CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES IN EAST AFRICA

Introduction

Christian missions were organised efforts to spread the Christian faith for the purpose of extending religious teaching at home or abroad. Christian missionaries were among the early external people to get into contact with the people of East Africa. Their coming to East Africa and Africa in general was based on a number of motives which were humanitarian, economic, political and social in nature. They carried out a number of activities such as Agriculture, exploration, evangelism, etc. whose impact on the people of East Africa is still evident today.

By the 19th century, a number of missionary groups worked in East Africa and these included;

1. The Church Missionary Society
   
2. The Holy Ghost Fathers
   
3. The University Missionary Society to Central Africa
   
4. The White Fathers
   
5. The Methodist Fathers
   
6. The Mill Hill Fathers
   
7. The Verona Fathers
   
8. The Comboni Fathers
   
9. The London Missionary Society  
   

 The pioneer missionaries in East Africa were the Church Missionary Society led by the Germans John Krapt and Johann Rebmann who arrived in East Africa around 1844 and 1846 respectively. In 1863, the University Mission Society to Central Africa moved to Zanzibar where a mission was started from Re-union and later to Bagamoyo. Cardinal Lavigerie’s formation of the White Fathers Mission in Algeria (1863) extended to other parts of Africa.

In 1877,the Church Missionary Society mission arrived in Buganda while the white fathers arrived in 1879. In 1898, the Church of Scotland Mission arrived at Kikuyu, and in 1902, the Friends Missions arrived at Kaimosi.

The roles of these missionaries varied enormously depending on the colonial context and their relations with the colonial authorities.
 
The study about Christian Missionaries in East Africa is intended to help learners conceptualise the motives, activities, challenges which early missionaries faced as well as their impact on the people of East Africa.