3. Introduction
3.4 The advent of the Swedish Evangelical Mission and establishment of stations
meeting was conducted in the Bena language, making a tremendous advance from the meetings under Schuler.193
After the experience of the effects of the First World War on the missionary work, a decision to train indigenous leaders was made and Christians were taught stewardship. Each member of the church was required to give a certain amount in the form of an offering to the church. This offering was called ulezi. There was an increase every year. In 1926 the amount of offering per Christian was Sh. 2.50 per year. The church, also, had a farm which they called "the farm of God". In addition, each member who was baptized or took part in the Holy Communion had to pay a certain amount to the church. These contributions from the Christians supported the administrative work of the church.
3.4 The advent of the Swedish Evangelical Mission and
on 18 June 1861, the SEM reviewed its aims of service. It resolved to
"form a special department for foreign mission with a view to sending out missionaries and farmers who shall settle at appointed places in heathen parts and train indigenous mission workers through the work of the Gospel".197
In 1923, the first missionary sent by the SEM, Dr. Erik Soderstrom, arrived in Wollaga in Ethiopia and settled in the Neqamte area. Pastor Martin Nordfeldt, who in 1927 opened a mission station in Najjo in Ethiopia, followed Soderstrom. In 1935 there was a war in Ethiopia and the Swedish missionaries had to flee due to harassment by the Italians. Therefore, in 1937, the SEM decided to send two missionaries to Kenya and Tanganyika to find new mission fields, and these missionaries were pastors Martin Nordfeldt and Herbert Uhlin .198
In September 1938 the first Swedish missionaries, Martin Nordfeldt and Herbert Uhlin;-arrived in Tanzania and went to Pommern in the Iringa area. The aim of the visit was to find a mission field. After some discussion with Pastor Hermann Neuberg, who was then in charge of Uhehe and Ulanga district, it was agreed that SEM had to direct their efforts to the east of Iringa town. This was a strategy to block the Roman Catholic Church from advancing in that direction. 199 The Benedictines had already established a mission station at Tosamaganga since 1898.200 Nordfeldt, after getting approval from the British officials in Iringa, opened a mission station at I1ula in 1938, while Pastor Herbert Uhlin went to Dongobesh where the SEM had established a mission station earlier.
197 Ibid., p. 120.
198Olav Fjose, Historia ya KKKT-Sinodi ya Mbulu (The History of the ELCT- Mbulu Synod), (Nairobi: Acme Press (K) Ltd., 1993), p. 15.
199 S. N. Kilimhana, Karne ya Kwanza ya Injili 1891-1991 (100years of the Gospel), (Dar es Salaam: Dar es Salaam University Press, 1991), p. 25.
Pastor Martin Nordfeldt first went to Mahenge in an attempt to establish a station. Because the place was too hot, he decided to go to the IIula-Luganga area. He could not settle at Luganga because some members of the community, such as Kimwagawukali Mwachusi, Kiwele Mwakungile and Sungamkali Mwanyembe, would not allow him, even though he had collected some bUilding materials. The experience of the Hehe with the Germans at Lugalo and Kalenga was a strong reason for their resistance.201 With great determination Pastor Nordfeldt went up to Image village to a place called Ibanavanu to see whether there was a possibility of getting a site to establish a mission station.
Ibanavanu is a nice plateau with good scenery. This was also the place where the jumbe (local chief) of the area, Yotimembe Mwamaginga, stayed. The jumbe refused to give him a piece of land for his mission because of security reasons. Nordfeldt went back to a place called Itunda in IIula. Finally, at Itunda, Nordfeldt was accepted by jumbe Suluti Mwachongoma. Mwachongoma gave the missionary a house.
Later, Suluti reported the issue to the leader of the Hehe, Chief Adam Sa pi Mkwawa who, in turn, gave permission for him to establish a mission station.202
Pastor Nordfeldt gave the local chief, Suluti Mwachongoma, Tsh. 100 (equivalent to 2,000,000 Tanzanian Shillings today) for allowing him to establish a mission station in his territory. The role of Suluti was significant for the establishment of the mission in IIula. Nordfeldt, with the help of indigenous teachers such as Lupituko Mkemwa and Yotamu Mkemwa from Udzungwa, who had working experience with the German missionaries in Udzungwa, embarked on the mission work in
200 Owdenburg Mdegela, Miaka 100 ya Injili Uheheni (100 years of the Gospel in Uhehe) 1899-1999 (Dar es Salaam: Inter Press of Tanzania Ltd. 2000), p. 9.
