Mbwana, Gabriel (Mroki) Hassan (1933–1994)

Gabriel Hassan Mbwana was born in 1933 to Hassan Mbwana and Nanguma Chali in their home village of Sangana, Chome ward, Same district, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. He was the fifth of seven children.¹

Mbwana began his primary education at Gwang’a Lutheran Primary School between 1940 and 1941 and then moved on to Suji Mission Middle School where he completed the seventh grade. When he was baptized, he changed his name to Gabriel from the previous name of Mroki. In 1948 he went to Ikizu Secondary School and later joined Ikizu College where he trained for two years in a lay evangelism course.² After his course in lay evangelism, he started working as a teacher at Utimbaru, Tarime district, Mara region.

In January 1955, Gabriel Mbwana married Orupa Nangasu Yona and together they were blessed with six children: Geoffrey Mbwana (a current General Conference vice president), Yona, Guheni, Grace, Cliver, and Justine. From 1957 to 1960 they resided at Bugema Adventist College (now Bugema University) in Uganda where he studied for a diploma in a ministerial training program. His first assignment after the diploma was in 1961 at Tabora region where he served as a frontline pastor. To further his knowledge and expertise in God’s cause, he sought admission to Spicer Memorial College in India where he pursued a bachelor’s degree in religious education from 1981 to 1985. Upon completion of his bachelor’s degree he signed up for a master’s degree program that took him another two years and he graduated in 1987.³

When he returned home, he was appointed to serve as a personal ministries and Sabbath School department director at Tanzania General Field. When changes were made in the field leadership, he was elected as president. He was next appointed as a director of the Voice of Prophecy. In 1991 he was appointed to the position of Tanzania Union Mission evangelist, a position which required him to travel extensively within and outside the country for various evangelistic campaigns, seminars, and conventions. While serving in this position he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and battled it until May 1994 when he passed to his rest. He was buried in his native village of Sangana.⁴

Notes

1. Orupa Mbwana, telephone interview with the author, May 9, 2018. Orupa is the widow of Gabriel Hassan Mbwana.↩

2. Ibid.↩

3. Ibid.↩

4. Guheni Mbwana, telephone interview with the author, May 9, 2018. Guheni is a son of Gabriel Hassan Mbwana.↩