The Planting of a Church in Africa: the place and Role of the Afridan in the Missionary Enterprise of the Africa Inland Mission at Mulango DCC 1900- 1985

Abstract

The writing of the history of Christianity in Africa has for a long time been presented as the account of white missionaries and their activities in this savage ridden Dark continent. This approach tends to account for the success of the church planting endeavors to the commitment, sacrifice and dedication of the white persons. Other factors contributing to this growth have been treated as secondary, actually supplementary to the efforts of the missionaries. The past half a century has however seen the birth and quick development of a second approach to African historiography. This second school is called the nationalistic approach that seeks to write the history of the church in Africa, telling the story with an African bias. The proponents of this approach appear to delight in exposing the weaknesses of the missionaries while presenting the African contribution as the sole key to the success story of the evangelization of Africa. Had the African not participated, the church would not have been planted in Africa. This paper subscribes to an approach that begins with the conviction that the work of winning the world for God has a divine initiative. It is God's agenda that is executed by Him through human tools. This approach therefore seeks to make an inquiry into the means through which the witness to the kingdom was carried out. Attention is given to all factors at play, human and otherwise, giving credit where it deserves. This paper attempts to tell the story of the church of Mulango utilizing the rich resource of oral history, relying heavily on the memories of the first generation Christians, their immediate relatives and acquaintances. Since those with this information are rapidly passing on, this thesis puts into written form that story thereby preserving it. Towards that end the introduction states the purpose and the significance of this task while the first chapter reviews some of the relevant literature. The next four chapters tell the story of the church at Mulango. The second chapter looks at the traditional and cultural life of the Akamba of Mulango before the missionary invasion followed by a trace of the path of the gospel to Mulango in the third chapter. The fourth chapter takes a look at the perceived and expressed contributions of the Africans in the particular areas of discipleship, education, administration and evangelism. The nature of the transition process from the missionaries to African leadership is discussed in chapter five, after which lessons, recommendations and conclusions are offered in the last chapter.