Thus, despite what the images of suffering African children on websites such as that of Compassion Canada might lead one to believe, it is time for Africans to educate their own, without any interference. Christianity reborn: the global expansion of evangelicalism in the twentieth century. Mission schools provided a steady stream of educated Africans capable of filling the lower levels of the colonial administration and operated vocational and agricultural schools (Ayandele 1966: 295; Foster 1965: 90-91; Sheffield 1973: 10-11). Today almost all of the population is Presbyterian, although the ancestral royal cult and many spirit cults still flourish. It is obvious that the main reason why the missionaries came to Ghana was to convert the indigenous people to the Christian faith. Perhaps the greatest service of the missionaries was the promotion of western education and the development of vernacular literature. 2018). Apart from the extreme south and the Horn, the interior was hardly touched by Europeans before the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century. Before we examine the contribution of Christian missionaries in Ghana, we need to identify the missionaries that came to Ghana. Porter, Andrew. began work in many parts of Africa. All work is written to order. Renewed evangelism started when the Basel (later known as Presbyterian) missionaries started work at Osu (Accra). The story of the planting of Christianity in Nigeria would be incomplete without a mention of the Italian Roman Catholic priest, Father Berghero. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. education was an important means for mission evangelization. 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. In short, it was a very successful mission in making us little black Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Volunteers and donors to organizations such as Compassion Canada believe that they are being humanitarian when they build schools in Africa, volunteer as teachers or help in other ways to improve the quality of education in African nations, yet missionaries and colonial governments were similarly lauded as performing a great work of humanity (Beck 1966:117) and likewise believed that they were helping their African pupils. Also, the traditional doctors more often than not could not diagnose illness accurately. All rights reserved. Among his pioneering achievements, he arranged for three youths to be sent to England for training as evangelists. They did a lot to impact the social and economic lives of Africans. Although the aim of the traders was to practice commerce Just look at the lyrics of this evangelizing song written in 1819 by Reginald Heber, a prolific English hymnist in the Anglican church. Another difficulty that the early missionaries faced in the spread of Christianity was insufficient Christian literature at that time. Moreover, they introduced new crops into the Ghanaian economy. endstream endobj 504 0 obj <>>>/Lang(en)/MarkInfo<>/Metadata 55 0 R/Outlines 135 0 R/Pages 498 0 R/StructTreeRoot 142 0 R/Type/Catalog/ViewerPreferences<>>> endobj 505 0 obj <>/MediaBox[0 0 612 792]/Parent 499 0 R/Resources<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/StructParents 0/Tabs/S/Type/Page>> endobj 506 0 obj <>stream The weakening of traditional societies was not simply a consequence of the efforts of missionaries but one of their main objectives, stemming from their belief in the civilizing mission. Supporters of the civilizing mission believed that European colonial enterprises were justified as the Europeans were imparting their superior Western culture and ideas to the ignorant heathens of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Among the early Protestant evangelical societies founded in Great Britain were the Baptist Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Wesleyan Missionary Society and what became known as the Presbyterian Missionary Society of the Church of Scotland. Governments are also not free from blame even if they had a laissez-faire educational policy, as in Ghana, where until 1944 the registration of schools was not required and no attempt was made to exert detailed control even over the activities of grant-aided [by the government] institutions except for a series of minimal registrations (Foster 1965:114). After a time the idea becomes ingrained -it is heathen and unchristian to be an African culturally (Awori cited in Berman 1974:536). Hope Waddell started pioneering work, in 1846, in Calabar. 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Therefore, considering that the impact of mission education continues to have serious repercussions today, one must question whether the First World should continue to interfere in African education. Purchase a license below to view the full collection. 