Gerhard L. Buys

South African Dr Gerhard L. Buys is a former pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in Namibia.

South African Dr Gerhard L. Buys is a former pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in Namibia.

Dr Gerhard L. Buys was born in 1947 in Cape Town. His Dutch ancestor arrived in Africa in 1715, i.e. 286 years ago. Gerhard Buys grew up in the house of a Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) pastor, who moved to Namibia in 1949, when he was only 2 years old. His father was the DRC pastor of the Usakos/Swakopmund/ WalvisBay combination. He received his secondary education in South Africa and completed a BA degree at the University of the Free State (1968). He received BTh. MTh. and DTh. degrees at Stellenbosch University (1972, 1973, 1983). The topic of his doctoral thesis was The Holistic Missionary Approach in the Ecumenical Debate with reference to mission and church in Namibia. He married Claudette Ferreira in 1970. Claudette is a qualified teacher who has served as a teacher in various secondary and primary schools in Namibia. She started her teaching career at the Ongwediva Teachers College in the Oshana region. She had received her own call to cross-cultural ministry, especially amongst the younger generations of Namibia. Gerhard and Claudette Buys have two sons and a daughter. After being ordained in November 1972, Gerhard Buys started a pastoral ministry in a Sotho-speaking church in February 1973, in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in Africa, Ladybrand, South Africa. In March 1975, the Buys family moved to Namibia. Gerhard became a lecturer at the Orumana Theological Seminary for five years, until December 1979. Then Gerhard and Claudette Buys moved to Gobabis in 1980 for a one year ministry in the Uniting Reformed Church. In 1982-1986 they were in the pastoral ministry of the DRCN in Keetmanshoop, Karas region. In 1987 Gerhard was requested to start a project for basic theological education at the Windhoek Theological Seminary (WTS) in Windhoek. When WTS was dissolved in 1991, Gerhard Buys was appointed as the first Principal of the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary (NETS). Gerhard comes from a reformed evangelical background in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), with deep convictions about evangelism and world missions. In the year of this book's publication Gerhard and Claudette had been in full time Christian ministry in Namibia for a period of 27 years. Since their retirement the couple lives in Somerset Wes, South Africa.