model where they see themselves as existing in every city. Thus, church planting 
according to Anderson (2005: 37) is “a central feature of all Pentecostal mission 
activity.” The point I am making here is that this is informed by the indigenous prov-
enance of missio spiritus as discussed above. Church and mission among African 
Pentecostals are not separate entities but exist together because a well-established 
church should be engaged in the work of mission. Hence, it is the task of these Pente-
costal churches to give birth to other churches in other cities in Africa. They no longer 
depend on Western missionaries for the planting of churches in Africa but have 
become church planters on their own. Similarly, many other Pentecostal churches 
in sub-Saharan Africa believe in turning every follower into a witness to the world to 
minister the gospel in an indigenous way. Therefore, the aspect of preaching to the 
world is not only for the clergy but for every believer who becomes a witness to the 
gospel of Christ expressed in the African contexts. This aspect of witnessing to others 
has caused the Pentecostal mission to grow in Africa. This growth is informed by the 
way Africans have embraced the mission of the Spirit in reaching out to lost souls.

6. Indigenous provenance of missio spiritus: 
rethinking missions and World Christianity

Indigenous provenance of missio spiritus in the Pentecostal mission changes the way 
we understand the missions and world of Christianity. Mission should not only be 
understood in the context of the mission of God and the mission of Christ but also 
the missio spiritus. Yong (2011: 361) puts it this way: “The Spirit who empowered the 
Son, and who was poured out upon and filled the apostles, is the same Spirit who 
continues to accomplish the redemptive work of God in Christ, and through the 
post-apostolic church.” The mission of the Spirit has a role to play in the fulfilment 
of the mission of God and the mission of Christ. It is for this reason that the mission 
of the Spirit should not be ignored in missions and world Christianity. Thinane 



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(2021: 10) says that the missio spiritus becomes that bridge that helps us understand 
other missions. It is an approach in which the mission of God, the mission of Christ, 
the mission of the church, and others can be articulated. However, scholars such as 
Thinane, Yong and Bosch have not articulated the role of the indigenous provenance 
of the missio spiritus. My contribution here not only recognizes the mission of Spirit in 
the missions and world Christianity but also its indigenous contribution. The indige-
nous provenance of the mission of Spirit deserves attention in demonstrating its role 
in the expansion of African Pentecostalism.

7. Conclusion
This article explored the role of the Spirit in the expansion of African Pentecostalism 
using the missio spiritus as a theoretical framework. The various aspects of the missio 
spiritus such as the Spirit of creation, the Spirit of life, the redemptive Spirit, and 
the witness of the Spirit, were discussed in the context of African Pentecostalism. 
However, the indigenous provenance of these aspects has not been explored in 
previous studies. Therefore, the contribution of this article is the framing of the indig-
enous provenance of missio spiritus and its role in the expansion of African Pentecos-
talism. Therefore as emanating from an indigenous provenance of missio spiritus, 
the findings are: that African Pentecostals are strong in ministering life, preaching 
redemption, and witnessing to other people. However, Pentecostals in Africa have 
yet to pronounce on issues related to creation. Nonetheless, I argue that the Spirit of 
life, the Spirit of redemption, and Spirit of witness make African Pentecostalism grow 
in numbers. Therefore, the indigenous provenance of missio spiritus remains the 
rationale behind the growth of the Pentecostal movement in Africa. This is important 
for mission research in understanding missions and world Christianity in the twen-
ty-first century. Moreover, this is important in understanding the broader expansion 
of African Pentecostalism in present and future studies.

About the Author
Mookgo Solomon Kgatle holds a PhD in Theology and is a Professor of Missiology at 
the College of Human Sciences, UNISA. He is interested in the history, mission, and 
theology of African Pentecostalism. He has published several peer-reviewed arti-
cles and books in the field. He is the founder and president of the Southern African 
Society of Pentecostal Studies. He is an NRF-rated scholar and appeared in the 2024 
Scopus list of the Top 2% of Scientists worldwide. He received visiting scholarships 
to the University of Birmingham and Oxford University (2020–23). He won several 
other awards including the Unisa Principal Award for excellence in research (2024). 
Contact: kgatls@unisa.ac.za

mailto:kgatls@unisa.ac.za


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