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. cited in Miran 2002:128). Debrunner, Hans Werner. Samuel Adu-Gyamfi And Benjamin Kye Ampadu, Ajayi, J..F.A and Michael Crowder History of West Africa. Young Vincent began his studies with the Society of the Divine Word at Divine Word Seminary at Miramar in Massachusetts in 1947. The restrictions intensified until in the second week of 1917, when all German missionaries were rounded up, brought to Accra and deportations began on December 16. The kingdom of God in Africa: A short history of African Christianity. The education and skill development of the people is the highest, most potent agent of national development that the Church imparts to its output of students, scholars, and professionals who perform various precious roles in the various sectors of the national economy for national development,' he stated. Predominantly Muslim territory, the North received western education later than the South. As happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the gospel alone. The struggle over polygamy is well-known to historians and anthropologists. As negative as all these impacts of the missionaries undoubtedly were for the African pupils, the long-term consequences are arguably as serious. Government & Politics First, missions saw education foremost as a means of conversion (Ayandele 1966: 286; Bassey 1991: 36; Berman 1974:527; Foster 1965:85; Sheffield 1973:11). Other missionaries opened mission stations in the country. People all around the world are searching for hope, but many dont have someone to tell them about the hope found in Jesus. CUP Archive, 1979. In the 19thh century, too, Afro-Brazilians returned to Benin and Nigeria with Catholicism. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Moravian Mission, the Mission of Bremen, the Methodists, and Roman Catholic missionaries all established themselves on the Gold Coast (Ghana) between 1820 and 1881, opening elementary schools for boys and girls . Ghana sits on West Africas coastline along the Gulf of Guinea, bordered by the Ivory Coast and Togo to the west and east and Burkina Faso to the north. These attempts were traumatic for the students and threatened the survival of unique cultures. The lead was followed by other missionaries, notably the Roman Catholic, whose first higher institution was St Edwards Secondary School in Freetown. Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000. One Liberian student recalls that we were taught to dress properly, to eat properly, to speak properly. Christian missions also took a leading role in the campaign to end the slave trade and to suppress slavery. Help those suffering in Turkey and Syria. All the three secondary schools in Cape Coast were mission institutions. Lewis, Donald M., ed. Ghana Education Service seeks to create an enabling environment in all educational institutions and management positions that will facilitate effective teaching and learning and efficiency in the management for the attainment of the goals of the Service. The South African War is not covered in this grouping of letters. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. There were related organizations that sprang up in Scandinavia, Holland and the USA. The first Europeans arrived at the West-African Coasts at the end of the fifteenth century. Mr. Henry Kwadwo Amoako is a Ghanaian Social Scientist, Researcher and Acclaimed Historian for over two decades. In many instances, they made their converts rebel against traditional rulers and other spiritual leaders. Among other things the regulations required that all teachers should be registered, and a minimum salary was fixed. senior high school crs These pioneer mission schools met with a discouraging response. Although Lokoja had a small C.M.S. Four volumes of incoming correspondence marked "West Africa" on the spine. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. The Presbyterians, also, opened hospitals in several parts of the country, including the one at Agogo in Asante-Akyem. Many Ghanaian communities got divided along religious lines. He told me that that amount of money could pay for school fees for five students in secondary school in Ghana.. Almost all the missions in West Africa faced financial problems in the early stages of their missionary work. Waterville Pub. Earlier in 1846, the Rev. But with the abolition of slavery, the introduction of cocoa, and the Churchs efficient school system, she gradually became the Church of the social elite. which were for females (Graham, 1971). In the Gambia, as happened in other territories, the Christian missionaries did not confine their work to the spread of the Gospel alone. Your email address will not be published. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century, informal education existed in Ghana with the goal of introducing young people into the society. It started first among the Yoruba recaptives who had embraced the Christian faith while in Sierra Leone (freed from slave trading ships by the British Royal Naval Squadron), and who returned home between 1839 and 1845. It was not until 1909 that the government opened a teacher training college and a technical school in Accra. The European missionaries believed that European culture was superior to African culture. Besides, the missionaries had to travel longer distances to inland towns from their southern stations. To supplement these missionary efforts in the field of higher education, the government opened its own secondary school in Lagos in 1909, this was Kings College. These trends occasionally brought kings into conflict with the missionaries and their converts. One of them, Philip Quaque, returned in 1765 as an ordained priest. In the same year as the Basel missionaries settled in Akuapem 1835 the Wesleyan (later Methodist) Church was established at Cape Coast by the Rev. essay writing It included the opening up of Africa to forces of change namely commerce (legitimate commerce, i.e. In fact, Jacobus Capitein, a former Ghanaian slave who became a priest in the Dutch Reformed Church in the 18th century was on record to have defended the practice of slavery. These commercial activities, therefore, made an important contribution to the economic development of Ghana. Isichei, Elizabeth. ]v#5%{,%Y{iKsZ|Cm7NismGmg_zxKYh?>bQ?ni8G.wx:qAm$ eb!