A Brief History of Christian Mission in South Africa

Issues of Land Ownership and Economic and Political Power “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu Mission compounds Issues concerning land ownership were also tied to economic exploitation. If black South Africans did not have land, they no longer had the means for subsistence farming and therefore were dependent upon whites for work to survive.

European and North American Missionaries to South Africa It is important to remember that Western missionaries were part of the colonial system and carried underlying colonial views of Africans. Many Western missionaries did attempt to stand against many of the exploitive and dehumanizing practices of the colonial system.

Education and Mission Positive – Majority of South Africa’s greatest leaders received their formal education through the mission schools. Negative – Educational system built on underlying belief that to become more educated meant to abandon inferior African beliefs and accept a Western worldview.

Mission and Apartheid The Kairos Document -

AMCE African Americans Some AMCE missionaries possessed a Western mindset toward many black South Africans, in that they believed their South African counterparts to be inferior in many ways and in need of AMCE guidance and leadership. Other AMCE missionaries believed that Black South African Christians were fully capable of leading their own churches and the AMCE mission in South Africa was to engender fellowship between the two groups and to support Black South African churches in their own mission.

South African Missionaries It is important to remember to not equate Mission with Western. The majority of missionaries today are not from the West but from the Majority World. The vast majority of South African consider themselves Christian, and many of them are very active in their faith. South African churches, both those that are economically rich and poor, actively send out career missionaries. These missionaries serve in South Africa, other African countries and around the world. As an example, Berea Baptist Church, which has an annual budget of only $35,000 supported two missionaries in two neighboring African countries.