Christian Missionaries in Africa: Then and Now
Children and women suffering in Africa are often helped by missionaries. They strive to provide children with nutrition, school fees, and spiritual guidance. Slowly but surely, missionaries are improving the lives of children and women searching for peace throughout Africa.
One factor that helped the spread of Christianity in Africa and missionaries to be more accepted was that former slaves who had been captured returned to Africa as Christians. These black preachers helped transform how Christianity was viewed in Africa. They pointed out similarities between Christian lessons and traditional African beliefs that tied together the cultures.
Nowadays missionaries are perceived better depending on the area and specific culture. In regions where missionaries are welcomed by the local Africans, they are treated with respect and appreciation.
How/Why it Changed
These preachers also stressed the importance of Africans getting involved in missionary activity, which other missionaries hadn't done before. This sense of community caused the natives to be more willing to understand and participate in Christianity.
Missionary Involvement Now
Transportation is more advanced so short term trips can be taken more often and with more people. Since technology has also improved, so has communication, therefore churches in Africa can easily communicate and form relationships with other churches around the world.
The bible being translated to African also was a large part of why Christianity became successful. The teachings in it convinced many Africans to convert and become devoted Christians.
Many pastors and churches nowadays have different intentions than those of the 1800s and earlier times. Now, they visit fellow Christian churches in Africa to try to improve the community and daily life. This switch from previous intentions of greed and self assurance led to Africans becoming more accepting.
Many modern pastors often take trips to parts of Africa to visit "sister" churches and help the community rather than try to convert the masses and gain wealth and status. Large church groups can attend these trips and try to have a positive impact on native Africans. Many of the Africans are gracious and enjoy the visits, which goes to show just how much reception of missionaries in Africa has changed.
Christian Missionaries In Africa
Then and Now
Unfortunately, not all Christian missionary involvement is having a positive effect on Africa. Rivalry between Muslim and Christian churches lead to violence in several communities. Some Christians are even severely persecuted in certain parts of Africa. This violence is similar to that portrayed in Chinua Achebe's novel "Things Fall Apart".
by Nicole Thurn, Mikayla Murphy, and Carter Bins
Works Cited
Africans were not very accepting of missionaries in the 1800s. During that time period, missionaries, although partly concerned with "saving humanity" and spreading Christianity, were greatly preoccupied with self-righteousness. Many missionaries of that time were also looking for material advantage and psychological security, therefore simply taking advantage of local Africans and fueling their hatred.
- Wilson, James. "Africa Wrestling with Christianity?" Africa Rising 27 June, 2011. Blogger. n.d. Web. 7 October, 2013. http://risingafrica.blogspot.com/2011/06/africa-wrestling-with-christianity.html
- "Christian Missionaries in East Africa" ELATE. n.p. n.d. 7 October, 2013
- Murphy, Dennis. Personal interview. 7 October 2013.
- Mission Africa. Qua Iboe Fellowship. n.p. n.d. Web. 11 October, 2013. http://www.missionafrica.org.uk/
Missionaries were often single men and stayed in Africa for practically their whole lives. At the most, they'd bring one person , their wife, not their whole family. This meant that they could devote their entire life to converting Africans.
- South African History Online. June 2000. Web. 11 October, 2013
Missionary Involvement Then
In the novel "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, missionaries get involved with their village and culture. Although as of now we don't know how they react, since the time is the late 1800s, we can assume the natives didn't receive the missionaries well since at the time they were viewed negatively.
Traveling was very difficult since they didn't have modern technical advances. Their main form of transportation was boat, which made it very difficult to get to and from Africa. Due to this, slaves being shipped to the new world were exposed to severe conditions and up to 10% of slaves died.
However, not all missionary involvement had a negative impact on Africans. Several missionaries helped establish free rehabilitation centers and places for freed slaves to retreat. They also helped develop skills such as agriculture and carpentry, which benefited Africans greatly.