African Gifts of the Spirit — (2007)

Pentecostalism & the Rise of a Zimbabwean Transnational Religious Movement

By David Maxwell

“This is a pathbreaking major work tracing the tangled roots of a significant religious movement in Zimbabwe and beyond. . . . Richly documented, it explores the relation between social rupture of conversion, and links changes to the movement to historical events from the Great Depression to the rise of independence, and the impact of neo-liberalism. It is a required read.”

David Martin — Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics

“The combination of history with fascinating participatory material makes the book the best and most illuminating account ever written of an African initiated church. . . . A very important book and a remarkable work of scholarship.”

Terence Ranger — Professor Emeritus, University of Oxford

“Few books on African Christianity match its scope and intellectual rigor. It will define the field of Pentecostal Studies for years to come.”

Harri Englund — University of Cambridge

This book considers the rise of born-again Christianity in Africa through a study of one of the most dynamic Pentecostal movements. David Maxwell traces the transformation of the prophet Ezekiel Guti and his prayer band from small beginnings in the townships of the 1950s into the present-day transnational business enterprise, which is now the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God. Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa claims one and a half million members in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa and has branches in other African countries, Europe, and the United States. African Gifts of the Spirit illuminates Africa’s relations with American Christianities, black and white.