3. Introduction
3.5 The effects of the two World Wars on mission
Before 1914 the mission work in the southern part of Tanzania had progressed considerably. Missionary activity had reached a stable level of organization. There were 19 mission stations which had been established, 3,500 people had been baptized, two synods had been formed: Konde and Ubena-UHehe, two bible schools had been started, one at Manow in Konde synod and at Kidugala in Ubena-Uhehe synod.
A total of 135 bush-schools had been started with 6,000 students.
There was also a factory for making shoes and a printing press at Kidugala.229 Mission stations opened by the Berlin mission became centers of education and bases for frontier evangelisation.
The war that began in Europe from 1914 to 1918 and resulted in the defeat of Germany and the taking over of the German East Africa by Britain severely upset the work of missionaries. For the Christian missions it was a catastrophe in various parts of Tanzania. Early in the war the Germans arrested British missionaries and many of their converts. Teachers suffered dreadfully as porters and labourers on the supply route from Morogoro to Korogwe. Later, they were interned.
Some like Deacon Paul Kasinde and four other teachers died in chains for being English-made Christians as it happened to twelve teachers from Magila in Tanga.23o Canon Peter Limo returned from his ordeal as overseer on the Handeni road with his right arm paralysed and deaf in one ear because a German had treated him like an animal.231
German missionaries and their converts also suffered. Beginning in 1916, German East Africa received a coordinated attack from three
229Samwel Kilimhana, Karne ya Kwanza ya Injili (100 Years of the Gospe/), 1891- 1991 (Dar es Salaam: Dar es Salaam University Press, 1991), p. 23-24.
230John I1iffe, A Modern History of Tanganyika (London: Cambridge University Press), p. 255.
231 Ibid.
sides. The British assaulted from the north and southwest and the Belgians from the west. The British troops occupied all the mission stations of the Nyasa Province and Konde Synod without opposition.
The missionaries had gathered with their families, the Berlin missionaries at Magoye in the Uwanji area, and the Moravians at Rungwe. From there, they were deported.
African teachers and leaders of both the Moravian and Lutheran communities were suspected and from the military point of view, the entire southern area continued to be insecure so long as the German force remained at large and highly mobile. The British soldiers charged the African teachers of giving information to the Germans. Some had to stay in the hiding places for weeks in order to avoid the British soldiers. Muhuvile Senyanganani tells a story of how her father, Esau Nyanganani, one of the Bena village teachers, had to hide from the British soldiers:
My father, who was a mwalimu and cook of the missionary, was sought out by the British soldiers after the Germans were sent home. They thought my father supported the Germans and knew German secrets in the area. We had to run away from home and hide in the bush for weeks. My mother, who sent him food, was the only one who knew my father's hiding place. In order to call my father to come and eat, my mother sang a Christian chorus as follows: [with emotions and trembling voice Muhuvile sang]:
Ve Nguluvi Wimkomi wi yena e Mutwa ve,
Ve Nguluvi ve mkomi wi yena, Eeeena mutwave, Ve Nguluvi wi mkomi wiyena.232 (God you alone are great, 0 Lord, God You alone are great, Ooh yes Lord, and God you alone are great.) [After a long pause Muhuvile continued]
As soon as my father heard the song, he responded in the same manner after some time, and then proceeded to the place where the food was put. When the British stopped searching for
232 Interview with Muhuvile Nyanganani, 16 August 1999, Iringa.
him he went back home and continued with his service as mwalimu.233
The first group of Africans teachers to be deported affirmed their blamelessness and stated: "We are sacrifices of a European war". Two teachers from each of the eleven Moravian and Lutheran stations who formed the cream of the educated Christians were arrested and transported to Zomba, Malawi where they remained from 1917 to
1919.234
The war not only affected the missionary work, but development in general in the country was brought to a standstill. By the beginning of the First World War, missionary activity in the Southern Highlands had reached a stable level of organization with African participation. The Berliners had been forced by the British to surrender the premise of white supremacy and to regard their mission stations as centers of education and bases for frontier evangelisation rather than as Christian preserves under missionary rule.
