Werner Hamukoto

Werner Hamukoto is now a pastoral intern at Eastside Baptist Church, Namibia.

Testimony of Conversion

I grew up like every Namibian boy, religious and thinking I am well with God. My parents come from an Anglican tradition; however, I was not really into church and only went to the Anglican Church on special times like Christmas and weddings. During my high school times, my rebelliousness manifested much and led me to be involved in illegal things, like drugs. But despite my recklessness, I really thank God because the drugs did not mess me up. I still loved school, and after passing grade 12, I was able to move from that town (Otjiwarongo) to Windhoek in search of tertiary education.

It was during my first year and first semester (2011) on the University of Namibia campus the Lord saved me. There was a young lady I knew from Otjiwarongo that I was interested in who attended Campus Crusade for Christ on campus. With the aim of getting her, I went where ever she was and accepted her every invitation to whatever event. So, she invited me to a Campus Crusade for Christ event called ‘prime time’ where the gospel was preached on a weekly basis.

I still remember vividly today, that the sermon was on John 3:16. It was not the first time to hear such a verse, but from the teaching, I was personally touched by the extent of the love of God in sending his Son to die for me. From that point onward, the Lord began working in my heart and applied the gospel to my life. The same young lady also invited me to church the next Sunday (this is the same church that I am pastoring today). After several weeks of church attendance and Campus Crusade prime time, I could confidently say I have believed in Christ because of the gospel, who He is and what He has done, and I am a new person in Christ.

Call to Ministry

I became a Christian during my first year of university through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. This ministry was very vital in my life during my campus years. From the first year, it helped me to be devoted to God and grow spiritually. Since I was doing a degree in Microbiology, this ministry introduced me to a good apologetic book that gave me a biblical worldview, and consequently, my mind was not polluted by the evolution theory worldview.

In the second year, I was invited to me one of the leaders of Campus Crusade, leading the ‘prime time’ department which was responsible for organizing the teaching events. This ministry exposed me to missions. And during most holidays, instead of going home, I usually went for mission trips around the country. This increased my love for the gospel, lost souls, and missions. On campus I was also burdened to share the gospel, being influenced by many apologetic books I read. One of those book was, ‘More than a Carpenter’ by Josh McDowell.

When I was in my third year of studying, with clear conviction I knew I wanted to be in ministry and not simply work in a laboratory. It was not an easy conviction, and I tried to fight it and comfort myself with the money I will get from working. But the sure conviction kept coming back. I loved missions and in doing that I was wholeheartedly content until Christ comes. Being selected to several leadership positions in Campus Crusade for Christ was helpful confirmation from other believers.

I become a member of Monte Christo Baptist Church in 2012 after being with them for a year. In 2013 (my third year of study), I was selected to be one of the men to lead the program of the church service. The following year, I was selected to teach the junior youths of the church (age 12-16). Monte Christo helped me to understand the role of the local church in the believers life, and its role in mission. This balanced the understanding I got from Campus Crusade, which was not local church-centered, and with that I was able to have a biblical understanding and view to missions. So, now I have a love for the church.

At the beginning of 2014, I decided that I will accept the call to ministry. This brought great joy and I could not wait to finish school and begin with ministry. However, I did not know what ministry I wanted to do; all I knew was that it is the ministry of preaching, teaching, and discipling others that I wanted. I initially thought that I might join Campus Crusade for Christ and become a local missionary. Not knowing what to do, I went to my pastor. I shared with him my desire of going into the ministry. In short, he shared with me his long awaited prayer for God to bring up young men in the church. His desire was for men to be thoroughly equipped if they are to endure in the ministry. Thus, he advised me to go first for theological training in Zambia at Central Africa Baptist University, and I took his advice.

That was how the conviction to do full-time ministry began, and the Lord’s providing and guiding always brought confirmation. After my studies in Zambia, the church called me to pastor them, as Pastor Laban was retiring.

In the present day, I am now a pastoral intern at Eastside Baptist Church in Namibia.

I was born in the northern part of Namibia and that’s where I grew up, going to Evangelical Lutheran Church with my parents occasionally. My mother was always reminding me that she hated the new revival churches. In my early teen years, I had reoccurring questions in my mind about the meaning of life. Why are we here besides eating, working, and growing up to become adults? Where are we going after we grow up? And what really happens to us? I even felt like if there is no reason for us to be here then it was not worth it, but then I still felt that there must be a reason. Many times I would just leave the subject alone since I never got the answer in my little mind.

I didn’t get that answer, until I came in 2010 to further my study In Accounting and Finance at Namibia University of Science and Technology in Windhoek. There I continued living my life in sin and going to church occasionally for almost two years. For those first two years at university, I made sure that I avoided listening to anyone reaching out to me to share their faith. There came a time in my life when I stopped going to church completely because I felt like I was wasting my time.

It was during that time when I started listening to one local radio station that my roommate listened to. I began listening too since it was on loud speaker and I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t like it at first because most of the preaching was about revival, which I had been warned about by my mother. I wanted to obey my parents even regarding that matter, but the radio’s sermons had somehow changed my understanding of the meaning of life, although I didn’t have all the answers to all the questions in my mind.

Around the beginning of 2012, that’s when I realized that the satisfaction of worldly things is just temporary and I felt that I was lacking something in my life. I didn’t fully know that I needed communion with God, so one day I shared with my roommate that I needed a Bible-believing church that can help me understand about life and its meaning. I also felt that If I turn from my sins to God, who created me, then I will be fully satisfied in my life.

She referred me to one church (Monte Christo Baptist Church) near a place where she had previously stayed. I went there and my questions are answered to this day. I have come to realize that I was created by God, and I was born in sin just like everyone else coming to this world. There is nothing I can do on my own to save my life beside believing in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I also learned that I should obey my parents in the Lord and by God’s grace. Hence, in the same year, I gave my life to Christ, confessing Him as my only Savior from my sin and the wrath of God, and confessing him as my Lord, the King of my life.

I am striving daily to live under the guidance of God’s word and the Holy Spirit, because I now understand that true satisfaction is only found in trusting and obeying God as long as it is called ‘today.’

Lineekela Hamukoto

Wife's Testimony

Lineekela Hamukoto

Lineekela Hamukoto

Testimony of Conversion

Call to Ministry

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