^Kr$,.9Qq^|1. As we help existing churches become healthy through theological education, discipleship, pastoral training, and leadership development, we desire to see church-planting efforts within the local church soon follow. This involved learning to read in the vernacular (Hadfield cited in Bone 1969:7). Moreover, mission education formed a poor foundation for future educational conditions in the former colonies. Yes! Thus, because of the motive of proselytization, unqualified teachers, and inter-denominational rivalry, missions frequently provided poor education. If your specific country is not listed, please select the UK version of the site, as this is best suited to international visitors. Literature Wm. 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. Burns & Oates, 1979. Prior to the advent of western education, Ghana's traditional social structures had inbuilt opportunities for mobility. That there are parallels between contemporary Christian organizations efforts and the missionary efforts of the mid-nineteenth to mid- twentieth centuries is a reason for concern, considering the similar impact of missionaries of all Christian denominations on the education of Africans in the British and Italian colonies in Africa. A history of Christianity in Ghana. At the end of the eighteenth century, the Evangelical Revival began to bring to Africa an influx of missionaries whose laoburs would produce the first fruits of an enduring Christian presence in Sub-Sahara Africa. Their economic activities went beyond the development of agriculture. Again, the missionaries helped to pacify Africans while their rich natural resources were being plundered by the colonial government. Consequently, they couldnt do much to promote the cultivation of food crops like maize, cassava, cocoyam and plantain. This made it difficult for the early missionaries to stay in the country for long. The First Missionaries were sent as a result of a request by Major de Richelieu, Governor of Christiansborg. It was difficult for the European missionaries to communicate freely with the local people. The latter, non-academic form of education provided by the missions has stimulated much interest among scholars, who are particularly interested in the failure of many of these schools and the hypocritical government support for the schools, seeing as the import of cheap goods from the mother countries caused many vocational school graduates, such as seamstresses, to be unemployed (Ayandele 1966:296; Foster 1965:134). In regions where a denomination felt threatened by another denomination, the denominations were more likely to establish more schools in an attempt to gain more converts than their rival, while in regions such as northern Nigeria, where colonial policy prevented too much rivalry, schools were scarce (Bassey 1991:45). We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. Initially,. churches were firmly established in several important towns, such as Abeokuta (1846), Lagos (1851), Ibadan (1853), and Oyo (1856). Lack of transport from the coast to the interior parts of West Africa was one of the major difficulties encountered by the missionaries. Success followed the efforts of the pioneer missionaries. Get full access to all 9,566 pages that make up the Ghana in Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1886-1951 collection. After earlier unsuccessful attempts by the missionaries Chretien Proten, Henrick Huckuff and Jacobus Capitein, the Anglican, Rev. In 1880, two Roman Catholic priests of the Society of African Missions (S.M.A. They therefore set about to achieve this through introduction of formal education among the Batswana people. student life He moved to Techny in 2016. The Basel missionaries, in particular, established experimental farms and plantations in places like Akropong. With the arrival of more missions into the country came an explosion in mission schools across southern Ghana. These contradictions are surprisingly absent from contemporary research. For several years they paid attention to slave trade rather than evangelization and Christianization of the people of West-Africa. The Basel missionaries arrived on the shores of the Gold Coast in 1828 and By 1914 there were barely thirty schools in that vast area. A special memorial Mass was celebrated at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra, Ghana, on Oct. 9. In 1892, the Church Missionary Society opened the Iyi Enu Hospital in Onitsha which is today a leading hospital in Anambra state. Mission schools were popular because of the new skills and opportunities they offered. For instance, in Ghana, it was in 1858 that Rev. 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. I will earn a commission if you follow a link to purchase a product. The academic education purposely did not train Africans for the higher level positions of colonial administrations, which were mostly reserved for Europeans (Ayandele 1966:295; Sheffield 1973:42), a practise which created dependency on the colonizers, as without them the colony did not have qualified administrators. (As at December 2020). The result is that today, many Africans are alienated from their authentic ways of life. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.co.uk. This thesis discusses and assesses contribution of Christian Missionaries to education in Meru from 1908 to 1963. The pastors of the Church Missionary Society, from Badagry and later from Sierra Leone, visited these Christian communities in Abeokuta and other towns. Bamgboye & Company Press, 1976. West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
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