When the war ended in 1918, Tanganyika had been deprived the service of more than one hundred and fifty male German Protestants and fifteen unmarried women.235 Because the church was still at an early stage of its growth, the loss sustained was very great. There was a great shortage of leadership and all the work was left in the hands of teachers and evangelists.
After the First World War the British continued to expel the German missionaries out of Tanzania. By the end of 1919 the Benedictines fathers from Tosamaganga had seen 131 of their 134 personnel
233 Interview with Muhuvile Nyanganani 16 August 1999, Iringa.
234 Marcia Wright, German Missions in Tanganyika, p. 143.
235 M. Langley &T. Kiggins, A Serving People (Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1974), p. 82.
deported.236 The British expelled German missionaries mercilessly. The last left in 1922 and none returned until 1925. Roman Catholic missions generally used staff of French and Swiss priests. The situation was worse for the Protestants. Some work was taken by British societies but elsewhere there were no missionaries for several years.
The absence of the missionaries disrupted many fledgling Christian communities. The few pastors who had been accepted to remain behind were confined to one particular station.
At the same time, there was great resentment against Christianity in Uhehe because of the bad experience with the Germans when they fought with them in 1891 and in 1896. The people who were not Christians were forced to enter the war by Christians from Europe. The war between the British and the Germans was not a good experience in the eyes of non-Christians. Christians were not expected to cause misapprehension and perpetuate hatred against each other, contrary to the gospel of reconciliation, peace and love. This experience made the Hehe people question the gospel proclaimed by the West, which was said to be more progressive than other regions. Africans, as a result of the war, were disillusioned about Christianity and the West.
Yet for Christianity the suffering of the First World War was also a strengthening time. As missionary control lapsed, so African Christians gained a responsibility which they could not otherwise have acquired at this time. The war consolidated power in the hands of the first generation of African Christians. Although the Iringa area received the service of pastor Anderson from 1920, the Bena teachers did most of the mission work. Anderson organized a six-week course for forty-four Bena teachers and from that time more and more of the prominent
236Iliffe, A Modern History of Tanganyika, p. 256.
teachers came forward to work under him.237 Following the work of the African teachers, congregations started to show renewed life.
Other places had similar experiences. In Dar es Salaam before they were sent home, the Germans ordained Martin Nganisya to take care of pastoral work in Dar es Salaam, Kisarawe and Maneromango. His work required visiting all three mission centers, but local teachers who served without pay conducted the work at each. Three teachers handled the work of teaching and preaching at Maneromango: Yosia Mkumbalu, Anton Misokia and Daniel Mwenesano.238
Working together with pastor Ganisya, the teachers had to overcome a number of problems brought on by the war. The most pressing was the occupation of the mission by the British troops, during which the British did not allow worship services to be conducted. After the British colonial administration was established, it sought the Anglican bishop from Zanzibar to take over the mission, but Ganisya together with his teachers refused to merge with them which caused a serious problem to the authorities.239 There was no permanent missionary until 1926 when pastor Hermann Krelle returned. Krelle on his return noticed a number of positive results from the African leadership of the mission.
Over one hundred persons were enrolled for catechumens; many people including no-Christians attended services, there were twenty youths in the confirmation c1asses.24o
As the only African Lutheran pastor, Ganisya also visited Usambara to baptise and celebrate the Eucharist. "We told each other", wrote one
237 Marcia Wright, German Missions in Tanganyika, p. 149.
238S. von Sicard, The Lutheran Church on the Coast of Tanzania, 1887-1914 (Uppsala, 1970), p. 53, See also Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London: Oxford University Press, 1952), p. 96.
239 Iliffe, A Modern History of Tanganyika, p. 258.
who met him, "how the Kingdom of God is going forward in Dar es Salaam, Uzaramo, in Tanga and in Digoland, in Usambara and on Kilimanjaro. We listened and sang hymns, we praised and thanked God for the great deeds he has done for US".241
In Usambara, in the northwest of Tanzania, the leaving missionaries had considered ordaining an African pastor as a hurried decision.
Instead, they selected seven teachers as shepherds. These teachers ran the Shambaa church from 1920 to 1925 with success:
Because of the rumours of war many left Christianity thinking that the Christians were not wanted. But when one congregation started inviting others during festivals, the fire was re-kindled and many came back to the congregation and were baptized ... The word of God was further spread when the church was being run by natives. There was no opposition.
