So, when talking about the impact of Christianity in Nigeria, we should mention how the helped them advance this area. . Catholicism in Nigeria | Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity Aged just 28, she sailed to West Africa in August 1876 and was assigned to the Calabar region. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12), Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange was happening to you. Christian Missions in Africa: Primary Sources - Mission Records Among these were the Congregation of the Holy Ghost (commonly known as the Holy Ghost Father), the Society of African Missions (SMA), the Society of Missionaries of Africa, popularly known as the White Fathers because of the white Muslim-like clothing which the Fathers wore, and the society of the Divine Word (SVD, abbreviated from its Latin name). After an unsuccessful beginning by the society of African Missions (SMA), this missionary body moved into other territories in what is now Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria. Ten Ways Missions Has Influenced Africa - IMB He became known as the "Apostle to . Lastly, the missionaries were not used to eating our local foods. Ministry/Place of Ministry. 3:03 am. Among several others, the native Bishop Ajayi Crowther produced the first translation of the Bible in Yoruba. *Government College Umuahia, 1927; In such situations, the message sometimes appealed to the local people depending on the efficiency of the interpreter. The effects of work done by Bishop Ajayi Crowther, assisted by the Igbo recaptive the Rev. She participated in establishing mission presence in Abeokuta for over two decades. https://bethanygu.edu/missions/missionary-involvement-in-nigeria/. Thus as early as 1823, the Roman Catholic Sisters started a clinic for the sick and for children in Banjul. A new era began with the settlements of Black Christians from Nova Scotia in Sierra Leone in 1787 and the missionary advance inland from Cape Town beginning with the arrival there of J. T. van der Kemp in 1799. 1809-1898. Its the generous support of our ministry partners that enables us to continue our eternity-shaping work. Mary Slessor was the first women missionary in Nigeria, Africa, during the early 1900s. Christianity in Nigeria: History and Impacts - Nigerian Finder Kalu, Ogbu. 1813-1843. Origins of the Niger Mission 1841-1891, by K. Onwuka Dike (1957) REPORT: How COVID-19 increased child labour in Lagos state (parents, children share experiences), READ ALSO: Meet Footballers Who Converted To Christianity From Islam. Please click this link to download the chapter. Another valuable contribution of the Christian missionaries in West Africa was the development of literature in the local vernaculars, this included the translation of the Bible into some of the important local languages. It was difficult for the European missionaries to communicate freely with the local people. *Baptist Academy, Lagos, 1885; It was only after the Second World War that the colonial governments started to show a real interest in the promotion of formal education in West Africa. Badagry was so receptive to missionaries at that time, so he moved to Abeokuta before finally settling in Ibadan in 1853, where he carried on preaching engagements and educating young children with the aid of his wife, Anna Hinderer. The emergence of the Christian Church in this region had to struggle with the difficulties three different contexts brought. The first Europeans arrived at the West-African Coasts at the end of the fifteenth century. During 1859 and 1860, when native attacks were resumed, the work of the Mission virtually came to a standstill, and in 1861, when MacGregor Laird died, nearly all the trading . If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and God rests upon you. (1 Peter 4:12-14), Be nice to bandits, Sheikh Gumi tells Nigerians, releases tips on how to live peacefully with them, Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! (Luke 6:22), The beginning of the history of Christianity in Nigeria. The President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu, has assured Nigerian workers of a minimum wage, social and economic justice. The Church of Scotland started missionary work in the area of Calabar. They preached Christianity in a way that took into consideration the geographical and cultural differences between Europe and Africa. Chaplains were assigned to forts, but their role was to serve the Europeans, not to evangelize Africans. Prior to advent of the Christian missionaries and indeed well into the pre-independence period, most sick people depended for cure upon concoction herbs and roots and barks of trees. However, the first fruit became possible, as the Americans and British decided to free the slaves. There was also a growing number of Nigerian pastors and independent Nigerian churches at the time. *Baptist High School, Bodija, Ibadan, 1940; In a solidarity message to mark International Workers' Day, he said his administration would leave no stone unturned to put in place measures aimed at empowering the Nigerian workers. To follow suit and take a bow is Methodist Boys High School, 1878. *Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Anambra, 1927; Both of these missionaries are working to share the Gospel with the Nigerian people. While it has brought undoubted benefits, it has also harmed the traditional way of life. Bamgboye & Company Press, 1976. The next major Christian missionaries to go out to Sierra Leone were the Roman Catholics. The Surprising Countries Most Missionaries Are Sent From a | News God the Creator of all, including time, has packaged everything in this world in time. They believed in juju, magic and witchcraft. A new attempt to spread Christianity was made when the Church Missionary Society (CMS) arrived from Britain in 1821. *Queen of the Rosary College, Onitsha, 1942; Library Catalog A German missionary with Church Missionary Society, he arrived in Badagry on March 25, 1849. LITERACY - Total Population: 86.7% . After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. Depending on the year of the survey conducted as well as the organization that conducted it, the numbers differ as well as the ratio of Muslims to Christians. Randy was interviewed by his local church, Good Shepherd, for their annual Global Outreach weekend. She encouraged womens rights and protected children, notably, in the abolition of infanticide of twins in the Efik regions. The Church had its strongest hold in the Senegambia area. There were only bush paths, and no roads in the early times. Catholicism in Nigeria. 