201 Interview with John Msigomba, 12 August 1999, Iringa.
202 Interview with John Msigomba, 12 August 1999, Iringa.
the IIula area. The teachers were also interpreters of the Kibena language into Kihehe. Joseph Benjamin, who accompanied the missionary from Ethiopia, became a teacher of the bush-school, as well as an interpreter. As evangelism took place, efforts to establish a mission station commenced. In early April people started to make bricks and in August 1939 two houses started to be built. On 1 September 1939, Pastor Nordfeldt moved into the new house, while the second one was used as a dispensary under Sister Greta.203
Since the missionary was new to the area and was faced with the language barrier, he used three ways to meet his goal of spreading the word of God. He opened schools, followed by medical care and then evangelism. The pattern of development of mission schools in most areas was surprisingly similar. Education started at the main mission station. Usually, the missionary started off by inviting a few young men of the community around the mission station to attend lessons in -reading and writing-:-In most cases, the school was begun with full
understanding, approval and support of the local ruler.204
Once the main school at the central mission station was well established, and the need for other schools was felt, small out-schools or, as they came to be referred to by the British officials "bush schools", were established in the neighbouring Villages around the mission station. Africans ran the bush schools with rudimentary education from the main school. Occasionally missionary teachers from the mission station visited out-schools, not so much to get involved in teaching as to inspect the facilities and how the African teachers carried on.205
203 Interview with Edward Mnyawami 12 December 2000, Iringa.
204 Interview with Edward Mnyawami, 12 December 2000, Iringa.
205 Interview with Edward Mnyawami, 12 December 2000, Iringa.
In order to get people Pastor Nordfelt opened a bush school at IIula and put it under the leadership of Joseph Benjamin. The first students to enroll in the school were Yeremia Msola, Juma Chongoma and Simbamalindi Mnenegwa. Nordfeldt visited thejumbes and asked them to tell the people to send their children to school. The education offered was free and this attracted more students to join. These students learned religion, Christian education, reading, writing and singing.206
According to the school programme, religion was given special weight.
The day started by singing Christian songs from the church hymnal, which was in Kibena, reading the word of God and saying prayers. The day ended in the same manner. General body cleanliness of each student was observed and each student had to have a school uniform.
The smartness of the students attracted many children to join the school. Classes were held in a simple building made out of mud walls and thatched roofs-although, later on, permanent buildings were built.
Medical care started immediately in 1938 under Sister Greta. However, although the dispensary was available it took a while to convince them. They were suspicious about whether a European could give them medicine that would cure them or whether it could be a way of killing them, thus, the people were afraid.207
According to Sister Greta, a Swedish nurse, one day a man went to see her and had a donkey with him. The donkey had an open sore and the man wanted Greta to treat it. Greta hesitated and advised the man to go to Iringa to consult the veterinary officer. But since Iringa was far and the donkey was very ill, she decided to dispense the donkey.
206 Interview with Elizabeth Msola, 13 January 2001, I1ula.
207 Interview with Elizabeth Msola, 13 January 2001, I1ula.
The man was asked to come with the donkey every day for a week.
Eventually the donkey was healed. After this incident the man, who happened to be the local chief of the area, recommended that people with health problems could visit the facility for treatment. Gradually people responded and Greta held worship services every day before she gave treatment to the people. In this way people heard the Good News.208
In the beginning, the work of evangelism led by Pastor Nordfeldt was to visit people in their homes and share with them the word of God.
Nordfeldt paved the way for his mission work when he prepared tea and bread and invited the jumbe and his people to the dedication of his new house at the mission station. The invitation was received favourably and through this generosity the people opened themselves to him. From there, Nordfeldt and his evangelistic team made frequent visits around the village and attracted many people. The team was composed of Bena Christians who worked in the mission station. The team contributed greatly to evangelistic work in the I1ula area because they acted not only as interpreters but as evangelists as well.
Nordfeldt's team was composed of the following: Joseph Benjamin (teacher), Yohana Msemwa (cook), Israel Mwenda (housekeeper), Loti Boimanda (nanny), Stefano Mwakalebela (cook), Luponelo Mgeni (cleaner), Loti Mgeni (chief cleaner), Joel Kiwone and his wife (housekeepers) and Nordfeldt's wife.209
During weekdays, they went to the village and sang songs from the Christian hymnal and formed a choir as well. Many people were attracted and Pastor Nordfeldt preached and invited people to go to
20B Interview with Marko Maluli, 3 January 2000, I1ula.
