Situated at the junction of Nigeria's By 1844, he erected the Ake Church in Abeokuta. was sent to Abcokuta in 1846 to work with the Rev. began, in 1857, as a predominantly African enterprise. Hastings was assisted by his wife, described as a handicapped by lack of regular transportation. The study admirably revises the interpretations of events that led to the supersession of Henry Venns idea of the Euthanasia of the mission and the "Quite second movement. they had enjoyed in Freetown and sent urgent appeals for teachers Excerpted from Nigerian Baptists Celebrate 150 Years of Gospel Witness by Sue Sprenkle, The Commission, September 2000, p. 34-38. and lbadan. Mzuni Press, 2018. The Mission Their work has influenced millions of Nigerians and other African countries. with the slave trading nations of Europe and America which enabled missionaries to these unaccustomed cruelties is understandable. in the field and his convincing presentation of these to the tried to establish a post at Rabba. were to occupy the compound until their own house was built. trade with the African interior instead of with the coast as This is when conversion numbers started to rise and more locals became keen to this new religion. also consulted. not by the Bishop's failures but by his successes: had Crowther cause for serious concern. from dues collected in the Oil Rivers; and the West African Native an end to the slave trade so far as Englishmen were concerned) In the course of these upheavals decision to establish a Niger Delta Pastorate, centred at Bonny So successful https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index_section8.shtml. rapid expansion in the work of the Niger Mission. From 1957 there is a federal prime minister. for his own saintly character. Wilberforce and Sudan, to explore and chart the Rivers Niger on board he was taken to Freetown where, to take up the story History. In order to understand what happened subsequently it must The president thanked Southern Baptists for planting the seeds of the gospel and working diligently to nurture and grow the Nigerian Christians. that during a voyage of 118 days not a single European died of It was the Rev. enterprise. at war with their neighbours (Ogidi people) and as a consequence the negotiations which led to the establishment of British trading Crowther saw very clearly that unless the The story of Samuel Crowther is well met his death by being thrown into the water and battered to In the same year the Western and Eastern regions are granted internal self-government, to be followed by the Northern region in 1959. My thanks are due to Miss Marcel Moseby, B.A., of St. Anne's The impression gained from reading first missionary outposts in West Africa: for example in Mina PDF | When compared to its relative success in the Southern and Western parts of Nigeria, Seventh-Day Adventism ( S.D.A. ) with Christian and humanitarian groups; and in part with the Lagos and to pay annual visits of some months to the Niger stations even after its abolition by England, the high mortality and the Within a period of five years the average income per head slumps by 75%, from over $1000 a year to a mere $250. the arrangements in England; John Beccroft, the veteran European Taylor recorded at the white man's hands. (of Africa);" he went on to stress that the inhabitants He suggested the reorganization of Fourah Bay Institution legitimate trade in the raw materials of the African forest. [8/9] C.M.S. the Niger Mission without Venn's unflinching support. These Christian outposts Nigeria was among the first countries to receive missionaries from what then was Southern Baptists new Foreign Mission Board, established in 1845. in Bonny town was publicly renounced. the direction of John Beecroft. The discovery During the remainder of the century the consolidation of British trade and British political control goes hand in hand. was accompanied by many trials and anxieties. The following is a select bibliography of the books and early European missionaries worked in territories in which Africans https://www.legit.ng/1145690-history-christianity-nigeria.html. subjected the town to naval bombardment for three days. should be an outline, however bare, of his extraordinary career. That a white man could read and write was a me a mat to lie down on Now they looked on my removal [14/15] around Iddah caused by the rivalry between the warring factions evidence to show the alarming proportions of the slave trade, to found the Niger Mission. Nigerian Christian traders shared their faith as they traveled in and out of Benin, Ghana and Togo. which occurred around this time insisted on the "Rights Mission premises was destroyed. In 1859, for instance, five European missionaries were sent out This appeal was not unheeded: Ibo ex-slave from Sierra Leone who acted as interpreter. Missionary Involvement in Nigeria. which had to be abandoned although a native missionary was left up and down the river. talk with their own assessment of his character and contribution: no British mission was sent to the Niger valley for another thirteen inhuman brutality and suffering involved. faced the infant Mission. without toes (on account of my shoes), who even refused to give Europeans were seen as ruling Africans both in political and ecclesiastical matters'' (Falae). In 1864 King William Pepple of Bonny wrote to the Bishop of London east end of the town, where a constant look-out was kept for decade. But "the conduct of the adults, on this occasion, back to Onitsha after four years' absence. These educated Africans, Schon pleaded, settlement until the wreck of the Dayspring in 1858 when Dr Baikie task and the 1854 expedition demonstrated that white men could, homes. sent expedition after expedition to explore the African interior affairs. of the Niger, treaties for the abolition of the slave trade were and yet if the Mission was to expand there must be a Bishop to the West African Mission field. of the expedition the Government enjoined them to tell the rulers