The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Namibia marks eight decades of existence, faith and service to the community.
NBC News sat down with veteran clergyman Andreas Biwa, who reflected on the church journey. 

The AME Church in Namibia was birthed in Keetmanshoop during the colonial period, which, among others, restricted opportunities for local evangelists to receive religious training and become pastors.

Led by Zacheus Thomas, Petrus Jod and Markus Witbooi, the movement broke away from the Rhenish Mission in 1946, seeking greater opportunities for local religious leaders and greater freedom for their communities.

"They heard about the African Methodist Church, which merged with the Ethiopian church in South Africa, which met the ideals of Dr Zacheus Thomas and others, and as a matter of fact, they called people from South Africa and said, 'This is what we are looking for: a Black church with the ideals that we are standing for.' That's why they succeeded in the Rhenish Mission Church, not because they were quarrelling with the church, per se, but for the leadership."

Biwa says the AME church in the country has grown from two districts to five after more than 8 000 people joined the movement in 1946. 

Of the 8 000 congregation members, about 4 000 – including two-thirds of the leadership – were from Keetmanshoop. 
The church congregation population currently stands at 100 000.  

"The ideals that we were standing for - they started with private schools, pastors were ordained, the education moved up to levels, and we were free to serve the Lord as we wished. Now the AME church was established in the 1860s in the US and around 1890 in South Africa, so it was an established church, and we were connected, so what we are saying now after 80 years is what we have wished to see, what we have seen, and what we have experienced. These are products of the AME church schools."

The 80th anniversary celebrations will be held in Mariental on the 26th of August at the St James AME church, followed by the 72nd Namibian Annual Conference of the church on the 27th of August.