Warmbad, Namibia

Pre-colonial period Warmbad was first named in 1760 by scout Jacobus Coetzee, the first documented European to cross the Oranje River into the South West African territory that today forms the state of Namibia. the oldest structure in Namibia was assumed to be the Schmelenhaus in Bethanie, erected in 1814. In 1834, Wesleyan missionary Edward Cook entered the area and erected a new missionary building on the foundations of the destroyed buildings. Scientist Sir James Edward Alexander lived in one of its rooms during his stay in 1836. In the 1840s Benjamin Ridsdale was stationed here and embarked on several journeys to nearby Orlam communities. He referred to Warmbad as Nisbett Bath.{{cite book German colonial period After Imperial Germany had declared its territorial rights over South West Africa, a fort was built in Warmbad in 1905, and Schutztruppe soldiers were stationed at the settlement to counter the Herero and Nama uprising. Jacob Morenga, one of the leading figures of resistance against the Germans, attacked the Germans stationed in Namibia's South from his hidden fortress ǁKhauxaǃnas. Warmbad cemetery features a statue of him in remembrance of these events. In 1908 the first swimming pool was built at the |Aixa-aibes hot springs, in 1910 the settlement gained District status. Still, Warmbad lost its original importance as a stop-over during this time, becoming bypassed by railway connections and new road construction. Many of the buildings began to decay. ==Economy and Infrastructure==

The majority of Warmbad's approximately 1,200 inhabitants live in abject poverty, 90% are unemployed. There is no industry in the area, residents survive from old-age pensions and subsistence goat farming. While under South African mandate, the hot springs were sold to a private investor for 12,000 Rand. After Namibian independence, the government bought the site back for five times that amount. The springs are now community property again.{{cite news In 2009, Canadian mining company Xemplar Energy announced the discovery of significant Uranium deposits in the area. Xemplar has since been listed at the Namibian Stock Exchange.{{cite news ==Dutch Reformed Church==

After the Second Boer War, some Afrikaners preferred emigration to German South West Africa over remaining in South Africa under British rule. As more Afrikaans-speakers came to the area, the need for an Afrikaans church grew. Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) pioneer, Rev. Leonard, who then had all South West Africa in his purview, ministered to settlers largely by ox and donkey cart. At the time, the Southwest was governed by the Upington synod and was known as the Dutch Reformed Church Gibeon, the mother church of all present Namibian NGK denominations. On June 23, 1928, the Warmbad congregation was split from the Dutch Reformed Church Keetmanshoop, itself an offshoot of Gibeon founded in 1924. On October 12, 1929, Dr. A.J. Stals was confirmed as the congregation's first pastor. He served during drought and the Great Depression until April 1935. On June 22, 1935, J.H. Steenkamp was invested as the church's next pastor. During his tenure, on May 14, 1939, near the railway station in Kalkfontein (now Karasburg), the cornerstone was laid for the main hall of the building that would house the Dutch Reformed Church Karasburg upon its founding in 1952. ==Sources==