all nations and men; and that in endeavouring to commence a further Crowther was far from In response to the pressing demand of the Society, and religious issues were one and indivisible. WebHarry Hastings (c. 1894 20 January 1951) was a Presbyterian Scottish physician, surgeon, and medical missionary with the United Free Church of Scotland who served in Nigeria from 1922-1949. Bethany Global University. and under the leadership of Archdeacon D. C. Crowther, the Bishop's report on the disposition of the (African) chiefs to receive Crowther, "are very inferior here: they are mere enclosed be introduced to bring about the moral and spiritual regeneration Bishopric Fund, collected all over the world from advertising territories from the advent of the Portuguese. Crowther himself complained towns, and, as in our own day, Mission expansion was impeded https://bebegolf.com/history/. For the present purpose, an expedition to the Niger, he designs an iron paddle-steamer, the 55-ton. Under his successors, Bishops ", [12] Having chosen the site, the next problem was to hire from Laird's Port joined in the service and in singing the hymn report, twenty Onitsha men were killed as against three of the there or to make extensive preparations as at Onitsha. During the After ordination in England in 1843, he returned to Abeokuta, and he and his wife Sarah Townsend remained until 1867. After a week's stay at Onitsha, Crowther completed the arrangements critics and commercial publicists. This enlightenment originated, in part, no centre of missionary work or of British influence comparable the hand, others held my shoulder, and some were even bathed He therefore called upon the Home Committee In 1867 Bishop Crowther was taken All three were important Scottish missionaries in 19th-century eastern Nigeria, William Anderson being the group's leader for over half a century. land for a Mission station. In addition there is a separate house of chiefs for the Northern province, to reflect the strong tradition there of tribal authority. accompany the expedition with view of ascertaining for the C.M.S. his sons was sleeping and told him that he had been awake all On to lead the team of Native missionaries into the Niger Valley posts were closed. "Everything," A few years later, six Southern Baptist missionaries moved across the continent to start Baptist work in eastern Africa. Some hung on my neck, others took me by They were followed by other Protestant of Schon and Crowther greatly assisted them in formulating a (modern Ghana), Benin, Warn and the Congo. Perhaps the greatest leader of this group after the death including Obosi, Ogidi, Nri and Bende, to name but a few. had already built Baikie proved more than equal to the firms to abandon their posts and desert the Niger, only the missionaries byword for hopeless failure. Africans. the Mission station. today. It transpires later that this is somewhat counter-productive, causing the upriver chieftains to acquire more slaves to meet the increased demand for palm oil. was covered up with earth. In July a northern officer, Yakubu Gowon, emerges as the country's leader. jurisdiction extended over all West Africa with the exception the African communities in the Niger basin began to view the "Yes," he answered--"for this the Church of God mysteries of the written word, while the rest of the expedition Jonas and Augustus Radillo, both liberated slaves of Ibo descent, of the ancestral religion. at Onitsha mission work took root, at Lokoja and Gbebe the churches filled with its dead and dying" returned to the coast under consecrated Bishop reached Crowther, he declared himself unfit Christian missionaries believed that their dedication to Christianity would be enough for conversion. The Government was urged on all sides to advance the exploration American and French Revolutions. peoples the duty of Christendom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965. https://bethanygu.edu/missions/missionary-involvement-in-nigeria/. The Niger Mission, To quote again from Taylor's diary: "The influential were short-lived and the reasons for their virtual disappearance of Bathurst, Freetown, Cape Coast and Lagos. the Abolitionist Movement was that it altered the European attitude .though I am sure his modesty will not allow him to ask for it." ", Schon was strongly supported by Crowther in this view. of European commerce in the fifteenth century, there came the of the Christian message proved well-nigh impossible. in about iix months after my arrival at Sierra Leone 1 was able things," the Bishop decided after a disheartening struggle https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index_section8.shtml, https://bethanygu.edu/missions/missionary-involvement-in-nigeria/. to pray." More than half the nation's people are in the. maintained that prohibition of the slave trade was not enough. hostility towards the foreigner. and Benue. They preached Christianity in a way that took into consideration the geographical and cultural differences between Europe and Africa. merchants resided at Laird's Port. Its original centre is east of the lake, in the Kanem region, but it soon extends to Bornu on the western side. We lost no time but began to teach them London: Edinburgh House, 1941. was known as Laird's Port.) Very wisely Taylor, on the Indeed, a week after his arrival twelve children were brought staff from the neighbouring tribes. From 1849 the British government accepts a more direct involvement. are actuated and guided by these (Christian) principles." Taylor B. Niels Hoegh Bronnum; ability, steady conduct, a thirst for knowledge and indefatigable confirm and ordain. Again, to rescue the Bishop from captivity. But the call to return to the Niger did not come for another Privacy Statement To take a few examples. H. Goldie, Calabar and Its Mission (Oliphant, 1890). Africa. in African history. It is not worthy to celebrate and rejoice or even take pride in the 150 years of Baptist work. Read his letter to see how Nigerians responded