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Africa – Missionaries and Explorers
Opening Africa up to the World Modern Africa was the product of three forces, conquest, trade and missions. Of the three, the last is the greatest factor in the expansion and modern civilisation of Africa. A little more than a century ago in 1905, it was estimated than 600 explorers had died as a direct result of the death-dealing climate and the consequences of travel in Africa, the number of missionaries are unknown. The African frontier advanced on the stepping stones of missionary graves. In 1902, seven of the leading missionary societies in America showed that the average lifespan of missionaries under their auspices had been eight years and that since 1833 the seven societies had given 195 lives to Africa. In 1905 there were 95 mission societies working in Africa. In the 1850s on the West Coast, at Gold Coast, modern day Ghana, any non-native would be fortunate if they lived more than two years! Dr. David Livingstone said, “…the opening up of a new central country is a matter of congratulations only in so far as it opens up a prospect for the elevation of the inhabitants. I view the end of the geographical feat as the beginning of missionary enterprise.” Until the advent of the European enterprise, represented by both mission and commerce, there were no roads in Africa. Yes, there was a few slave routes, navigable portions of river, crooked paths, but no roads. Thankfully things are a lot easier now. African Explorations Portugal’s, Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) took the lead in the West Coast exploration of Africa. He instructed his explorers ‘to cultivate the Negroes, establish peace and use their uttermost diligence in making converts.’ Tragically though, he permitted slavery in the ‘hope that by conversation with Christians the slaves might easily be won to the faith,’ but by stimulating greed instead of love the missionary motive was paralysed. The Congo River was discovered in 1484 and the Portuguese opened mission stations along that river. 1000s were baptised into the Catholic faith, but superficial forms were substituted for vital piety. The Continent was rounded in 1487 by Bartholomew Diaz of Portugal. He named the southern most point, Cape of Storms due to the rough weather, but King John II would have none of it, “Nay” said he, “the Cape of Good Hope shalt thou forever be named, for by this cape shall we sail to India.” Ten years later, Vasco da Gama fulfilled this prophecy. He found the new route to India and reached a port on the East Coast on Christmas Day 1497 and named it, as well as the surrounding country Natal, in commemoration of the nativity of our Lord. In 1642 the Dutch began to occupy the Cape of Good Hope. In 1788 the ‘African Association’ was founded to undertake and direct the systematic scientific exploration of Africa. It took precisely a century; 1788-1888 for the entire interior to be mapped out, though much of the Congo details were still unknown. From 1788-1830 the African Association focussed on West Africa, north of the Guinea Coast and east to Lake Tchad – discovery of the source of the Niger and following its puzzling course was the field of operations. David Livingstone focussed his mission in Southern Africa – his journey from Linyanti in South Central Africa to St. Paul de Loanda on the West Coast, his return to the East Coast, his discovery of much of the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls was the results of his labour from 1830-1862. From 1862-1876 the headwaters of the course of the Congo were the objects of search. From 1867-1887 nothing of importance in Africa exploration was attempted. In 1887, Henry M. Stanley, Livingstone’s successor undertook his third and final expedition, on the Emin Pasha Relief; crossing the continent from west to east (his second transcontinental exploit) and reached the Abyssinian coast in 1888. In 1885 the Berlin Conference took place in Germany where European powers, (English, Portuguese, German and French) partitioned Africa into European “spheres of influence.” Before they were like schoolboys who took slices of cake which did not belong to them; then they became ‘civilised’ and proportion to each a share! Egypt’s Biblical Characters Egypt is a land that has been visited by many biblical characters. A famine caused Sarah and Abraham to go down to Egypt. Joseph was sold as a slave into Potiphar’s house and became Egypt’s Prime Minister. Moses was brought up in pharaoh’s household and eventually led the Israelites from the land of Goshen into freedom. Jeremiah ministered to the remnant in Egypt and Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt with baby Jesus. Mark the Evangelist was the first bishop of Alexandria and in this renowned city; the first Missionary Training School was founded sometime before 200 AD. Three great scholars, Pantaenus, Origen and Clement became its principals. Within 200 years of Pentecost there were 900 churches in North Africa. But when Islam came to the fore five centuries later; its sword subdued those who followed in the footsteps of the One came in the sandals of the gospel of peace. New Testament Africa References North Africa According to tradition, six of the Twelve Disciples ministered in North Africa: Matthew and Thomas in Ethiopia, Peter and James the Less in Egypt and Jude and Simon in Cyrene (Libya). Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius and Augustine were giants of the early church and were all from North Africa. They encouraged missions across Africa and made the earliest translations of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek into Latin and the Vulgate. More than half of the twenty greatest names of the early church from AD 150 to 400 and a like proportion of Christian writers of the same period were North African. Athanasius, partly black was at least was one of the greatest of church leaders. From 1100 to 1300, two hundred each of Franciscans and Dominican monks lost their lives in missionary work across North Africa. St. Francis of Assisi, ‘The Apostle of Poverty’ preached to the Saracens in Egypt. Raymond Lull, a medieval missionary went to Tunis, (in modern day Tunisia) in 1300, he spent nine years in preparation, learning Arabic. The North Africa Mission (British) began work in Algeria in 1881. Britain occupied Egypt in 1882, but the British flag did not guarantee freedom from religious persecutions. Egypt Mission Band On 16 February 1897, thirteen men were present at a half-night of prayer at the YMCA, in the city of Belfast, Ireland. The Holy Spirit brought before them the need of the foreign mission field that before separating, those present we constrained to draw up and sign the following declaration: ‘Lord, I am at Thy disposal for Foreign Missionary work as soon, and, wherever Thou callest me.’ By April, of the same year the Lord had revealed to them that He wanted to call out a band (team) of seven men and send them forth and work together. They would become known as the Egypt Mission Band; five arrived in January 1898; the remaining two, after settling their business obligations arrived in October and after language study, three mission stations were set up. The Band of Seven, the Egypt Mission Band was renamed the Egyptian General Mission in 1903 and a constitution was drawn up. Sudan The Arabic word “Sudan” or “Bilad es Sudan” means “Land of the Blacks” whilst the Greek “Ethiopia” has the same meaning. More than 160 tribal languages are spoken in the Sudan with over 600 dialects. Five centuries before Christ, Ethiopia continued to be an all-exclusive term for the unknown or little unknown regions beyond the more familiar North African points and continued to be so a few centuries after that. Northern Sudan, biblically known as Cush or Meroe was a subject state of Egypt until about 1000 BC when it became independent. In the Good News Bible there are over sixty references to the Sudan and the Sudanese, the Greek Septuagint (Old Testament) calls it “Ethiopia,” Isaiah 18:1 the land beyond the rivers of Cush / Ethiopia. Church Missionary Society The Church Missionary Society began work in the Sudan in 1899, the year after the Battle of Omdurman. The first Sudanese baptism was in 1916 and by 1945 there was around 50,000 baptised Sudanese converts. At the height of the civil war in 1964 all expatriate missionaries were expelled from the south, but a few remained in Khartoum and Omdurman. In 1965, 10,000 Christian were massacred, but during the mass exile into the forests or neighbouring countries, 1000s turned to Christ. In 1978, it was estimated that the Episcopal Church had about 500,000 adherents. Abyssinia - Ethiopia Ethiopia the land of Cush – (Cushite people) figure mainly in Israel’s later history. Ethiopia and Christianity In the fourth century Frumentius of Tyre became the founder of the church in Abyssinia. He was later made bishop and known as ‘the Father of Peace.’ The Ethiopian church of Abyssinia in times past had been connected with the Coptic church of Egypt. Frumentius’ brother was Edesius, both were taken as captive at a Red Sea port and taken to Abyssinia. They were introduced to the king and after years of service were promoted to a position of authority. Frumentius was aided in his work by missionaries from Alexandria who volunteered for the field when in person he presented his cause before Anthansius in Alexandria. Abyssinia (Ethiopia) had the distinction of being the last remaining indigenous kingdom of Africa to hold its own against European overlordship. Late in the fifteenth century a fanciful story of a Christian state, led it was believed by “Prester John” gained ground for many years which led the Portuguese to take a pilgrimage to Abyssinia – in 1520 they arrived and were the first to enter into negotiations with that interesting country. The tale of Prester John was proved false. Two Lutheran missionaries entered Abyssinia in 1632, but were expelled through Jesuit intrigue. Peter Heyling of Lubeck arrived in 1635 and is known as the first Protestant missionary to Abyssinia, but he was robbed and executed by a Turkish Pasha in Cairo, Egypt in 1652. In 1768, James Bruce, a Scotchman reached Abyssinia and stayed there for five years and it was he who gave the first extended information about the country. The Bible in Nandi In 1915, Stuart M. Bryson and his wife were converted by a roaming Australian evangelist whilst at their farm in Trundle, Australia. After two years of study at the newly founded Sydney Bible College they became missionaries with the Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and in 1919 were based in Kenya. Stuart, alongside his native helper, Samuel Gimnyige, who became the first Nandi pastor in 1944, translated the Nandi Bible, the first Kenyan Bible in the vernacular. By 1927, the Nandi language was only partially known by to a few Europeans and very little had been committed to writing – Mr and Mrs Bryson were the only missionaries in Nandiland (based at Kapsabet, 600 miles from the coast) until 1933 and there was no Nandi dictionary or grammar book. In 1929, Stuart and Samuel began work on the Nandi New Testament which was completed in 1931. The Old Testament took four years and was begun in 1933 and by 1939 the complete Nandi Bible was published. Swaziland and Lesotho In Swaziland the oldest known intact place of Christian worship dates from 1912 and is a Gothic style Methodist Church which has been restored by EU funding. The Methodist Wesleyan Mission settled in the Shiselweni region, in the south in 1844. The Rev. J. Allison built a school at Sankolweni which is believed to be the first in Swaziland. The school was later moved to Mahamba where it remains today. In the landlocked country of Lesotho, the oldest church in the country is based at Morijia. This was also a sight of revival under the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society who began work in the country in 1833. Dinosaur footprints, discovered by the early missionaries can also be seen on the rock face if ones has the stamina to climb up the Morijia Mountain. Pioneering Missionaries and Mission Societies in Africa
Southern Africa
East Coast West Africa Missionary Societies ByFaith 2008 Africa Mission. Go Short-Term Mission, A Christian Guide to STMs. Go More from ByFaith The five calls of God. Go Six things to do today! Go Great Christian Revivals. Go Three simple godly habits. Go One thing I have desired of the Lord. Go What if my prayers are not answered? Go I keep watching bad stuff on TV - help! Go How Christianity made the modern world. Go Supporting University and Bible College students. Go |
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