West Africa and Christianity. 522 0 obj <>stream homework help university courses They discovered that the holy book did not clearly prescribe monogamy, and contained several examples of renowned Christian polygamists. Their educational activities helped spread literacy and vocational skills training among Ghanaians. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. crs questions and anwers Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. The high temperatures coupled with high rainfall patterns in some parts of the country experienced during the daytime, made the missionaries stay indoors, which slowed down their activities. The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of privately owned higher education institutions in Nigeria, including those owned by religious bodies and even by their individual members. In addition to promoting a monogamous lifestyle in their schools, missionaries often insisted on divorces before polygamists or their children could even enrol. The Akim area had about 3400 converts over 32 villages and there were about 900 children distributed in 27 Schools. Being ignorant of the significance of certain institutions and practices of the people of West Africa, and occasionally being misled by their over-zealous followings into wrongly interpreting the peoples heritage, the missionaries compelled pupils in their schools and docile adult converts to shun their own ancestral practices. The Christian Connector is a great resource for Christians and aspiring ministry leaders and missionaries to apply for scholarships. Babalola, E. O. Christianity in West Africa. Several missionaries died at a youthful age due to the unfriendly tropical climate. Within ten years the C.M.S had opened twelve more schools in what is today Cross Rivers State. Operating from Whydah in what is today the Peoples Republic of Benin (formerly Dahomey), Father Berghero, in 1860, visited Abeokuta and Lagos where freed Catholic slaves from Brazil welcomed him warmly. Again, the missionaries helped to pacify Africans while their rich natural resources were being plundered by the colonial government. Debate Speech: Religion Has Failed Society, A Speech Outlining the Achievements and Problems of Your School, 7 Factors Accounting for the Shortage of Capital In West Africa, The Resurrection of Jesus According to Marks Gospel. I well remember when he came to live with me in Trenton. For example, the missionaries preached against certain aspects of African culture they considered barbaric or satanic or both. While colonial administration in colonies such as Kenya attempted to some degree to provide training for Kenyans to fill the high-level positions (Sheffield 1973:86), the attempts in many cases fell short, and when the European administration left, Kenya, for instance, had few sufficiently educated replacements (Sheffield 1973:88). 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. S.J. In 1845 the C.M.S. 1991. Church history, history of Christianity, religious history: some reflections on British missionary enterprise since the late eighteenth century. Church History 71, no. His funeral Mass was Sept. 27, followed by burial at St. Mary Cemetery at Techny. The missionaries condemned African religion, music, art, festivals and customary practices. Ralph teaches English for Academic Purposes (EAP) online. Sign in to view the collection. Looking for a flexible role? Consequently, they couldnt do much to promote the cultivation of food crops like maize, cassava, cocoyam and plantain. The Basel and Methodist Missions, for example, introduced scientific agriculture in Ghana. In Ghana, for instance, they persuaded their converts to reject polygamy and human sacrifice. The traditions and values of the community, as well as the meaning of life, were taught to the child. It is much easier to interact on an equal basis or even challenge the authority of another group when one is able to communicate in that groups language, instead of having to rely on an interpreter or non-verbal gestures, which undermine ones ability to show authority or express ones beliefs. For several years they paid attention to slave trade rather than evangelization and Christianization of the people of West-Africa. These commercial activities, therefore, made an important contribution to the economic development of Ghana. 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. others adopted a system of education varied from one and the other hence, lacking consistency in the educational sector [3]. 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. In conclusion, the converts tended to look down upon many things in their ancestral culture. Indeed, in some situations the converts were taught to feel that they were absolved from obeying their own traditional rulers and certain laws of the state. Important among these, all in Lagos, were the Baptist Academy in 1855, the C.M.S. Rev. Let's look in-depth into these scholarships. Specifically, it addresses the unique role of Christian missions in. By the close of the nineteenth century the major Christian missionary churches had opened elementary schools in many part of southern Nigeria with an enrolment of about 74,000 by the First World War. In the case of Ghana, like other nations, the impact . Early missions conducted by Roman Catholics were short-lived. Despite their significant contributions to education, local language development, agriculture and the economy as a whole, the missionaries have been criticized severally. Renewed evangelism started when the Basel (later known as Presbyterian) missionaries started work at Osu (Accra). It included the opening up of Africa to forces of change namely commerce (legitimate commerce, i.e. The story of the planting of Christianity in Nigeria would be incomplete without a mention of the Italian Roman Catholic priest, Father Berghero. By using postcolonial theory as a framework for analysis, it is evident that the Western formal education introduced to the people of the Gold Coast by the Christian missionaries and the British Colonial government did not serve the indigenous population well. The missionaries believed that in order to stabilize the faith of converts and to assist in character development, it was necessary that they should be able to read the scriptures or other books of religious instruction, translated by the missions. Next, branches of the C.M.S. Foremost in the contribution of the early Christian missionaries to the development of Ghana is their efforts to bring Western education to Ghanaians. Hugh Goldie and William Anderson. Mission schools were popular because of the new skills and opportunities they offered. The home page of Compassion Canada is that of a stereotypical Northern charity: showing pictures of suffering children alternating with those of post-intervention, happy children. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995. Their personal and family choices influenced the expansion speed of missionary education. which were for females (Graham, 1971). Buchi Emecheta This thesis discusses and assesses contribution of Christian Missionaries to education in Meru from 1908 to 1963. Following agitation by the people in 1934, the government opened the old Yaba Higher College and Medical School, which awarded diplomas acceptable only locally. Another reason why the Europeans came to spread the Christian religion in Ghana was to pave their own way into eternal glory. Their converts increased steadily in numbers until 1821 when a section broke away to form the first independent African, Christian church in West Africa, called the West Africa Methodist Church. Brief History. 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. In the Gambia, as happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the Gospel alone. Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000. In short, it was a very successful mission in making us little black Anglo-Saxon Protestants. For instance the scholar E.A. Europe in those days looked upon Africa as the Dark Continent with very primitive civilizations, and most Europeans refused to adapt their religion to suit the local situation. In addition, the contributions of celebrity missionaries, such as Christian Schwartz, William Carey, Alexander Duff, and James . Soon after the Methodist experiment, the church Missionary Society set up their own school at Badagry. skills for his or her future role in the society (Hetherington, 1979; Davidoff, 1980; Aboagye, 1997). Father Burke was preceded in death by his parents and his brother John. Wm. Soon after, in 1835 they moved up to Akropon on the hills in Akuapem, where the pioneer missionary the Rev. It is interesting to note that this project is not a new concept. 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. Again, the Wesleyan missionaries established Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast in 1876. This was around the same time that the first Portuguese sailors arrived on the coast of Ghana. Some of the positive development outcomes of former British colonies are arguably the result of a permissive attitude towards mission schools. Following ordination, he was sent to Washington, D.C., and the Catholic University of America, where he earned a masters degree in English literature. This involved learning to read in the vernacular (Hadfield cited in Bone 1969:7). 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. Although it can be said that Christian missionaries benefitted Africans by bringing in the more advanced Western education to the European colonies in Africa, it is believed that the mission schools in fact had a negative impact on the native peoples. Evans Brothers, Ltd. London. In the later 19th century, the immense African interior remained the principal object of the Catholic Priests, and from 1867 until his death in November 1892 Cardinal Lavigerie planned the planting of churches in Africa South of the Sahara. Some progressive Europeans, like the first principal of Achimota College, Rev. Furthermore, mission schools discouraged traditional ways of life outside of the classroom. Before 1925, there were only three secondary schools and three teacher training colleges in Ghana. They had to speak through few interpreters who did not have sufficient education to interpret correctly. In Nigeria, one of the lasting works of the C.M.S missionaries was the development of literature in Yoruba. He worked zealously as an evangelist and schoolmaster in the Castle School until his death in 1816. ABWE first began work in Ghana with a goal to reach unchurched Ghanaians in the Volta Region with the gospel and then to expand evangelism efforts to other parts of the country. Among the Christian missionaries that came to the Gold Coast (Ghana) were the following. He professed vows in 1953 in Conesus, N.Y., and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961 at Techny, Ill. In many instances, they made their converts rebel against traditional rulers and other spiritual leaders. Hope Waddell was later joined by the Rev. To put it differently, the motive was to gain acceptance in the sight of God so that after death they would be judged kindly by the heavenly father. "Big things have small beginnings"; so is The Presbyterian Church of Ghana. His work, however, did not extend much beyond Cape Coast and the neighbouring area. Then lets begin straightaway. After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. Cultural deprivation is what many of us suffer from []. We shall begin with the positive contribution of the Christian missionaries in Ghana. He introduced the Methodist Church in Asante in 1839, and won the support of the Asante king, Otumfour Nana Kweku Duah I who reigned between 25th August 1834 to 27th April 1867). The early African converts to Christianity, were made to abandon their ancestral culture and way of life as pagan therefore to be shunned. Nevertheless, the first higher institution in Ghana, now the Presbyterian Training College at Akuapem Akropon, was established in 1848, first as a centre for training catechists, and later to train teachers as well as ministers of the Presbyterian Church. Almost all the missions in West Africa faced financial problems in the early stages of their missionary work. Now, with the burgeoning Cocoa industry, the expansion of commercial activity, the development of gold mines and the building of roads and railways disturbed the traditional lifestyle. Bamgboye & Company Press, 1976. . The reservation of high-level positions in the colonial administrations for Europeans and the corresponding mission education that provided education fit only for lower positions meant that the withdrawal of European rule could cause serious political instability in the newly independent colonies. However, the motivation behind teaching Africans basic literacy and mathematics might not have been a cause for concern if not for the fact that the religious motivation curtailed education. 1931. The city of Akuropong capital of the Akan state of Akuapem in Ghana, has known the Christian presence during the last 186 years, initially centered on the Basel Mission, then on the Free Church of Scotland, and now on the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
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