209Laiton Myinga, Historia ya Usharika wa Image, Andiko la Cheti, Chuo cha Theologia, (The History of Image Congregation, Certificate Thesis, Theological College) Makumira, 1996.
church and attend Sunday services. Nordfeldt offered the people some clothes, soap, salt, matches, bread, and sewing needles. Through these gifts, the missionary strengthened his relationship with the people and attracted them to go to church. During Passover and Christmas, he invited people, through the jumbes, and many people responded. However, inspite of all these efforts, no Hehe adults joined the faith during those days. Even the person who invited the missionaries to stay in his home before the missionaries had their own houses, died without being baptised.21o The chiefs just wanted to access the goods and services provided by the missionaries without abandoning their faith. The old people still had a negative attitude towards the Europeans, due to the experience with the Germans, whom they had fought ten kilometers away from Ilula, and who later came to dominate the area after defeating Mkwawa. Because the missionary used the Bena evangelists to spread the Word of God, they made an assumption that Christianity was for the Bena and had nothing to do with the Hehe. In fact, the Hehe looked down on the Bena because before German colonization, there were inter-tribal wars and the Bena were always defeated. As a result, the Hehe occupied some of the Bena areas. There was the issue of the credibility of the Bena to the Hehe. The Hehe are known to be very conservative in adapting to new influences in their community. They were deeply rooted in their traditional beliefs and it was not easy to embrace a new faith brought by foreign people.211 According to the Hehe, one can also argue that although the missionary used the social gospel by giving people gifts, it raised some serious doubts among the adults on the authenticity of what he preached. Therefore, it was children, especially those who joined the school, who first accepted Christianity in this area.
210Interview with Edward Mnyawami 12 January 2000, Iringa.
211 Interview with Ananidze Msigwa 15 November 1999, I1embula in Njombe.
Later on, more stations were opened in the Image area and in each of the stations indigenous agents from Njombe took leadership positions as walimu. 212 These walimu from Njombe played a great role in teaching and recruiting indigenous agents in Image, who later on took over the mission work in the area.
As a result of the outstanding job of the village teachers in teaching and preaching the Word of God, the first batch of converts was baptized. These were Yeremia Msola (who later became a primary school teacher), Lutangilo Sakafu, Isaya Maketa and Phoebe Msigomba (the daughter of Lutangilo Sakafu and baptized by Thore Fryhle as a baby) and others in 1942. Martin Nordfeldt was invited as a pioneer of the I1ula station. This was the beginning of the I1ula congregation. The Bena Christians had a great impact on the work of evangelism because they had already embraced Christianity and were aware of how God could use them to achieve something for the Christian mission, as planned for the Uhehe. Though novices in the Christian faith, which necessarily called for gUides and teachers on the path of knowledge, the Africans at that time understood what it took to be a Christian.
Before the candidates were recommended for baptism, they attended school for a minimum of two years. They learned religion, how to read and write and arithmetic. They studied the history of the Bible and the small catechism. It was compulsory for each candidate to know the whole catechism by heart and be able to recite it before the evangelist.
No one was allowed to receive baptism without passing this test, which was taken very seriously.213 A number of mission stations and bush schools were opened in various parts of Uhehe. The missionary at I1ula
212 Interview with Edward Mnyawami 12 January 2000, Iringa.
213 Interview with Phoebe Msigomba 25 August 2000, Iringa.
recruited a number of teachers and evangelists from Njombe, who were then posted to various stations in the area. Most of the evangelists came either from IIembula, Kidugala or Lupembe. These were among the first mission stations to be opened in the Ubena area and there were already a number of Christians there who had been trained as teachers or evangelists, and could combine both roles.
