Pastor N Bhengu was born on 5 September 1909 at Entumeni, KwaZulu-Natal, where his father was a pastor of the American Lutheran Mission. He received his early education at the mission school but later attended two Roman Catholic schools, at Inkumama and Mariannhill respectively (Dubb 1976, 9).
The Assemblies of God in South Africa dates back to 1908. Nicholas Bhengu was a great pioneer of the movement. He linked up with Mr. HC Philips and the Emmanuel Mission in Nelspruit in the mid-thirties and they later became part of the Assemblies of God. In about 1936, James Mullan came from the Belgian Congo (now Zaire) to work at the Emmanuel Mission. Like Nicholas, he too and his brother Fred became part of the Assemblies of God..