2017: Pastor Weiser retires in June, and Missionary Jeff Heitsch is called to serve Nigeria half-time from Cameroon. It was not until the nineteenth century, that the new religion was really established in West Africa. In 1858 ten years after the founding of the first college, the Presbyterians opened a sister college at Aburi for the training of women teachers. That is why, they had a contact with the rest of the world throughout the whole time, especially during the Middle Ages. The next stop was Ibadan, St. Annes School, Molete, Ibadan. Two missionaries serving in Nigeria currently are Katie Morrison with Mission Africa & Youth with a Mission (YWAM). From the beginning of the world, the Lord has decreed that there will always be the season of harvest. He facilitated several social reforms such as the abolition of human sacrifices in aristocratic funerals, in collaboration with Rev. Instead of adapting the teachings and practices of the new religion to suit indigenous values, as it did when the same Christian religion adopted Greek, Roman, German and Anglo-Saxon native practices, the early Christian missionaries condemned totally as pagan, and to be avoided by their converts, whatever they considered strange. Among other things the regulations required that all teachers should be registered, and a minimum salary was fixed. Though their first attempt was unsuccessful, these missionaries persisted and in the 19 th Century, there was a successful expansion of Christian missions in Nigeria. Here are six Christian missionaries who gave up everything for Christ. In 1859, the first newspaper in Yoruba, called the Iwe-Irohim, was published by the missionaries. Again, in West-Africa, the efforts to go beyond the coast to reach those inland with the gospel coincided with the southwards expansion of Islam which posed some threat to the expansion of the work of Christian evangelizing missions. West Africa and Christianity. Christian missions also took a leading role in the campaign to end the slave trade and to suppress slavery. *Anglican Girls Grammar School, Lagos, 1945. He married her, and was later re-engaged by the society. The tropical climatic condition in the country was not favourable to the early missionaries who came to the shores of West Africa. This special relationship continued until 1960 when Fourah Bay became a college of the newly reconstituted University of Sierra Leone; the other constituent college located at Njala developed from a training college founded in 1920. Charles Thomas Studd was a famous English cricketer who went on to be a missionary to China, Africa and India. Apart from giving to the converts a new religious faith which they consider is superior to the traditional religions, the Christian missionaries did pioneering work in introducing new crafts, industries, Western education and modern health services. In conclusion, the converts tended to look down upon many things in their ancestral culture. This instruction in 1948 developed into the University College in Ibadan. Similar organizations were formed in several other European countries. By 1885, the church had spread further inland, thanks to Father Joseph Lutz who started work around Onitsha in 1886 and spread the gospel in many parts of the present day Imo and Anambra States. William Winter was a missionary with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod that participated in missionary work in Ibesikpo between 1944 and 1948. But in 1800, he baptised his first convert to Christianity, and over more than 20 years went on to translate the Bible into dozens of major Indian languages and dialects. He saw no conversions for seven years, his son Peter died of dysentery and his wife's mental health deteriorated rapidly. He was a missionary that participated in missionary work in Ibesikpo under the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod during the mid-1940s. He was a missionary that engaged in preaching engagements in Ijaye after he arrived from Abeokuta in 1853. *Government College, Katsina-Ala, 1914; Before they came, Nigerians were uneducated. They helped them promote better situation with the translation and literature in the state to help them keep up with the rest of the world. Another important German missionary was Wilhelm Johannson, better known by the English version of his name, William Johnson, who is revered in the history of the CMS in West Africa. The missionaries also greatly improved the health services. Henry Townsend. James Fieldhouse, produced a Wolof Grammar in 1876. Cohn Teaguefirst American missionariesto Sierra Leone, Devotional writer and promoter of missionary awakening(South Africa), Slavery abolished throughout British colonies, Indian pioneer in educational and medical missions, Norwegian missionary to Swaziland (South Africa), William Henry Shepherd (African American), Canadian missionary to China and Indonesia, Literacy pioneer and missionary (Philippines), Founder of SIL/Wycliffe and missionary to Guatemala, 1991 - 2023 Eternal Perspective MinistriesAll