The evangelistic drive that Nordfeldt had used led him to enter the Image area and open bush schools. In 1940 the first station was opened at Kidewa, which was followed by Uhominyi in 1941. Nordfeldt served IIula from 1938 to 1941 and was transferred to Kidugala after being elected president of the Ubena-Konde Church.214 Pastor Thore Fryhle and his wife, Eleanor, replaced him. Thore founded more stations at Lyasa in 1943, Balali in 1943, Ibumu in 1945, and was then transferred to Bukoba, the present North-western Diocese. In each of these mission stations opened, teachers who had been recruited in IIembula, Njombe, were given leadership roles. The teachers with their stations in parenthesis were: Tulawona Mtulo who was later replaced by Joel Mhoka (Kidewa), Nehemia Chaula (Lyasa), Yeremia Mlagala (Balali), Ludsabiko Kiswaga and later Yehoswa Gwivahe (Ibumu) and Luponelo Mgeni and later Enock Mkocha (Uhominyi). These were the key figures in the evangelistic and educational work in the Image area.215 Most of these were taken as long experienced Christians with many years of service so that they could endure the challenges of the Hehe people in this area. Although this area was described as
"unfriendly", with threats of invasion that sparked off negative adjectives, the work of the evangelists in Image was very successful.216 We accept that the foundation laid by the expatriate
214 Interview with Phoebe Msigomba 25 August,2000,Iringa.
215Interview with Mathayo Lubawa 15 January 2000, Image.
216 Interview with Mathayo Lubawa 15 January 2000, Image.
missionaries would have been wasted had it not been for the contribution of the indigenous agents.
The missionaries opened schools at all the stations because they saw in them the bedrock for future development in the church and the country. The idea of schools alongside the establishment of churches, as is SEM's policy, is indeed of great interest. Bengt Sundkler217 postulates that in the modern Christian movement in Africa the school grew out of the catechetical teaching of the church, and was felt to be an essential part of, and supplement to, the worship of the church.
Schools went along with churches or vice versa. Church buildings served a dual role in many cases. They served as schools during the week and as churches on Sundays. Quoting Richard Niebuhr,218 Sundkler says that the interior of a church bUilding in one or other Christian organization gives an important indication of the particular conception of the church and its ministry. In most of the churches school black- boards were fixed. The identification of school and church was established. The one could not be divorced from the other.
Later on, in the life of the church, attendance at Sunday school meetings was linked to good conduct at school. Strictness on school attendance was observed. Absenteeism at school on weekdays attracted the stroke of the teacher's whip.219
The first converts, who were the outcome of the evangelistic work and bush schools, were baptised. In Kidewa and the Image area, the first native to receive baptism was Mathayo Lihinda Lubawa on 25 December 1944. Thore Fryhle baptized him. The first converts from Uhominyi station were Yakobo Muyinga, Emmanuel Myula, Samwel
217 Bengt Sundkler, The Christian Ministry in Africa (London: SCM 1960), p. 296.
218 Richard Niebuhr, The Purpose ofthe Church and its Ministry(New York: Harper and Row, 1956), p. 80.
219Interview with John Msigomba 12 August 1999, Iringa.
Mlandali, and Elias Mlandali, while those from Balali were Obadia Mela, Lazaro Myinga (who later became an evangelist and then a pastor), Anania Nyangi, Yesaya Ndala, Christopher Makombe, and Luka Makombe.220 The first congregation members of Ibumu station baptized in 1947 were: Esau Mnyawami, Daniel Kimwaga, Israel Mbena, Martha Kinyaga, Juliana Semkemwa, Anna Semubega, Joseph Ikanyagwa, Lazaro Mbangwa, and Enock Maganza, while those who formed the Lyasa congregation were Gidion Magova, Ruben Magova, Joseph Gaifalo, Abel Gaifalo, Shemu Gaifalo, Yohana Gaifalo, and Alatanga Muyinga.221
The SEM missionaries worked side by side with these African converts, trained or not trained. Some of the first converts were sent to remote places to open new mission stations. These African workers were used everywhere by God for the foundation of the church in ways which only they could have utilized.222 These first converts were the solid foundation, - which made the establishment of the church in Iringa possible. Thus, it is right to argue that the spread of the church was linked to the work of the small but growing number of Hehe village teachers. As the church began to expand, the need to select more baptised men for the position of teachers increased.
The prayer life, or the daily devotional life exercised by these African converts, is something worth mentioning. They sang hymns, read the scriptures, expounded them and said prayers. This routine form of worship became contagious. The teachers in each mission station had their share in this spiritual rise of the natives. Youths, both boys and girls, spent the evenings in Christian homes instead of their parent's
220Interview with Mathayo Lubawa 15 January 2000, Image.
221 Interview with Mathayo Lubawa 15 January 2000, Image.
222 E. B. Idowu, "The Predicament of the Church in Africa", in C. G. Baeta (ed.) Christianity in Tropical Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968), p. 422.