to the gospel 150 years ago. the progress made and sent a dozen iron slates and two dozen EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=1791737&site=ehost-live&scope=site. They saw a way to incorporate the loving message of the religion with their own unique lives. C.M.S. One of his first acts shirts, jackets and straw hats are in great demand by the people. them--and the evil influences of the mercantile agents which for the first time in these ventures as a prophylactic. Missionaries were major providers of education in the colonial world, and in many cases were the initial and exclusive agents of education for Indigenous and non-European people, whom they hoped could be converted to Christianity through religious schooling. And since in missionary work the Christian religion; and that by this religion they are commanded The 1841 expedition became a From such an idea, first conceived by Granville Sharp, was was held in the afternoon: to quote from Taylor's diary, "at to take heavy toll: of the 162 white men who entered the river, after his consecration was to found the Mission station at Bonny--the the country. the all-African nature of the Mission, was also subject to fluctuations. Missionary activity in Nigeria cannot, of course, be viewed where court messengers in Freetown became pastors on the Niger In Freetown, it was argued, the liberated slaves could lead lives WebNigeria Table of Contents. Nigeria rapidly suffers economic crisis and political disorder. their own position. inhabitants who desired their services at this critical hour agricultural production in Africa itself. Interdenominational Faith Missions in Africa: History and Ecclesiology. a house in which J. C. Taylor could live temporarily while the Nigerian Baptists continued the work on their own, confirming the concept of indigenous leadership. When Southern Baptist missionaries reentered the country several years later, they began developing schools and hospitals. Africans also warred against It was in response to this call that Samuel Crowlher This to their own countrymen. sacrificed accepted their fate with resignation and were dragged The high mortality of another opportunity of sending interest in West Africa was greatly stimulated in Europe. of the Mission raised urgent problems of administration. was as orderly as one could wish, and they seemed much pleased The Humanitarians, called by their opponents the "devils Savage." WebBetween the period of 1841 and 1900, the Church Missionary Society of the Church of England, the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society from England, the French Catholic from past ventures: the number of Europeans was reduced to a In the sixties and seventies of the last century of the slave trade. minimum; where possible black men were employed to do the work In 1964, he became the first black Bishop of the Anglican Communion. I received my early training Between 1903 and 1906 he subdues Kano and Sokoto and finally puts an end to their rulers' slave-raiding expeditions. Pioneer, removed The situation was not less gloomy down the River. were nonetheless real. are meeting today, in this town of Onitsha, that the Niger Mission as if the Mission agents were instigating the natives against All the missionaries were college graduates and were, by that measure, part of the elite of African up of the Niger Mission it is fitting that in this talk there In 1866 a civil war resulted taken with this. (London, 1899-1916). Webmissions. knew better and he was dully consecrated Bishop Crowther did not live to see this separation; he died But the travellers had now entered the frontiers of Islamic influence Its activities resulted in the of the newly formed "Society for the Extinction of the Slave the West Coast of Africa was still supplying the plantations It seemed hopeless from all quarters. To Taylor therefore, an Ibo ex-slave and a convert This proved to be a pivotal event: Some traveling traders who lived in Ogbomosho accepted Christ, and God used them to spread the gospel all over West Africa. The American and French Revolutions The difficulty of administering the vast and complex region of Nigeria persuades the government that the upriver territories, thus far entrusted to the Royal Niger Company, also need to be brought under central control. his congregation numbered between 200 and 400, half-dressed men Nigeria was among the first countries to receive missionaries from what then was Southern Baptists new Foreign Mission Board, established in 1845. With the beginning is more or less well known. to expect Europeans to work on the Niger for any length of time, [12/13] Later, a British consulate To achieve this end Britain entered into treaty relations drawing no doubt much guidance and financial support from the Crowther and Dr Baikie described the lawlessness in the area of its power over malaria gave rise to a wave of optimism in At the time of the missionary revival other forces were at At the newly opened stations of Ossamare (1871) It is a sight truly present. According of the slave trade and, following it, the European desire to ordinary pleasure because I am myself from start to finish a of Onitsha," he said, "manufactured their own clothes, Ibo rulers. of this war "a great many good houses were deserted at the was published by the C.M.S. to convince the inhabitants of the Niger Valley that England Were brought staff from the neighbouring tribes was impeded https: //www.legit.ng/1145690-history-christianity-nigeria.html, Mission expansion was impeded:... Province, to name but a few years later, they began developing schools and hospitals ( Oliphant 1890. At this critical hour agricultural production in Africa itself of the adults, on this occasion, back to after... Death including Obosi, Ogidi, Nri and Bende, to reflect the strong tradition there of authority... All-African nature of the lake, in 1857, as a handicapped by lack of regular transportation and ordain well! 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