Africa-Press – Namibia. AN intellectual giant; a shepherd of unsurpassed convictions; humble and friendly. Those are some of the distinctive characteristics attributed to late Reverend Martin Ngodji, the bishop-elect of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (Elcin) who passed away at a private hospital at Ondangwa on Friday morning.
Elcin’s outgoing Presiding Bishop Shekutamba Nambala issued a statement lamenting the death of a cleric who served the church with dedication in various capacities since his ordination as pastor in June 1986.
Late Ngodji was popularly known as “Zulu”, a nickname given to him by the people he served as a young pastor in the late 80s. In 1989 he worked for the 3R Program that handled the repatriation of about 41 000 Namibian exiles.
Ngodji was for several years the rector of the United Lutheran Theological Seminary Paulinum, but his latest assignment was with the Bible Society of Namibia where he was, since 2017, the project leader for Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama Bible translations.
Reverend Tara Shalyefu of the Anglican Church who worked with late Ngodji on new Oshiwambo Bible translations, described him as a man of very rare characteristics.
“A Godly and very humble man, a man of firm convictions and a lover of peace who never hurts anyone’s feelings. Although he was the project leader, he never tried to superimpose his views on others,” said Shalyefu.
Late Dr. Ngodji had a special interest in Bible translation. His 2004 thesis for the Master of Theology degree was titled, “The story of the Bible among Ovakwanyama: the agency of indigenous translators”.
And in 2010 he submitted a PhD dissertation on “the applicability of the translatability and interpretation theory of Sanneh and Bediako: the case of Elcin in Northern Namibia”.
Ngodji, 61, was last month elected as head of the Eastern Diocese, replacing Nambala who is going on retirement. His episcopal installation was slotted for 14 November.
Nambala also announced the death of retired pastor Filippus Nafine, who passed on at the Oshakati intermediate hospital on Thursday. He was 85. Nafine was ordained in 1958 and served the church for 49 years before retiring in 2007.
