“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.” (James 2:17-18).
Centuries ago, many missionaries journeyed and arrived successfully (largely from Europe and North America) on the African continent on evangelistic missions.
For these great men and women of God who left the comfort of their homes and countries to preach the good news in Africa, evangelism went hand-in-hand with good works rather than sensationalism, and as such many of them were instrumental to the wholesale importation of civilisation onto our continent when it was quite primitive and precarious.
It must be noted that there could be no minor missionaries to Africa at this time considering the condition of subsistence on the continent in the 18th and 19th centuries when most of these people graced Africa with their valuable presence.
Malaria fever which is easily treated today with Quinine or some more modern versions was a killer at the time accounting for the death of countless missionaries, earning Western Africa the notorious appellation, ‘white man’s grave’.
These missionaries were undeterred by the menace but streamed into tropical Africa anyway, bringing along with them Western education, civilised health, and judicial systems among other benefits.
Equally to be considered was the poor quality of housing, health care, and transportation available to these noble ones who saw value in Africans and came for missions work amongst us.
It must also be noted that apart from the untamed and dangerous physical features of the continent, the religions of the people posed an even greater danger to any stranger venturing to dwell among them because of the diabolical nature of the religions: involving unfettered acts of wickedness which we would later classify as crimes against humanity.
These religions of wickedness had shaped the values of the society and the culture of the people making them unreasonable, barbaric, and unscrupulous. The people were harmful to themselves much less considering strangers. All missionaries who chose to visit Africa for evangelism at this time must therefore be considered noble and genuine Christians.
Unfortunately, for many Africans, this group represents colonialism, since many missionaries also served as district officials in the colonial government and colonialism continues to be blamed for the misfortune and underdevelopment in Africa with minimal acknowledgment of the benefits derived from the system.
However, for us Christians, the group represents liberty from harmful cultural and social practises often stemming from the continental religions: Voodoo and Hoodoo. It also represents liberty to explore not only offered Christianity; but other more acceptable religions, a valuable asset bestowed on all Africans who would take advantage of its provisions to secure a more godly and qualitative life.
Moreover, it is most unacceptable to harbour an attitude of ingratitude towards benefactors by simply dwelling largely on the wrongs done while conveniently ignoring the benefits achieved in the course of a relationship occasioned by God. This display of ingratitude continues to ruin many great relationships with the inclusion of Marriage and all Christians should abhor this attitude while appreciating the fact that there are no blessings of God without unavoidable burdens.
Mary Mitchell Slessor: born on the 2nd of December, 1848 in Aberdeen; Scotland, was one of the many missionaries who visited Africa on evangelistic mission at the said time, arriving in the Eastern part of Nigeria to work in the Calabar region in 1876, she was single, aged 28, and of the United Presbyterian Church fold.
The Presbyterian Church had established a mission base in the Calabar region by 1845, motivated by the Nigerian slaves who were sold to Jamaica, and in 1824 wanted a Christian mission work started in their country of origin.
Slessor was posted to this Calabar base and upon her arrival, she learnt to speak Efik, the language of the natives among whom she would work. She began her work as a Teacher while preaching the gospel of Christ by building mission structures for worship and abandoned twins and their mothers but would later serve as district judge presiding over native courts.
Slessor’s mission and district work began in Calabar but later extended to Arochukwu, Okoyong, Old Town, Creek Town, Iban, and many other villages within the protectorate.
It is noteworthy that at the time of Slessor’s arrival in the Calabar region, the entire region was involved in the practise of paganism but the coastal town of Calabar was the hub of all manners of Barbaric practises and criminality further escalated by the lessons learnt from depraved white slave merchants who were trading on the coast. Here was a place where human life was worthless as many heathen sacrifices performed culturally involved human sacrifices.
This could range from burying wives alive along with dead husbands of position or chiefs, decapitation of slaves and burying of their heads along with their master’s corpse, human sacrifices to appease deities to sacrificing a human being to succeed on a fishing expedition.
There was also the notorious infanticide of twins and cruel femicide of their mothers emanating from a belief that one of the twins was conceived as a result of the mother’s relationship with a demon and since it was difficult to determine which of the twins was fathered by a demon, the two would be discarded into an evil forest and left to die while the mother would be killed or banished from the community.
Equally occurring was the drinking of harmful potions to determine innocence or guilt in the course of dispute resolution, potions that could potentially engender health problems after mediation. Slessor worked among these people for about 39 years planting churches in the hinterland and occasioning the arrival of many missionaries to serve in the country.
Most significantly in the course of her work, she recorded a major achievement of ending the cultural killing of twins and their mothers and also ending the administering of poisonous potions in resolving disputes at Okoyong and other hamlets sharing these cultures.
For these laudable contributions to our society, the Christian community must continue to appreciate Mary Mitchell Slessor, whose enduring good works have continued to influence our cultures and thinking. Slessor died at Use Ikot Oku, on the 13th of January, 1915 from fever following a dog bite and was buried on Mission Hill, Calabar.
Nevertheless, harmful cultural and social practises (such as female genital mutilation, wicked widowhood rites and inheritance cultures, human sacrifices for ending poverty or achieving business success, and the hideous culture of clandestinely terminating lives in obedience to evil spirits) continue to thrive among us but no more Slessors are coming to save us from ourselves.
Men and women of courage and of African descent must rise to the occasion and save Africa from these evil practises emanating, not from the innate wickedness of the African heart but from the sinister religions inherited from our ancestors.
Dare Oduwole is a Nouthetic Christian counsellor and founder of Godly Counsel Christian Foundation, Abuja. She can be contacted via 08027291632.
