At first, the shores of the Auob were malaria-ridden, but people settled there nevertheless. Already in the 1950s, the area was heavily inhabited. There was a military outpost under German rule, given its central location in the Kalahari. The Gochas area started out as a district of the Gibeon Reformed Church, the mother congregation in Namibia that would later be known as Mariental. The Rev. E. J. Leonard had a demanding job covering the whole Southwest from Grootfontein to Warmbad. Later, he was named the pastor of the Gibeon church and therefore worked often in the Gochas district. Conditions were primitive and services were often held outdoors. From 1932, the old camel stable in Gochas, at the time used as a public school site, was used for services. The lack of a dedicated church hall severely hindered services, the old hostel refectory was suggested as an option later. This was an improvement, but the situation remained a concern. Several expeditions left to find suitable sites, only to return disappointed.
Finally, in 1937, the administrator of South West Africa was sympathetic to the congregation's concerns and granted a hectare in Gochas for church grounds. The Rev. Leonard would choose the spot where the church council would be built. After the Rev. Leonard's death, the Rev. T. Potgieter became pastor of Gibeon, and he worked hard to serve the Gochas district and help the construction committee build the church. The keystone was gifted by local Sunday school students, and on October 20, 1946, was laid by the Rev. Potgieter. After enthusiastic organizing and fundraising, the church hall opened on October 23, 1948. The church was full and the members were already discussing secession, which was granted at a combined Gibeon-Gochas congregational meeting. On November 25, 1950, the Gochas congregation was founded, including 320 founding members. The church council was extended to twelve members. The construction fund for the parsonage grew quickly.
Warmbad is a settlement located in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is situated south of Karasburg at the Homs River, close to the border with South Africa, and belongs to the Karasburg electoral constituency.
Aus is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on a railway line and the B4 national road, 230 km west of Keetmanshoop and about 125 km east of Lüderitz and belongs to the ǃNamiǂNûs electoral constituency. Trains from Keetmanshoop now end their journey at the village but formerly continued on to Lüderitz. The settlement is small but has a number of amenities including a hotel, police station, shop and garage. It is located in the Aus Mountains above the plains of the Namib Desert. The climate is usually hot and arid but snow has been recorded in the winter of 1963, and the area features the coldest winters recorded in Namibia.
Gochas is a village in the Hardap Region of Namibia. It is located 110 kilometres (68 mi) southeast of Mariental and 64 kilometres (40 mi) southwest of Stampriet on the way to the Mata Mata border post to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The town lies on the banks of the Auob River 1,150 metres (3,770 ft) above sea level. The area is at the center of a set of Kalahari Desert dune farms on which cattle and sheep graze.
Leonardville is a village in eastern Namibia, situated on the Nossob River in the south-western corner of the Omaheke Region. It belongs to the Aminuis electoral constituency.
The Reformed Churches in Namibia is a confessional Reformed church in Namibia. Reformed people come from Angola to Namibia in 1929. The Dorslandtrekkers were mostly Reformed people who had settled in Angola but later moved to Namibia. The Dorslandtrekkers were originally from Transvaal, South Africa, and migrated northwestward starting in 1874 in two large and one smaller group, starting the Humpata Reformed Church under the Rev. Jan Lion Cachet. Later in 1930 3 congregations were established. More farmers came and the church grew. Missionary work was started in 1969 under the Bushmans of the Gobabis region, Botswana. It has 2,757 members and 14 congregations, and adheres to the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort.There's no women ordination. Official languages are Afrikaans, Bushman, Gobabis-Kung.
The Dutch Reformed Church Windhoek or NGK Windhoek is the oldest congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in Windhoek the capital of Namibia.
The Aranos Reformed Church was a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in Aranos in eastern Namibia. It left the denomination in 2016. With 16 confirmed and five baptized members at the end of 2014, it was the second smallest Reformed Church in Namibia, after the Karasburg Reformed Church, which had 12 confirmed and two baptized members. In 2015, the Aranos congregation grew to 19 confirmed and six baptized members.
The Gobabis Reformed Church is the oldest congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in Gobabis in eastern Namibia. At the end of 2015, according to a poll of 300, it was the second-largest traditional Reformed Church congregation in the country.
The Keetmanshoop Reformed Church is a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) in southern Namibia, headquartered in the town of Keetmanshoop but also embracing members from the towns of Aroab, Aus, Bethanie, Koës, Lüderitz, and Rosh Pinah. Since the congregation is paired with the Mariental Reformed Church, where the Rev. Johan Dunn is the current pastor since 2017, it also serves members from Mariental, Kalkrand, Maltahöhe, Stampriet, and Gochas. The collective Keetmanshoop-Mariental area is enormous, almost the size of the United Kingdom. The distance between Lüderitz and Stampriet is 500 km, and the even the distance between the two congregational seats, Keetmanshoop and Mariental, is 230 km.
The Mariental Reformed Church is a congregation of the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GKSA) with its seat in the city of Mariental, Namibia, but the congregation members also hail from the towns of Kalkrand, Maltahöhe, Stampriet and Gochas. The congregation was founded in 1966, the same year as the Karasburg Reformed Church, and as of 2015 was the eleventh oldest GKSA congregation in Namibia.
The Keetmanshoop Reformed Church is a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in southern Namibia. It is the third oldest NGK congregation in the country after Mariental and Otjiwarongo. Up until the founding of the Keetmanshoop congregation, the entire area known then as South West Africa (SWA) was divided between the two mother churches.
The Leonardville Reformed Church is a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in the town of Leonardville, Namibia.
The Maltahöhe Reformed Church is a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in Namibia. In 2010, the congregation had 143 confirmed members and was served jointly with the Bethanie Reformed Church (NGK) by the Rev. Gert Peens. In 2012, the membership had sharply declined to 96 and the Rev. Sarel Visser was helping out with services.
The Mariental Reformed Church is the oldest congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in Namibia and was founded in 1898 as the Gibeon Reformed Church.
The Okahandja Reformed Church is a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in central Namibia.
The Johannesburg Reformed Church (GKSA) was the second congregation of the Reformed Churches in Southern Africa (GKSA) on the Witwatersrand after the Krugersdorp Reformed Church (GKSA), founded only a month earlier.
The Brixton Reformed Church was a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in the western suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa, which was absorbed along with the Johannesburg West Reformed Church (NGK) in 1993 into the new Vergesig Reformed Church. Brixton's centrally located building continues to serve the merged congregation, which has since acquired the Langlaagte Reformed Church as well as the Crosby West Reformed Church. Around 1985, the Cottesloe Reformed Church was also absorbed into the original Brixton congregation. Around 2014, Vergesig changed its name to Brixton Church.
The Fordsburg Reformed Church was a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) that served the western Johannesburg suburb of Fordsburg from November 6, 1896, to 1988.
The Johannesburg Reformed Church was the first congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) to be founded in Johannesburg on August 14, 1887. All the congregations on the Witwatersrand stem from it, but by the 2010s, the NGK yearbook recorded only 90 in its ward which had long ceased to operate independently.
The Johannesburg East Reformed Church was a congregation of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) in the Johannesburg suburb of Doornfontein, just east of downtown. It is also known as the Irene Church after the sobriquet of its second and third churches on 1 Beit Street. Five weeks before its centennial, on June 1, 1997, Johannesburg East was absorbed by the Johannesburg Reformed Church (NGK), from whence it had seceded on July 8, 1897.
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