Only a few individuals forbade their children to go to Church.
Those who accepted Christianity were helped by the Holy Spirit and had a burning zeal without being forced by any circumstance. It was never because of poverty that they accepted Christianity. During that time there was a true manifestation of Love. At festivals many came from far and sang hymns and played trumpets.242
Such exaltation among small communities in a harsh world was experienced elsewhere when missionaries left.
The German missionaries had regarded Africans as inferior before the war.243 They developed a habit that Africans were not able to do anything without European leadership. When the Germans experienced humiliation, it was painful for some of them. When the Germans returned to their former mission stations, they found that the African
240Thomas Spear& Isaria Kimambo (eds.), East African ExpressionsofChristianity, p.73.
241 Jakobo Ngombe to Delius in I1iffe,A Modern HistoryofTanganyika, p. 258.
242 Guga, Timilai H. I. Research into the history of the Usambara-Digo Church, in I1iffe,A Modern HistoryofTanganyika, p.258.
243 Compare Kimambo and Temu, A HistoryofTanzania, p. 131; Berman, pp. 5 - 7.
Christians had done an outstanding mission work and they had developed a sense of self-determination.244
The experiences of the war opened up opportunities for African leadership in the church. A group of eight indigenous evangelists was sent for theological training at Kidugala in 1932 soon after the German missionaries took over their former mission fields. The eight evangelists were: Yohana Nyagawa (Malangali), Ludzabiko Kihupi (Ilembula), Ludzabiko Hawanga (Lupembe), Lutangilo Merere (Kidugala), Mtenzi Kyelula (Lupembe), Ananidze Chungu (Kidugala), Joseph Mpogole (Brandt) and Alatuvanga Msitu (Pommern).245 There was a similar experience in central and eastern Kenya, where the pace of ordaining African pastors rose after the war was over. 246
The period between the First and Second World Wars was a time of growth for the mission work in Tanganyika, especially in the Lutheran church. When a similar situation occurred again between 1939-1945,
the~churcheswere stronger and less severely disrupted. The situation had improved greatly. Furthermore, Lutheran missionaries from Sweden and other countries replaced the German missionaries who had been interned by 1940 and the growth of the church continued. 247
Following the Second World War, gradually the Africans took leadership responsibility without enough managerial experience, but also without the means to enable them to carry out the work independently and effectively. The departure of the missionaries left the mission fields helpless. However, this situation challenged the African leaders and Christians to find new strategies to meet
244Terence Ranger, The African Churches of Tanzania (Nairobi: 1972), p. 10;
Kimambo and Temu, p. 129.
245 H. Kobler,Jubilee of 100 Years of the Gospel (Njombe: ELCT, Southern diocese, 1998), p. 12.
246 Robert Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (London:
1978), p. 69.
leadership needs and to run the missions. Pastor Herman Neuberg emphasised this point by saying: "the problem of not having enough money was because of the directive of Mr. Hitler to stop all the money contributed by Christians in Europe from being sent to foreign countries. This helped the Christians of all congregations to realize their stewardship role and to give more offerings and collections than they used to give before".248 The shortage of leadership brought forth ideas of self-reliance in evangelism, leadership and financial management.
It is against this background of uncertainty and of self-determination that the indigenous agents bore a comparatively greater portion of burden of mission work as preachers, teachers of catechumen pupils, interpreters and clerks. Due to the war the growth of the membership was slightly affected, in the sense that many catechu mens remained for a long time without being baptised due to the lack of pastors.
Moreover, the large number of Hehe/Bena on war service undoubtedly contained a sizable percentage of mission adherents, thus reducing the figures further. Let us now look at the emergence of the local leadership and how they interacted with the missionaries in various periods.
247 M. Langley &T. Kiggins, A Serving People, p. 82.
248 Her~an Neuberg, Historia Fupi ya Miaka 75 Sinodi ya Kusini, 1891-1996 (Peramlho: 1966), p. 15.
Chapter Four
The emergence and growth of indigenous leadership and the dominance of the missionaries (1899-1999)