Rights Reserved. William Gladstone. He was followed, three years afterwards, by the Rev. He resigned from BMS when it emerged that his Jamaican housekeeper was pregnant with his child. If youve been impacted by our resources, we invite you to make a year-end gift before December 31. Another difficulty that the early missionaries faced in the spread of Christianity was insufficient Christian literature at that time. Soon after the start of elementary schools, the missionaries started opening higher institutions also. In the early missionary literature, Nigeria and indeed Africa was characterized as one of the universal den of desolation, misery, and crime, and certainly, of all the divisions of the globe it has always had an unfortunate preeminence in degradation, wretchedness and woe (Coleman, 1986). The people received the message with indifference. President-Elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pledged to put in place a living wage for Nigerian workers. A Cornish missionary and explorer, George Grenfell served as a Baptist missionary in Cameroon in the late 1800s. However, the discovery of quinine and other curative medicines in the late 19th century made the history of the missionary work in West Africa a different thing altogether. Etherington, Norman. Finally, another factor that the Church had to deal with was that of the British invasion which brought its own system. Evans Brothers, Ltd. London. Ajayi Crowther in writing hymns in the Yoruba language as well as publishing a Yoruba newspaper in 1859. Thomas Birch Freeman - Anglo-African missionary and colonial official in West Africa Francis Dunlap Gamewell - chief of fortifications, Boxer Rebellion, China Mary Ninde Gamewell - American missionary in China; writer Mary Porter Gamewell - American missionary in China George Richmond Grose - missionary to China Accessed February 26, 2021. "At the turn of the [19th] century [CMS] had a staff of 1,300 missionaries, 375 local clergy, 1,000 local agents and teachers and an annual income of the equivalent of 20 million." ( http://www.adammatthew-publications.co.uk/digital_guides/cms_section_VII_parts_1_and_2/Publishers-Note-Part-1.aspx) A Brief History Of Missionary Efforts In Nigeria - Sermon Central CUP Archive, 1979. In Nigeria, one of the lasting works of the C.M.S missionaries was the development of literature in Yoruba. A notable example was the Asafo Company, a purely military and social organisation of the peoples of Ghana, which was condemned by the early missionaries because of its presumed connection with fetish practices. The training college later became part of Achimota College. House, 1967. List of Early Missionaries in Nigeria - Nigerian Finder Elliot and his fellow missionaries initiated contact with the tribe after being taught some of their language; first by dropping gifts down from a plane and later establishing a camp not far from the Waodani settlement. He is considered to have laid the foundation for Christian witness in tropical Africa. Babalola, E. O. Christianity in West Africa. The oldest secondary school in Nigeria, it was founded on 06 June, 1859. Other sources mention that this number is around eighty-five million. According to his biography by Norman Grubb, in one of his last letters home, Studd wrote: "As I believe I am now nearing my departure from this world, I have but a few things to rejoice in; they are these: 1. The coming of Christianity to Nigeria I (Primary 6) The Niger areas were first touched by the Christian missionaries thanks to the effort of Sir William Wilberforce who fought for the freedom of the slaves. Until almost the end of the colonial period education was still largely in the hands of the churches. The first context was that of the Islamic raids which got so popular that people not always could escape from it and choose what they wanted to believe in. The people in Nigeria and their traditions which they believed and worship God. Soon after the Methodist experiment, the church Missionary Society set up their own school at Badagry. But the equality of believers is an idea. *Methodist College, Uzuakoli, 1923; He was a missionary from Sierra Leone that arrived in Nigeria in March 1859. AMVERIFIED: Africas indigenous social network community. From Lagos, efforts moved to the East. Europeans were not only curious to explore the lands but also the native people. Prepared by Doug Nichols, Action International Ministries, (and a few other well-known historical and church figures and events), Bible Translation, founded boarding schools with Carey(India), A missionary leader with the British Baptist mission(India), Jamaica One of first American missionaries, Pastored first black church in America and becamemissionary to Sierra Leone, With Rev. C.M.S. Missionaries -- Nigeria Cecil F. and Marie Roberson were Southern Baptist missionaries in Nigeria between the 1950s and 1970s. As happened in other colonial territories, the government did not show great interest in the provision of education in Ghana until the missionaries had extended their services throughout the country and had set up primary schools and a few secondary schools and training colleges. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004. As a result of such unstable situation, the Christian missions only got here in the 1840s. West African Senior School Certificate Examination. Civil Servants in Cross River said the lifting of embargo placed on promotion of civil servants by Gov. Gladys Aylward was a British evangelical Christian missionary to China in the 20th century. For several years they paid attention to slave trade rather than evangelization and Christianization of the people of West-Africa. Another missionary whose memory is revered in Nigeria was Mary Slessor, she arrived in the country in 1876, and for many years worked assiduously as a missionary nurse. The late Eighteenth Century witnessed the rise of Christian groups in Europe that resorted to the evangelization of Africa. Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropon on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. One gift God has given to every man equally is the gift of time. 4,039 Total People Groups. But the funds and other needed materials even when available could not reach their station in time. In Sierra Leone, among the earliest higher institutions which the C.M.S. The impact of Christianity on West African society has persisted to this day. The first secondary school in the East was Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar, now Cross River State capital. Unlike the Portuguese, the French colonial officials encouraged the Christian missionaries in the promotion of formal education and social services, notably health. And for our independence and banished ignorance, for broadening minds so we could recognize liberty and freedom. The brief history of Christianity in Nigeria. Apart from the extreme south and the Horn, the interior was hardly touched by Europeans before the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century. Christianity reborn: the global expansion of evangelicalism in the twentieth century. This influenced the country greatly too. She went on to serve in the Chinese government as a 'foot inspector' visiting women all over the country to make sure they were following the new law against foot-binding which she saw as part of her missionary work. Baker Pub Group, 1996. Missionary activity in Nigeria cannot, of course, be viewed apart from the general European invasion of the West African territories from the advent of the Portuguese. He successfully established churches in Ibesikpo, which gave rise to the present Lutheran Church of Nigeria. South Africa, 1919-1928. That I joyfully acted as Christ told that rich young man to act. The first attempts to bring Christianity to the area where the modern country is today date back to the 1470s and 1620s. Mr & Mrs Jim & Doris Guth Custer (served at SIM Teachers Training College, Igbaja) 4. Hope Waddell started pioneering work, in 1846, in Calabar. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995. In such asituation, provisions and other things had to be sent into the country not in large quantities as would have been desired by the missionaries. The first missionaries in the Western regions were Methodists and Baptists. No doubt, we shall continue to be in the dark, unless God leads us into His light. British Prime Minister. Catholic, Protestant, and Anglican missionaries were all trying to convert the native African people, often coming into conflict with one another. The government gave grants according to the strength of the staff and the efficiency of the school judged by inspection reports and the results of public examinations. Christian missionary activities in West Africa, https://wasscehistorytextbook.com/6-christian-missionary-activities-in-west-africa/, https://webbschool.libguides.com/PurpleHibiscusResearch2021. The story generated worldwide news coverage, and Elliot's wife, Elisabeth, has since written a bestselling book entitled 'Through the Gates of Splendor' about her husband's journey. Privacy Policy. T. Nelson. *Government Secondary School, Ilorin, 1914; She arrived in Ibadan in 1852, and with her husband, David Hinderer, they set up a mission in Ibadan and also built schools for young children which she taught and ran the affairs. Of 31 secondary schools surveyed from 1859 and 1037, only the government, federal or state, established seven; 24 belonged to the Missions. The early missionaries set up craft centres as part of their educational programmes. The Methodists founded Mfantsipim (1876) for boys and Wesley Girls High School (1884). Missionaries today have brought education, medical care, and Holistic Development Centers into Nigeria. Name. *United Memorial Grammar School, Ibadan, 1928; Hastings, Adrian. It was founded in 1895. Missions Statistics The Traveling Team List of Christian missionaries - Wikipedia A Anglican missionaries in Nigeria (8 P) M Mormon missionaries in Nigeria (7 P) P Protestant missionaries in Nigeria (5 C, 8 P) R Roman Catholic missionaries in Nigeria (20 P) Legit Nigeria. Ben Ayade came late. Another important German missionary was Wilhelm Johannson, better known by the English version of his name, William Johnson, who is revered in the history of the CMS in West Africa. He shares some of his family's experiences visiting missionaries. Nigeria 213.53. 3 (2002): 555-584. The problems created by the white missionaries themselves arose largely from a misconception of what Africa represented. *Methodist Boys High School, Oron, 1903; We recognize sophistry and cant. J. G. Christaller produced a Twi Grammar and Dictionary. 2 Timothy) are used to provide aid without requiring conversion. Ayades lifting of promotion embargo came late, says workers, May Day: I will pay you living wage not minimum wage, Tinubu tells Nigerian workers, Pomp as women group donates science lab, borehole to school. At the same time, the first missionaries in the East were Catholics and Presbyterians. Within a short time the missionaries spread their activities inland. 6: Christian Missionary Activities in West Africa Category:Christian missionaries in Nigeria - Wikipedia In this chapter, we shall examine how Christianity and Western-style education influenced West Africans values, attitudes and life-styles. Their converts, for many years, were confined to the people of southern Nigerian extraction resident in the north, and to the-large non-Muslim population of the north. What Are The Impacts Of Missionaries In Nigeria? Fiedler, Klaus.
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