What do Kenyans think about missionaries?
by Bosibori Osusu • 10 August 2023
What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘missionaries’ or ‘mission work’? I asked this question to a number of people just to get a glimpse of what exactly Kenyans think about missionaries and the work they do. Kenya has been a missionary destination for over a hundred years now. Since the landing of Johann Ludwig Krapf from Germany in 1844, more missionaries have been coming in order to continue with mission work. Although the main purpose for missionaries in Kenya was to spread the gospel, build churches and schools and also to teach Africans how to read and write, this purpose has ‘evolved’ over the years.
There are a number of missionary outposts that have stood the test of time and are actually thriving. They include Kijabe Mission Hospital among others. From the perspective of Kenyan Christians however, it looks like less and less missionaries are coming, but we are not given any explanation about why that is the case. In a large part of Kenya, the gospel is now well known much more so than e.g., in Germany, and there are now schools for learning to read and write. Is the work of missionaries done?
“Missionaries are just disguised colonialists. Even after all this time, their intentions are not pure. They hide behind spreading the word and helping Africans, but all the while they have ulterior motives.” Said John*. Further into our conversation he kept saying that indeed there are genuine ones but we have to accept that the old school colonialism is still in some of them. “They came with the Bible and smiles on their faces, just to manipulate us.” He also added that we need to be careful in accepting ‘free help’ because sometimes we end up paying dearly for it.
“Missionaries are basically God sent. We would have remained primitive and not known anything about God, had it not been for the missionaries,” said Maggie*. “We receive so much help from them and we should be grateful. Our lives have improved so much since their coming”. She added. Her emphasis on our lives changing through knowing God was enlightening.
“Present day missionaries are just donors. People with a lot of money and are feeling philanthropic. The gospel has already been well spread across the country and the continent at large, therefore they just want to be relevant and ‘adored’ as they have always wanted.” Jane* said. “Unfortunately, we Africans are money minded and once a white man shows up, it’s assumed that they have money, so to some extent they are just giving us what we want.”
“For me, missionaries are just people who came to spread the word and teach us to read and write, a long time ago. I was not even aware that missionaries still exist. If they do, they are no longer called missionaries, are they?” said one young man named Onesmus*. His answer honestly caught me by surprise. But truth be told, most young people only know of the old era missionaries, the ones we read about in History and Christian Religious Education (C.R.E) not the ones of the current era. Does this mean that present day missionaries are operating low key?
We definitely have to admit that as Christians, missionaries have played a major role in our lives since the first one landed in Africa and as Maggie mentioned, our lives have changed so much, one way or another. However, these ‘negative’ feelings about missionaries did not just recently start. During the 19th century, which was also known as the missionary century, many missionary organizations and groups sent missionaries all over Africa.
American believers felt an urge to evangelize, after coming out of the first Great Awakening. There had however been a humanitarian push in Europe to gradually make improvements to enslavement by ministering to Africans, rather than outright fighting to abolish slavery. They felt obligated to ‘redeem’ Africa from the moral tainting caused by slavery.
According to Dr Washington, who is a professor of African Diaspora History at Calvin University, this motive to ‘civilize’ and ‘redeem’ Africans painted a dark image of these missionaries in African’s eyes. They felt that rather than seeking to help the African people, Americans and Europeans were seeking control. It created a long-term understanding by many that missionary work implies some sort of assimilation. There is an indistinguishable link between missionary movement and colonialism.
This same long-term understanding has somehow spilled over into the current era where some Kenyans still feel like in some scenarios, missionaries and their ‘work’ are just a disguised form of control, exploitation and manipulation. The more people I casually spoke to about their thoughts on this gave me more of this impression. The big question that begs to be answered here is, are missionaries truly fulfilling their purpose in Africa? Is mission work done?
Next: Inter-cultural and political dynamics on local missionaries, by Eric Bosire.
Notes:
* The names John, Maggie, Jane and Onesmus or aliases.
About the author:
Bosibori Osusu is a Kenyan Journalist. She lives and works in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.
About the image:
Photograph taken by Bosibori Osusu.
Suggested citation:
Bosibori Osusu: What do Kenyans think about missionaries?, MissionField News (ISSN 2813-2270)
https://missionfield.news/2023/13_What
2023-08-10.